My Latest Reality Check Trigger: The Time!

We all know that the simplest method of lucid dreaming is to recognize that you are dreaming WHILE in the dream.  To do this, you must get in the habit of questioning reality during the day and/or doing numerous reality checks while awake.  The goal is to catch yourself doing the same in a dream to become lucidly aware.

Not unlike most aspiring lucid dreamers, I always have a hard time remembering to stop and ask myself if I'm dreaming during my day.  

I've tried to remember to reality check when:

• I walk through a door or doorway.
• I sit up and stand
• I see a police officer or police car

With the first two situations, I just couldn't make myself remember to do it!   For a while I had the hang of reality checking whenever I touched a door knob, but a lot of the time that doesn't happen in my dreams.  

I did the best with wondering my reality state with the police cars and security officers.  I did this for several weeks.   The problem with this is that I never see the police in my dreams.  Some people report that once they identify a dream sign (a recurring item or theme present in dreams and reality), it fails to be a dream sign anymore, as if the brain doesn't want you to catch on that you're dreaming. 

Another reason I think those methods don't work for me is because when I get home I'm not really around any of the possible triggers--I'm not opening doors or seeing squad cars.  So I go for hours without reinforcing the habit of reality checking myself.

Anyway, this weekend I started something new that seems to be a promising method!  I'm a little excited.

Starting Saturday, I decided to reality check once every hour.  So in the back of my mind I'd be anticipating the turn of the next hour so that I could reality check before more than a couple minutes past the hour passed. 

I can do this anywhere.  At home and at work.  And it wasn't hard to remember to do it.

Today is the 5th day I've been doing this and I think this technique is morphing into reality checking whenever I look to a clock or even think about the time.  I've been reality checking more than once an hour because when I check the time to see how close I am to the next hour, I go ahead and reality check then, also.  

As a result, I had a lucid dream yesterday night and another last night (3 and 4 nights after starting this method).  Both were very short and I don't really know or remember exactly what triggered the lucidity.   However, I think two lucids in a row is good.

I think this is a great way to remember to reality check because (like your hands), time is always there and we are always conscious of time in one form or another.  We're always thinking about what time we have to wake up, go to sleep, head for work, go home, etc....

If you can squeeze reality checking into your planner at the turn of every hour and be consistent it will become habit. 

A Couple Books on Lucid Dreaming I Have

You may have noticed that there isn't a wide selection of books on lucid dreaming.

The lucid dreaming "bible" seems to be Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen Laberge.  I've had this book for a couple months and I've been reading it a little at a time. LaBerge is among the first to conduct extensive scientific research proving that the mind is capable of becoming aware in dreams. 

I would recommend this book to those who are total beginners who know very little about lucid dreaming and/or those who need evidence before they entertain the thought that lucid dreaming is possible. 

I'm having a hard time getting through LaBerge's book because I feel like I already know the information he's sharing.  If you've received your lucid dreaming education from the internet forums, reading his book may feel redundant.  I'm not saying it's a worthless book at all, but the material is present on the discussion boards in one form or another because many of the members have read the book.

The book I loved is Robert Waggoner's Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self.  Waggoner delivers a more spiritual slant on the topic, which I liked a lot.  I find it very disheartening that many, if not most, lucid dreamers at the forums just see dreams as a simple manifestation of one's thoughts and fears and deny the possibility of the dream world connecting us to something greater.  I find many of them to be know-it-all atheists, which is why I don't really spend much time at the lucid dreaming forums anymore.  But anyway, I was very pleased to read this book because Waggoner went beyond the technical and scientific.  It really feeds those of us who think that there is more to dreaming.

In this book, Waggoner covers the topics such as psychic phenomena, healing and shared dreaming.  I read this book twice.  The first time around my mind was pretty much blown.  Waggoner shares his personal lucid dreaming experiences and gives the reader ideas of lucid dreaming tasks to try.  This book is not a lucid dreaming how-to, but  it covers some techniques at the end.

I think I'm going to read some of Robert Moss' books next.  Based on the reviews, it's right up my alley.

Here's a listing of some more lucid dreaming books:  Lucid Dreaming Books.

Are Lucid Dreams Scary?

Is lucid dreaming scary? 

For the most part, my answer is no.  If you have never had a lucid dream before, then it's understandable that you may be afraid because you don't know what to expect!  You may wonder how it feels and you likely may have heard people suggest that you can go into a coma by doing this. 

If you are an aspiring lucid dreamer, you have to realize that your fears can manifest in your dreams.  So if you are worrying excessively about seeing scary things, then you probably will have a less than positive experience when you finally do get lucid. 

I don't personally find lucid dreaming scary if it happens to be a DILD (where I've become lucid during a dream in progress).  Usually when I 'wake' within a dream, I'm just happy that my brain was with it enough to realize I was dreaming.  I've never 'come to' during a nightmare and in most of my dreams I'm just at work or in a classroom, so it's rarely a threatening situation.

I have to admit that I do have a little fear when the dream is of the WILD variety (when I've woken up in sleep paralysis and rode it out into a dream from a conscious state) because I have no idea where I am going to end up after I transition to the dream state.  One time I opened my dream eyes and I was in a bed beside this Ronald McDonald looking being--a humanoid creature with a powdered white face and bright red lips!  It didn't try to hurt me or anything, but it was a little frightening.

However, that's the closest thing to scary I've experienced and it didn't discourage me from continuing to lucid dream, WILD or otherwise.

For a little while before this I was scared to WILD at night--and of course, the best time to try is after a few hours of sleep--but then I had a regular dream that seemed to reassure me that there was nothing to be afraid of.

