How to do Self Awareness

So throughout the day I've done random RC's where I question what I was doing before. I also do random RC's if I'm reading or looking at the time or something like that. I constantly wonder if I'm dreaming and never let myself think that I'm not. I also do a form of ADA but I'm just aware of things in general rather than trying to be aware of everything and exhaust myself. Anyways, what I'm trying to ask is, I've heard a lot of people say that you need Self Awareness to get LD's, not outside awareness like ADA. So how do I practice self awareness? Am I already doing it? I guess I don't really know how to go about dong it so if someone could guide me on how to do it that would be great. :)

P.S. Sorry if this post sounded rushed. I am kinda in a time constraint.

What you're doing seems exceptional. All I do is plug my nose and ask if I'm dreaming in my head, and then I count both my fingers, pointing to each one as I count. Basically as long as you do a RC and ask yourself if you're dreaming, you're probably good, considering how fast it was for me to get my first LD. (I stopped for a good 2 months and the third day of coming back in I got one, albeit a crappy one)

Most probably the best explanations on Self Awareness you'll find here:
http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/13181...prep-part.html
And here:
http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/12557...mentals-q.html

For someone who seems to get several lucids per week just by practicing a form of self awareness check this:
http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...-my-twist.html

Hope these help!

Sorry for the late reply. But thank you both for answering the question. It helped a ton. :)

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For someone who seems to get several lucids per week just by practicing a form of self awareness check this:
My Journey with Self Awareness and My Twist to It

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Thanks for sharing my thread dreambh, glad to see that people found it helpful :). And actually, I do usually get 1 LD per night, but right now my sleep schedule is really messed up due to all of my classes and the hours of work I get every night.
However, when my sleep schedule is nice and steady, LD's come effortlessly. I am actually really glad that school has come in because this way, now that I am a heck of alot busier, I find my awareness being put to the test, and even strengthened greatly. I still get semi-lucid in at least half of my dreams every night though, its just that some times I am so tired that I like to stay Non-lucid.

As for your questions Sharpshoey, I think you are onto a great start from what it sounds. Always know that at any moment during the day that you could possibly be dreaming, that is one of the best mindsets in awareness. Another thing, when practicing self awareness, never give up, and always stay on your "A" game and do your best. Trust me, it all pays off in the end.
Every night I get an LD they last at least 1 hour long each. As for the RC's, my advice is to only do them when something unusual or something out of the ordinary happens. Only do them then, and you'll find that they become extremely effective and even more so, effortless. While this may cause you to do RC's alot less, it keeps you focused and passively watching for something weird all the time. On top of that, this style of RCing quickly passes into your dreams because of how easy and painless it is. I literally do maybe 2-5 Reality Checks a day, and thats it. Only do them when necessary and you'll find that sooner than later this way of RCing will start bringing results like magic.
Once you find that border of awareness between "too much" awareness and "too little" awareness, you get the perfect level of awareness and everything becomes simple from then on. Don't get me wrong though man, it requires alot of practice, but like I said it really does pay off in the long run.
More on self awareness- its basically just a mindset in which your focus on yourself and how you are impacting everything you do. In short, constantly paying attention and not letting your mind wander. Of course that takes practice as well, so don't go hard on yourself.
If you haven't already, I would check out my thread that dreambh posted, really does sum up what I'm saying here, while stating everything in greater detail as well.

Most of all Sharpshoey, find what works for you.

After some time of practice, you will start getting Lucid Dreams every night and you will become semi-lucid in many of your dreams. Stay with it once you start it man. If you ever feel like just giving up, just remember the reward in the end and how much time you've already put into self awareness. To me it really is the key to Lucid Dreaming.

That thread that you posted was really good OneUp! It really helped me with figuring out how to practice Self awareness and it simplified it into one sentence, making it easy to understand. I have been doing basically what you said for about a week or so now. Maybe a bit longer. Anyways, thanks for all the help, and hopefully the results are as good for me as they are for you!

