3 stages: dreaming,realisation, reality check?

So, so far as to my understanding and from the articles/vids i have been watching. People always talk about how they start off dreaming then realise something is odd then do a reality check.

Here's my problem no matter how odd my dreams are maybe not odd enough cause they are never vivid but. So here is my problem, no matter how odd it never click on my head that hang on you shouldn't be here etc. I just never come to that realisation stage.

dream recall would never work cause my dreams never repeat. but they have helped me remember every dream i have had since i started my dream journal.

You need to train yourself to recognize weird things in waking life too

Those are the steps while asleep for a DILD, yes, but many techniques utilize other actions/mindsets. Whenever you're dreaming the part of your brain associated with reasoning is primarily shut off, therefore you end up with crazy things that could never possible happen in waking life but in a dream you see them as everyday occurrences. The key to DILD is training yourself to keep that part of your brain on, training yourself to stay aware both in waking life as well as the dream world. This is done through various techniques such as ADA, reality checks and awareness in general. The only things that can increase your chances of having a plain DILD are things that you have to do in waking life.

If you're doing a MILD or even a WILD/DEILD then there are more steps and more work but generally they become more reliable once you get better at them. MILD can be used to try to increase your awareness while in a dream so that those odd things catch your eye and make you stop and think, or just to become lucid in general. WILD/DEILD are both used to go directly from being awake to being in a dream and they each have their own specific steps which vary from DILD. If you have any questions on them feel free to ask or read one of the various tutorials on them :)

No no no...you people are doing it wrong, your supposed to get into the habit of doing reality checks in waking life so when your in a dream youll do one without thinking. It goes more like this: Dreaming -> R.C. -> Realization, or at least thats the more efficient way.

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Originally Posted by ImBored

No no no...you people are doing it wrong, your supposed to get into the habit of doing reality checks in waking life so when your in a dream youll do one without thinking. It goes more like this: Dreaming -> R.C. -> Realization, or at least thats the more efficient way.

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Well not quite. Whenever I've been able to do an RC in a dream I already knew I was dreaming - it was more of a confirmation of it. But you are right that you're supposed to get used to doing RCs in waking life - especially any time you recognize a dream sign or things seem a little weird.

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Originally Posted by Darkmatters

Well not quite. Whenever I've been able to do an RC in a dream I already knew I was dreaming - it was more of a confirmation of it. But you are right that you're supposed to get used to doing RCs in waking life - especially any time you recognize a dream sign or things seem a little weird.

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Well at least thats how I do it. Because if you think about it, if your not using rc's to realize your dreaming then what are you really doing? Your just going to sleep and hoping you have a lucid dream and then if you do you perform an rc (If your using the DILD method) whatever though im not going to argue

Oh I'm not saying you shouldn't do RCs - it's vitally important to do them! It keeps you used to always thinking "is this waking life, or am I dreaming now?" - and that's the mindset you need.

But speaking for myself, I've never done an RC that made me realize I'm dreaming. I have however suddenly realized I was dreaming and then done RCs just to confirm - it not only confirms but seems to strengthen your awareness in the dream. I've also seen many other people on the board say the same thing. Maybe it does work the other way for some people though.

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Originally Posted by Darkmatters

But speaking for myself, I've never done an RC that made me realize I'm dreaming. I have however suddenly realized I was dreaming and then done RCs just to confirm

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This is exactly how I get lucid most of the time, getting into the habit of RCing during the day is not just about you performing a reality check, its about you questioning whether its a dream or not.
So once you're in a dream you will question this yourself, which in a dream mostly (for me) does not take a RC to conclude that it is a dream, you just know, then after that you know that its a dream you use a RC to confirm it.

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Originally Posted by Ladusence

This is exactly how I get lucid most of the time, getting into the habit of RCing during the day is not just about you performing a reality check, its about you questioning whether its a dream or not.
So once you're in a dream you will question this yourself, which in a dream mostly (for me) does not take a RC to conclude that it is a dream, you just know, then after that you know that its a dream you use a RC to confirm it.

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It works the same way for me, i will realize or at least suspect that im dreaming, then do a reality check to make sure. I have never done an RC in a dream without suspecting i was dreaming first.

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Originally Posted by Darkmatters

Oh I'm not saying you shouldn't do RCs - it's vitally important to do them! It keeps you used to always thinking "is this waking life, or am I dreaming now?" - and that's the mindset you need.

But speaking for myself, I've never done an RC that made me realize I'm dreaming. I have however suddenly realized I was dreaming and then done RCs just to confirm - it not only confirms but seems to strengthen your awareness in the dream. I've also seen many other people on the board say the same thing. Maybe it does work the other way for some people though.

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Well to each his own. I find it easier to let the rc's do the work for me though.

For me, the realization and RC follow each other so fast, it's really hard to tell, which one is first.

But I believe, that realization is split second before the RC. I say "wow, this is a dream" and before I finish saying it, I'm already counting my fingers and examining my hand. Or plugging my nose or sticking a thumb through palm.

All those RCs happen automatically, I don't think I ever did one by deciding to do it. It's like a reflex. By the end of doing RC, I'm more sure that I'm dreaming and it feels like it gets me more involved inside the dream. Happy dreams:)