My Brain Always Believes a Dream is Reality!

**eicca** · 10-03-2010 03:36 AM

Yeah, so I've scored only 4 lucid dreams since I joined, and only one of them wasn't induced by the Inception Technique.

My recall is awesome, my dreams are mostly quite vivid, I do habitual reality checks, read new things about lucid dreaming all the time, etc etc.

Somehow I just can't pull off a natural DILD! Like I said, my dreams are very vivid, but they always feel so real I never think to question reality when I'm dreaming (even though I do in real life). Of course, when I wake up I'm like "dude, smarten up. That one was so obvious."

Any suggestions??

**Waterknight** · 10-03-2010 03:45 AM

Well I have a problem almost like yours. Except even stupider. Sometimes I will be dreaming and know that it is not real but not know that it is a dream. I dont know how I think that it isnt a dream when I know its not real.

**timujin** · 10-03-2010 09:05 AM

My case is even stupider: when i am dreaming, i think that i am watching film/anime or playing video game. So, every time i see something unreal, i dont RC. What a pity.

**grischkaja008** · 10-03-2010 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by eicca

Yeah, so I've scored only 4 lucid dreams since I joined

Well I joined DV in august 2009 and only had 5 lucids. You are doing better than I do. There are also other members which joined even befor me and didn't have a single LD.

Originally Posted by eicca

Any suggestions??

You must absolutely have a positive attitude: Don't be negative and don't stress yourself

. You have to think through the day: I'm gonna have a LD tonight! You must believe in it, be self-confident. I had my last LD yesterday: through the last week I improved my recall, performed RC, question reality, thinking about LD, just like you, even failed several times. But I didn't discourage my-self and just kept on believing. So don't give up, your patience will be awarded

**eicca** · 10-03-2010 07:27 PM

Thanks for the input

I've started thinking that DEILD is going to be my best bet...

**grischkaja008** · 10-03-2010 07:36 PM

You're welcome

**insideout** · 10-03-2010 08:01 PM

I have the same problem as you and Waterknight, but I'm still managed to have at least one lucid a week for the past four weeks. I think the best thing for us to do is to think positively and try not to worry about it.

**iDreambig** · 10-03-2010 08:09 PM

Everyone's brain does this (isn't it on the front page?). Your brain believes it is reality because everything that you analyze in the dream, you can see, smell, hear, and even touch it, so your mind is forced into believing it is truly real. For instance, if you saw flying pigs in your dream, you wouldn't say "That's impossible!" It would be more like "Oh yes, I saw that in the newspaper".

**eicca** · 10-03-2010 08:10 PM

Stupid brain... Hahaha

**Rathez** · 10-04-2010 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by iDreambig

Everyone's brain does this (isn't it on the front page?). Your brain believes it is reality because everything that you analyze in the dream, you can see, smell, hear, and even touch it, so your mind is forced into believing it is truly real. For instance, if you saw flying pigs in your dream, you wouldn't say "That's impossible!" It would be more like "Oh yes, I saw that in the newspaper".

Its actually the fact you aren't analyzing whats happening in your dream. During our dreams in REM sleep, our prefrontal cortex is shut off, which is very heavily involved with working memory. Since we lose the ability to actively hold information in the mind needed to do complex tasks such as reasoning and comprehension [Wikipedia, Working Memory], we accept the dream for what it is.

In a lucid dream, somehow our working memory switches on. This is when we realize something stupid in our dreams and become lucid (DILD). The prefrontal cortex during activity seems to be involved with serotonin, something we lack during sleep (proportionally to melatonin).

Personally, I see a link between this and my lucid dreams. Usually I lucid dream in the morning during rising serotonin levels, and in lucid dreams I always become lucid before RCing. RCing has never made me lucid, only confirmed. 5-HTP which is converted into serotonin is a well known supplement for lucid dreaming as well.

Now how do we trick our brains into switching on in sleep? That seems to be the golden question. I think through enough stress, we can train our brains to be very analytical of our dreams. Practicing awareness seems to be the most effective at getting the message across to our brain.

**eicca** · 10-04-2010 12:32 AM

Originally Posted by Rathez

Its actually the fact you aren't analyzing whats happening in your dream. During our dreams in REM sleep, our prefrontal cortex is shut off, which is very heavily involved with working memory. Since we lose the ability to actively hold information in the mind needed to do complex tasks such as reasoning and comprehension [Wikipedia, Working Memory], we accept the dream for what it is.

