Making Reality Checks Work

[Naiya]

Here's a way to do RCs that should start preparing people for the mentality they need to have a general lucid awareness throughout the day.

Reverse Reality Checks

I know that it's impossible to just “turn on” a switch that will make you constantly aware. So I think the best method to get there is to have as many reality checks as you can throughout the day, and then just expand them until eventually it's all just one big long reality check. At that point, you won't have to do anything to have lucid dreams all the time, because your awareness will just be internalized. It's the same as driving a car--at first you really have to think and be aware of everything, but eventually it comes naturally.



The problem with RCs is that a lot of times, people just mindlessly go “am I dreaming?” and without even considering it, they think “no,” and then totally forget about it. This does absolutely nothing to help you get lucid.



When you do a reality check, don't ask if you're dreaming. Assume that you ARE dreaming. Now ask, “why do I think this is real?”

Example of a GOOD answer: “I think this is real because I remember waking up, getting dressed and driving here. I can remember in detail what I had for breakfast. When I toss a pen into the air and try to make it float, I can't do it.” This works because you are testing you surroundings and memories against LOGIC. Not only that, but you're physically testing reality. If you want, you can try the classics such as looking at your hands or holding your nose to test reality.

Example of a BAD answer: “This feels real.” While you'll never confuse your waking life with a dream, ALL of your non-lucids will always “feel real.”



This is probably the most demanding assignment-- you must RC every time you:

Wake up
Check the time
Go through a door
Talk to or greet someone
Go someplace (scene change)
Any other of your choice


If you have trouble remembering when to RC, and you're always asking yourself if you should RC, then that's even better! The more often you question your surroundings, the more it will become second nature and you will just do it unconsciously. I won't lie--it takes a looong time to internalize.

Extra credit: do a reality check every time something out of place happens. Something like “I must be dreaming because...”


Task: Come back and write down how many RCs you managed to do in your workbook.

Which trigger gave you the most RCs?
Did you think more about your dreams than you usually do?
Did you forget about dream-related stuff right after doing your RCs, or was it on your mind for a little while afterwards?
Did you imagine yourself in a lucid dream at all after doing any of the RCs?

[annsie]

This is probably the most demanding assignment-- you must RC every time you:

Wake up
Check the time
Go through a door
Talk to or greet someone
Go someplace (scene change)
Any other of your choice

In my line of work I check the time, go through a door, talk to someone and go someplace literally thousands of time a day. I dont think I can do this.

I will need to choose something else. Since I have never done RC but once, can I please have some suggestion as to what I should choose ?

Also please explain to me the purpose of the task, I am not very clear on that. Is the idea of doing repeated RC is to remind me to think of the lucid dreams I already had and going over them again? or to remind me to picture myself having more lucid dreams ? or to encourage me to imagine this reality is in my dream ? or to help me distinguish whether I am in a dream or not ?

The last one is difficult for me because although I dont always ( mostly though ) that I am in a dream, I always know when I am not in a dream, if that makes sense.

Please help, thanks.

[The Littlest Leaf Dragon]

I can offer a little bit of help there.  The purpose of this exercise (I believe) is to get you into the habit of regularly questioning whether or not you are dreaming, with the hopes of you becoming more aware of whether you are awake or not and gaining some DILDs.  For replacements to the list, you could try RC whenever you walk through the door to your house, check the clock to find that it's within 5 minutes of the hour, talk to X person, walk into a bathroom, etc.  For some RCs that I favor and are discrete, try holding your breath and breathing in (like use your tongue to block your airway and try to breathe in) and try reading something, looking away, and then reading it again to see if it's the same.

[annsie]

Thanks heaps 

I am not sure though if its going to help that much. Is there a background history as to how the Tibetan yoga dreamers use RC and what is their philosophy on it ?

From what I have read, they concentrate a lot more on deep thinking and analysing of the situation, the scenery, the emotions associated with different events to manifest increased awareness.

I maybe barking up the wrong tree here so please someone with knowledge help me .

[Naiya]

Annsie:

This assignment is my idea, and it's a more modern take...basically, it promotes a pathway towards a constant awareness of consciousness. The point of this task is to be doing reality checks as often as possible throughout the day. That's why I made it so that you'd have to do them so frequently. Since there's no way to just turn a switch on as far as your consciousness goes, you have to work hard to form a habit of constantly questioning reality. Seeing all reality as being a dream even as you are awake is one of the most basic and important aspects of dream yoga.


