help with day practice and induction!

[sleepyzac]

so i tried dream yoga for two weeks (saying all day "i'm dreaming" and really imagining it's true.) with a result of dreams where i say i'm dreaming but just continue the dream nonsense. then i started doing every thirty minute state tests and had a couple lucid while using MILD at night but recently have been discouraged because i did a state test in a dream (reading text twice) and thought it was the same!!! i did the test and didn't become lucid! i'm thinking about combining the two: all day do state tests and then conclude that i am dreaming and imagine doing my desired dream actions. i'm also going to try CAT (rearranging the sleep cycle by waking up early every other day.) because this sounds promising. what does everyone think? should i try something else? should i just do the four a day mild tests or just dream yoga or keep doing every thirty minutes??? or something new? please help.

[yumester]

Try working on your Reality Checks. Always remember to ask yourself if you are dreaming BEFORE AND AFTER you do your reality checks. If you dont wonder if you are dreaming or not, the reality checks do little to no good.

[sleepyzac]

Try working on your Reality Checks. Always remember to ask yourself if you are dreaming BEFORE AND AFTER you do your reality checks. If you dont wonder if you are dreaming or not, the reality checks do little to no good. i do! in a dream i was in schnucks and ended up in the book department just like a book store so i thought i might be dreaming but didn't want to do a state test and even remembered reading that it's bad to assume you're not dreaming so i read a sign twice quickly and concluded i was awake!

[yumester]

Well theres nothing else you can really do except keep practicing

[sleepyzac]

Well theres nothing else you can really do except keep practicing cool thanx.

[ProDreamers]

Practice will definitely help, but I think some modification might speed the process. The problem seems to either be your reality check or your technique. If it's your reality check, try add a fail-safe after it. Rather than simply reading the sign, you would first read the sign and then perform a second reality check as a fail-safe measure. This process should overcome a faulty reality check. If, on the other hand, your technique is faulty, spend some time using intention setting to correct your method. I see two possible areas that might be causing the problem: 1. It sounds like you speed through the process without attempting to engage your conscious mind. The reality check is merely an opportunity to involve your mind in a process of consciously questioning your environment. Unless you actively question your role in the dream, the reality check will merely be a routine that can be performed subconsciously. 2. You could also change your phrase from "I am dreaming" - which is an affirmation - to "Am I dreaming?" - which would help activate a thought process rather than a thoughtless routine. The goal is to get your mind engaged, not to simply "do stuff." Hope this helps - good luck!

[Serenity]

so i tried dream yoga for two weeks (saying all day "i'm dreaming" and really imagining it's true.) with a result of dreams where i say i'm dreaming but just continue the dream nonsense. To be honest, I don't know enough about dream yoga to say for sure how its done, but I'm fairly positive it's more than this I remember reading somewhere that it's tied into "mental mapping," as in, constantly feeding yourself information about your surroundings so you always know where you are and the details so you would notice if something was out of place. It MAY also have to do with just that state of awareness of yourself. I don't really ask myself all day long if I'm dreaming or not. But what I do is I try to engage all of my senses. Like how does my body feel (I'm generally achy because I'm old ), what can I smell, what can I hear and (the obvious) what can I see? Just generally experiencing what it feels like to be awake and alive. It's funny... dreaming feels real - everyone makes that dismissal. "This can't be a dream, it feels too real!" And yet, being awake feels nothing like a dream! Sooner or later, you'll just know then i started doing every thirty minute state tests and had a couple lucid while using MILD at night but recently have been discouraged because i did a state test in a dream (reading text twice) and thought it was the same!!! i did the test and didn't become lucid! This is why it's a popular choice to combine two, but, I'm in the same boat. RC's fail ALL THE TIME for me, in dreams. I stopped doing them... sort of. My reality check while I'm awake is to question whether this is a dream. I ask myself what I was doing 5 minutes ago. 10? What am I wearing? Do I remember putting it on? Does everything around me make logical sense? I ONLY reality check if its something worth checking to. Like I watch a car drive the wrong way down the 1-way street outside my work. I "missed" a stop in my head while on the train (meaning, I don't remember passing it). In dreams... I just know. So I don't reality check when I'm actually dreaming. Because I've lost two lucid dreams due to RC's failing, or arguing whether this is a dream or reality. It's hard to pinpoint what waking techniques will work best for any person, just because our brains are all wired differently to lucid dreams. I don't benefit at all from frequent reality checks. Even then, when a reality check finally did manifest itself in my dreams, I just marveled that it popped up, but never once stopped to think what that meant, so no lucidity there!

