New to the world of lucid dreaming

[jrhnemo]

I'm glad to say that I have recently discovered the world of lucid dreaming! I'm really excited to work on experiencing my first lucid dream. I have some questions, though. I'll start off with this one: I know that reality checks are crucial to inducing lucid dreams, especially for beginners. I've been doing some all day (jumping, trying to put my hand through my palm, trying to put my hand through a wall), but in order to do this in a dream, won't I have to think about doing? In other words, in order for me to begin a reality check in my dream, won't I have to be conscious in order to think about needing to do a reality check?

[Puffin]

Hello, and welcome to Dreamviews! As for your question, you're right. Reality checks actually aren't what cause lucid dreams - they're more of a, let's say, confirmation. You usually become aware that you "might" be dreaming, and then do a reality check to back this fact up. You're right about having to be conscious, which is actually a common snag for beginners; it's written in the tutorials that reality checks themselves cause consciousness when that isn't really true (they're being rewritten now).

[jrhnemo]

Thanks for clearing that up! But now my main worry is that I won't even be able to get to the point of consciousness where I will remember to do a reality check. I'm going to try to do the MILD technique, and repeat that "I will do a reality check" in my head before going to sleep. Do you think that will help me remember to do a reality check in my dream?

[Puffin]

Autosuggestion is just like a placebo effect, which can work for some people, so don't hesitate to try it out. As for the consciousness part - you basically just have to practice awareness in waking life by asking yourself if you REALLY could be dreaming at this very moment. If I were to ask you if you were dreaming right now, you'd probably say "no" because everything looks and feels real, or normal. But you haven't questioned anything yet. Dreams also feel real, and normal, when we're in them. You have to question waking life because you never really know if you're awake or asleep until you do a reality check.

[jrhnemo]

That definitely makes sense. Thank you so much. I'll PM you with tonight's result, if you're interested.

[Puffin]

Sure. Keep in mind it can take a few days for your mind to actually become conscious using the technique, but it will happen. Good luck. If you have any other questions feel free to post them or send me a PM!