I read Billy Bobs tut, made me think.

[Denny22]

Rather than post it in his fine thread I thought I'd just make a new thread. I was reading his excellent WILD tutorial and the pain anchor got me thinking. I tried this last night with no luck but with time could it become useful? Here's the idea that came to mind. What if when you're going to bed you attach a simple clothes peg to a body part. Rather than clamping it over a finger I merely clamped it to the skin between my index finger and thumb and told myself, "As soon as I take this off or feel it's not there I'll do a RC". It doesn't hurt that much but as I drifted off I kept aware of it presence and told myself my affirmation line again. When I woke up two times during the night to add to my DJ I took it off and did an RC. Surely over time during a dream when I don't feel it I'd do an RC once it becomes commonplace? Just a quick thought I had while reading Billy Bobs great tutorial. Any feedback and thoughts would be welcome. Thanks

[blarghargh]

You, sir, are a genius. I would wear it all the time you could, and notice it often, make it normal so you notice if it is gone.

[Shady]

I dont think he woulda minded the odd question or two . Its just another post, dont worry. He put it up to help people; and he's the kind of person that will take the time to respond. Anyways; the pain anchor is just an example of one of the many many possibilities. He put it in words that a wider audience could understand is all. If you want to continue down the road of using physical objects/pain for anchors have at 'er! Almost anything can potentially work.I have been using objects/discomfort for quite some time to preform "subconscious reality checks" as a fail safe while WILDing. I wont go into great detail about how or why I believe they work; although eventually I am going to compile a bunch of info. If you'd like to read my old post from a few months ago Im sure you can pull some idea's or something out of there. Its basically a wall of text concerning the how/why possibilities. I go pretty in depth about your subconscious conditioning with "reality" and how using objects/discomfort as an anchor can be a great assistant. The majority of it relies on both false awakenings and these blinks of consciousness while in the WILD phase. Also I'd prefer it if ya didn't reply/bump my post because well; its an old thread that didn't interest alot of people. Most likely due to the size and the lack of "Zomg LD easymode!!11!" content/thread name.. If it was going to spark interest in people it would have done it before. My outlook on this whole scenario has changed quite a bit as well so I would rather update it before "releasing" it again as I consider some of the info "misleading" nowadays . I have learned alot more and I will have to remake it at one point with some updated information and how to apply it to a WILD. Also the whole thread wasn't really directed at your question; they just happen to be about the same thingish. So feel free to skim through or skip ahead when it gets 'off topic' because it a little bit long. Click Me

[Denny22]

Wow That's a superb thread, Shady. Thank you Some excellent observations thrown in there. However, a quick question. You talk about the glove method as a way of proving your awake and if it isn't there you'll notice something is out of place. However, in our dreams I'm sure our attire is total different to that of which we go to bed in so why don't we notice that also?

[Robot_Butler]

Shady, I was going to suggest you guys read that thread, then I remembered it was yours I think it is the same basic idea.

[Shady]

Robot you win for the day . Hey I'm just glad it stuck out to someone! It was at least leaning in the same direction though yeah. @ Denny: I noticed that as well at one point and like I said I would love to update it with some new, ridiculously lengthy ideas. Cant edit that post though so its just a matter of time before I get off my ass and really try to collect my thoughts. For a quick response though; it was never really so much the fact that I was wearing it.. It what what it actually felt like while wearing it. Sure your aware of what your wearing right now, but I doubt your constantly aware to its presence on your body. It was just feeling its presence/absence began to 'mean' things to me. The same way if you had a seat belt on in a dream you would just assume you were in a car. Trying to explain this awareness to people usually leads to a temporary increase in concentration on that goal but within seconds of making this realization you will forget about it. They will go "Oh yeah I can feel my shirt on my back!" then 5 seconds later become completely oblivious to it again. Another classic example is do you notice that you can see your own noise in your field of vision? It's there constantly. This obviously applies to much more in life then what your wearing or what you can see; and most people consider at least the later to be a very solid foundation of understanding. The old saying 'what you see is what you get' is horribly misleading. Clothing (Along with so many other things) are pretty much background noise in waking life that we don't care about unless it really stands out (Wearing winter jacket/snow pants in summer?). Take a second to just close your eyes and just feel what your shirt feels like.. maybe move your awareness from one arm, then across your chest to the other.. feel the fabric weighing down on your skin. Maybe the wrist band is a bit tight and you feel it constricting your arms. Maybe certain parts of your body feel heavy and hot because your shirt is bunched up there. Try to imagine the shape that your shirt is in right now without thinking of how your positioned; simply feel it. Let your awareness flow around the curves of physical sensations that you can attribute to what your wearing on your back. Now take a second to realize the thousands of sensations going on around your body right now that you can physically feel. Im not going to take the time to list examples because, hell I dont need to tell you You can feel them as much as I can. Im sure we can agree the list could literally go on for days yet we ignore these things constantly. Now imagine what these sensations would be like if you were actually moving or something.. (You see what im getting at?) Walking feels incredibly complicated; because it is. This type of awareness is just something that I have worked on achieving lately. Its not perfect but the results Im getting are phenomenal. I've always felt the best way to have lucid dreams is to live lucid. We literally ignore almost everything around us constantly; yet we wonder why our logic seems misguided in dreams. Quite frankly its no different; your just taking the time to actually notice how wrong we are doing things .

[The Cusp]

A good idea, but don't rely only on not feeling it. It's very likely you would feel something on your hand while dreaming, which should remind you to do an RC as well. In one of Castaneda's books, he actually recommends wearing a ring that is a little bit too tight to accomplish the same thing.

[Shady]

A good idea, but don't rely only on not feeling it. It's very likely you would feel something on your hand while dreaming, which should remind you to do an RC as well. In one of Castaneda's books, he actually recommends wearing a ring that is a little bit too tight to accomplish the same thing. Good thing you mentioned that, completely slipped my mind for the moment. If ya read the thread that I linked to a few replies ago, I go into pretty good detail about the induction of DILDs for that same reason you described. Aka running around in a dream with one of the many objects/setups I know are only related to that cause. For example I know in real life Im not going to wear 1 winter boot to my prom, and I know that at one point or another I had used that as an anchor so I make the connection when I find myself in that situation in my dream. This; as you said produces a reality check and bam . It got somewhat inconsistent at one point so I had to be careful what I was using; because it was almost always something I had used on a different, previous night. (Not the night of; if that makes sense =/) I'll be sure to look around for that book as Im interested in others opinions/observations on the matter, thanks for pointing that out.

[DreamChaser]

A good idea, but don't rely only on not feeling it. It's very likely you would feel something on your hand while dreaming, which should remind you to do an RC as well. In one of Castaneda's books, he actually recommends wearing a ring that is a little bit too tight to accomplish the same thing. Try this too. I hold my cell phone in my hand and set the alarm for 4am. I keep it grasped in my hand and 3 things come from this: 1) The phone keeps my mind focused on it as I go to sleep 2) I am constantly aware it is going to go off at 4am, and sleep lightly 3) All else fails it wakes me for a WILD at 4am and I use the inert cell as an anchor

[ZmillA]

You could probrably get used to the feeling of it when you are awake though.

[DreamChaser]

You could probrably get used to the feeling of it when you are awake though. You don't hold it constantly during the day, just when you go to sleep. Put anything in my hand that is going to go off in a few hours and I will remember its there.