Reality Checks + meditation

**DragonSword** · 06-03-2015 02:41 AM

So I've decided that my two main reality checks are going to be checking walls and the color of the water when I turn on the faucet. Does anyone else use these methods? I'm also going to take up meditation and staring at my hands before bed. How long should I do the hand meditation, or how does LD meditation even work?

Side note: I'm extremely tired in mornings. Could this be a result of dream activity I don't remember?

**OneUp** · 06-03-2015 03:07 AM

Hey great idea man, creating your own reality checks and being creative. I can already tell that you are going to do great at creating inside of your dreams. Robert Waggoner also stared at his hands like you mentioned. He stated that every night, before bed, he would stare at his hands until he would fall asleep knowing that the next time he saw his hands, he would be dreaming. After 3 nights of doing that, he finally became lucid because of it. I don't know if you should stare at your hands until you fall asleep, but that would work. Maybe a good 10-15 minutes would do the trick as well.
As for meditation, general meditation is good for enhancing and cultivating lucidity. I forget the specific form of meditation. I think it starts with S or F or Y or some other letter. You could contact Sivason about dream yoga if you wanted to though. He's a huge help.

I don't think your tiredness is due to lack of poor recall. If that were true then a ton of people today would wake up extremely tired(as if everyone doesn't already). It probably has something to do with your sleep schedule or quality of sleep in general .

**LucidYogi** · 06-03-2015 05:51 PM

I agree with OneUp, making your own reality checks is creative and makes them more personal - you're more likely to remember to do them. But it's worth noting that as with all reality checks, it's the awareness behind doing the RC that makes them effective. If you just halfheartedly perform an RC without really asking yourself if this could be a dream - the RC won't be of much use.

The best meditation for Lucid Dreaming is simple awareness meditation or 'mindfulness'. It's best to try and integrate this meditation into your daily routine, not just before bed. The idea is to develop a natural self awareness throughout the day until it becomes a habit and eventually you become spontaneously self aware in your dreams. Most people are on autopilot during the day with little sense of self awareness, so it's not a surprise that they don't question the dream state while they're in it! Reminds me of the line from Waking Life: 'Seems like everyone's sleep-walking through their waking state, or wake-walking through their dreams'.

If you haven't come across it already, I'd recommend reading up on ADA (All Day Awareness) to get started with LD meditation. Hope this helps!