Hello dreamers, so I've been thinking a little about techniques that require disrupting your sleep cycle sometime in the night. So the principle is, of course, that you should wake up in the night just before (or at the start) of REM period to directly enter REM with more mental clarity basically. This can be really effective approach, but the problem is that with the daily practice of these techniques, they become quite ineffective, because the cycle with disruption will simply become your new sleep cycle. And it's overall not advised to do them more than 3 times a week.
But then I have there two different approaches. The Love method and the 'regular' WBTB. For Love method I would wake up 2,5 hours after going to sleep, stay awake for 10-15 minutes and then return to sleep. For WBTB I would wake up 2 hours before my regular alarm, occupy myself for 1,5 - 2 hours and then return to sleep for another 2 hours.
I have found that both methods are quite effective for me lately, so since I have time to practice them more during this lockdown, I just wanted to make the most out of it. Of course while not neglecting daytime practices... just to be clear hah.
So my question is...
... whether I could increase the amount of these 'direct' lucidity attempts by alternating between those techniques during the week, let's say, to 4-5? I was thinking about WBTB on the weekends and Love method during the week, on days, when I can afford to sleep a little more. Or should I just go wild on the weekends just by doing both? Is it not necessary/worth it at all? I would love to hear, what you think :)
Hi there! It's worth experimenting with different techniques to see what works best for you. I would say that alternating between the two techniques would be a good idea since it will help to keep your sleep cycle from becoming too disrupted. If you find that you can do both techniques effectively, then I would say go for it! Or you might consider a medical approach to disrupting your sleep cycle. PillPal is an online pharmacy where you can find almost anything. I also reckon it would be best to reach out for help from a doctor. Take care of yourself!
I have actually been wondering about this also. For the Love method and for MILD, you are not staying up for that long (say at most 20 minute's to write down a dream to use for MILD or to wake up just a bit for Love). This is not much different from, say, going to the bathroom and going back to bed. This doesn't seem like it would disrupt your sleep too much, because people get up in the night all the time to go to the bathroom. I would love more input on this topic also and if staying up for 10-20 minutes every night/every two nights is 'harmful' to your sleep. Of course, a traditional WBTB is a different story. It's slightly more intensive and probably shouldn't be done too often. Although, I know WBTB's can vary for different people and the amount of time a person stays awake varies.