Every hour? Every 30 minutes? How often do you do it, what RC do you do and what results do you get?
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Every hour? Every 30 minutes? How often do you do it, what RC do you do and what results do you get?
Try doing it every hour or so, and also RC when you do/see a particular thing such as one of these (or anything you make up):
Look in a mirror
See a family member
Walk through a door
Eat a meal
Brush your teeth
See the time
Boot up your computer
Go to the toilet
Have a drink
Do exercises
Load a game
See your partner
Open a book
Study
Greet someone
Listen to music
Or just any time something weird happens.
See, these are all things that are likely to happen in a dream.
If you do a RC at your designated event, it's likely you'll do it in a dream when that happens, too.
Also, when you RC, try and remember what you've just been doing, and how you got there. The trick is to analyze your surroundings.
P.S: The nose-pinch works very well.
I wouldn't use any timers to make me do RC's. What works for me best is just whenever I think "What if this was a dream?" I do a RC, expecting to be in a dream while doing what MythicDreams said: The problem with doing it every *insert time here* is that it becomes too routine and you do it without thinking much. The same will then likely happen in a dream and you won't get lucid.
Listen to the man! *points at Emkinator*
He knows what he's talking about; doing RCs is all about questioning your surroundings to check and see if you're dreaming or not. If you're making a routine out of it, then it's just one more mundane task in your day that won't translate over correctly to your dream. I mean, it might, but then you'll just RC in your dream and not get lucid because you didn't actually QUESTION what's going on around you. All you did was do an RC, without asking yourself if you're dreaming, and what reasons you see before you that indicate your answer is correct. I say do it as often as is necessary for you to question your surroundings out of habit.
For example, are you dreaming right now?
Okay, now what makes you respond the way you do?
When i RC i ask myself if im dreaming, look around, pinch my nose and try to breathe through it a few times, look at my hands a few times, look at some text, try to put my finger through my hand, and then do the nose pinch again, then look around and ask myself if im dreaming.
Its basically failproof as long as you are paying attention while you are doing it
I do the same as yumester. Every hour at least twice I pinch my nose, look at my hands then count my fingers, then look around and say "Where am I. Do I know where this place is?".
Do you guys think this is effective?
EDIT: Also, what RCs do you think I should do right before bed?
I've gotten a few DILDs, and I've NEVER done a full day of RCs.
@Portalboat Maybe you're just more aware of your surroundings than the average dreamer, to the point where you don't need RCs? :D
Awareness! It's more about that than RCs, as it's usually just awareness that causes lucidity. RCs are more of a confirmation.
Practice smelling the air, touching things, looking around for anything strange. I only do RCs every few hours, which is less than many people, but I still get a good amount of LDs because of simple awareness.
i started meditating recently..... and Demara is exactly right. it's all about awareness.
i've found that meditation helps with that. i'm still new to it, but it's helping me. i think everyone who wants to LD consistently should meditate if they feel they could improve. i put that last part in there ("if they feel they could improve") because i can see someone saying how they're a natural and don't need to meditate. that's fine. but for the rest of us, we have to practice. and meditation is great practice at becoming and staying aware.
Yeah, practicing awareness is most of the times good, not to mention that while performing a RC, you should also question yourself "Is this a dream?" or "Do I remember waking up?"
Regardless, yeah, I wouldn't recomend doing the RC at set periods of time, you know, maybe your dream won't last long enough for a RC to happen in it?
And meh, I wanna see you guys trying awareness on my dreams?