Thread: Complete noob, half skeptical.

I guess the only way I can explain it is this: Imagine that you are awake and in real life. And you start to fly. You would feel wind rushing through your hair and hitting your face. You would want to close your eyes slightly from all of the force and you would have that pit in the bottom of your stomach. You would /really/ be flying. That's what lucid dreaming can do for you. You won't be "imagining" flying. You will actually be doing it. It'll just be inside of the confines of your mind and not in the "waking world". It's really hard to describe/explain. Once you do it: you'll know.

And yes, RCing is simply a habit building technique. You've probably realized already that things you do in your every day life, things you're constantly aware of, seep into your dreams. For the past few months I've been constantly worried about going to the dentist (because I have to get my wisdom teeth pulled out) and eventually that got to be so on my mind: it actually started popping up in my dreams. The same concept applies to reality checking. You want to habitually reality check in the hopes (and the odds are good) that you will eventually reality check in your dream and...voila! You are lucid. But the trick to reality checking is this: you have to reality check with an open mind.You have to be receptive to the idea that you actually could be dreaming.

Originally Posted by jasonresno

You have to be receptive to the idea that you actually could be dreaming.

For example, I'm walking around school and in my head I 'know' it's real, and I feel stupid checking, but I try to push my finger through my hand. If I'm not open to the idea that it could in fact be a dream, then even if it is a dream the RC might not work right? It could fail but in the end... me actually be in a dream? So I have to train myself to... question what is real and what is not, and never be sure if it is. On the surface LD sounds cool but it also sounds kind of scary... not knowing if everything is real or not. Kind of like inception..

EDIT: Has anyone ever carried a certain item like in inception? I know I probably sound stupid bringing this up since inception is a new movie and all the ideas were though up before but... im curious.

Originally Posted by LostInDream

EDIT: Has anyone ever carried a certain item like in inception? I know I probably sound stupid bringing this up since inception is a new movie and all the ideas were though up before but... im curious.

No. In real life totems wouldn't work. For example if you had the top like in Inception and for some reason it showed up in one of your dreams and you decided to spin it it would just fall over like it would in reality.

I do have an 'A' (for awake) written on the palm of my hand though and I make a habit of checking it in reality all the time in hopes that I'll check in a dream and become aware I'm dreaming.

Originally Posted by FatBox

I do have an 'A' (for awake) written on the palm of my hand though and I make a habit of checking it in reality all the time in hopes that I'll check in a dream and become aware I'm dreaming.

I'm not understanding. If your already expecting the 'A' to be there then how do you know it won't be there in your dream?

Each time you see the A ask yourself if you're Awake. Become Aware of your surroundings, do a reality check. Then, hopefully you'll see it in your dreams, do an RC and become lucid. At least thats my understanding of it

Originally Posted by LostInDream

For example, I'm walking around school and in my head I 'know' it's real, and I feel stupid checking, but I try to push my finger through my hand. If I'm not open to the idea that it could in fact be a dream, then even if it is a dream the RC might not work right? It could fail but in the end... me actually be in a dream? So I have to train myself to... question what is real and what is not, and never be sure if it is. On the surface LD sounds cool but it also sounds kind of scary... not knowing if everything is real or not. Kind of like inception..

EDIT: Has anyone ever carried a certain item like in inception? I know I probably sound stupid bringing this up since inception is a new movie and all the ideas were though up before but... im curious.

Well, it would be scary if you were fully awake and in that state, possibly. You simply don't have the thought process you would if you were awake while you are dreaming. So things don't seem all too weird.

Everybody says the totem idea would not work, and I beg to differ. People actually do use totems, all the time, for reality checks. Classic example is a cell phone or a digital wrist watch. The top idea is definitely possible though.

No. In real life totems wouldn't work. For example if you had the top like in Inception and for some reason it showed up in one of your dreams and you decided to spin it it would just fall over like it would in reality.

