5,000 Dreams Recorded!

5,000 Dreams over 1,739 Nights

It’s time to break out the bubbly (again!) in celebration of recording 5,000 dreams (OMG) in full detail since June 7, 2018! When I started this project in 2018, I was remembering one to dreams per week. PER WEEK. With time, dedication, and patience, I continue to record completed and detailed dream narratives three to four times per night and sometimes upward of seven to nine. I said the exact same thing at my last milestone, and I continue to be so impressed by the consistency of which my dreams behave. It’s astonishing!

How incredible is that? 5,000!!!!!

What a milestone! This work has been such an amazing, and my database is growing and growing. With 90+ different metrics per dream, I have so many patterns, insights, and techniques to work with. I've got several ongoing projects with all this amazing data in the works... one day I will set them free!

For each of these 1K milestones, I like to put a spotlight on just a few of data points covering the last 5,000 dreams! I am beyond proud of this work.

The duration is June 7, 2018 - March 11, 2023 or 1,739 Nights.⁠

And because I love data and stats so much (all tracked through a massive spreadsheet I created), here are some interesting gems about those 5,000 dreams since I started recording them in detail.

✨✨✨

• Total Dreams: 5,000⁠

• Regular Dreams: 4,380 (88%)⁠

• Lucid Dreams: 620 (12%)⁠

• Percent of Nights with Recall: 92%⁠

• Precent of Nights with Lucidity: 22%⁠

• Percent Very High Lucidity: 8%⁠

• Percent High Lucidity: 40%⁠

• Percent Medium Lucidity: 37%⁠

• Percent Low Lucidity: 16%⁠

⁠

• Percent DILD: 58%⁠

• Percent WILD: 25%⁠

• Percent Other: 17%⁠

• Intense Nightmares: 50 ⁠

• Dreams with Recurring Themes: 235

• False Awakenings: 61 ⁠

• Epic or Big Dreams: 20 ⁠

• Out of Body Dreams: 36 ⁠

• Prophetic Dreams: 9

⁠

• Percent Participant: 94%⁠

• Percent Witness: 6%⁠

⁠

• Percent Postive: 22%⁠

• Percent Neutral: 50%⁠

• Percent Negative: 28%⁠

• Percent Realistic: 61%⁠

• Percent Fantastical: 37%⁠

⁠

• Percent Dreams I Like: 33%⁠

• Percent Dreams Neutral: 56%⁠

• Percent Dreams I Dislike: 11%⁠

⁠

• Average Sleep Time: 12:26am⁠

• Average Wake Time: 9:01am⁠

• Average Sleep Duration: 8h 32m⁠

⁠

• Average Number of Dreams per Month: 91

• Average Number of Lucid Dreams per Month: 9

✨✨✨⁠

zzxo,⁠
Allison⁠

Ring in the New Year with a Hatsuyume Dream!

Image by Ningyu He

Hatusyume is the first dream of the new year.

In Japanese traditions, hatsuyume refers to the first dream of the year and sets the tone for the year ahead. It is said that it's particularly auspicious to dream of Mount Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant, which will bring the dreamer abundance and greatness. 🗻🦅🍆

Setting intentions for my own hatsuyume has become one of my absolute favorite dream traditions and certainly my favorite New Year's tradition.

I learned about hatsuyume from the incomparable dream teacher, Robert Moss, and I love it so much. This year feels particularly transformative, so I'm so excited to listen to the messages of my first dream in 2023. According to tradition, you can record your hatsuyume on the night of December 31st or January 1st, depending on your level of revelry on New Year's Eve.⁠ Of course, it may happen a few days later if your recall could use improvement. In any case, go with the flow!

⁠I like to let go of my lucid practice for the New Year and let any and all dreams flow to me, welcoming an influx of wisdom and abundance. My only goal is to remember.

Mantras are always helpful ways to set intentions. For hatsuyume, I like this one: "I will receive guidance, support, and luck for the year ahead."⁠

Wishing you all a joyful New Year and an auspicious hatsuyume for 2023! ✨🥂

xozzz,
Allison

Dream Week 2022!