[ProDreamers]

Excellent point - I also believe dream yoga is different from what you described. It sounds like you are practicing an extended MILD technique or stretching mantras out throughout your day. He's right. Reality checks are not 100% reliable and, when used, should have a purpose rather than be a routine.

[Draxis]

ProDreamers is right; I didn't have my first LD's until after I didn't do them routinely. You have to question reality constantly, not at an interval as part of daily routine

[sleepyzac]

Practice will definitely help, but I think some modification might speed the process. The problem seems to either be your reality check or your technique. If it's your reality check, try add a fail-safe after it. Rather than simply reading the sign, you would first read the sign and then perform a second reality check as a fail-safe measure. This process should overcome a faulty reality check. If, on the other hand, your technique is faulty, spend some time using intention setting to correct your method. I see two possible areas that might be causing the problem: 1. It sounds like you speed through the process without attempting to engage your conscious mind. The reality check is merely an opportunity to involve your mind in a process of consciously questioning your environment. Unless you actively question your role in the dream, the reality check will merely be a routine that can be performed subconsciously. 2. You could also change your phrase from "I am dreaming" - which is an affirmation - to "Am I dreaming?" - which would help activate a thought process rather than a thoughtless routine. The goal is to get your mind engaged, not to simply "do stuff." Hope this helps - good luck! thanx, i will definitely take these things into consideration! very helpful!

[sleepyzac]

To be honest, I don't know enough about dream yoga to say for sure how its done, but I'm fairly positive it's more than this I remember reading somewhere that it's tied into "mental mapping," as in, constantly feeding yourself information about your surroundings so you always know where you are and the details so you would notice if something was out of place. It MAY also have to do with just that state of awareness of yourself. I don't really ask myself all day long if I'm dreaming or not. But what I do is I try to engage all of my senses. Like how does my body feel (I'm generally achy because I'm old ), what can I smell, what can I hear and (the obvious) what can I see? Just generally experiencing what it feels like to be awake and alive. It's funny... dreaming feels real - everyone makes that dismissal. "This can't be a dream, it feels too real!" And yet, being awake feels nothing like a dream! Sooner or later, you'll just know This is why it's a popular choice to combine two, but, I'm in the same boat. RC's fail ALL THE TIME for me, in dreams. I stopped doing them... sort of. My reality check while I'm awake is to question whether this is a dream. I ask myself what I was doing 5 minutes ago. 10? What am I wearing? Do I remember putting it on? Does everything around me make logical sense? I ONLY reality check if its something worth checking to. Like I watch a car drive the wrong way down the 1-way street outside my work. I "missed" a stop in my head while on the train (meaning, I don't remember passing it). In dreams... I just know. So I don't reality check when I'm actually dreaming. Because I've lost two lucid dreams due to RC's failing, or arguing whether this is a dream or reality. It's hard to pinpoint what waking techniques will work best for any person, just because our brains are all wired differently to lucid dreams. I don't benefit at all from frequent reality checks. Even then, when a reality check finally did manifest itself in my dreams, I just marveled that it popped up, but never once stopped to think what that meant, so no lucidity there! awesome! much appreciated, and i know there's more to dream yoga than this i read a whole book on it and did a bunch of research i was just summing it up. there's maintaining constant awareness, guru yoga, cleansing breathing, remembering the day as a dream, praying for success, visualizations of letters in the chakras, etc. i've tried it all and i greatly appreciate your input! i think it's refreshing to hear someone agree with me on the state test things! i always hear people say "you can't adjust light in dreams" and almost every time i hear that i have a dream where i do lol! i will try to think the way you suggest! thanx!

[sleepyzac]

Excellent point - I also believe dream yoga is different from what you described. It sounds like you are practicing an extended MILD technique or stretching mantras out throughout your day. He's right. Reality checks are not 100% reliable and, when used, should have a purpose rather than be a routine. thanx and yeah i know, read my reply to eternalstar01 on my knowledge of dream yoga . appreciate the thoughts

[sleepyzac]

ProDreamers is right; I didn't have my first LD's until after I didn't do them routinely. You have to question reality constantly, not at an interval as part of daily routine how do you stop it from becoming routine while at work or when you're otherwise occupied? i still think i'm dreaming but it feels distant and ineffectual...

[sleepyzac]

oh and everybody i did have some results with the dream yoga, i had a dream that i was falling over into paralysis or a heart attack or something and just said (instead of freaking out) "i'm dreaming, it's no big deal, just a dream." but i DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A DREAM TIL I WOKE UP! crazy no? so it definitely improved my ability to cope with stress lol! dream yoga is good, i just think i'm doing something wrong...