Thread: How long should it take to establish a habit like this?

Im not by any means an expert on what works as RC or not. But going in and out of buildings might not be a situation where you need to create any particular distance to realize it's a dream. Buildings in real life could feel dreamlike even though we are awake or not. But creating a distance in a situation where you really believe that you are awake, like in a conversation with someone or doing something demanding mentaly. That could be a wake up call if we have the ability to take a step back for a moment and create some distance with an RC.

Personal dream signs might be best to start working with I think. To be able to create a distance or RC during emotional or mentaly demanding situations might be key to locate yourself in where or what you do in this moment. Since we often find ourself in the moment of dreams where we are totally merged with the dream situation and are lost in what we do/feel.

Just my general take on it..

Thx, DreamyBear

About the reality checking, I see what you mean about creating distance. My idea with the buildings and transitions was to try and create a cue which could be used as a reality check reminder. I actually do find it quite difficult sometimes given that I'm usually talking to people or caught up in whatever the event/situation is :p so yes, I do believe those mentally demanding moments are important, too.

I don't think I have that many personal dream signs apart from occasional anxiety dreams and just generally odd combinations of DC's and locations, but I do agree about the absorbing situations where you tend to forget about anything else, where it might be best to create focus

YW Eamo24

I see your point, and I think it's a good idea to create some kind of cue. I should have asked you what kind of RC you did while going in and out of buildings, so what kind of RC do you do? Before doing any RC, you could add another little routine that might be fiting for the situation with buildings, and that could be to ask one self. "where did I just come from?" "Where am I?" "And where am I going?" If slightest confusion are felt during those question, then there is likely a dream or worth doing an RC. I believe that cues often should be connected to some kind of feeling since that seems to be what dreams often are grounded in. Confusion is probably the most potent way of getting lucid from though.

I had a lucid dream last night, where I did the nose-pinch RC, and even though I could stil breath, I didn't trust the RC worked until I saw something that felt odd. That's often what makes me trust my RC's, even though the RC should be more than enough. So gutfeeling is not to be overlooked.

Anyhow, it's hard to create distance in middle of a conversation, but just before or after an conversation could be a gap for doing an RC. If we feel stressed out or anxiety in real life situations, could that also be a potent moment to RC. It might even break an stressed out state of mind if there is a moment of aware space created. So there is some potential in using our bad moments to create a useful habit out of them as well..

Congratz on the lucid dream!

About the reality checks, usually I would try and go for something that's as inconvenient as possible, like closing the back of my airway and trying to breathe in (like the nose pinch but hands-free), quickly counting fingers and sometimes just testing vision. I'd imagine if I suddenly walked into a busy shop for example it might be difficult to be inconspicuous :p so these tend to work good and go unnoticed. The questions you mentioned like "how did I get here" and "where am I going" etc. are good too coz no one knows you're doing it and also it can lead to a RC if there's any inconsistencies I often try to use the questions to stay focused, but I can see the benefit of adding it to the routine, like you say, especially as it's so location-based

Originally Posted by DreamyBear

Anyhow, it's hard to create distance in middle of a conversation, but just before or after an conversation could be a gap for doing an RC. If we feel stressed out or anxiety in real life situations, could that also be a potent moment to RC. It might even break an stressed out state of mind if there is a moment of aware space created. So there is some potential in using our bad moments to create a useful habit out of them as well..

It sure is difficult, in fact, last year (and various other times in the past) I decided I would try to reality check every time I spoke to someone. I gave up completely because it was just so inconvenient, I felt like I wasn't listening to people etc. Before and after would definitely be better but I guess it would pose its own difficulties of having to anticipate when a conversation is about to begin and when it should end.. and how complex people can be in that regard :p

I do like the idea of breaking a stressed out state of mind by state testing I tend to have quite a lot stressful moments in both realms so it is worth considering

Hehe thnx!^^

Haha I would love to spot someone doing an RC in public that would be awesome, but I know what you mean, we might be "crazy" enough as it is maybe. Which one of the RC's are the most common that you do first then? I gave up on counting fingers since the nose-pinch seems more reliable as real or not. I actually do my nose-pinch RC with my hand, but I do it in such a way that people dont even take notice of it even if Im in middle of a conversaion with them. You know, most people do touch their face or scratch or something So most things can look like a casual act if there is some flow to the movement. I do pinch my nose at the same time as I try a short in breath, so it just looks like I shortly try to prevent an itchy nose moment kind a thing.

Yeah RC during a conversation is not to recommend, unless it's a utterly meaningless one maybe.. I totally agree with the difficulties to do an RC before or after a conversation. And after would probably be more appropriate since conversations often comes spontaneously in the moment. Yes do some Judo moves on that stress and see what it might fall into.

I think the most common one I use is the counting fingers one. It's been the most reliable one for me in the past and it's also convenient. If I'm in a public place I would just look down and often pretend I'm just cracking my knuckles or counting how much money I've got, if I'm in a shop for example :p Another one is pushing your fingers backwards, in reality it will be very difficult to do that, but in a dream they're likely to go all the way back and make contact with your hand. That's been very effective as well. Sometimes I might change the RC's depending on the situation but mostly I do the hand checks I mentioned.

Ah yes, RCs after a conversation would definitely be better, if it is to be a good practice. In fact when I began the routine of RCing to talking to people (over a year ago), I had a dream the very next morning where I was talking to a DC, and kept wondering how I should RC in front of her. I was just nodding to what she was saying and thinking "how on earth am I supposed to do this? This is so awkward" haha