Dream Week, a Personal Retreat Dedicated to Dreaming

Last week, I created a personal "Dream Week" retreat for myself with intense focus on dream practice every day and every night. The dedicated energy toward all things dreaming was an incredible way to honor my dreaming self and to continue developing as an advanced dream explorer, statistician, and creative/maker.

I designed each day to include the following tracks:

Morning Sessions:

• Morning Exercise Circuit

• Honor Dreams of the Past: Look Back on a Randomly Selected Dream

• Sit with Dreams Last Night: Write Short Summaries & Map to Goals/Themes

Afternoon Sessions:

• Nature Walk: Spend Time Outdoors in New Locations Each Day

• Creative Time: Make Progress on an Existing Dream + Creative Project

• Dream Vision: Work on "Dream Vision" and "Who I Want to Be as a Dreamer" (Revisit & Revise Daily)

Evening Sessions:

• Sunset Walk

• Online Coursework in Dreaming

• Night Ritual with Dream Intentions & Lucid Rehearsal

• 20 Minute Yoga Nidra

• Falling Asleep Meditations

Dream Sessions (Middle of Night):

• 5:00(ish) Wake Back to Bed (WBTB) with Supplement Experiments

• Falling Back Asleep Meditations

Throughout the Day:

• Reading When Brains Dreams

• Limited Exposure to News

• Limited Exposure to Social Media (Some Twitter)
  

Daily Themes:

1. Prep: Opening Dream Week

2. Day 1: Inviting Back Dreams

3. Day 2: Honoring the Solstice

4. Day 3: Creative Dreaming - Data

5. Day 4: Creative Dreaming - Ideas

6. Day 5: Reflection & Future Plans

7. Post: Closing Dream Week

I absolutely loved having the time to create this experience for myself and dedicate so much energy to these practices. Honoring the dream space at the same time as the Solstice was incredibly joyful, and the entire week was full of celebration. It was also quite fun to experiment with supplements, types and timings. I only use dream supplements for special occasions, and this was the perfect time.

Of course, not every day or night went to plan and dreams have a funny way of being whatever they want to be. It was humbling, rewarding, lovely, and intense! I'm thrilled by all my outputs, learning, and my progress toward the next phase of my dreaming life.

For now, I will hold space for Dream Week and let it sit for a few weeks. I plan to revisit the work shortly and use the energy to continue to create new paths and projects that honor the vast scope of dreaming.

Onward!

xozz,
Allison

Dreams From Dream Week ✨

3,000 Dreams Recorded!

3,000 Dreams, 1,048 Nights

It’s time to break out the bubbly in celebration of recording 3,000 dreams in full detail since June 7, 2018! When I started this project in 2018, I was remembering one to dreams per week. PER WEEK. With time, dedication, and patience, I continue to record completed and detailed dream narratives three to four times per night and sometimes upward of seven to nine.

I say this to encourage anyone and everyone interesting in dreaming to just start! Don’t worry about where you are on your journey. I started this project with very little recall and no consistency in my lucidity. Over the last few years, I’ve read the books, I’ve trained and studies, I’ve developed my practice, I am diligent about getting great sleep… and perhaps most importantly… I’ve never given up. You can do the same.

And because I love data and stats so much (all tracked through a massive spreadsheet I created), here are some interesting gems about those 3,000 dreams since I started recording them in detail. The duration is June 7, 2018 to April 19th 2021 or 1,048 Nights.

Total Dreams: 3,000
Regular Dreams: 2,546 (82%)
Lucid Dreams: 454 (18%)

Percent of Nights with Recall: 92%
Precent of Nights with Lucidity: 24%

Percent Very High Lucidity: 9%
Percent High Lucidity: 43%

Percent Medium Lucidity: 35%
Percent Low Lucidity: 13%

Percent DILD: 54%
Percent WILD: 28%
Percent Other: 18%

Intense Nightmares: 33
Dreams with Recurring Themes: 128
False Awakenings: 48
Epic or Big Dreams: 19
Out of Body: 31
Prophetic Dreams: 5

Percent Participant: 94%
Percent Witness: 6%

Percent Postive: 25%
Percent Neutral: 49%
Percent Negative: 26%

Percent Realistic: 61%
Percent Fantastical: 39%

Percent Dreams I Like: 34%
Percent Dreams Neutral: 52%
Percent Dreams I Dislike: 14%

Average Sleep Time: 11:10pm
Average Wake Time: 8:37am
Average Sleep Duration: 8h 52m

Averages Number of Dreams per Month: 87
Average Number of Lucid Dreams per Month: 14

The 2020 Dream Report!