EDIT: A lot of people say that you should do RC's when something weird or out of the ordinary happens...what if nothing like that happens in your day? And what counts as out of the ordinary?

I might suggest a different approach, one that goes to the heart of the self as understood in nonduality traditions. That is simply to recognize the primordial intelligence that shows up as everything that happens, which you can feel as your ability to know. Everything is a display of your knowingness.

Whether you are happy or sad, that's only because of your self awareness.

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Originally Posted by Sharpshoey

EDIT: A lot of people say that you should do RC's when something weird or out of the ordinary happens...what if nothing like that happens in your day? And what counts as out of the ordinary?

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If nothing weird happens you could always "lower your expectations" of what you consider "weird" or "out of the ordinary". I.e. you could check reality when meeting new people, your mom having a new hair cut, a pen falls to the floor, someone's aspect calls your attention while you're going back home, you get caught in any emotion, etc etc. The really important thing is that you keep looking for those kind of things so that you'll do the same in your dreams.

Exactly. Everything that dreambh mentioned. I do RC's whenever a sudden change of plans occur, something is out of place, weird situations, going to places I've never been before, my teacher not giving us any homework, or I simply forget something. Anything that is out of order from what you expected to happen. Of course the list is endless. It all comes down to what stands out to you.
Of course many times something REALLY weird won't happen, but there will always be the little things. You have to really start to notice those things or else they will catch you off guard and you could lose chances at becoming lucid by not recognizing them.
Also as dreambh said, you have to really look for these things, and as you do they will really start to stand out, whereas before you never even noticed them.
I call it "passively watching" for unexpected events, or anything "weird". Throughout your day, stay aware and watch out for these things.

So basically today I was being aware by just noticing what I was doing and keeping an alert mind. I always had the thought that I could be dreaming at any time. I would remind myself if my mind wandered off by thinking that I could've been dreaming that entire time, and I could have just missed becoming lucid that entire time. I noticed that quite a few times my mind would wander off but I always brought my mind back to being alert.

So what I'm trying to ask is...am I doing it right? All I have to do is just be aware and alert to what I'm doing while looking for anything out of the ordinary? I also am not doing the ADA type awareness anymore, just Self Awareness. Is that OK too?

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Originally Posted by Sharpshoey

So basically today I was being aware by just noticing what I was doing and keeping an alert mind. I always had the thought that I could be dreaming at any time. I would remind myself if my mind wandered off by thinking that I could've been dreaming that entire time, and I could have just missed becoming lucid that entire time. I noticed that quite a few times my mind would wander off but I always brought my mind back to being alert.

So what I'm trying to ask is...am I doing it right? All I have to do is just be aware and alert to what I'm doing while looking for anything out of the ordinary? I also am not doing the ADA type awareness anymore, just Self Awareness. Is that OK too?

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Yes, Yes, and Yes.
Another important thing is that when you do find your mind wandering off, and you catch it, be "gentle" with yourself in a sense. This will make your practice come alot easier and you won't wander off as much because of this positive enforcement. Has something to do with psychology.

Note that while OneUp promotes doing fewer RCs, he still mentions always maintaining that mindfulness, that vigilance, that you could at any moment be dreaming. That's the real key. I do a lot more RCs than 5-10 per day, probably dozens, but I don't think they help all that much compared to staying on your "A-game" self-awareness. Most of my LDs come from "just knowing" I'm dreaming.

I'll also add that while I agree KingYoshi style ADA is generally not the right way to go for lucidity and is exhausting, paying *somse* attention to the details of your waking experience can be really enjoyable: the sun, the wind, the scent of flowers, patterns of cracks, etc. Just don't lose your self in them, be there with your *self* observing them in the present moment.

One sentence from "A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming: Mastering the Art of Oneironautics" really resonated with me, and sums up what I've come to believe about mindfulness and lucid dreaming:

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Becoming aware of this present moment is the key to lucid dreaming

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And of course, having your *self* be part of that moment.