Practicing self-awareness and SSILD for 10 weeks

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Originally Posted by Sageous

It's called a "Reality Check," and not a "Dream Check," and for good reason. When you do a reality check/critical state test, you should be assuming that you are in waking-life reality, and are wondering (or have become suspicious) if the place you are in is really a dream. If, say, your finger does not go straight through your palm, then the result of your RC is positive, and not negative, because you have confirmed that you are indeed in reality. So, if you use the RC correctly, it won't bother you at all that it confirmed reality, because that is what it is supposed to do. And yes, when you do one in a dream (when not yet lucid) you will be doing so from the same position of assuming that everything around you is waking-life reality, only the RC will come up negative and you will know that you are dreaming.

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This seems to make sense to me, but let's see if I have it right...

One assumes one is awake, but something perhaps seems out of the ordinary. So the assumption is awake with an inkling of doubt or suspicion, so a RC is performed to confirm one is awake while at the same time being aware of the possibility, however slight, of being in a dream. Thumb doesn't pass through palm, can't breathe through pinched nose, etc. = Positive RC = Awake. Thumb passes through hand, can breathe while pinching nose = Negative/Failed RC = Dreaming.

So... Since in all my dreams the thought never, ever crosses my mind I'm not awake, this practice starts to implant that space for doubt and practice to test state (RC) into my subconscious during waking life, which in turn might eventually manifest while I'm dreaming and result in a RC.

Is my understanding correct?

^^ Yes, it seems to me that your understanding is correct.

summery of week 5=
i do RC and self-awareness practice 2 times in every hour. i only do it when i am not very busy. so that's not good. because in dreams we are not always at peace. maybe i should do RC specially when i am busy too. so when ever i talk so someone, i will do the practice too plus those stable 2 times.
i didn't have any LD this week and i only had 1 FA. also one night, i did RC but it failed to show me that i am dreaming.

how do i feel now? i feel i should practice more seriously. something is wrong....

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Originally Posted by yaya

...maybe i should do RC specially when i am busy too. so when ever i talk so someone, i will do the practice too plus those stable 2 times. ....

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That was a good decision. Did you just start doing this? Maybe it needs time to "kick in" in your dreaming mind.

Also, I always wait at least two or three dry weeks before being concerned that something is wrong...might just be a slowdown.

thank you so much!:)
yes, i have started it from this morning and as you said it will take time to get used to it! i feel a little stressed when my environment gets busy (as in my dreams) so only practice can make perfect...that will be slow but running flow!

summery of week 6=
well, i love the DILD practices and i do them 2 times in one hour + when i am very busy (specially when i play video games). also i do RRC and RC whenever i see a person or when i see myself in mirror (as it is my dream sign).
I could do RC in my dreams in this week for 5 times and all of them failed to show me i am dreaming. LOL.... also i had 2 FA.
i think it is much much better than previous week. my plan for this week is to extend my RRC and RC duration a little bit more in order to be able to recognize the difference of nature of reality and dreams!

This is to Sageous, sorry if it's a little late but cany tips on the RRC your talking about? im not sure im actually doing it right lol... and im having some trouble actually getting lucid and its been frustrating the past few months.
Any help and tips?

BTW is nice to hear of your progress yaya, 4 weeks have done alot for you huh lol. Nice!:D

^^ Well, this thread might not be the place for it, but here is an excerpt from the first session of my DVA WILD class, where I introduce the RRC:

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How do you develop self-awareness? There are many ways, and we’ll likely talk about others during upcoming conversations, but the exercise I’ll offer today is simple introduction to the practice, sort of a Reality Check in reverse:

Here’s what to do: At random intervals during the day – at least once an hour but no more than three times in that hour – stop what you’re doing and wonder. Just hold still for a second and remember where you were five minutes ago, imagine where you’ll be in five minutes, and know that everything you’re doing right now has an effect on everything and everyone around you, and everything and everyone around you has an effect on you – even if you don’t realize it.

The important part here is to think deeply about your place in all the stuff that’s whirling around you at any given time, and to really think about what all that whirling is doing to you, and what you might be doing to the whirling. During waking life, you might find yourself very often assuming that there’s not much whirling about at all or that there’s not much of an exchange of effect going on. There always is, whether you can feel it or not. Think about the fact that there is an exchange of atoms between your feet and the floor you’re treading: in a sense you’re changing reality itself, if ever so slightly, just by standing there! It is therefore extremely important to take a moment and remember that you exist, and your existence matters – even if you don’t think it does.