I’m excited to publish the first annual Dream Report!

Hi dreamers! 2020 is a wrap, but I am excited to share with you the first ever Annual Dream Report showing 2020 data in all it’s glory. Maybe not ALL the data I collect on my sleep and dreams, but quite a lot of if it in a compact, digestible way. This juicy stuff is best viewed on desktop for all the charts and what have you.

I am particularly obsessed with data, so a big part of my practice is keeping detailed records of each dream and each day’s events. For my annual dream report this year, I’m sharing just a small portion of the amount of data I collect in a massive spreadsheet, as it’s just too much!

Nonetheless, I do hope you enjoy peeking into my sleeping brain, as much as I do collecting it. In addition to the data, I’ve also posted all 1,047 dream titles here.

Check out the full 2020 Dream Report now!

Happy New Year!✨

zzzxo,
Allison

Celebrate the New Year with hatsuyume!

Image by Ningyu He

Hatusyume is the first dream of the new year.

In Japanese traditions, hatsuyume refers to the first dream of the year and sets the tone for the year ahead. It is said that it's particularly auspicious to dream of Mount Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant, which will bring the dreamer abundance and greatness. 🗻🦅🍆

Setting intentions for my own hatsuyume has become one of my absolute favorite dream traditions and certainly my favorite New Year's tradition.

I learned about hatsuyume from the incomparable dream teacher, Robert Moss, and I love it so much. This year feels particularly transformative, so I'm so excited to listen to the messages of my first dream in 2021. According to tradition, you can record your hatsuyume on the night of December 31st or January 1st, depending on your level of revelry on New Year's Eve.⁠

⁠I like to let go of my lucid practice for the New Year and let all dreams flow to me, welcoming an influx of wisdom and abundance. My only goal is to remember.

Mantras are always helpful ways to set intentions. For hatsuyume, I like this one: "I will receive guidance, support, and luck for the year ahead."⁠

Wishing you all a joyful New Year and an auspicious hatsuyume! ✨🥂

zzzxo,
Allison

2,000 Dreams Recorded!

2,000 Dreams, 700 Days

It’s time to break out the bubbly in honor of my birthday (May 7th) and more importantly in celebration of recording 2,000 dreams in full detail since June 7, 2018! When I started this project in 2018, I was remembering one to dreams per week. PER WEEK. With time, dedication, and patience, I continue to record completed and detailed dream narratives three to four times per night and sometimes upward of seven to nine.

I say this to encourage anyone and everyone interesting in dreaming to just start! Don’t worry about where you are on your journey. I started this project with very little recall and no consistency in my lucidity. Over the last few years, I’ve read the books, I’ve trained and studies, I’ve developed my practice, I am diligent about getting great sleep… and perhaps most importantly… I’ve never given up. You can do the same.

Without further ado, here are some interesting gems about those 2,000 dreams since I started recording them in detail all within my very detailed spreadsheet.
⁠
⁠
Total Dreams: 2,000⁠
Regular Dreams: 1,658 (83%)⁠
Lucid Dreams: 342 (17%)⁠
⁠
Percent of Nights with Recall: 91%⁠
Percent of Nights with Lucidity: 28%⁠
⁠
Percent Very High Lucidity: 10%⁠
Percent High Lucidity: 42%⁠
Percent Medium Lucidity: 37%⁠
Percent Low Lucidity: 11%⁠
⁠
Percent DILD (“Dream Initiated Lucid Dream”): 50%⁠
Percent WILD (“Waking Initiated Lucid Dream”): 32%⁠
Percent Other: 18%⁠
⁠
Intense Nightmares: 20⁠
Dreams with Recurring Themes: 86⁠
False Awakenings: 42⁠
Epic or Big Dreams: 19⁠
Out of Body: 21⁠
Prophetic Dreams: 5⁠
⁠
Percent Participant: 94%⁠
Percent Witness: 6%⁠
⁠
Percent Postive: 28%⁠
Percent Neutral: 45%⁠
Percent Negative: 27%⁠
⁠
Percent Realistic: 60%⁠
Percent Fantastical: 40%⁠
⁠
Percent Dreams I Like: 36%⁠
Percent Dreams Neutral: 48%⁠
Percent Dreams I Dislike: 16%⁠
⁠
Average Sleep Time: 11:10pm⁠
Average Wake Time: 8:37am⁠
Average Sleep Duration: 8h 44m⁠
⁠
Averages Number of Dreams per Month: 89⁠
Average Number of Lucid Dreams per Month: 15⁠