Oh, would it now? So that means if I pulled my finger in a dream it would stay the same size, just like in reality? If I checked my clock twice in a dream it would present the same time just like in reality? Should I go on?

Originally Posted by WakaWaka

Well, it would be scary if you were fully awake and in that state, possibly. You simply don't have the thought process you would if you were awake while you are dreaming. So things don't seem all too weird.

Everybody says the totem idea would not work, and I beg to differ. People actually do use totems, all the time, for reality checks. Classic example is a cell phone or a digital wrist watch. The top idea is definitely possible though.

Oh, would it now? So that means if I pulled my finger in a dream it would stay the same size, just like in reality? If I checked my clock twice in a dream it would present the same time just like in reality? Should I go on?

Not really. I think I agree with the quote here.
When you look at a clock, you're looking for an answer that your mind couldn't otherwise give you. If you already knew the time, which is why you look at a clock, why would you bother? I think the clock check is just a confirmation and wouldn't really work as a RC unless you were already questioning your reality to begin with - your mind would just trick you into believing it were normal just like whoever you've quoted there has suggested with the spinning top.

Bottom line is - the only way to find out for yourself is to come up with your own, unique totem exactly like they did in the movie, and try it out in the dream whilst already lucid to compare how your totem works in the dream-world and how it works in waking life.

Originally Posted by pinkeyedance

Not really. I think I agree with the quote here.
When you look at a clock, you're looking for an answer that your mind couldn't otherwise give you. If you already knew the time, which is why you look at a clock, why would you bother? I think the clock check is just a confirmation and wouldn't really work as a RC unless you were already questioning your reality to begin with - your mind would just trick you into believing it were normal just like whoever you've quoted there has suggested with the spinning top.

I actually experienced the clock thing last night. I wasn't lucid but I remember looking at my clock on my way to 'class' and it was 42 after (idk the hour) then when I looked back half way to my class (took a wrong turn) it was 47 after.. I was late. Time somewhat worked.

If you even doubt the fact that lucid dreaming is real or not you wont achieve it. . . and yes, if you can achieve it you will be amazed and everyday would just be better after a vivid lucid dream and you will just want more. Like a good drug but only natural

Originally Posted by LostInDream

For example, I'm walking around school and in my head I 'know' it's real, and I feel stupid checking, but I try to push my finger through my hand. If I'm not open to the idea that it could in fact be a dream, then even if it is a dream the RC might not work right? It could fail but in the end... me actually be in a dream? So I have to train myself to... question what is real and what is not, and never be sure if it is. On the surface LD sounds cool but it also sounds kind of scary... not knowing if everything is real or not. Kind of like inception...

Exactly - you have to genuinely question whether or not you are dreaming, because dreams feel just as real as reality itself. If you simply do a RC and know that you aren't dreaming, in a dream you will do a RC and "know" that you aren't dreaming.

A couple years ago (before finding this forum) I would do RCs simply by asking myself if I was dreaming, and then look around at reality to determine I wasn't dreaming. Well, twice in dreams I asked myself, "is this a dream?", only to look around (at all of the weird things going on around me) and determine I wasn't.

Originally Posted by Aquinas

A couple years ago (before finding this forum) I would do RCs simply by asking myself if I was dreaming, and then look around at reality to determine I wasn't dreaming. Well, twice in dreams I asked myself, "is this a dream?", only to look around (at all of the weird things going on around me) and determine I wasn't.

Lol that's too funny. Flying cars, people upside down.. in a crazy club and I'm naked... is this a dream? seems pretty logical, not a dream at all.. XD

Originally Posted by FatBox

No. In real life totems wouldn't work. For example if you had the top like in Inception and for some reason it showed up in one of your dreams and you decided to spin it it would just fall over like it would in reality.

Well if I lost logic, wouldn't it just keep spinning because that's the point of me spinning it? Because I want it to keep spinning. Kind of like a RC could be throwing a rock in the air and levitating it. If it works you're /probably/ dreaming.. :p