You don’t have to recite all those questions every time; that would be annoying, and the process of reciting all that might diminish the effect. Basically you should put it all into a single quick thought that means something to you, and allows wonder to linger after you’ve resumed moving through your waking day. It will be difficult at first, but with practice you won’t be using words at all when you pause, as the questions will have become second nature. Be very careful that the questions never lose their wonder, though. If they become rote -- just a bunch of words you say whenever your iPhone app goes off -- then you will have lost the point of doing the exercise because you will not be acknowledging your self.

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That's pretty much it, though as the questions came in, mostly in the WILD Q&A thread from the class, there were a couple of modest adjustments to the description (like, five minutes might be to short a time to look back and forward), so if you're really interested you could wander through that thread as well and check out the many conversations about RRC's.

Basically, though, the RRC is nothing more -- or less -- than taking a moment to remember where you just were, where you will be shortly, and where you are right now, and wonder about the answers to each, especially in terms of your interaction with your local reality.

That's what I got; I don't want to interrupt Yaya's thread too much, but if you have any more questions, feel free to post them on the WILD Q & A thread from the class, and I'll try to help.

I try to be aware in every location and time,but it's not in everyone s power!good topic yaya you began

you're welcome bro! yes that's hard to be aware in every situation and unfortunately our dreams are that busy too. most of my DILDs have happened when i was not busy and was in peace in dreams so i could think about my environment. but these moments are really rare in our dreams. i hate this part but no way. we have to deal with it;-)
it will get better with practice. the most busy and distracting time for me is while playing disciples III. i can have kind of mindfulness and awareness during it but sometimes i need to pause the game to practice my DILD. i know in dreams nothing will pause for me but i allow myself to deal with DILD very slowly (but continuously) as too much pressure have counter-effect on our progress.
so even if you could hold your awareness for some minutes in busy situations, that's good! it will get better day after day!

summery of week 7=

this week, i did RRC (remembering the last 15 minutes and sometimes more.....of my daily activities and the future goals in that day) plus doing 3 types of RC every half an hour. I also do them in busy situations.....but i still have not catched myself 100% for doing RRC+RC in front of mirror (my dream sign) and i only remember to do it 80% of times. so i have a lot of works in this regard. i still have difficultly to do my practice when i am highly exited too....so i can't have much expectation to have LD in my dreams and i need more practice.

from last two days until now, i have eliminated my 1 hour daily meditation and instead, i practice ADR (all day reality check). when ever i am distracted, i try to return my mind to my ADR practice...not only it is a kind of keeping mindfulness but it is a constant RC in my daily life. my RC for ADR, is feeling the tactile sense of my feet on the ground. so if i can touch the ground beneath my feet, i am awake and if i don't feel it, i am dreaming. i can hold this awareness overally 15 minutes per hour (for example, i can hold my awareness on my RC for 1 minute and then my mind is distracted for 3 minutes and again 1 minutes of awareness and then about 3-4 minutes of distraction and so on....).

my results in this week:
- in 4 situation in my dreams in this week, i stopped and analyzed the dream and i knew something is wrong but i didn't do RC....damn....
- i had 2 FA.
- i did 1 RC but it failed to show me that i am dreaming.
- no LD from this DILD practice (i can't expect it too because it is very soon).

well, after 4 days of doing ADR (all day RC) and paying attention to the tactile feeling of the ground, i had a dream tonight about it and the feeling of ground beneath my feet was nearly the same as wakefulness. so i think it's not a good idea to pay attention to that RC for all day long. so i may want to change this type of RC to another thing. i think as master sivason said, i should pay attention to the objects around me and their details and if they change. this is what he does:

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Originally Posted by sivason

Stability of the visual field.

Basically if you are lucid and look at anything for more than a few seconds inconsistencies appear. This could be a slight rotation to what you are seeing that keeps self correcting, or slight moving patterns in things like wood grain. You will also notice that fine detail is missing in a dream, as in a lack of tiny dust flecks and things like that. I simply take 30 seconds many times a day and look directly at something and watch carefully for these instabilities.

