THE most common dreamsign.

[Samsara]

Although I am fairly new to dreamviews, I have been lucid dreaming for about 4 months now. What I have noticed is that very few of my lucid dreams have come from remembering to do reality checks, and I am not great at recognising particular oddities in the dream world. Most of my lucid dreams have come from what is perhaps the most obvious sign that I was dreaming: The fact that I was not in my bed. Almost all your dreams (apart from perhaps FA) take place somewhere completely different eg. sometimes at a school, or workplace, somewhere from your childhood etc. While RCs, and DS work for many people. What has worked well for me is trying to stay aware of where I am every second of the day. It's very hard, but it has often carried through into the dreamworld. I also use RCs ontop of this just to make sure I am not dreaming. I think if this technique can be mastered, and you can be continually aware of yourself, where you are, and what is happening around you, it will be a lot easier to recognise dreamsigns. I'll post a tibetan exercise from 'Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming' when I can find the book Does this work for anyone else?

[ASmitt]

I think if this technique can be mastered, and you can be continually aware of yourself, where you are, and what is happening around you, it will be a lot easier to recognise dreamsigns. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you're actually using an RC. History Check - trying to recall how you got to where you are. I do it too, and I find it works quite well! And just like you mentioned about mastering this technique, it's all about repetition! Try to remember to do the RCs constantly. The more you do them during the day, the more you'll do them during the night while you dream - unless you believe that they won't work, in which case they won't The power of the mind, my friend

[Samsara]

I think a better way of explaining what I mean is trying to be in the 'present moment' as much as possible. Then you know where you are and if you are dreaming or not. You've brought up a very good point though because when you loose focus, you often catch up by using the hostory reality checks.

[nina]

I think a better way of explaining what I mean is trying to be in the 'present moment' as much as possible. Then you know where you are and if you are dreaming or not. You've brought up a very good point though because when you loose focus, you often catch up by using the hostory reality checks. See: Mindfulness (psychology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[somniumrex]

yes this is mindfulness basically. although mindfulness is a lot more than just your location, it's mindfulness of every little thing that's going on at all times. the method from EWLD is simply telling yourself that everything you're experiencing every second of the day is a dream. constantly reminding yourself you are dreaming. it didn't work for me but some say it works wonders. be warned though: when practicing mindfulness you are very present in each moment which is good for all things in life. you pay more attention to people, learn things quicker, forget things less. however the telling yourself you're dreaming constantly method requires you to be telling yourself something all the time and even telling yourself that everything isn't real. this can make it harder to pay attention to everything in your life. you might miss lot of info on job training at a new job because instead of just listening and paying attention you're thinking "i'm dreaming, this is all a dream.". or you're significant other might tell you what they want for your next anniversary and your brain doesn't register it as well because you're so focused on remembering you're dreaming. it's about the same as if you were trying to remember song lyrics and singing them to yourself when you are supposed to be listening and remembering what someone is saying. you're constantly distracted by this method and can't really focus on life. this is fine for monks because they aren't learning a bunch of important new things that their jobs and lives depend on, they're in a temple some where and the most important goal for them IS this practice. lucky them! but for people who live normal lives i think it's unrealistic and since mindfulness has a very similar effect but none of the negative effects i think it's the sensible choice. you might be thinking you could just do that method but not practice during work or other important events but that fully defeats the purpose. the whole idea is that, and this is a quote from EWLD, you tell yourself you're dreaming "under all condtions". so i would imagine that doing it only when it's convenient would be a waste of time. mindfulness however can be practiced at all times without any problems.