Forgetting chunks from dreams and RCs

**TheLucidDragon** · 08-12-2014 01:17 AM

So lately I've been forgetting to do regular reality checks, I used to do three different reality checks, one was counting my fingers, another was seeing if my finger could go through my hand and the third was plugging my nose to see if I can breathe through it. It slowly digressed to just plugging my nose and now I'm not doing it as regularly as I should. I also need to keep on top of doing mental reality checks, like "am I dreaming" "am I awake?" etc...

I think the main reason behind this is because I've been super tired lately, I've tried going to bed early or trying not to think lots before I go to sleep. And because of this I've also slowly begun to forget massive chunks from my dreams, it used to be a page or two of dot points but now it's only about 3 dot points or half a page.

But for some reason, even though I've been lacking in RCs etc... I've had more hypnagogic hallucinations than I've ever had. The first one I remember was after my first induced lucid dream, which you can read here and I started falling after doing a RC in the dream and I ended up just forcing myself awake and right in front of my eyes I saw what looked like a black hole 'sucking away' my dream. The second was about last week, I woke up and saw a figure kneeling beside the bed and the third was a person looking outside of my window beside my bed.

**n00bf0rlyf3** · 08-12-2014 02:50 AM

Take a break for a day or two if you have to, I like the profile picture btw. Skyrim is a great game. If you really have to you can always set an alarm to remind you to become aware and then stop that once you start doing them more often naturally again.

**OneUp** · 08-12-2014 03:44 AM

Hey man, RC's can definitely become a tiring thing to do at times, and when I used to do them, I too got tired of doing them. They became annoying after a while for me. Now I do self awareness and the ONLY time I doing Reality Checks is when something weird happens. Some advice man: slow down on the RC's and at most, only do them once every hour. If you feel you need to do 3 RC's you can, but I would cut it down to one or two because its alot less annoying in the long run. But hey every one is different and what I might find annoying might not be for you.
As for the chunks in Recall, that is definitely an effect of being tired, and also comes as a result of changing and not sticking to a consistent sleep schedule. If you start sticking to a consistent sleep schedule, you'll notice your dream recall will start to skyrocket, as long as you keep at it for a few days. For me it only takes about 2 days to get back my good recall. Also, if you were to drop some RC's and stick with 1 or 2, I would keep the nose plug, your breathing is almost always different in dreams.

**TheLucidDragon** · 08-14-2014 12:36 AM

Okay. I've narrowed down my RCs so that it's less of a chore, and yes I agree, Skyrim is an awesome game.

**TheLucidDragon** · 08-14-2014 12:41 AM

I've just started doing the nose plug every hour or so. I've had good recall so far because I've finally recovered from being really tired. I might do the finger through the hand (or just checking them) occasionally as back up just in case the nose plug doesn't work. I'm also in public most days cause of school so I'm trying to also focus on mental checks and self-awareness a little bit more.

**Zyangur** · 08-14-2014 01:46 AM

I tend to do the nose plug RC when I'm alone or around a lot of strangers in a crowd or something, but do the hand one at school and around family because it's less obvious. When I'm at school I try to also do more to be aware because I find that I go full autopilot a lot when I'm in class or at lunch.

**Walkio** · 08-14-2014 08:09 PM

I would set an alarm, or use an app like Awoken, which will play a reminder tone a few times throughout the day to prompt you.

**yaya** · 08-14-2014 08:30 PM

Wow!!!!! Three kinds of RC for one person? Good luck! But of course they are overwhelming. If you are looking for an easy way for RC, you can try pushing air out of your mouth while your lips are closed. If you are in a dream, the air come out of your closed mouth. It was invented by a member of this site and it works well for me too!

**ThreeCat** · 08-14-2014 09:14 PM

Concerning the black hole sucking your dream away: are you sure you weren't dreaming?

And RCs shouldn't be a chore. Every time you mindfully complete an RC, you should remind yourself that you just became lucid in a dream. Seriously.

**TheLucidDragon** · 08-19-2014 12:39 AM

I'm certain because I did a RC right after, I was fully aware in the dream so I could manage to force myself awake. I'm pretty sure it was just a hypnagogic hallucination though.

**TheLucidDragon** · 08-19-2014 12:43 AM

I swear I had a lucid last night, but I'm pretty sure it was a false-lucid. I was acting as if I knew I was dreaming, I was thinking about what I could do in the dream from my bucket list, but I don't think I actually knew I was dreaming. -__-

**ThreeCat** · 08-19-2014 01:02 AM

Happens to all of us, LucidDragon. Welcome to the club

**yaya** · 08-19-2014 12:52 PM

I doubt in lucid dreaming, we are actually LUCID the way we are in waking life! Even in a most vigilant LD, we look a little drunk. That's maybe due to the fact that many parts of our brain are still asleep during dreaming. Beside, LD happens during theta or deep alpha brain waves and our behavior during them are different from the beta state which is the waking state. Even a slight relaxation can make our mood and behaviors very different from when we actively think during the challenges of life.

So you are doing right but don't expect to be aware as much as you are aware during your waking state.

**ThreeCat** · 08-19-2014 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by yaya

I doubt in lucid dreaming, we are actually LUCID the way we are in waking life! Even in a most vigilant LD, we look a little drunk. That's maybe due to the fact that many parts of our brain are still asleep during dreaming. Beside, LD happens during theta or deep alpha brain waves and our behavior during them are different from the beta state which is the waking state. Even a slight relaxation can make our mood and behaviors very different from when we actively think during the challenges of life.

So you are doing right but don't expect to be aware as much as you are aware during your waking state.

I think we can be more lucid in a dream than we are during WL. Much of WL is focused on where we will be and where we have been, which is not lucidity--it's not awareness of the present moment. When we are caught up in trains of thought, it is difficult (if not impossible) to respond (not react) lucidly to phenomena.

I feel I am often a better, more open, and more honest person in my lucid dreams than I am in WL. All of the armor comes off and all of the attachments to WL things, people, and scenarios are severed. This is my experience, though.