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If you notice a dream sign or something strange, and then u wonder, "am i dreaming?" then you are!! When I'm dreaming it hardly occurs to me whether i am dreaming or not, but if i simply think the question then i know i am. If it occurs to me whether I'm dreaming in real life then i instantly realize that I'm not. once i feel something is fishy i would try to change the dream, that seems like a good reality check too because if it works you're dreaming. Maybe this is just me though.
maybe you ask "am i dreaming" because you've been doing reality checks IWL?
i do reality checks now but haven't had a lucid since starting this.
i do many reality checks throughout the day, but a majority of my lucid dreams happen by me just realizing i was dreaming with no reality check.
i believe that reality checks for the most part just increase your awareness of the waking world which transfers over to awareness in the dream world and results in lucidity. check out my quote in my sig.
so i feel that reality checks are totally necessary.
Even if you don't notice a dreamsign, doing a spontaneous reality-check will tell you that you're dreaming. Of course, you need to get into the habit of doing them in daily life for them to carry over to your dreams. I also find that even after noticing a dreamsign, a reality-check is a helpful backup second opinion if you want to be sure.
Hey Philauto, I totally understand where you are coming from. The traditional reality check really doesn't do anything for me either. They seem so mechanical. Also I feel its like looking over your shoulder to see where you're going while your riding a bike forwards.
I overcame this using a few methods that engage higher cognition & useforward thinking instead of using signals that happened yesterday to determine my state of awareness today. One helpful tool is seeing how this reality is dream like. The advantage in this is when we recognize this reality as dream then we are authentic and not mechanical when we say I know I am dreaming. This habituated thinking pattern carries over into dream time. If you are open minded, sincere & persistent then this technique is profound. This is a tibetan dream yoga technique.
ANother one is to cultivate integrity & intention. This is a multi level profound technique as well. This means that we ask ourselves if someone treated us the way we treat ourselves would we keep ourselves as friends? If the answer is no why would that be? The reason for this is many of us are working against ourselves unconsciously. When we honor our commitments no matter what they are we can rely on ourselves. As a side effect we are more confident in ourselves and our ability to produce results.
Third is a failsafe. Build a fail safe into your affirmations. Example: tonight when I am lucid I will (fill in the blank). That way when you dream and you are doing that which you said you will do then two things of relevance happen: you follow thru with your intention & you recognize it. Hopefully a third thing will happen your recognition will reinforce your cognitive feedback telling you that you are lucid &, you know it. Lastyly, when you have this much awareness in you sleep you can choose the end of you lucid dream to wake up and write the bitch down! he he he
Above all else bro, the way you will attain lucidity is personal. You are unique understand that. You will ultimately do it the way that works for you. Be open to your own inner guidance. Giving away you ability to work out our own salvation or solution is ultimately futile because only we can do it no one else knows better than we do of what is best for us.
Happy Trails
i like this approach... practicing mindfulness and authenticity!
you're suggesting that who we "are" in WL is who we "remain" in LD and dream life...
so why be different? why not be consistently checking out reality?
are we alert? or complacent?
(i have lots of room for improvement, and this approach is empowering!)
Beachgirl, First, I think you get the point =0) but to clarify I am suggesting if we are honest we will admit that who we are in our dreams is who we are who we are in our waking life. Sometimes we might be tempted to disown part of ourselves in waking life but in our dreams we might tell ourselves this isn't real I will beat up who ever I want, I will have sex with who ever I want and as much as I want. The real truth is for many of us we find freedom to express our true desires in our dreams & that is a healthy thing.
I am glad you found it empowering; i did too. BTW nice socks =oD
I use reality checks throughout the day as a way to stay aware of what state of consciousness I'm in. When I'm dreaming, I almost always know right away if I'm dreaming or not. There are rare times when I really can't believe it is a dream, so I have to check several times to convince myself. Those few times are spooky as hell.
Thanks very much for the insight. I have been doing reality checks throughout the day hopefully this habit will transfer into my dreams. So far i have attained lucidity by just knowing. Most dreams i just accept all the crazy impossibleness and never think about it, however if i just do a check when everything seems normal then bam, "oh wait theres a pile of goo talking to me. How did i not realize this was weird?" Random question, is it possible to open and close your dream self's eyes?
Why don't you try it & let us know how it goes