How to increase all together awareness in waking life?

[Erii]

so I do Reality Checks, I really think when I do them since I had experiences in dreams where I do an RC and just let it pass by. SO I need some ideas on how to increase general awareness throughout my day, so it can pass into my dreams after a while. So, any ways besides reality checks (or at least the well known RCs) to increase daily awareness? or awareness in general?

[NrElAx]

I'd say just take some time throughout the day to just check your surrounding and soak everything in. Just realize where your at and what's around you. So have a better awareness of what your doing throughout the day.

[RecklessDreamer]

I always carry a lucky coin around with me, and do RC by flipping the coin and if it lands on the same side every time, I'm dreaming. So anyways just find something you carry around all day and figure out something you could do with it, or just what ever you do most the day.

[Lorgarn]

Watch for details. Do you know the eye color of your coworkers? If not why? Because we miss things like this in daily life. Try to find out the eye colors, it's easy. Nobody minds if you look them in the eyes, when you talk to them. Find similar things like this to pay attention to. And besides from that, whenever you see something strange or uncommon like 'uh..I have never seen the sky in that color' do a reality check. Regards Lorgarn

[StonedApe]

Focus only on what you are doing right now. Put all of your awareness into each action and make each action conscious. Most of the time we learn to do stuff and then just do it intuitively without really sensing what we are doing. Every once in a while take a step back and be really aware of whats going on with your body and your surroundings. Doing things slowly enough that you can be really aware of them helps too. You could also try eating healthy and breathing techniques, they increase your alertness.

[Erii]

Focus only on what you are doing right now. Put all of your awareness into each action and make each action conscious. Most of the time we learn to do stuff and then just do it intuitively without really sensing what we are doing. Every once in a while take a step back and be really aware of whats going on with your body and your surroundings. Doing things slowly enough that you can be really aware of them helps too. You could also try eating healthy and breathing techniques, they increase your alertness. great point!

[Erii]

thanks guys!

[dark_grimmjow]

Throughout the day, try questioning yourself about how you got to where you are that very moment. Did you fly or levitate there? Or can you not remember how you got there at all? Many times in dreams, we are set in the middle of a situations and never think about how we got there. We just go on about whatever we are doing and miss the chance to become lucid. So i would suggest that throughout the day, along with doing an rc, question how you got to where you are and why you are doing what you are doing. Another option could be, at any point in the day, ask yourself what you did up to that point. If you can't remember waking up or remember doing anything before that moment, then chances are that you are dreaming. I think if we got into the habit of doing this; that we would have alot more ld's. I should really take my own advice.

[NrElAx]

Exactly what stonedape said. He put it in much better words than I did. Being conscious of all your actions in your waking life will allow you to do the same in your dreams. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Everyone just walks throughout their day pretty much in a haze not really conscious of everything that's going on.

[Clamosus]

Good points. stonepade said it well and I like Lorgarn's idea of watching for details. However, I still find it difficult to be aware.

[Tenrai]