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summery of week 8=

I still do RRC and RC, 2 times per hour. also i did dream yoga for 5 minutes per hour too (thinking that i am dreaming in my waking life).
I also did ADR (all day reality check) every 5 minutes (looking at objects if they change or not).

now the results of this week=

- 1 LD (i felt strange in my dream and then RCed and saw that objects changed).
- 2 failed RC (I did RC but they failed to show me that i am dreaming).
- in 3 situations in my dream i could notice that things are strange but didn't RC.

for this week, i continue my previous practices.

Yaya have you ever tried maintaining awareness for a longer period of time? Like over 5 minutes? I find that's the real difficult stuff.

Hello dear Mimi!

well, of course it is hard!

i can only hold my awareness on dream yoga (convincing ourselves we are dreaming, not awake) for 5 minutes per hour. you can't believe what happened to me when i started to believe that this wakefulness is just a dream....in first days, my blood pressure decreased and i was stressed so bad. as a result, my immune system function was really suppressed because of the mental tension. so i easily catch cold although i was at home and i wasn't among the others to get their virus. so it was a sign of a deep transformation.
a
in that 5 minutes per hour of awareness on dream yoga, i feel high vibration of energy in my head and i feel hyper-awake. sometimes i feel i am going to go crazy....but that's good! i like it.

so if i want to extend that 5 minutes to say, 10 minutes, i am sure i will be exploded or really shocked. :poke:

good thing is that, in every 5 minutes (12 times per hour), i do an RC (not a long RC which i do every half an hour, but a simple quick one i do for my ADR (all day reality check) every 5 minutes.

wait a minute.... this approach gave me only 2 LD in these 8 weeks. so...i am a bit slow. in these day, i really think about LD most of the time.

so do you think if i extend my 5 minutes of dream yoga per hour (or any other typed of awareness) to more minutes, it would give me better and quicker results?

you are very very more experienced than me and you have always help me very kindly :hug: . so, i am very exited to listen to your new advice!

thank you!

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Originally Posted by yaya

Hello dear Mimi!

well, of course it is hard!

i can only hold my awareness on dream yoga (convincing ourselves we are dreaming, not awake) for 5 minutes per hour. you can't believe what happened to me when i started to believe that this wakefulness is just a dream....in first days, my blood pressure decreased and i was stressed so bad. as a result, my immune system function was really suppressed because of the mental tension. so i easily catch cold although i was at home and i wasn't among the others to get their virus. so it was a sign of a deep transformation.
a
in that 5 minutes per hour of awareness on dream yoga, i feel high vibration of energy in my head and i feel hyper-awake. sometimes i feel i am going to go crazy....but that's good! i like it.

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Damn, that sounds extreme! And unhealthy, you sure it's because of dream yoga and not something unrelated? You should ask Sivason if you haven't already.

Yeah, 1 LD per month doesn't sound too good.. Do you use WBTB though? I actually don't think you should extend those 5 minutes, if you say it makes you feel sick and weird.
Here's what I am trying to do these days. And I put emphasize on "trying" because it's so damn difficult to maintain and easy to forget XD I try to keep in mind, for as long as possible, where I am, what am I doing, and if it makes sense to my person. I also do RRCs asking questions like that. I checked many of my dreams and realized even only the location in the majority of them doesn't make sense, if only I could ask myself "does it make sense for me to be here?" I would be lucid in 60% or more of my dreams. So I'm trying to keep an eye out on where am I, what am I doing, and if it makes logical sense. Though I'd say it really is important to think if your situation logically ties in to yourself, that way you would know you're in a weird situation and you're dreaming.
Example of what I'd consider "bad" awareness:
In a dream, I find myself living at aunt's house, I ask myself "Wait, where am I?" *checks surroundings* "Oh, I'm at my aunt's house, okay"
Example of what I'd consider "good" (self) awareness:
In a dream, I find myself living at my aunt's house, I ask myself "Wait, where am I?" *checks surroundings* "Oh, I'm at my aunt's house. Does it make sense for me to be here? ..No, I don't live here!" *does reality check* Lucidity!
^ In a perfect world XD
That's my current awareness practice.. Could be unideal so let me know, but it makes sense to me. Now if only practicing it would be as easy as explaining it >.>

p.s. I'm not saying you're doing wrong by doing dream yoga, if it works for you, keep doing it. I just never understood why it allegedly works. I mean if you spend your days thinking you are dreaming, and doing nothing about it, like not using dream control or doing anything fun or dream goals (because you can't, you're awake, duh), isn't it likely you will do the exact same thing in your dreams? Just out of habit? Like be in a dream, think you are dreaming, and then do nothing because that's what you're used to doing in waking life? I don't know, it sounds like that's what would happen to me, if anyone could explain how imagining you are dreaming the whole day can induce lucidity, that would be awesome.