I’m headed to Antarctica!

Image by me, Allison McCarthy

I’m off for an epic adventure of icy dreams!

I'm headed on a big trip to the bottom of the world! For two weeks starting February 17th to March 3rd, I'm making my way south… very south… to Antarctica! I'm excited to get out there and practice my other love: Photography - particularly of water and ice! And of course, I look forward to seeing how sailing throughout the Antarctica peninsula will impact my sleep and dreams. You can follow along on Instagram, I’ll be posting when I can on my other account: @aquinnm.

I expect some early mornings, so dream time will be cut shorter… and there's always the jet lag problem that might lead to strange dream time patterns - we'll see! In any case, I will be delayed in publishing my usual Dreams Last Week over the next two weeks… and a little bit afterward while I get myself caught up again. I won't be able to dedicate as much time as I usually do to dream recording, so it will take some time to gather up the best material when I'm back.

Until then! 👋

Pre-Vacation Stats: 14 Dreams (01 Lucid)

• 🎨 1,761 - Paper Mask Love Story
• 💭 1,762 - Assigned Seat Argument
• 💭 1,763 - Spa Conveyer Belt
• 🤣1,764 - Dopey Shoes
• 🎨 1,765 - Mouse Click Fish Tank
• ⚡️ 1,766 - Healing Queue at the Cinema
• 😥 1,767 - Never Talk to Me Again!
• 💭 1,768 - Golden Light Bedroom
• 💭 1,769 - Bathroom Curtain
• 💭 1,770 - Rocking the House Boat
• 💭 1,771 - Impressive Colleague
• 💭 1,772 - Watching Titanic
• 💭 1,773 - Airport Gate to Puerto Rico
• 🤣 1,774 - Pink Font in Your Email

⚡️Lucid, 🤣Silly, 🎨Creative, 😥Sad

The Sleeping Third - Official Launch!

It’s Launch Week!

The Sleeping Third has been quietly around since April, getting content together, posting weekly dreams, connecting with dream communities, and sleeping a lot. This project has been quite an incredible journey, and I am so thrilled to be officially launching it this week! I've learned so much about myself, about sleep and dreams, and truly put it all into practice. While I have always been into dreams since childhood, I turned up the volume over the last year and have developed a fantastic world inside my imagination.

I am chomping at the bit to share all of it with you!

To repeat my About Page word for word: The Sleeping Third is on a mission to elevate our connection to sleep and dream so that it's more playful, creative, and approachable for everyone.

Here you will find content on the importance of sleep and detailed information on what lucid dreaming is and how to do it consistently. There are resources to learn the practices and lots of dreams to read - one a week! There's also plenty of tips and stats from my very own sleep and dream practices - all to inspire you to dream a little brighter, sleep a lot more, and to use that third of your life you spend asleep in the most beautiful way possible. 

And in doing so, make us all better versions of our waking selves.

//

In the spirit of feeling so much excitement and stress for this week's launch, I am actively (and ironically) pausing a bit on my dream practice during this initial launch, so there will be no formal dream of the week today. Over the last week, my dreams are defiantly revealing my stress levels, presenting more than usual anxiety dreams and strange, hilarious ones too. And for the first time in a long time, no lucid dreams. But, It's all part of the process. I suspect this trend will also spill into next week for a few days, but I can't wait to get in the normal rhythm again and will post new dreams each Tuesday here and on Instagram.

Thank you for being here!

ProTip: When you’re stressed, press pause! Re-balance until you can find rest. Your dreams will be there when you’re ready.

