Sudden difficulty remembering to Reality Check

**TheJester** · 03-07-2013 02:20 AM

Hey guys,

So I got some help from a few of you guys in some other threads, and I finally made a breakthrough in my lucid dreaming. I've technically had 10-15 lucid dreams, but on February 25th I had the first dream that I believe really had a plausible balance of control and clearness, while it was still foggy and I didn't have as much control as I'd like, it was still better than I'd experienced before. Almost every one of my LD's has lasted about 15 seconds, but that one and one other lasted probably about a minute.

Regardless, that is not the issue. The main issue is that ever since then, it's like my awareness just packed up its bags and jumped straight out the window. I've had a few dreams where someone has told me I'm dreaming, and then I try and stick my finger through my hand. The finger goes through, but my awareness doesn't make the connection, and I don't go lucid. I've even said "I'm lucid" in one or two, only not to be. I also suddenly am just having immense trouble remembering to reality check. I keep realizing at the end of the day I've only RC'd once or twice, and while I absolutely try to follow the idea of doing RC's when something is amiss, not as often as I can, I keep catching myself feeling very unaware.

The reason that I had that lucid dream on the 25th is because I approached MILD in a different way. I basically said to myself,"Tonight is not like any other; I will LD tonight", and that worked, and I've done it since then, and while I haven't gone lucid in any dreams, I get more dreams, they are much more exciting or mean more to me than usual. I also recently finally identified a dreamsign, which I haven't been able to successfully do in the six months I've been lucid dreaming. However, in the last few nights I keep forgetting to approach MILD that same way, even though I can. I keep finding myself very disappointed by the way I am continually forgetting to do the lucid dreaming habits that I've kept up strenuously for the last many months.

Now, my question isn't too simple to answer, but what I'm wondering is, why is my awareness just totally dead in the water? Within three days my awareness dissipated like a cloud. Is there something that I'm doing wrong, perhaps? Something I'm forgetting? Or could this just be a normal thing some people have happen to them? One thing I have kept up on is my dream journal, for what it's worth. It seems like I'm having more dreams than normal, lately.

I'm sorry that my writing is so hectic. I'm just very confused about this, and I absolutely and completely appreciate anything you guys have to say, it has always helped me very much.

**Scionox** · 03-07-2013 02:57 AM

Do you actually question reality when you do reality check in waking life, like if it was an actual dream? If not, do so.

Also maybe you could try ADA to raise your awareness, here's tutorial: http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...kingyoshi.html , haven't tried it personally though but i heard about people having success with it.

**elucid** · 03-07-2013 04:19 AM

As checker666 suggested, maybe you should change your method of attaining lucid dreams. Try my method, I stay visually aware all day and even when I go to bed, i stay aware of the back of my eye lids.

**TheJester** · 03-07-2013 05:59 AM

I meant to mention that, completely forgot, my bad. When I do reality check, I have always made complete sure that I was actually looking around me and questioning reality. So, I think I'm pretty good at actually doing reality checks, just lately not so great at making sure I'm aware. Also, yes, ADA is something I saw recently, and everyone seems to be saying it's amazing. I tried it for a number of days, and didn't keep up with it (like I should've) but without a doubt I'll get back into it, probably tomorrow. I just had difficulty doing it because, despite doing it in sessions, I found it difficult. I'll be doing it again regardless, but perhaps I should plan it a little better than I have been.

Thanks for the help, both of you, I suppose I'll jump back into ADA. If anyone else has tips for ADA or anything else that might help my awareness question, let me know.

**paigeyemps** · 03-09-2013 08:41 AM

Hey there, well the others have already mentioned ADA, so i'll just give some tips on it.

I've been doing ADA for months now, and when I first started, i'd have random periods where my awareness just goes down the drain. I would suggest not doing it too much at first. Work your way up to it. Do it in such a way that it doesn't feel like an inconvenience or a chore. Do it when you actually feel like doing it because in my opinion, if you only do awareness practice and go "im gonna do this for 10 mins just so i get this thing done today already", your mindset behind that will drag everything down and render it useless. Remember that it isn't about the senses and things you notice as much as it is about your actual mental awareness while taking in your surroundings and yourself.