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Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

Damn, that sounds extreme! And unhealthy, you sure it's because of dream yoga and not something unrelated? You should ask Sivason if you haven't already.

Yeah, 1 LD per month doesn't sound too good.. Do you use WBTB though? I actually don't think you should extend those 5 minutes, if you say it makes you feel sick and weird.
Here's what I am trying to do these days. And I put emphasize on "trying" because it's so damn difficult to maintain and easy to forget XD I try to keep in mind, for as long as possible, where I am, what am I doing, and if it makes sense to my person. I also do RRCs asking questions like that. I checked many of my dreams and realized even only the location in the majority of them doesn't make sense, if only I could ask myself "does it make sense for me to be here?" I would be lucid in 60% or more of my dreams. So I'm trying to keep an eye out on where am I, what am I doing, and if it makes logical sense. Though I'd say it really is important to think if your situation logically ties in to yourself, that way you would know you're in a weird situation and you're dreaming.
Example of what I'd consider "bad" awareness:
In a dream, I find myself living at aunt's house, I ask myself "Wait, where am I?" *checks surroundings* "Oh, I'm at my aunt's house, okay"
Example of what I'd consider "good" (self) awareness:
In a dream, I find myself living at my aunt's house, I ask myself "Wait, where am I?" *checks surroundings* "Oh, I'm at my aunt's house. Does it make sense for me to be here? ..No, I don't live here!" *does reality check* Lucidity!
^ In a perfect world XD
That's my current awareness practice.. Could be unideal so let me know, but it makes sense to me. Now if only practicing it would be as easy as explaining it >.>

p.s. I'm not saying you're doing wrong by doing dream yoga, if it works for you, keep doing it. I just never understood why it allegedly works. I mean if you spend your days thinking you are dreaming, and doing nothing about it, like not using dream control or doing anything fun or dream goals (because you can't, you're awake, duh), isn't it likely you will do the exact same thing in your dreams? Just out of habit? Like be in a dream, think you are dreaming, and then do nothing because that's what you're used to doing in waking life? I don't know, it sounds like that's what would happen to me, if anyone could explain how imagining you are dreaming the whole day can induce lucidity, that would be awesome.

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WOW! thank you sooooo much, my dear sister!:loveyou:

well, i do that dream yoga to make me believe that i could be dreaming in every moment of my life. because sometimes i am sure i am awake and RC seems pointless to me, then i chose this dream yoga to make me believe that why not i am dreaming now? then my RC would have more meaning to me and they can give me more sense of wonder and exploring my environment.


and sure, i do WBTB as i am practicing WILD too.;)

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your way of LD practice sounds great. I want to do your method all day long. although i study 6 hours a day but i am OK to do that every 5 minutes for some minutes while i study. for the rest of the day, i only think about your method. i do this because....i am thirsty of LD....:drool:


so my schedule for these weeks has changed:

1- doing Mimi method= i should ALWAYS think about where i am? does it make sense to be here?
as i may dream about my home, i would ask" does it make sense to do what i am doing now?"
then i continue my awareness on the continuum of what i was doing. if this awareness was cut by thoughts, then i ask those questions again to make sure that i am still there.

2- i do RRC and RC after each time i do phase number 1. (i like RRC because it make me hyper-aware).

3- doing ADA with phase number 1.

i do number 3 because in our dreams, our IQ highly drops.

for example, if our IQ is 120 now , our IQ is...say...60 in our dreams. that's because our logic part of the brain is shutted off and if we dream we are a flower, that is absolutely true for us. (i think people with IQ of 60, still can recognize they are not flower....LOL).

but if we train the muscle of our brains by ADA or dream yoga (the way master Sivason teaches and not the Dream yoga i do), the brain is not that dormant in our dream.
so in this way, if our IQ is 120, it would decrease to only 90. that's enough to recognize our selves and our odd environment to make us lucid in dreams.

by that said. i think wondering for some minutes and doing RC several times in a day will not take us ANYWHERE...at least my first hand experience here is indication for that..i hope the others have better luck than me.

so there is no easy way to LD and even if it cost me to do hard things like ADA for all of my life, then i do it because there is no other way.

thank you again Mimi, you saved my life :D

Don't mention it.