Weekly Stats:

21 Total, 0 Lucid

• 💭 1,327 - Leaving the Airport
• 🤣 1,328 - Water Park Laughter
• 💭 1,329 - Catching a Ride
• 💭 1,330 - Shared Dreaming Movie
• 💭 1,331 - Health Care
• 🎨 1,332 - Grand Room Tree
• 💭 1,333 - High School Dismissal
• 💭 1,334 - Privacy Please
• 🤣 1,335 - Can't Dream in Camp
• 🤣 1,336 - Brad Pitt's House
• 💭 1,337 - Shark Tank
• 🤣 1,338 - Everyone is Cute
• 💭 1,339 - Tunnel Drive
• 💭 1,340 - Tool Factory
• 🤣 1,341 - Panda Gathering
• 💭 1,342 - Family House Plants
• 💭 1,343 - New Bridge
• 💭 1,344 - Laundry
• 🤣 1,345 - Motivational Pub
• 💭 1,346 - Babysitting Clog
• 💭 1,347 - Kid PSA

🤣Silly, 🎨Creative

Celebrating 1 Year and 1,084 Dreams!

Photo by Sagar Patil.

Biggest Learning 365 Days Later: Just Keep Going!

I started this “little” dream project on June 7th 2018. In such a remarkably short amount of time, what was once a small interest has blossomed into a full-blown obsession resulting in a huge amount of dedication and success.

For me, the biggest deterrent to establishing my own consistent dreaming practice is discouragement over perceived lack of progress. This was hard early on. The only way for me to overcome this challenge was to let go of time... When I let go of the idea of needing to achieve something by a specific, self-imposed deadline, I felt free - and my skills grew. When I hit roadblocks, I just kept going. I tried not to get down. I tried not to think of it as failure. Many times my mind got the better of me. And I go sad. But… I just kept going. And here we are!

Now, 365 nights, 207 lucid dreams, and 877 regular dreams later, I continue to grow and up-level my lucidity and quality. While at the same time, I frequently have hazy, murky, low-level lucid dreams, plenty of non-lucid dreams, and whole a lot of dreams that are simply, utterly mundane.

All this to underscore that time, patience, and the most positive expectation framework that's right for you will go a long way... at least it did for me. There is no comparison to others, only to what you did yesterday. No matter where you think you are on your journey, you're right on track.

I am also so thankful for my teacher and mentor, Kristen LaMarca who has shaped my dreaming practice since studying under her Mindful Lucid Dreaming Program and to Andrew Holecek and his community of dreamers on the Night Club to which I am grateful to be a moderator.

Chart shows total number of dreams per month over one year.
Between June 2018 and June 2019, I recorded 1,084 total dreams.

Chart shows number of lucid dreams per month over one year.
Between June 2018 and June 2019, I recorded 207 lucid dreams (19%).

I’m headed to Norway!

Photo by John O'Nolan, thank you!

I’m off on an international adventure of Nordic proportions!

I’ll be in Norway for two weeks starting May 18th to June 2nd. I’m excited to get out there and practice my other love - Photography! And of course, I look forward to seeing how traveling through Norway will impact my dreams. I expect some early mornings, so dream time will be cut shorter… and there’s always the jet lag problem that might lead to strange dream time patterns - we’ll see!

In any case, I will be delayed in publishing my usual Dreams Last Week over the next two weeks… and a little bit afterward while I get myself caught up again. I won’t be able to dedicate as much time as I usually do to dream recording, so it will take some time to gather up the best material when I’m back. I do plan on retro-posting Dreams Last Week collected during my trip - or perhaps doing a single roll-up into a “Norway Dreams” post. Which sounds pretty good to me.

Until then! 👋

Pre-Vacation Stats: 8 Dreams (0 Lucid)

• 🕷 1043 - Bus Ride Shooting
• 💭 1044 - Confused Pride
• 💭 1045 - Arizona Tourists
• 💭 1046 - Secret Crush Party
• 🤣 1047 - Sorry Gendry
• 💭 1048 - Nuclear Disaster
• 💭 1049 - Re-Making the Paper Show
• 💭 1050 - Fleeting Snapshots - 05

🤣Silly, 🕷Nightmare