Meditation also helps. When we wake up in the morning, we continue our dreams in our mind. In the physical they don't appear before us, so they are harder to spot. But if we pay attention, we notice that our consciousness is asleep, even when physically awake. We always have a chain of thoughts, moving from one to the other through mechanical association. We react incessantly to the impressions we receive, external and internal. In order to become more aware in the physical, and so by consequence more aware in our dreams, we have to stop reacting mechanically to the events of life. The way of doing this is by simply practicing it. As others have said, to take a step back and observe your surroundings, to reflect for a moment how we got where we are, but we should also observe ourselves. In order become conscious in our dreams we need to become conscious of the dreams we have inside, to observe our thoughts, emotions and impulses and to not simply react to external circumstances. If someone insults us, we don't just insult back, but instead reflect and realize that it's not worth it to waste energy on such stupidities. If we see someone on the street that reminds us of someone we know, we don't immediately start thinking about that friend, about memories with them, but keep paying attention and observing our mind. When we become identified and fascinated by internal and external phenomena, our consciousness falls asleep. And if we are dreaming, we lose ourselves in the dream. The consciousness is receptive and it grows when it's activated, when it's opened to the impressions of life; without projecting, commenting, complaining, thinking, remembering, comparing, analyzing, etc. Just being. Meditation helps with this as it allows us to practice this without external distractions, in a relaxed state. Then we can practice to observe our chain of thoughts, without trying to stop it, but neither to follow along with it. If we keep at it, as a passive observer, the thoughts will eventually cease and left will be a pure state of consciousness. This can then be carried on to our daily life, and eventually also to our dreams. I insert an excerpt from a lecture in which the speaker (the esotericist Samael Aun Weor) speaks about the SOL (Subject, Object, Location) key: Subject The person needs to always keep remembering himself: not only his physicality, but also one needs to watch one’s own thoughts, feeling, emotions, deductions, appetencies, fears, longings, etc. Object Beloved brothers and sisters, it seems to me that this second aspect (object) is abundantly intriguing, because it is related with becoming inquisitive about objects, that is, with “not becoming identified with things” as we already stated; thus, if you see a beautiful object—i.e. a suit within a window-store, or an exposition of something, or an exhibition of anything: a very beautiful car, a pair of wonderful shoes, anything—what is important is to not become identified with the thing, and to know how to distinguish between common things and uncommon things, like a strange animal, an elephant that flies, or a camel that appears in the middle of the living-room, etc.; thus, the first thing that one needs to do is to reflect. One needs to not become identified with the object or creature that one sees, because if one becomes identified with what one sees, that is, if one is absorbed by the representation before one’s eyes, then one remains fascinated; in other words, one passes from identification to fascination, and this is how one remains enchanted, marveled, identified. If one forgets oneself, then thereafter one’s own consciousness falls asleep, it will snooze profoundly. Thus, my dear brothers and sisters, the only thing that one achieves with this mistaken behavior—that is, by allowing oneself to become foolishly fascinated with objects—is to deactivate the consciousness, to put it to sleep, and this is critical, very critical, very critical… very critical… Location From my memory—at his very moment—I recall another unusual case: many years ago when I was traveling through the countries of South America—since as a traveler I always walked from one country to another around the world—on a given night it so happened that I saw myself walking through a garden, then into a living room and through it, and finally I arrived at a lawyer’s office, where I saw seated at a desk a lady of a certain age, with grey hair, who very amiably attended me; she stood up and greeted me. Suddenly, I observed that two butterflies made of crystal were on the desk—well, there is nothing odd about seeing two butterflies on a desk, right? Yet, the intriguing aspect of this matter is that the two butterflies were alive: they were moving their wings, their little heads, their little legs, and that is very odd, right? So, this was very unusual and intriguing: two butterflies made of crystal, and alive! These butterflies were not normal; it is clear that they were not natural, my beloved brothers and sisters, this was something odd; it was a case where one has to become very inquisitive. Well then, do you want to know what I did? I did not become identified with the pair of butterflies, I only pondered the following question within myself: “How is it possible that there exist in the world butterflies whose bodies are made of crystal, whose head, legs, and wings are made of crystal, and that breathe and have life like the natural ones?” Thus, this is how I reflected, my beloved brothers and sisters. What if I had become identified with the butterflies and not pondered an analytical question, without reflecting on those butterflies made of crystal? What if I had become fascinated, or enchanted, and had fallen into unconsciousness? Well, that would have been foolish, right? However, I reflected, by pondering the following statements to myself: "No! It is impossible for these type of creatures to exist in the physical world. No, no, no, this is very strange, this is very odd, this is not normal. Here, I smell something fishy, there is something rare. This type of phenomenon, as I know, does not exist in the tridimensional world; since this is only possible in the astral world, it seems that I am in the astral dimension; could it be that I am in the astral world?" Then, I question myself: "It seems that I am dreaming, it seems that I left my physical body sleeping somewhere, because indeed this is very odd. So, in order to be sure, I am going to perform a small jump with the intension of floating in the environment, thus, this is how I will verify if I am in my astral body, so let us see what happens." So, this is what I said to myself, yes brothers and sisters, with complete confidence I tell you that this is how I proceeded. It is obvious that I had to proceed in that manner and not in another manner, right? However, I was concerned about jumping in front of that lady; thus, I said to myself, “This lady might think that I am a nut case if I start jumping here in her office.” Apparently, everything was very normal: a desk like any desk, the chair where the lady was seated was one of those that rotate from one side to the other, there were two candelabra in that office, I remember that one was at the right and the other at the left, they seem made of massive gold. So, I remember this with entire exactitude, my dear brothers and sisters, even though it happened a long time ago, many years, since I was very young in that epoch, thus, I remember that the candelabra were of seven branches. Well, talking here with complete confidence, I did not find anything odd in that room, everything was normal in that office, however, when I focused my sight in those butterflies they became the only truly questionable oddity there. As for the rest, I said: “There is nothing odd about this lady, she as normal as other ladies in the world; however, these butterflies make me intrigued.” The fact that they were alive on their own accord was very rare. Anyhow, be it as it is, I resolved to leave the room with the intention of performing a little jump, do you understand? Of course, I had to give an excuse to the lady, thus, I asked her consent to leave the office; I told her that I needed to leave the room just for a moment, and that I did. Thus, when outside in the corridor and being sure that no one was looking at me, I performed a long jump with the intension of floating in the environment… and behold, let me tell you what happened, sincerely I tell you that I immediately remained floating in the surrounding atmosphere. Of course, I felt a delectable sensation, my dear brothers and sisters, a delectable sensation; then I said to myself: “I am in my astral body; here I do not have even the slightest doubt about it.” I remembered that a few hours before I had left my physical body sleeping in my bed and by displacing myself there in the astral world I had arrived to that place, to that office. Then, I went back into that office, I sat again before the lady and spoke to her with much respect, I told her: “Be aware, ma’am, that we both are in the astral body.” Wondered, with sleepy eyes as a somnambulist, that lady scarcely looked at me; she did not understand, she did not comprehend, nevertheless, I wanted to clarify the situation for her and I told her: “Ma’am, remember that a few hours ago you went to bed, to lay down in order to sleep, therefore, do not wonder why am I telling you this; listen: your physical body is sleeping in your bed and you are here talking with me in the astral world…” Yet, definitively, that lady did not understand; she was profoundly asleep, she had her consciousness asleep. Thus, upon seeing that everything was useless, comprehending that she would not awaken—not even with cannon shots, since that wretched lady had never dedicated herself to the labor of the awakening of her consciousness—then frankly, my dear brothers and sisters, I resolved to apologize, and left.