Also, have you tried wearing a rubber band or something on your wrist? That has helped me so much before. It effectively reminds me to reality check when I'd notice it.

Good luck!

**TheJester** · 03-09-2013 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by paigeyemps

Hey there, well the others have already mentioned ADA, so i'll just give some tips on it.

I've been doing ADA for months now, and when I first started, i'd have random periods where my awareness just goes down the drain. I would suggest not doing it too much at first. Work your way up to it. Do it in such a way that it doesn't feel like an inconvenience or a chore. Do it when you actually feel like doing it because in my opinion, if you only do awareness practice and go "im gonna do this for 10 mins just so i get this thing done today already", your mindset behind that will drag everything down and render it useless. Remember that it isn't about the senses and things you notice as much as it is about your actual mental awareness while taking in your surroundings and yourself.

Also, have you tried wearing a rubber band or something on your wrist? That has helped me so much before. It effectively reminds me to reality check when I'd notice it.

Good luck!

Yeah, I try not to make my reality checks/ADA or anything like that something I do just to get it out of the way. You might as well not do it at all if you do them that way, if you ask me. But there's one thing about ADA that really gets me, and I think it's probably the biggest confusion for me about ADA. Usually during the day I'm doing something that requires a lot of concentration, or at least is very distracting, such as school, talking to friends, even doing something like playing video games. When I'm doing something that uses up a lot of my attention for long periods of time, sometimes I feel like I didn't get any ADA in at all during the day. I try to do it when I'm doing something, but it requires very little attention, but I still worry that even that much is not enough. One other thing, as well, would be how much you actually need to observe your surroundings during ADA. I am a bit confused on whether it's simply paying closer attention to everything around you, or seriously heightening every sense and seeing every single thing around you. The way some people have put it, for example, if I had 300 books in my room, I would look at each one individually to know everything about my surroundings. Whether it's actually paying closer attention or being absolutely attentive to everything around you, that doesn't make a difference to me, but I just am not sure how to do ADA correctly. I hope that made sense. But, as for the rubber band thing, I do wear a watch, and I used to RC with it, until I switched to the finger through the hand technique which seems to have helped me more. So, whenever I notice it, should I reality check?

**JoannaB** · 03-11-2013 05:07 AM

Could it be that while most of you wants to lucid dream, maybe some part of your mind does not want to know, is not ready yet?

My mind and I are currently struggling with myself: most of me wants to remember every dream and every fragment, and yet I have had two dream related incidents that made me realize that part of me is beginning to question the need to remember every dream fragment - it's my foolish and lazy part, I guess.

While of the last 21 dreams or dream fragments that I remember, a staggering 12 had dreaming as the subject of the dream, I have only become lucid once during these 21 dreams.

In the past I have had a dream where one of my dream characters kept telling me that this is a dream and he is lucid dreaming and I did not make the leap to becoming lucid myself, and I have also had dreams when I became barely aware that this is a dream but without any added level of awareness beyond that (kind of a back of the mind awareness that this is a dream).

I think our mind is just weird. I have decided to accept that it is. If my mind wants to play games with me, then I am going to accept that, and laugh at its antics.

**TheJester** · 03-11-2013 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by JoannaB

Could it be that while most of you wants to lucid dream, maybe some part of your mind does not want to know, is not ready yet?

My mind and I are currently struggling with myself: most of me wants to remember every dream and every fragment, and yet I have had two dream related incidents that made me realize that part of me is beginning to question the need to remember every dream fragment - it's my foolish and lazy part, I guess.

While of the last 21 dreams or dream fragments that I remember, a staggering 12 had dreaming as the subject of the dream, I have only become lucid once during these 21 dreams.

In the past I have had a dream where one of my dream characters kept telling me that this is a dream and he is lucid dreaming and I did not make the leap to becoming lucid myself, and I have also had dreams when I became barely aware that this is a dream but without any added level of awareness beyond that (kind of a back of the mind awareness that this is a dream).

I think our mind is just weird. I have decided to accept that it is. If my mind wants to play games with me, then I am going to accept that, and laugh at its antics.

That's quite an interesting thought. I won't rule out the possibility, but every conscious part of me absolutely and entirely wants to lucid dream. I suppose it's possible that a subconscious part of me doesn't want to.