Blurring the texture of reality

I began efforts to attain lucidity several months ago. I read this whole website and Stephen Laberge's book, I began keeping a dream journal, performing reality checks, and several other methods. Now, my dream recall is between 2-3 per night, and I usually can get lucid a few times a week.

Recently, I've begun having increasingly frequent false awakenings. I wake up in my dorm room and have normal conversations with my roommate or others. Earlier this week I had an episode where I got down from my loft, walked to the fridge, then believed I was dreaming and that I had to try very hard to stay lucid. I still haven't gathered whether I was awake or not. Last night, while dreaming, I was conscious enough to decide to test if I was dreaming or not, but upon performing the reality check, I concluded that I was most certainly not dreaming.

I originally performed reality checks for the same reason anyone does--so the behavior will follow me into the dream world where it will lead me to lucidity. Now, I find myself performing reality checks so I can actually find out whether or not I am awake. In light of last night's failed reality check, my future reality checks have to be much more in depth.

Does anyone have any advice on how to avoid this sort of thing? It's affecting my waking life.

Really? Nobody has ANYTHING?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by r0bst3r

I still haven't gathered whether I was awake or not....
It's affecting my waking life.

---

The first part is a bit disturbing :shock: I remember sleeping in a loft, and it was quite a pain to get out and down in the morning! Is your sense of reality really getting that blurred?? :shock:
Are you doing reality checks every time you wake up? If so, which ones, how many, etc.?

How is it affecting your waking life? If embraced, FAs can get you a lot of nice lucids. If you do RCs, you should be able to catch the FAs before they get disturbing or confuse you.

In retrospect my reality checks haven't been that in depth. I check and recheck digital clocks alot, look around me and see if anything seems out of the ordinary. I've started the finger-through-palm and plugged-nose-breathing techniques so hopefully that will yield more concrete results.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by r0bst3r

In retrospect my reality checks haven't been that in depth. I check and recheck digital clocks alot, look around me and see if anything seems out of the ordinary. I've started the finger-through-palm and plugged-nose-breathing techniques so hopefully that will yield more concrete results.

---

For reality checks, I'd recommend doing at least three. Then, if one fails, you'll try another one. Even if you are in the mind frame of "RCs=FAIL", and mind frames usually cause things to work out certain ways in dreams, hopefully the third will at least get you lucid.

Personally, I do the finger-through-palm, look-at-hands, and digital-time/text one. Some advice I can recommend with the time/text is to look at the thing at least three times. Look, look away. Look again, look away. Look at least one more time. Sometimes things will stay stable twice, but change on the third glance.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about from my DJ:

Quote:

---

At some point I am picking up all of these quarters and scanning them to find out which state, and it is a New York one that catches me eye. Etched into the metal is just a pure skyline of a city, not even NY with only about 7 buildings, and I think that it is the night skyline. It says 2008 at the bottom and I am like “Wow what a cool quarter, I’m glad they’re coming out with these new ones.”
I continue down, and the grills have become the back bumpers of cars. I am in a parking garage, and still picking up quarters. I think to myself, “That new quarter is something I should do a RC for” sort of absentmindedly. So as I am going from car to car, I look up at one and on it is painted the number “1547.” I look at it, then back down to the quarters I am picking up, then back. It says “1747”. “Nope.” I say, and keep going but I know I should always look 3 times. I look again and it says “1347” and I realize that it changed the past two times. “Oh my god!” I start laughing, and look around the parking garage. Everything has become less stable, almost misty or overexposed, but I look around at how realistic the rows and the cars are. I get excited, and stare at my hands, which look normal.

---

People who has troubles believing that others can se angel and god should realy visit this page and get an upd on what pranks our own brain play us all the time :D

I wonder what kind of a lucid dream a person who is in a coma for 40 years get, and what he/she will think about the real world when its time to wake up. One could hope its not 40 years of partial control of nightmares.

I used to have this problem occasionally, but eventually I just got a feel for the difference between the two states. Until then just try to stay calm, perform as many RC's as it takes, and ask yourself whether the events around you make sense. Remember that the worst case scenario should be that you believe you are awake when you are dreaming. If when in doubt you always assume you are awake, there is nothing to be afraid of.

I would advise to practice failing your RCs. The fact is, while you're truly awake, you will know that you're truly awake, while when you are asleep, the automatic fail will hopefully cause lucidity.
Whats also effective is to say to yourself, out loud, "I AM DREAMING", while awake

Quote:

---

I wonder what kind of a lucid dream a person who is in a coma for 40 years get, and what he/she will think about the real world when its time to wake up. One could hope its not 40 years of partial control of nightmares.

---

You can't have dreams in a comatose state.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by anonymous

You can't have dreams in a comatose state.

---

Why? Sources?

http://www.ards.org/journalsstories/...pauldream.html
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~pnda/fo...num=1165248098

Duh. Being in a coma isn't the same as sleeping. Still, you can get dreams in the recovery period, which lasts for a few days before waking up completely.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by anonymous

Duh. Being in a coma isn't the same as sleeping. Still, you can get dreams in the recovery period, which lasts for a few days before waking up completely.

---

Coma is not coma. That state can be as different as the lesion that caused it.

You can have "dreams" when meditating, when taking certain substances, when in an isolation tank and in many other states that also aren't "the same as sleeping". What most have in common is the sensual deprivation. Sleep is just one form of that. Actually you can even start dreaming when fully awake given that you haven't slept for a few days. And last but not least there is daydreaming which does not require sleep as well.

Quote:

---

You can have "dreams" when meditating, when taking certain substances, when in an isolation tank and in many other states that also aren't "the same as sleeping".

---

In those states the brain is pretty much alive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma