Thread: Questions about school and ADA.

There are two things that helped me the most with ADA and effective reality checks, which helped me reach my first glimpse of lucid dreaming:

1. A Dot on your Hand

No joke, this seems silly but its SO effective. I put a small pen dot on my dominant hand's thumb, and I see it all day. Everytime I see it, I do a small or in-depth RC depending on the situation I'm in at the time. This constant RCing leads to practically all day awareness, and it makes it harder to forget to RC when I am busy. For example, just by typing this I looked at my keyboard and coincidentally saw the dot on my thumb, making me RC!

2. Don't ask "Am I Dreaming", ask "Why is this not a Dream"

This small shift in thinking has made my reality checks so much better. Where once I just held my nose and touched various surfaces, looking at the details of my surroundings and what-not, this question has made me much better at looking for the real differences of dream and waking life.

Why am I not dreaming? I stop and listen to the sounds of life going on around me, something I know that is beyond my control. I listen to smells, hear sounds, see faces, and I let them take me back into memories, places, or objects that I then try to remember as vividly as possible. What was I doing 15 minutes ago? How did I feel 15 minutes ago? Does it make sense for me to be here now? Where am I going? Then, I try to actively control waking life. Can I grow a plant out of this concrete? Can I fly right now? Can I make that person randomly trip? None of these compare to my favorite, patented check that I call the Door Check. Simply walk to a door, imagine anything you want behind it, and see if it materializes, or if the room takes a while to shift into focus after swinging the door open. If not - reality!

The only time I have been lucid in a dream was from this door strategy. I had a False Awakening, went to my bedroom door, and told myself I would see something totally unexpected. In my sleepiness I swung the door open quickly, and was met with the smells and heat of a trainstation, with a full steam engine train billowing its whistle... You can imagine my surprise!

Hopefully this helps anyone who reads it

~Raven