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At the time, the two most popular ways for getting lucid in a dream was 1. Doing a reality check habitually in real life. Eventually you'll start doing it in d
by speff 2y ago
At the time, the two most popular ways for getting lucid in a dream was
1. Doing a reality check habitually in real life. Eventually you'll start doing it in dreams and have it fail. This _usually_ kicks you into lucid territory
2. Estimating when you're going to be in a REM state and setting a timer to wake yourself up. Then, after gaining consciousness fully, trying to make your body go to sleep while your mind is awake
Can you spot why I stopped doing it after a period of time? It end up feeling like a lot of work every day just for a chance (a low one in my and most people's cases) of having a lucid dream. Sleeping was no longer a passive, let's-relax type of activity. I just wanted to reclaim that period of time in a way.
I think my biggest takeaway from my lucid dreams was just the feeling of being in one. It's hard to describe, but the rush that comes along with the realization you can do anything you want is quite exhilarating.
- CPLX 2y agoWhat are examples of reality checks.
- jimmaswell 2y agoA few are: Look at a digital time twice, in a dream the numbers will usually change. Try to read fine print. Perfect vision with no glasses if you wear them.
- lsiclait 2y agoI would just ask myself “Am I dreaming?” When I’m awake, I immediately answer “no,” but when I’m asleep, I’m not sure. That’s enough to know that I’m not awake.
- smokel 2y agoYou could simply look this up on the internet, but for those of us who are exceptionally lazy, here goes: Every now and then, say every hour, or whenever you think of it, look around you. Try to check if what you see is real. Are things floating around and is gravity not working as expected? When you look over your shoulder and back, did the room change color, and did the table just turn into a tree? Try to touch something with your hand. Do you not feel any resistance when your hand drops through the couch? If so, you are probably dreaming.
- jgilias 2y agoTwo that I used was: 1. Trying to put your index finger through the other palm. In a dream this works, it just goes through; 2. Press your nose closed and continue breathing normally. In a dream this works. I stopped for a similar reason as the other poster. It really interfered with my ability to get the much needed rest while sleeping. It doesn’t come free (but is awesome when it works)
- speff 2y agoNice - these two were my go-tos as well. The nose-plug one felt especially weird once you realized what was happening.
- jorgesborges 2y agoMine as well -- nose-plug was most effective but also least discrete and most awkward to do in public. Checking a clock was my second go-to..
- do_not_redeem 2y agoClose your lips and try to breath through your mouth. If you can, you're dreaming.
- dorfsmay 2y agoCheck the time on your phone/watch twice in a short time.
- kayge 2y agoThe famous example from the movie Inception is spinning a top; if it never stops you are probably asleep (or maybe reality broke, oops!). But most people don't carry around a top to do this, so the other replies give some more practical examples that LD practitioners have come up with over the years.
- hrnnnnnn 2y agoMy favourite was "how did I get here?". In walking life a story immediately appears, in the dream you were just kind of always there.
- soulofmischief 2y agoI can reliably meditate myself into a lucid dream if you're interested in learning the technique. You've probably encounteted it before. I also just regularly find myself in lucid dreams because I'm constantly looking for discrepancies and gain control the moment I find one. The basic technique is just to meditate to sleep by counting your breaths, while not moving at all. It is really hard to pull off until you get used to it, but with some dedication you can get decent success. If you do it right, your body enters sleep paralysis while your brain is still awake, and you get dropped into a dream.
- speff 2y agoCounting your breaths seems like a better way to do it. When I tried wake-induced LD'ing, I didn't have any strategy in mind when it came to what I should be thinking of. When I was right at the boundary of dreaming, my thoughts would start racing and I would usually snap myself awake. Your advice would likely have saved me from a few failures.
- soulofmischief 2y agoYeah, I've had some success with WILDs, which I'd typically practice on a Saturday or Sunday morning, but ultimately it was a crapshoot compared to just meditating myself to sleep. I'd also recommend lying on your back when attempting to lucid dream, it always made it much more likely to occur for me, along with sleep paralysis. There is some unexplored physiological reason for this, but it's real and many sleep experts have found the same results. I would also recommend not getting caught up in losing track of the count, simply starting over from 0 the moment you realize that you lost your place. I have severe chronic insomnia, ADHD, tourettic OCD and a predisposition for body-focused repetitive behaviors so if I can meditate myself to sleep, I'm pretty sure anyone can with some practice. The reason why I can't do it every night and "beat" insomnia is two-fold: One, because it paradoxically aggravates sleep avoidance for me. It's an excruciating experience spending 30-60 minutes lying completely still while alarm bells are going off in my head, paired with intense urges commanding me to scratch an itch or adjust a limb, and it's anything but meditative until the very moment sleep paralysis kicks in and my body goes numb. Two, it usually puts me into sleep paralysis which is just rolling the dice for a metric ton of adrenaline to get released during a paralysis hallucination. I've had sleep paralysis encounters keep me up for the next few days, shit gives me the creeps.