Just "Knowing" you're dreaming

I’ve only had about a dozen or so lucid dreams and all of them except for the last two were a result of reality checks or recognizing a reoccuring dream sign. In my last two lucid dreams which both happend last week I didn’t really do any checks, I just sort of “realized” that I was dreaming. I’ve been trying to do this again but I don’t really know how I did it in the first place. I recall so many dreams a night that if I could learn how to do this better I know I can greatly increase the frequency of my lucid dreams. I always hear people say, “I realized it was a dream”, but how exactly is this done?

Lucidkid

My opinion is that some small thing tips you off that it’s a dream yet you aren’t aware of that happening so it seems like you suddenly realize it - much in the way of this example of sudden realization IRL (best way I know to explain it):

I was talking on the phone with my sister, she asked me to tell my dad something. I promptly forget as I’m doing homework. Suddenly the phone rings, an hour later, and I remember that I was supposed to tell my dad something.

So I suddenly recall something I knew without actively trying to remember it - it was merely triggered by my circumstances. So I put it down to something triggering your memory by association that you are dreaming (the impossible scenery, etc) at which point you realize it’s a dream.

But that’s just my opinion on how it happens :wink:

To be honest, I’m not the best person to be answering your post. I have only had a couple of lucid ‘moments’ in dreams before I have woken up.

The first time there was a trigger of something unusual happening and my brain just recognised it as something ‘wrong’ which I guess made my mind work a little overtime and I came to the realisation I was dreaming. Here’s how it happened…

Just a couple of examples of my own if that helps.

:alien:
I probably should add…these ‘moments’ were not the result of any hard work and studying I’d done to induce the lucid state…I am too lazy to do RC’s and I am not in the habit of using any proper method to induce a lucid…I just got there by ‘accident’ after spending time reading up about LD’s on the 'net.

but even when I have the wierdest things in my dream it doesn’t seem to happen. When it has happend it seemed to have been easy to recognize. In one I was in the water at my house in the keys and I said to myself, “wait I don’t go to the keys anymore, this must be a dream.” In the other one I dreamt that I was looking at my reflection and when I noticed my reflection was doing its own thing in the mirror I knew I was dreaming. But last night for example I dreamt I was trapped in a castle and there were some nonhuman beings making hundreds of humans drink a conncoction that would brainwash them into never wanting to leave the castle. Even I drank it and it really altered my perception in the dream, kinda like being high. Now how did I not realize that was a dream. How can I train my self to know I’m dreaming whenever I see somthing crazy in a dream like that. I do RC’s whenever somthing suprising happens in real life, but when somthing totally wiered happens in a dream I don’t recognize it as weird. How can I get better at this?

Hmm…I see what you mean.

You are asking why you cannot be aware of your dreaming especially in the most bizarre circumstances. My guess is that you are sleeping…your mind is ‘supposed’ to be resting…not logically thinking. That is why we have to train to become lucid. To get the mind ticking over just enough to recognise the opportunity.

Have you read all of the methods put forward on this website?

Umm… legally? Now I have theory because I have noticed after having several intense lucid dreams, I become worn out (not physcial – mind). So maybe my mind becomes exhausted because it’s supposed to be resting?

Sorry if I’m getting off topic or not making any senses.

well couldn’t that tiredness be similar to an athelete - at first when you start say running you don’t do too much of it before you are worn out, but after you train with it for a while you can run much further before becoming tired? After all there are those who are naturally lucid in most (if not all) of their dreams, and I doubt that they are all mentally exhausted due to it - I think that you are correct about being tired because you are supposed to be resting, but I also think that eventually a person can adapt to it and rest even while they lucid dream.

shrug just my 2 cents :smile:

PS - I have a classmate who is naturally lucid in nearly all his dreams and he is most certainly not drained durring the day. Now if only I could get him interested in dreaming!

I’m a natural dreamer. I don’t get worn out easily, but I had been having INTENSE Higher than High level lucid dreams almost every night for like 2 weeks, after that, I was like, “That’s it, I’m going to take a break. I feel very exhausted mentally!” So… I can tolerate normal lucid dreams ‘forever,’ but I cannot tolerate having high intense lucid dream for more than 2 weeks if I have 3 or more of them almost every night.

I hope you understand what I’m trying to say.

So maybe it confirm our theory?

I think I can understand what you mean, sort of like when you have been focused on doing things (difficult tasks/tests) all day and it just seems to suck the energy out of you, but I still think that it’s something you can adjust to. I don’t think it’d be anything that would occure quickly but I still think it’s possible.

I can see this is getting off topic. I really would like some more input because i know there are a lot of people out there who do it. I want to get better at just “knowing” that I am dreaming. I always hear people say “I realized I was dreaming” but how exactly is this done? Its happend to me twice but I really can’t explain it.

personally the way I do it is to add “I will remember I’m dreaming.” to my nightly mild list. I’ve used that sentence for a while and it seems to be having a greater and greater effect - these past few days I’ve spontaniously ‘realized’ I was dreaming four times, which is much better than my success with RCs or WILD.

something to that effect seems to work well, I would also recomend randomly just telling yourself you might be dreaming, as that might help out. Basically, I think doing anything to reinforce your wish to LD will help out with spontanious lucidity.

hope that helps

LucidKid: It’s a totally subconscious thing… when people say they “realized” they were dreaming, they don’t mean actively realized…they mean passively - it just happened on its own. It’s a very SUBTLE realization or epiphany that your subconscious mind makes, based on a dreamsign which you would most likely NOT realize consciously.