In a lucid dream, somehow our working memory switches on. This is when we realize something stupid in our dreams and become lucid (DILD). The prefrontal cortex during activity seems to be involved with serotonin, something we lack during sleep (proportionally to melatonin).

Personally, I see a link between this and my lucid dreams. Usually I lucid dream in the morning during rising serotonin levels, and in lucid dreams I always become lucid before RCing. RCing has never made me lucid, only confirmed. 5-HTP which is converted into serotonin is a well known supplement for lucid dreaming as well.

Now how do we trick our brains into switching on in sleep? That seems to be the golden question. I think through enough stress, we can train our brains to be very analytical of our dreams. Practicing awareness seems to be the most effective at getting the message across to our brain.

Great post. I also agree with the notion that reality checks don't induce lucid dreams, only confirm them. That's how my very first lucid dream went down. It was in the morning, and I suspected I was dreaming and did a reality check to make sure.

The other three of my lucid dreams have been in the middle of the night, however. They were also the first dreams to occur those nights.
I used the Inception Technique to induce those dreams, so I wonder if that particular pressure point on the wrist has to do with serotonin.

**iDreambig** · 10-04-2010 12:41 AM

Didn't know any of that TBH xD
Excellent post, agreed.
I had a pretty stupid dream, probably the stupidest one ever. I dreamed that I was trying to convince someone (i think it may have been my friend?) that he was dreaming, and at the same time I was semi-lucid, but didn't bother to RC because it just became a normal dream right after. During semi-lucidity, I kept telling him that he was dreaming, and then I thought about it for a minute. I was like 'Wait a minute o.O' but then I was like 'nah

' and went on into a different dream. lol.

**eicca** · 10-04-2010 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by iDreambig

Didn't know any of that TBH xD
Excellent post, agreed.
I had a pretty stupid dream, probably the stupidest one ever. I dreamed that I was trying to convince someone (i think it may have been my friend?) that he was dreaming, and at the same time I was semi-lucid, but didn't bother to RC because it just became a normal dream right after. During semi-lucidity, I kept telling him that he was dreaming, and then I thought about it for a minute. I was like 'Wait a minute o.O' but then I was like 'nah

' and went on into a different dream. lol.

Ha! That happened to me too a few weeks ago, almost exactly like that!

**iDreambig** · 10-04-2010 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by eicca

Ha! That happened to me too a few weeks ago, almost exactly like that!

are you serious? o.O thats kinda trippy. maybe its a sign or something. thats very interesting.

**eicca** · 10-04-2010 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by iDreambig

are you serious? o.O thats kinda trippy. maybe its a sign or something. thats very interesting.

Yeah, it was one of the nights I tried the Inception Technique.

**iDreambig** · 10-04-2010 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by eicca

Yeah, it was one of the nights I tried the Inception Technique.

oh I wasn't trying any technique at all, I was simply trying to fall asleep so idk haha. The key to WILDing is to fall asleep, so I did just that and that's what happened. But in the back of my mind I know I kept telling myself 'you're gonna wake up in a dream any minute' so maybe that has something to do with becoming semi-lucid.

**eicca** · 10-04-2010 12:47 AM

Sounds like you ended up with a sort of combination between WILD and MILD.

**Rathez** · 10-04-2010 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by eicca

Great post. I also agree with the notion that reality checks don't induce lucid dreams, only confirm them. That's how my very first lucid dream went down. It was in the morning, and I suspected I was dreaming and did a reality check to make sure.

The other three of my lucid dreams have been in the middle of the night, however. They were also the first dreams to occur those nights.
I used the Inception Technique to induce those dreams, so I wonder if that particular pressure point on the wrist has to do with serotonin.

Your Inception technique could have generated a strong placebo effect. I don't think applying pressure at your wrist would increase serotonin levels. For example, if you wake up in the middle of the night, you are going to be able to function properly.

Don't think that lucid dreaming revolves around serotonin, I was just commenting on what I have read in the past. It could just be it functions more effectively in the presence of serotonin, but I am unsure. This gets into quite a complex science.

Personally, I think you need to teach your brain to be very analytical at all times. That is what Tibetan dream yoga teaches, to realize your dreaming life and waking life are the same thing. Once you understand that, you can carry over qualities from waking life to dreaming life.