And I'm not afraid.  Although my track record isn't that great, I try and hope to lucid dream every night.  There is nothing to be scared of.  If you happen to find yourself in a scary lucid dream, it's easier to wake up than it is to stay in the dream.  It's more likely that you'll wake up frustrated that your lucid dream didn't last longer than it is that you will encounter a negative situation that will deter you from future lucid dreaming attempts.

How I Stabilize and Maintain My Lucid Dreams

How I Stabilize and Maintain My Lucid Dreams

I'm still a rookie at this but I think I've learned a couple things about what is going to best work for me when it comes to stabilizing my lucid dreams.

I've seen it advised that upon recognizing and entering a lucid dream one should take those first seconds to stop and stabilize or deepen the dream by rubbing hands together, crawling, looking at the detail of the hands.

For me, those first few seconds are very fragile and taking time to stop is lucid dream death.

I'm finding that I have to GO!  My most successful lucid dreams have occurred when I've immediately run around to rub everything, quickly thought of a goal and just kept moving.   After a while I can relax and experience the dream with less effort, but stopping in those first few seconds seems to ruin it for me. 

In one lucid dream, I woke in some kind of office and I immediately asked the office manager who she was.  She returned "I should ask who you are."  And in the time that I was trying to think of a response or what I should do next it was over. 

So if you find yourself being kicked out of a lucid dream when you're trying to stabilize, maybe you should try something different.  Just GO!  That may work better for you.

Something I've seen mentioned that has worked once for me is to grab onto something when the dream starts to collapse.  I remember in one dream I was outside a shopping mall.  The dream started to fade and I grabbed on tight to one of the door handles.  I did wake up but I kept my eyes closed and immediately fell back asleep and was able to reenter the dream. 

The Best Lucid Dreaming Reality Check (for me)

The Best Lucid Dreaming Reality Check (for me)

The reality check I've found that works best for me is the nose-pinch.  If you pinch your nostrils closed and you can still breathe with ease, then you are dreaming.   This is my go-to and it has never failed me.

I used to do the finger through the palm test.  When it worked I never actually saw my finger go through my hand (freaky!).   Instead, my hand just felt kind of rubbery, almost like sticking my finger into Play-doh.   For some reason this reality check doesn't feel like that anymore.   Its failure has never kept me from getting lucid, but I don't know why it doesn't work like it used to.

Another reality check is to look at your hands. Supposedly they may look distorted or you may count extra fingers.  Similarly you could look in a mirror.  Your appearance may look weird.  These reality checks scare me and I don't think I'm interested in trying them.  Seeing 4 thumbs on my hand or a demon as my reflection are things I can pass on.

You could also try to flip on a light switch or anything electronic, really.  In dreams they may not turn on. I've never tried this as a reality check, but in my dreams I've become lucid after attempting and failing to turn on a light.

I have not mastered this yet, but I think that a promising way to get lucid is to question reality every time you are confused.  In many of my dreams, I find myself  frustrated because I'm trying to figure something out.  Or I'm trying to complete a task but something keeps stopping me (I can't write legibly, I can't find something, someone is distracting me, etc....).  I've become lucid twice within a dream by doing this very thing:  Once I couldn't get my car to unlock and another time I was accused of something and was trying to figure out how to get out of the mess.

The Annoying False Awakening Dreams

The Annoying False Awakening Dreams

False awakenings are very realistic dreams in which someone dreams that they wake up and arise from where they are sleeping.

There are three reasons why the false awakening can be such a pain:

1. If the dreamer does not recognize he is dreaming, he could spend a long time preparing for his day all for naught.
2. If the dreamer does not recognize she is dreaming, she will waste a lot of time doing things, thinking she's awake, instead of taking advantage of the lucid dream she's in
3. The dreamer can enter a loop of false awakenings, constantly waking up in a dream room when he wants to wake up for real.

I didn't realize what a nuisance the false awakening could be until it happened to me.  I 'woke up', brushed my teeth, picked out my clothes, and when I went to my upstairs bathroom to take a shower I flipped the switch but the light wouldn't turn on.  This caused me to wonder if I was dreaming and did my go-to nose pinch test.  Yep dreaming.

I was so annoyed!  I was glad to be lucid dreaming, but I was pissed that I had spent all that time doing my morning routine when I could have been really experiencing the lucid dream.

It is suggested that lucid dreamers always reality check upon waking to make sure you are really awake. 

The Dangers of Lucid Dreaming. Is Lucid Dreaming Risky?

Is lucid dreaming dangerous?

Well, maybe. You could go into a coma, you could open yourself to evil spirits, you could die!  If anyone is dead or comatose after lucid dreaming, how would you know?

Seriously though, all signs point to no. Lucid dreaming is NOT dangerous.  A common question is if lucid dreaming is safe.  All of us dream rather frequently.  The only difference with lucid dreaming is that you are aware of what's going on and not just going with the flow.  You can feel fear in your dreams but nothing can hurt you.  If things get weird or scary, just think about your bed and wake up.

More often than not, lucid dreamers want to STAY in the dream for as long as possible and are annoyed when the dream fades and sends them back to waking consciousness. 

I think that lucid dreaming could potentially have mental effects on a person.  I think that one could become addicted to lucid dreaming and lose touch with or interest in reality.   Who wouldn't rather live in a world where you can do whatever you want?   Some may take it too far and want to be there all the time.

One of my first concerns when learning about reality checks was if a person could reality check so much that they REALLY become unsure of if their reality is real.  Maybe one could become so detached that they are constantly dissociated from their environment (whether real or dream).

I'm sure something like that would only occur in someone who already has mental issues, though.

So far I haven't encountered anything during my few lucid dreams that would make me fear continuing to practice.