*NEW!* RC Method - "Blueprint" Technique

I just made it up. Here's how it works:

You can keep it big or small - the smaller items/places you try during the day the easier it is to actually work during dreams. The larger the harder it is to do during dreams.

For example. The refrigerator would be a small "blueprint". When you open it you can see that the inside matches the outside in how big it should be and when you go back to it it's "blueprint" stays the same. Is the freezer the right amount away from it and only takes up as much room as it should? Basic logic questions because things in dreams tend to move and change.

Large would be: a house, apartment, school, whatever. Basically for these, when you go outside and look in (your OWN! :) the windows, it matches where it should be? Ask yourself basic logic questions. Is the playground still in the backyard or is _____ where it should be. That way when you dream about this place, you automatically look for that item that should always be there. If it's not there, you are dreaming. Do not make up excuses, remind yourself that if "it" is not there you ARE dreaming! Simple as that.

**I'm still editing this post and the following are notes for myself: 1) dream body 2) leaving items/marks behind to come back for**

That's such a cool way of reality checking. I have heard of a similar method in which you just question nearly everything you encounter, like how certain things work/why. Some people who naturally have a really strong right side to their brain can naturally lucid dream this way.

thats what i do only i question anything out of the ordinary.

Basicaly the real word your looking for is Schema or Schemata (plural). Its a pretty sound way of reality checking if you truly believe it works. Most physical reality checks have major flaws that transend into the dream world.

I usually come to this site and don't mind browsing it without signing in. I had to sign in this time to say thanks. This techinique looks neat. Hehe I just noticed I've been using blueprints to pass exams. Thanks for introducing this :)

I know what you mean! this happens to me all the time.. thanks for that! I appreciate it man!

I don't know that this is a reliable reality check, but more so the type of awareness that a lucid dreamer aims to cultivate. But hey, whatever works.

You should try to see if it work a couple of times before posting your idea as a verifiable method, though the simplicity of asking yourself if you're dreaming with a set pattern of rules as you're describing will work I'm sure :D

The sizing up method may not work so effectively but the "wasn't it there just now" will work with practise. Reason is this, we go by pattern recognition in dreams not size recognition. It may even distort the dimensions even more and you get more confused as to whether you are dreaming or not but the latter method is more straight forward either it's there or it isn't.

IMJ

This might work with the locations of objects too. Often in dreams I find things in places they normally aren't. This can be done at the same time as a blueprint check testing the relative size of the interior of something compared to the exterior.

In my dreams things usually do not retain their new state. Like if I turn on a light which is from the off state to the on state and I turn my back to do something it returns to the off state. So maybe this could be a new check too where you on a light and go out and come back in it's off..you are dreaming. Or you put something on the table and walk away and come back later...the table may not even be there.

IMJ

sounds like a great technique and it is a very passive one! it seems like it would work a lot and fail a lot....i should start questioning and thinking about were things are in my dreams

This encourages basic logic. Think of a blueprint - windows, light fixtures and light switches, stair cases, etc. If you see light, find the source, I haven't tried it yet, but I don't think celings exist in dreams or at least light fixtures, those exist in EVERY room. So if there is no light fixture and you don't see it right away, then you are dreaming! Don't make up lame dream excuses like "they're remodeling" - no! your dreaming. Any time you even can't tell or can't find something, that means you are automatically asleep. In waking life you can figure out basic logic in seconds... when the excuses or doubts come in, then that's when you automatically know/assume you're alsleep! Only when you can't tell, are you asleep. When you are awake you know automatically. Have this be your dream sign :) This is what I wanted to get out of this RC or reminder. Is that basic gravity laws and other things are in play. Is the sun at the right height for this time and is it in the right window? Do you have the same amount of steps each time? Do enough of this and you will ask logic questions in dreams which will trigger you to relize that nothing is logical about this room....how'd I get here? What main door did I come through?

Reading this thread made me realize just how little I do this kind of thing in waking life, so it is no wonder that I rarely do it in dreams.

I am going to start making a conscious effort to use this blueprint method while away and hopefully it will carry over into dreams. It just seems to require a lot more critical thinking than simply asking "Am I dreaming?" or trying to see if I can push my finger through my palm.

This will help me immensely, I have an air-cast for the next 6 weeks plus... Perfect!

what's an air-cast?

Update on this: I had a dream the other night where I *saw* the blueprint of a room. The kitchen had a door to a dinning room and the dinning room also had another door, but leading to the living room.

*saw* - meaning, I could see the layout of the "Dream room" just like I could while awake. I could draw the dream area if I could, but I think if anything, the blueprint check while awake "transfers" to the dream and creates more concrete dreams (is that an oximoron?:))