Reality Check Poser

I was just wondering if this would be a good idea for a reality check:

Since a common thing that I do in LDs is try to make something appear or reappear (with occasional success!), I thought that my daily reality checking regimen should include trying to make things appear at will.

See, that way I would already be in the habit of attempting this feat, and therefore I would have a greater chance of attempting it in a dream thereby having a better chance of attaining lucidity.

Does that make sense?

Yeah it does. But make sure to do a different RC too. Because sometimes in dreams i would try to make something appear and it won't work. Meaning you might miss a chance to go lucid.

Yeah...I was afraid of that possibility. I have a list of other RCs that I do. I'll PM them to you later and you can tell me what you think.

Ophelia, when you have decided on the list, I'd be interested to know what it is, and whether it ends up working for you :)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Placebo
Ophelia, when you have decided on the list, I'd be interested to know what it is, and whether it ends up working for you :)

---

This is what I have so far:

1. Upon every waking, I check to see if I'm really awake.
2. Whenever I read my email, snail mail, newpaper
3. Whenever I use the microwave
4. At every meal
5. Whenever I see a dreamsign
6. During potty breaks :laughtillhurts:
7. Whenever I sneeze or burp :lol:

These are jsut some things that I do regularly every day, so I figure if I do a RC at those times when I'm awake, I may increase my chances of doing it when I dream, and therefore have a better shot at lucidity. And an RC can be something as simple as confirming the time on a digital clock, or making something tiny (like a bug) appear from thin air. I think the frequency of the rc's are most important. Make them more habitual.

Don't really know yet how they are working for me, kuz I'm still relatively new at this. So right now I'm still improving on dream recall while I form my rc list.

Hope that helped!

TBH, RC's dont seem to work as you think they might... They more help you keep your mind on LD'ing then anything else, which will help your awareness during dreams but RC's dont seem to work all that good... So dont count on it, try to test your awereness troughout the whole day and you might have a positive effect.

Quote:

---

TBH, RC's dont seem to work as you think they might[/b]

---

Really?! Damn, I've been working really hard on that list, too.

So what do you mean by "trying to test my awareness throughout the whole day"? Like, just ask myself if I'm dreaming while I'm awake?

Hehe, sorry if that was a dumb question. :lol: I just need some clarification.

I hoped that if i did it enough i would do it in my dreams, but didnt really do that. by testing your awareness is to make you more alert and notice things, all the time. Think about them more, dont rush by. Slow down, etc.

My friend just told me an RC that i thing may work, it's to count the fingers on your hands whenever you look at them, she says you always have a stange ammount of fingers in a lucid dream, would this work? If so I hope it helps you.

Well, I don't remember ever doing a RC out of habit in my dreams.
But yeah, they keep your mind on LDs and they're perfect for 'proving' that its a dream. Helps with the belief part if you are particular *stoopid* in the dream.

Some of those RC's I have to question though - eg the toilet one.
The only time that the toilet one will work is if you need it (normally)
And if you need it... you aren't going to get much fun out of an LD

That's just because I'm aaaaaaaaaalways dreaming about going to the bathroom.

Oh god, please don't ask me why. :oops: I think I regret mentioning it at all now.

I'm currently trying to get myself to RC whenever i check for work keys - something i've gotten into the habit of doing constantly over the last few years. Be buggered if i have the time to remember to do so though! ;)

Hope you have better luck with your endeavours anyway. Just don't try to look too foolish when trying to cast a fireball in the office!! :D :lol: *checks around corner*

Such reality checks as making something appear arent very good.
Cause they dont always work even if you are fully lucid.

For example I've almost lost my summoning powers - I cant make something appear even via the best technique :(

I used to do RC's, but stopped once I figured out that it wasn't helping me. I never had a lucid dream through RC's. What did work for me though was to increase your awareness. hmmm yeah....

Take this with a grain of salt due to my lack of experience in the general area of LD's....
Treat everything around you as if it was new. Don't merely take commonplace things for granted. For example, when you drive somewhere that you go every day (school, work, gym, whatever) you don't really pay attention to what is between point A and point B, you just kinda zone out and drive there by habit. Try actually noticing what buildings and shops there are on the way. Look at an interesting tree. Just try to NOTICE the little things around you all day that you normally overlook. One example of something I did when I sat down just now...my monitor sits on a small wooden platform I built about 4 years ago to raise it 3 inches, I JUST noticed that one of the pieces of wood I used has some 50's flowered wallpaper on it. By raising your overall awareness ALL the time, you may get yourself to question your surroundings constantly while awake and asleep. Hope it helped.

That's good advice, I Bleed Blue. I'll definitely try that.

Thanks! xoxo

Quote:

---

Originally posted by I Bleed Blue
Take this with a grain of salt due to my lack of experience in the general area of LD's....
Treat everything around you as if it was new. Don't merely take commonplace things for granted. .... question your surroundings constantly while awake and asleep. Hope it helped.

---

Regardless of lack of experience, thats very good advice.
In practice its very challenging though!

The tibetan dream yogis, for instance, claim to lucid dream in a similar way - by being aware of surroundings, state of mind and thought patterns.
They also claim they can stay aware of their thoughts all the way into delta sleep.

And what you're touching on is the subject of 'mental modelling' of the environment around us.
It basically means that we only experience our surroundings through our senses, and body. In a dream, its not all that different except that those surroundings come from within ourselves.
If you are aware of thought patterns and the nature of your surroundings, you can learn to pick up on that cue :D

Would be really cool, but I suck at it so far :(

Wow, thanks for that, Placebo.

Quote:

---

It basically means that we only experience our surroundings through our senses, and body. In a dream, its not all that different except that those surroundings come from within ourselves. [/b]

---

That was actually quite enlightening.

Thanks! xoxo