Thread: What if we do this?

This might be a stupid post.. but I decided to do it anyway, maybe it's worth something. It's probably not anything you haven't heard before, but what if we adopt the mindset of always, or as often as we can, looking out for weird things in our environment, and doing a quick, effective RC whenever we notice something out of the ordinary?
In theory, this would form a habit, if you do it enough times per day with enough attention and awareness, habit which would carry over in our dreams, which are usually (for most people) full of strange things and events, and trigger lucidity via the RC. I know some people already do this as a side thing, but what if we make it the main thing, or very close, very important?
Of course, since most people's lives aren't filled with constant nonsensical events like a lot of dreams are, we would have to lower our standards for what's considered "out of the ordinary". Such as a person saying something we don't quite understand completely, a misplaced object, a strange looking image, a sudden problem of any magnitude, etc. Whenever that happens, notice that something's strange, (I like to say in my head "that's weird, am I dreaming right now?) and quickly pinch your nose and try to breathe (maybe it's better to try at least 3 exhales? I'm saying because I had the nose pinch RC fail me a couple times in dreams before, I only tried exhaling once when it failed), or try to push your finger through something solid like a wall or your other hand (or both, to be more sure), and if you're in public or somewhere you can't afford to randomly hold your nose and put your hands on things, do a mental RC, like try to make an object float, or change color or shape.
Worth mentioning that, as with most techniques that require your attention throughout the day, it would take a while to get into the habit of noticing things that are out of the ordinary, it would be easy to let strange things go unnoticed and unchecked with a RC. Whenever that happens, I think it would be a good memory exercise to think back of the events that happened earlier and try to identify anything weird and then do a RC.
So yeah.. what do youse think? Worth trying or waste of time?

p.s. I don't think it would require a lot of awareness in order for someone to notice a weird thing in their dreams, because it happened to me before and I am godawful at DILDs, which rely a lot on awareness/self awareness, and I also did very few RCs when I noticed something weird, throughout a period of 3 weeks.

Yeah, I think its a good idea Mimi.

Generally the more RCs the better. The more twisted you are into LDing the better.

I think many of us do these things as often as we can! I am personally a firm believer in focused, moment-before-the-dream induction, but without the above-mentioned day work, induction is much less effective (if not useless). I also make it a habit to RC if my progress is being impeded in any way: out-of-order sign on bathroom, detours, lid on the pickle jar too tight, etc.

I've been doing Tholey's combined method for a few weeks now, which includes but is not limited to what you described (maybe RCs are not as frequent as your post suggests) and is working very well for me

Check my sig….."Continuously Vigilant!" (for the dream state). This is definitely one thing I've been doing for a lot of this year.

The dream state is made up not only of things that are "weird." Dreams have a certain "feel" to them. It's one reason why becoming very familiar with your dreams (via building great dream recall) is so important to lucid dreaming. Keeping an eye out for "weird" things or new things is definitely part of it, however.

It's useful whenever you see something weird to say out loud "That's weird…. I'm dreaming!" This helps to build a strong memory association that "weird = dreaming" that can punch through the fog and impaired memory of the dream state.

After experiencing a certain number of vivid non-lucids (the sort where you wake and think "wait, you mean that was a *dream*!?"), and lucidity moments where you think "What!? This is a *dream*!? I felt so *awake*!?", you really internalize the fact that at *any conscious moment*, you could be dreaming. Of course the Tibetan dream yogis go one better, they say "Yes! We *are* dreaming all the time!"

Vigilance is one of the tools in the toolbox.

I don't consider continuous vigilance exactly the same as LaBerge/Tholey reflection/intention. For one thing, vigilance is more "background" than a "Stop! What's going on!?" moment. Too many of those reflection/intention moments can wear you out. They are effective, though, and are definitely worth doing at least a few times a day.

Vigilance is just a sort of continuous affirmation that yes, at any time, you could be dreaming, and to be on the lookout for those signs, whatever they are for you.

Yes, you are right FM, constant awareness is quite different from Tholey's Combine technique. I've noticed for me is much more effective as it not only include awareness work, but also prospective memory, intention, "regular" memory, auto-suggestion and maybe other stuff. I got a draft of why I think it is very good technique for those of us starting out with DILD at the bottom of my signature, but ovbiously there is no particular technique that works for everyone, and I did enjoy trying some forms of constant awareness, even if I've put them aside for the time being.

^^ I think that the structure of the LaBerge approach is very helpful for beginners who are (I know I sure was!) overwhelmed with techniques, approaches, etc., in all the books and tutorials out there. I know that I was not really ready for mindfulness, vigilance, continuous RC approaches right at the start. For one, before the continuous mindfulness approaches make sense, you first have to get that gut feeling that at any time, you could be dreaming. I know that did not come for me until about 6 months in to my practice. Others may get it sooner. Basically, do what feels right for you. Raise/drop the intensity to match your personal situation.

Everyone basically needs to get to the point where they can write their own "I think I finally get it" essay like you've done. These are beneficial for beginners to read, but beginners really need to find their own path and build a personalised practice based on how they've framed the fundamentals in their own minds. As Sensei put it, if you follow someone, you'll never quite get to where they are. One must find one's own path.

And the Bruce Lee quote paraphrased, "Keep what works, dump what doesn't work, make it your own."