Oh, I see how dream yoga helps you with RCs then.

You can do all that but in my opinion, you shouldn't overcomplicate it. Because then you start worrying if you're doing it right. I don't think you should always think about where you are, but just keep a passive awareness of your location and what you're doing, in the back of your mind, especially when you're busy. You can bring it to the front when you're not doing things that require you to pay attention so much.
Though I don't think your IQ has much to do with realizing if you're dreaming or not, I'm not sure, you know how it is online, on one site it says one thing and on another, a completely different thing..

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if we dream we are a flower, that is absolutely true for us.

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LOL, that's hilarious cause I could totally imagine myself dreaming that I'm a flower and be totally okay with me *inside dream* "Huh? What's going on? Oh, hey, I'm a flower.. 8D" *dream continues without lucidity* God dammit brain XD

And you're right, doing RCs and being aware from time to time doesn't seem to be very effective in the quest of having regular/frequent lucid dreams, at least not for us. That's why I'm trying to raise my general awareness in waking life, I believe that living a non-zombie, mindful life is the key to becoming a very good lucid dreamer.

thank you very much clarifications on how to do the methods! :zocks:

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Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

LOL, that's hilarious cause I could totally imagine myself dreaming that I'm a flower and be totally okay with me *inside dream* "Huh? What's going on? Oh, hey, I'm a flower.. 8D" *dream continues without lucidity* God dammit brain XD

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:chuckle::chuckle::chuckle:

Hey yaya, I just had a quick question... you said you were also using the SSILD method, so i was wondering how you worked that into your lucid routine? like do you wake up during the night and perform the cycles and how long do you spend on each cycle?

Hi Kxngoliver!

Well, As i don't like dream journal and i never write even one sentence, SSILD does the whole work for me.

i do SSILD when i wake up spontaneously for several times each night (sometimes i use alarm to wake me up one time during the night and then before falling sleep, i tell myself that i will wake up several times spontaneously and i do). each time i wake up, i do SSILD very quickly for about 6 cycles which takes me only 3-4 minutes (in order not to fall sleep prematurely, i raise my tongue inside my mouth). then i practice WILD too.

doing SSILD makes me to remember 90% of my dreams with full clarity (like HD film).:D
so that's the point of doing SSILD for me.

This morning I had a dream that I was being chased by a tiger, and as I was running away, I suddenly became more aware of my surroundings and situation and thought "ugh, I'm being chased by a tiger.. wait, this is kinda weird.. and it seems familiar.. did I dream about this before? Am I dreaming NOW?" I did a nose pinch RC and realized I'm dreaming because I could breathe through my pinched nose. Unfortunately, immediately after that I had a false awakening and the dream ended, but still, a good sign of increased awareness? Maybe being mindful of your location and what's going on while awake pays off in dreams, eventually.

Dear Mimi!

i never thought your method plus practicing some ADA would give me immediate LD last night!

I was in my house and it was the big test day. in reality that test day is the next 6 months. so i was very sad...the worse thing was that i was late for moving toward the test center. that feeling triggered my awareness to ask those questions you told me to ask....i mean i told to myself, where am i?

well i was at home...then i asked does it make sense to have that test so early?

and then i was shocked and i did a RC. that RC failed to tell me i am dreaming or not...but i think those ADA practices made my mind stronger than before to re-challenge the situation once more time....then i told: no...that's impossible i be in this situation...i know that's weird (like your tiger dream)..then i did RC again and it partially could tell me that i was dreaming....

then i started to enjoy my dream and i was exited and was running like a fool toward every door and passed through them...but then i lost my control and i was about to wake up....then i told" nooooo...please....hey dream,...forgive me...i forgot to stabilize the dream and i will do it now..."
but it didn't listen to me and i woke up....:cackle:

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Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

a good sign of increased awareness? Maybe being mindful of your location and what's going on while awake pays off in dreams, eventually.

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so sure...it does....in my case it did! ;)

Haha, sounds awesome, congrats! :armflap:
We should really keep it up. By the way, try to do at least 2 RCs in a row, just in case the first one fails, like it happened in this dream. Also, did you ever try to stabilize a lucid dream by firmly touching something around you with your hands? It helps you ground yourself in the dream and also blows your mind how amazingly real it all feels :drool:

Awareness