Level of Lucidity (1-10): 0 | Dream Signs:  | Mood:

This is a pre-dream post.

In looking at all the LD gadgets out there that for several hundred bucks might help, it ocurred to me that light and sound stimulation weren't the only stimulations out there.  In the old James Coburn movie, Our Man Flint, he would go into a trance and stop his heart.  He was revived by his watch, which at a certain time, would tap him lightly on the wrist.  What about using a vibrating watch to pass a clue to your dreaming self that you were, in fact, dreaming?

They make them, you know.  Vibrating watches.  For deaf people who can't hear alarms, or for people who don't want to annoy those around them with a beep.  (Think cell phone in vibrate mode.)  So I bought a Casio Pathfinder for $41.95 at Target, although Ebay sells vibrating watches from $12.95 to $129.95.  I can program up to 5 alarms (though the user manual is hard to follow), so I decided to set alarms at 3:30am, 4:15 and 5:00.  I may or may not be in REM at those times, but it seems a reasonable guess.  Consumer reviews of this particular watch complain that the vibrations don't wake them up at first, that it takes a month or so before they "train" themselves to wake.  That sounds perfect to me.  After all, I don't want to wake up.  I only want the non-dream world to intrude into the dream world enough to remind me to think "I must be dreaming!"  I want to "train" myself to react that way to a vibrating wrist.

So whatever happens tonight, even if nothing happens, I will report back tomorrow.  Wish me sweet and lucid dreams.

AJ

P.S.

All right, so I'm not the first person to think of this.  I did a quick Google and saw that others have tried vibrating watches.  Oh, well.  It ocurred to me without knowing that.  We'll see if it's a good idea.

UPDATE:  What Happened?

I totally slept through the first alarm.  The third alarm went off while I was awake and trying to get over the nightmare I had.  I awoke at 5:03am -- I know because I was trying to remember my dream so I consciously checked the clock.  The second alarm had gone off at 4:45.  Was it the cause of the nightmare?  I don't know.  Here's the dream.

I had run out of my apartment to do a quick errand.  The errand took longer than I thought it would.  When I came up the stairs to my apartment, the door was wide open.  Did I leave it like that?  I ran inside.  Thingswere rearranged.  A connecting door I never used was wide open.  Someone had been there.  I ran from room to room in a quick search to see if he was still there.  I yelled curses at him and was prepared to fight if I found him.  In the kitchen, pans were placed precariously on the stove and the burner under them was lit.  The intruder had wanted to start a fire.  Cursing and shouting I searched for him.

When I woke up my heart was racing and I had a terrible feeling of dread.  I rarely have nightmares, it's just not my nature.  Also, the apartment was not one I've ever been in, although I felt it was mine.  My wife and her daughters, who I've lived with for ten years, were not a part of my life in this dream.  Weird.

Another follow up.

In the month of trying this, I've gotten used to the vibrations of the watch.  Some nights, I don't remember it going off at all.  Some nights I am aware of all three alarms.  When I am aware, I always run through my little mantra of reminders that I must recognize a dream when it's ocurring.  Not much to report on that front.