Thanks for the replies, I've been trying to do this and also continuous mindfulness (looking for weird things and being mindful kinda help each other simultaneously), it's still difficult to keep in mind though, especially when I'm working on the computer and have to focus, I find it very hard to divide my attention between work and mindfulness/awareness.
Also, I have an idea but it might be overkill.. which is, whenever you notice you've "tuned out", that you've been on auto-pilot for a while, ask yourself "am I dreaming?" and do a quick nose pinch RC. Now it might be overkill because the average person "tunes out" a lot throughout the day. I know I do. But I sometimes get mad at myself for not being able to stay tuned in for longer, it's so frustrating.

Very interesting topic indeed. I have also been playing with this idea, and trying to come up with the best way to persue it. Though I tend to aproach it somewhat differently(which also has been in several discussions here). I think it's also very important to understand just what part of a RC makes it a good idea. For me, I never got lucid from an RC habit. When I get lucid it is because I either recognize something as out of the ordinary, or I just "know" somehow. I feel the major part about a RC that makes it so good is that you take a step back from whatever you do and you question everything. Because, when in a dream, it is not about spotting what is different. Often times everything is different in a dream, they can even be quite absurd. The problem is that you never care to critically think about things in a dream. And I believe that is the thing what makes a RC so valuable. Though this could be practiced without a RC too.

Seconldy, for obvious reasons, it's also good to have dreaming on your mind as often as you can. So that when you actually do question something, dreaming is the first thing that comes to mind.

I once had a little experiment where I kept track of my breathing at all times. Just so that I could train being aware of something. This resulted in me always knowing when I was "zoned out". The moment I realized I wasn't keeping track of my breath, I knew that I had dozed off and I immediately did an RC. My personal experience with that was: It works like a charm, but soon I had to RC about once a minute and it became very tiring. Later on I changed it to being aware of my gravity after being inspired by Hukif and his method. Though I never really got that to work for me.

Anyways, i could ramble on about this topic for hours. So much that I have trouble really making one good point out of it. But I sure love to talk about it For now I'll leave it at this.

Originally Posted by MrPriority

Very interesting topic indeed. I have also been playing with this idea, and trying to come up with the best way to persue it. Though I tend to aproach it somewhat differently(which also has been in several discussions here). I think it's also very important to understand just what part of a RC makes it a good idea. For me, I never got lucid from an RC habit. When I get lucid it is because I either recognize something as out of the ordinary, or I just "know" somehow. I feel the major part about a RC that makes it so good is that you take a step back from whatever you do and you question everything. Because, when in a dream, it is not about spotting what is different. Often times everything is different in a dream, they can even be quite absurd. The problem is that you never care to critically think about things in a dream. And I believe that is the thing what makes a RC so valuable. Though this could be practiced without a RC too.

You're right, that awareness boost and critical thinking must be the most important part of an RC, the rest is to make sure whether or not you're dreaming.

I once had a little experiment where I kept track of my breathing at all times. Just so that I could train being aware of something. This resulted in me always knowing when I was "zoned out". The moment I realized I wasn't keeping track of my breath, I knew that I had dozed off and I immediately did an RC. My personal experience with that was: It works like a charm, but soon I had to RC about once a minute and it became very tiring. Later on I changed it to being aware of my gravity after being inspired by Hukif and his method. Though I never really got that to work for me.

Interesting. I tried the breathing thing as well some time ago, but didn't stick to it for long enough because I have a bad habit of (purposefully or not) jumping from one technique to another without giving one its fair chance. It's nice to know that it works for someone, so thanks for sharing, maybe I should try it again too.

Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

Interesting. I tried the breathing thing as well some time ago, but didn't stick to it for long enough because I have a bad habit of (purposefully or not) jumping from one technique to another without giving one its fair chance. It's nice to know that it works for someone, so thanks for sharing, maybe I should try it again too.

I identify with that so much! But recently I had an "epiphany". Many people around here keep changing techniques because they don't find the one that works for them, but I already knew a technique that worked very well for me (Tholey/LaBerg Combined method) and was wasting my time an energy looking for the best/perfect technique. I still would like to master Hukif's technique, but I have committed now to the technique that works for me. Maybe, as Fryman said, when I've already walked my "beginner path" and have a solid fundation I'll go back for Hukif's or similar technique.

This is exactly what I did when I used Self Awareness, and its basically the only thing I do now since I don't really have a solid technique. I always looked for the weird, and I can verify 100% that it works man. For me its like the main charm, and the 2nd most common reason that I become lucid, the first being I just become lucid out of no where- I guess that has do to with the intention and belief thing you always see me mentioning in alot of threads lol. In the end, this mindset is totally worth a try, and if you do it right you won't be disappointment.
As I always say, believe in yourself, thats the key to success in any method/technique/mindset. Of course though that statement only has the power that you give it.

Interesting. I tried the breathing thing as well some time ago, but didn't stick to it for long enough because I have a bad habit of (purposefully or not) jumping from one technique to another without giving one its fair chance. It's nice to know that it works for someone, so thanks for sharing, maybe I should try it again too.

Yea I used to do that back when I first started off LDing, but after some time I decided to stick with one technique, the first one really being Self Awareness. I was surprised by how much success I achieved just by sticking with it. The more you stick with a technique, the easier it becomes and the more it becomes part of you so it becomes effortless in a sense. Give it a shot man, but make sure you stick with it, thats when the technique/mindset/method really blooms. You almost never get to unlock the full potential of one if you don't give it a certain amount of time to really wear onto you.