I'll be posting more threads on the history and philosophies, so please be patient.

[annsie]

Cool, thanks heaps.

I think I can skip this, I am already always aware of my consciounsess. So I will revise it and take it to the next step for myself that instead of doing a physical RC, I will do a brief meditation on the nature of the event and scenery and contemplate on the impermanence of life.

[mu]

This is similar to mindfulness meditation, isn't it? To be aware (really aware) of everything you're doing, that is, to not let your mind go on 'automatic'. This while noting the dream-like nature of reality.

Annsie, if you practice that kind of meditation, my guess is you don't need to do the RCs.

[Naiya]

Annsie:

Actually, that's exactly the idea. A usual RC is a mindless task, and that's why it fails so often. What I'm going for here is really stopping and taking a minute to take in your surroundings and question them. Not only that, but look inside yourself and be aware of your current state of consciousness. The goal is to do this as often as possible until we are doing it almost constantly on some level.

Mu: Yes, it's very similar to meditation! It is literally based from the same basic idea of "awareness" or "mindfulness" that is stressed in almost every school of thought of meditation.

[annsie]

Thanks.

I do this already but not as often as the amount of RCs suggested during the day. I do this every morning, lunchtime and night time.

I have to warn you though, doing this deeply enough and its very difficult to continue working/living as "normal" in this "reality" as most of the society we live in functions on a different basis.

It changes who you are , how you think, what you do and say ... and people around you wont understand you and wont necessarily see the changes in you as positive.

Practising Tibetan dream yoga to a high level and you will literally be " out of this world" and be faced with new and difficult challenges.

Its not easy being awake in an asleep world.

[Lucidbulbs]

Hehehe, I'm sort of lucky then, a lot of people in my classes are so zombied from a lack of sleep, my RCing is so much more normal than anything they're ever done. Hopefully I can remember more than just RCing when I check the time, for so far I've not pondered at any other time.

[Amethyst Star]

annsie, I also believe that getting into the habit of performing reality checks not only tells you whether or not you're awake or dreaming, but the goal is also to prepare you for lucidity itself.  It's one thing to say to yourself, "I'm dreaming" or "I'm not dreaming," but quite another to know what you're going to do after that realization.

Did you imagine yourself in a lucid dream at all after doing any of the RCs?

I think that that is where so many people, myself included, can mess up.  We have our yes or no answer and we don't think much of it afterwards.  Reality checking can be the segue into purposeful action.  I haven't studied Dream Yoga, but that is my take on the subject of RCs.

[Robot_Butler]

I do this already but not as often as the amount of RCs suggested during the day. I do this every morning, lunchtime and night time.

Annsie, have you tried keeping your awareness and mindfulness up while going about your daily life?  Instead of setting aside time every day to think of nothing but awareness, try layering it on top of what you are already doing.  We have to fight our natural tendency to compartmentalize our lives.  We don't want to condition ourselves to only be aware at specific times, or in specific places.  The goal is to keep it up all the time, everywhere. 

How often do you actually get a chance to stop and think in a dream?  Or find yourself with enough time in a dream to sit and meditate?  Chances are, as seldom as in real life.

[The Cusp]

Cool, thanks heaps.

I think I can skip this, I am already always aware of my consciounsess. So I will revise it and take it to the next step for myself that instead of doing a physical RC, I will do a brief meditation on the nature of the event and scenery and contemplate on the impermanence of life.

I'm skipping the RCs too, since by the time I think do one in a dream. I already know I'm dreaming.  What I am doing is instead of doing an RC, I try to be extra aware of my surroundings, and see how much of my peripheral vision I can drink in at once.  I listen for sounds I wasn't previously aware of, and try to keep it up for as long as I can remember.

I'm way more motivated to to that than regular RC, and I'm hoping it will be more useful for getting lucid than RCs have been.

[annsie]

I do this already but not as often as the amount of RCs suggested during the day. I do this every morning, lunchtime and night time.

Annsie, have you tried keeping your awareness and mindfulness up while going about your daily life?  Instead of setting aside time every day to think of nothing but awareness, try layering it on top of what you are already doing. 

Tried that and nearly lost my mind.

It can affect you more than you imagine.

Remember that I am rather psychic, if I dont keep that under check I will be swarmped with images and sounds from the spirit world and it can be extremely distracting.

[Sunshine]

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