For example: one of your listed dreamsigns might be, “I know I’m dreaming when I can’t run fast.” So, the next time you’re unable to run fast, you’ll consciously realize you’re dreaming… What most people don’t realize is, your brain makes a mental “model” of everything you see, hear, touch, taste, etc…, and stores it for future encounters, sort of like a “cache” on your computer; those models are what your mind uses to create your dreamworld… millions of models, from touch to taste, from object texture to a flower’s fragrance…in dreams, ALL of it is obviously not really there, it’s all modeled. :wink:
Based on those detailed models, your subconscious mind knows when the slightest thing is off - something that you might not actively realize… like glancing at any object that is, let’s say, slightly out of proportion. You may not have realized it, but it triggered your subconscious mind, which in turn cross-checked it with your stored mental “model” of that object, and then determined it wasn’t accurate, or for some reason was illegitimate… this is all going on mentally “behind the scenes”, so you’d never realize it in those cases…

Unfortunately, during the really low-conscious-level (not even low-lucidity level) dreams, even when bizarre things happen, your mental model cache doesn’t work properly for some reason…therefore, even the most inane things seem to trick it, and seem commonplace… :bored:

Yeh…heck, are you a teacher Dreamscape?

That’s a great explanation, it shows you have a high level of understanding of the topic.
Well done!

BTW -Love your avvietar!

:tongue:

Thanks! :grin: No actually I"m not a teacher, but I am a writer…I write a LOT… and yes, I suppose I do know a lot about dreaming, lucid dreaming, and the human mind in general - I just WISH I could have more lucid dreams!! :grrr:

Unfortunately, I only immerse myself into LD’ing in an on and off pattern …in other words, I’ll really concentrate on having an LD for a month or so, employing a lot of different methods each night; if I don’t succeed after that month, I’ll usually give up for a month or two, and then get back into it again. I know this isn’t the smartest thing to be doing, as constant immersion is most likely most productive on the road to LD’ing, but I just can’t help getting amazingly frustrated when I play out each method meticulously, yet to no avail… I’ve been immersing myself deeply again this month, and I’ve already noticed a significant increase in dream recall, and in the vividness of my dreams… I’m happy to say that I do know this is always the first step to LD’ing, so I think I’ll continue my efforts indefinitely this time…or at least until I can have a few LD’s every week!! :happy: Wish me luck! …and good luck to you…

In my opinion all parts of the body require rest and that includes the brain. Lucid dreaming requires a little control and if done too often without a break , does not allow the brain the rest it needs resulting in mental fatigue. No part of our physical mind or body is perpetual. :content:

Some of my dreams i KNOW are not real, but i use shitty explanations so it makes sense. In these dreams i say something along the lines of “Im in a movie” whenever i see something that doesnt make any sense. Of course, now that i Lucid dream, i think that these questions trigger lucidtiy. My dream check is to logicaly ask myselof if im dreaming.

ok, I had a lucid dream last night where I just “realized” I was dreaming.
There was no dreamsign or irregularity that I recognized. I just suddenly became lucid. After becoming lucid I could feel my self lying on the bed and knew that I was sleeping, not sure if this had anything to do with my actually becoming lucid. I wish I could figure out how to do this (“just realize i’m dreaming”) whenever I want, or at least more often :partying_face: . :cheesy:

With every LD but my first I have just realized that I was dreaming without an obvious sign. In the first it was screwed up text that clued me in but since then its just been spontaneous.

I batted this idea around before but I’ll lay it out again. My dreams (and some people have agreed the same is true for them) seem to have this certain… feeling to them. I don’t know how to describe that to you but thats what it is. No matter where I am or what Im doing there is this underriding feeling that I don’t always notice when Im dreaming but recall when I recall a dream. Im working under the theory that at certain times my brain picks up on that while Im actually dreaming and I realize that I am supposed to be watching for some clue that Im dreaming so I become lucid. Am I making sense?

I think that using dreamsigns and other methods make becoming lucid something that you can train for and turn into a regular and deliberate function of the mind but I think these random occurances, at least in my case, happen because I somehow pick up on this dream-feeling by chance.

Actually I’m glad that this topic was brought up because almost every ld that I’ve had has resulted from just becoming aware that I was dreaming. I am pretty sure that this has happened because I use the MILD technique so if I am lucky I will just remember my intent to lucid dream while in a dream. For me, remembering my intent to ld is enough to make me lucid in a dream. Oddly I’ve tried reality checks for a while but I have only had one ld from doing these. Again, it all comes down to different methods work for different people.

I’ve NEVER done an RC in a dream, and have always just known that I was dreaming. I have no idea how or why.