Thread: What to do between reality checks?

I think you might read some ADA tutorials to get some new ideas.
You can try to calm down and just feel the life around you. Feel the reality, feel every sense you have. This will help you to recognize just naturally whether you're dreaming or not.

Originally Posted by Hitokage

I think you might read some ADA tutorials to get some new ideas.
You can try to calm down and just feel the life around you. Feel the reality, feel every sense you have. This will help you to recognize just naturally whether you're dreaming or not.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll read up on some of those tutorials as well.

I wouldn't turn your nose up at the RC. Dreams can easily set up a scenario where you think you've "just RCed" (a false memory) and you will say something like, "meh, why RC? I know I'm not dreaming!" And then you wake up.

On the other hand, just try to maintain awareness as much as possible. I supposed I heck reality at least 50 times per day but I've never counted. If you are becoming lucid consistently then just keep what you've got. If not, maybe do the RC?

You can also do some other RC's you normally wouldn't do. Instead of the regular one, you could feel how gravity pushes you down. Does it feel normal? Does your environment seem odd it any way? Or one of my favorites, try to expect something to happen and see if it does. For instance, if you see an ice cream shop, you could say to yourself: there will probably exit someone with an ice cream then. Wait a bit and see if it happens. I guess it falls under: trying to control reality as if it were a dream.

It's always a good idea to switch up your RC's anyway.

Originally Posted by ThreeCat

I wouldn't turn your nose up at the RC. Dreams can easily set up a scenario where you think you've "just RCed" (a false memory) and you will say something like, "meh, why RC? I know I'm not dreaming!" And then you wake up.

On the other hand, just try to maintain awareness as much as possible. I supposed I heck reality at least 50 times per day but I've never counted. If you are becoming lucid consistently then just keep what you've got. If not, maybe do the RC?

I think RC’s are an excellent tool, ThreeCat; I wouldn’t turn my nose up at them at all. They’re great because they enhance your self-awareness throughout the day and help build a mindset for lucid dreaming. What I was trying to find was something you could use in addition to reality checks, in order to really increase your awareness generally, rather than relying on just the times you RC.

I do try to do reality checks regularly, but I don’t become lucid consistently, so I thought that there might be something you could use to supplement daytime practice, or find different ways of exerting awareness which would be more effective.

Originally Posted by MrPriority

You can also do some other RC's you normally wouldn't do. Instead of the regular one, you could feel how gravity pushes you down. Does it feel normal? Does your environment seem odd it any way? Or one of my favorites, try to expect something to happen and see if it does. For instance, if you see an ice cream shop, you could say to yourself: there will probably exit someone with an ice cream then. Wait a bit and see if it happens. I guess it falls under: trying to control reality as if it were a dream.

It's always a good idea to switch up your RC's anyway.

Great advice, MrPriority. I’ll be sure to try that out!

There is a tool from Tibetan dream yoga that encourages the practitioner to pretend that everything before them is a dream. Oftentimes we don't become lucid because we trust the appearance before us to be real. If we begin with the prospect that all is dream -- our family, friends, job, thoughts, and emotions -- we begin to develop a more critical mindset. A little different from some methods on this site, but very effective when coupled with mindfully-employed RCs.

Originally Posted by ThreeCat

There is a tool from Tibetan dream yoga that encourages the practitioner to pretend that everything before them is a dream. Oftentimes we don't become lucid because we trust the appearance before us to be real. If we begin with the prospect that all is dream -- our family, friends, job, thoughts, and emotions -- we begin to develop a more critical mindset. A little different from some methods on this site, but very effective when coupled with mindfully-employed RCs.

Wow sounds like it would be very effective, Im going to try that out ThreeCat, thanks!

Originally Posted by OneUpBoy71

Wow sounds like it would be very effective, Im going to try that out ThreeCat, thanks!

Cool, hope it helps, because I want to win this competition! Lol

You only perform a RC in a moment of raised awareness. The RC is a tool, a yes/no "am I dreaming?" state check. It is a very valuable tool, but it is not the road to lucidity in and of itself. You won't perform the RC unless you're already thinking about your state, about whether or not you're dreaming. The key to lucidity is to cultivate a continual mindfulness/vigilance, a constant looking-out for the dream state. There are many ways there and a number of threads discussing the various ways.

Meditation is more or less considered universally excellent for lucid dreaming.

I recommend you read through and work on sivason's dream yoga exercises in the DV academy, they give you a large set of exercises to work on in between RCs that benefit your overall dreaming experience, and they will keep you busy for years if not more perfecting them.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

You only perform a RC in a moment of raised awareness. The RC is a tool, a yes/no "am I dreaming?" state check. It is a very valuable tool, but it is not the road to lucidity in and of itself. You won't perform the RC unless you're already thinking about your state, about whether or not you're dreaming. The key to lucidity is to cultivate a continual mindfulness/vigilance, a constant looking-out for the dream state.

Yes this is what I’m beginning to think, FryingMan. I do RC regularly throughout the day, but I would say that it’s very much a “when I remember” kind of thing; I don’t have it on my mind all day, so maybe I’m not being 'aware' enough generally. This is why I thought the practice of doing RC’s perhaps needed something more. I’m just going to use this as an example, but the first idea I came up with was something like critical ADA. I thought this would be good in addition to RC’s, because you would be constantly tuned in to things which you know are different in a dream than in reality, like transitions, gravity etc. and it would make sure that you keep the awareness up for longer times. The 'critical' element (preparing your mind to notice the difference between the states) would ensure that self-awareness is included as well. So even if you never noticed the 'difference' or oddity, you may become lucid purely from the awareness you’ve put into it during the day. Now I could be wrong about that, but I thought something like this would really enhance mental prep and be a lot more effective.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

I recommend you read through and work on sivason's dream yoga exercises in the DV academy, they give you a large set of exercises to work on in between RCs that benefit your overall dreaming experience, and they will keep you busy for years if not more perfecting them.

Great! I’ll make sure to have a look.