Thread: I am really doing something wrong, but what?

Originally Posted by Iriba

So, lets suppose i try to focus all my senses at once, and i can barely
handle 10 minutes. after those 10 minutes i'm supposed to question my reality
and reality check after that? then i continue to focus?? so if that ever happens in a dream
i will never lose my awareness or i will be reality checking.

Exactly, I mean this is how the technique would work, assuming all factors remain constant. And that's the thing isn't it? Can you actually remain aware for 10 minutes straight, every time? You don't know because anything could happen that could divert your attention away from awareness. Think about it, right now you could say, "I'm going to remain aware for 10 minutes straight then reality check." Yet how do you know you won't get distracted a minute or two after you start practicing? You could start training awareness, and 30 seconds into the practice you could already be daydreaming about something else. 2 minutes after that you get bored and again you start thinking about something else. 45 seconds have passed and suddenly you see something or someone talks to you and that reminds you of another thing you needed doing, so again you start thinking about it, and so again you are distracted.

You see, this is why I said the 10 minute rule ain't particularly beneficial to train awareness because there are so many things that can distract us at any time during the day, and we don't know when they'll happen. It's unpredictable. On the other hand, if you were to reality check every 10 minutes or every hour, then you have something constant, a time limit which you can use as a reference to reality check. It's something that's predictable, you know the 10 minute mark is your goal, and you know when exactly those 10 minutes will have passed. Then, you can go around the day checking the time every few seconds or so just to know how much time is left before you reality check. If 10 minutes have passed, you'll apply the technique. Still, what happens if you are still aware by the time the 10 minutes have passed? Would you still reality check? Why? If you're still aware then what's the point in reality checking?

When we're in our dreams (non-lucid), most of the time we don't have the opportunity to check the time or estimate how much of it has passed. Most of the time we'll be devoted entirely to the plot that the dream has created.