Hi
Sorry to bring this up again, I know there is already much information about it.Basicly I know what DS are, but I get a little confused, so here is the question:
Are DS all things that
a) happen in your dreams but can´t happen in the waking world (e.g flying)
b)all things that happen very often in your dreams, even if they could happen in the waking world (e.g someone said that he often finds himself in the parking lot)
c)both
d)something i didn´t mention
If a), you have to remember these things (via autosuggestion?).So this is the difficultie in it.I haven´t found a pattern in this yet, but perhaps I will.Sadly, I don´t seem to have many reacuring situations in my dreams.
If b), you make a RC everytime you are in the situation.Here I have the problem that i just don´t find such things in my dreams.The things that happen often are things that also happen often in my waking life, so i can´t always do RCs.Any tips on that?
A dreamsign that has been common for me lately is money suddently missing when im supposed to pay for something or money has the wrong amount on. This is how i turned lucid in my last few lds.
Like a couple of nights ago, i was on a bus, was supposed to pay but when i looked thru my pockets i could not find any money, i then thought to myself: hmm can this be a dream?? Then i willed money to be there, sure thing there was 40nkr but there dosent exist paper money with that amount on, so that made me totally lucid
I think DS’s should be anything that you associate only with dreaming. Things that could happen in real life will be less valuable, even if they never happen to you, because subconsciously you will think it is real life.
Reality Checks should not be “saved” for unusual situations. Do them as often as possible in the real world under normal circumstances. It’s the repetition of RC’s at any old time in real life that will carry over into your dreams. The dream world seems very normal when we are dreaming, just as the real world seems normal. I think the idea of the RC is to break that “normal” view of things and get lucid. Do RC’s in the real world 'til they are coming out of your ears. They don’t hurt. They don’t interfere with how you live your life. But get in the habit of doing them, and they will show up in your dreams.
You have to be careful with doing reality checks all the time! It’s good to do them frequently, but it CAN hurt if you don’t do them RIGHT. You can’t just look at your clock twice every half-hour, or something. You really have to be critical!
Here’s a procedure that is helpful for me. Look around you. Try to get that feeling of “this looks so real… if it is a dream, wow…” when you’re examining your surroundings. Think about things you see or hear that possibly could indicate you’re dreaming. Notice if anything’s the slightest bit weird. Then do the normal reality check. If you can remember doing one an hour ago, remember there have been times in your dreams where you’ve remembered things that didn’t happen! If it turns out you’re not dreaming, think about what you’d do if you were.
If you do them mindlessly, the odds are they won’t work in your dreams because you don’t expect them to. Maybe they will, but you won’t notice you’re dreaming. You might rationalize what happened. If you do them the right way, it heps cultivate a state of mindfulness and leads to waking and dreaming lucidity.
Dreamsigns are things repetative in your dreams.Something you do or feel most often.
You do reality checks according to them.If travellin on bus is your ds then everytime u go on bus u do RC.
hope it helps
Jack: you have a very valid point but I think that is called something else, not sure what. I just checked the “bible”/ Lucidity Inst. Dreamsigns are fantastical things like flying, seeing dead people, purple cows, etc. The idea of the dreamsign is this is something that could only happen in a dream! Your supposed to review your dream journal and look for those signs and try to remember to become lucid when you see them.
Soccer-girl makes a very good point about doing quality RC’s. There is a difference between quality and quantity. I personally don’t think doing too many can hurt you, but I believe doing them right is more important than doing them often. Ideally you do both.
I think of the RC as similar to turning on a light switch. The RC gets the juice flowing, but then you have to maintain that flow. You can’t stay lucid by constantly doing RC’s. The RC moves you from non-lucid to lucid, then you have to keep it going. The procedure is the same whether you are doing it in a dream or real life. I think that’s why working on RC’s in real life builds the “lucid muscle” and carries over into dreaming
Hey Soccer-girl, I like the quantum mechanics sig. line. Have you read “The Holographic Universe” by Talbot?
Yes, that’s it. I was quite successful in the last time doing this very often and intensive. It was already mentioned sometime on this board, but vigilance and RC’s have to become an always running background task. I does not have to be the only technique but i think it can support the whole thing a lot.
Strange… I never could remember any dreamsign, but after I put this post into the forum I suddenly noticed two reacurring things:
1.I see animals that can´t be in waking life, such as huge ants or tiny camels that walk under water (I think I have to blame my brother for that )
2.I am often skiing, although I haven´t done this for two years.
So,now I somehow have to remember that I am dreaming when I am either skiing or seeing huge or tiny animals
Dust Mote - No, I haven’t read The Holographic Universe. It sounds interesting. I’ve had it on my list of books to read when I get a chance for a while.
Soccer_girl: Just my opinion but, I think “The Holographic Universe” should be required reading for every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth! When I finished it I took one of those deep satifying sighs and thought, “Finally, someone got it right”. Enjoy
Dust Mote,thx for pointing it out-you might be right i dont know about names and how they vary from site to site.I gave above description just to make it short and effective.When i think about it i guess that rcs based on my decsription are more likely to be succesfull.Its about creating habit more than noticing unusuall stuff.As we know the last rarely work.
Anyways-not sure about name,but im sure it works better.
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