How Do Lucid Dreamers Know When They Are Dreaming?

[jblb2424]

Hello I think it has been well established that during dreams, we constantly overlook occurences that would not happen in reality, such as seeing people fly or hearing animals speak to you. We know now, however, that this occurs because the section of our brain that dictates logic and reason is supressed, causing us to not notice when something occurs that is illogical. However, since I started lucid dreaming, I have been able to spot these illogical events much more frequently, allowing me to become lucid. This happens even without reality checks, which I do not practice. In most of my lucid dreams, I simply realize this is a dream out of the blue or I spot some illogical occurency in the dream. I am sure this happens to other lucid dreamers, which made me wonder...why are lucid dreamers able to recognize a dream from reality more so than people who have normal dreams, even without the use of reality checks?

[Micael]

Because we progressively hack into our brain's normal function and by our practice and habits change the way stuff works regarding dreams, dream consciousness and often even sleep. That is ofc, put very simply.

[paigeyemps]

I think a part of it also has to do with just knowing about the possibility of being lucid. Mindset counts a lot, and i think even without reality checks, we start to naturally be more perceptive to our waking life environment. We are also more attuned to the dream world than normal dreamers. Especially if you've already got quite a few lucids under your belt, then you'd most probably be familiar with your dreamworld and how your dreaming mind works when you are sleeping, making you more skilled at recognizing the subtle differences between waking and dreaming reality. Idk, that's how I think about it hehe good day!