After reading Andrew’s article on daytime practices regarding illusory form, I was wondering about the difference between leaving reminders for oneself throughout the day that “This is a dream!” as described and doing reality checks and asking “Am I dreaming?” Does anyone have any experience using one versus the other? Or both? Does the difference in semantics of these practices affect awareness?
And, a related question from a friend that has to do with this topic: does increasing awareness in WPR will automatically make you realize you are dreaming, or do you need to find a way to distinguish between WPR and dream reality?
I have to laugh at a lucid dream I had just the other night, that has a direct connection to this question!
I lose control of my car (a common recurring theme of mine) and am driving backwards at impossible speeds. I manage to regain control and drive back up the hill but on my way up, I am no longer driving, I’m now walking. Everything seems a little bit strange so I think to myself in the dream, “Is this a dream?” I perform a hand reality check and my fingers are moving about in a strange, wavy undulation. I become lucid. Before doing anything else, I remember a question from the Night Club. I ask myself, “Is this a dream?” Then I say to myself, “This is a dream!” Then I ask, “Am I dreaming?” to see if anything has an impact, even though I already know I’m dreaming. Still lucid, I think that this will be great to bring back to the community later"
Directly related to your question, I do both. I have “prospective memory” tasks (ie, remembering to do something in the future) such as, every time I leave my house I say “This is a dream” and perform a few reality checks (I chose this action because I was frequently having dreams where I would leave my house in a dream). I also just stop for a moment every now an again and think, “this is a dream” more as a mindful meditation.
I do the task of "Is this a dream? Or “Am I dreaming” at points where something seems “off” - or dream sign recognition. It’s always important to not only recognize dreams signs but to ALSO ask the question. Sometimes I’ll just think, “Oh that’s something strange” but won’t say the words “is this a dream?” And naturally that’s what I’ll do in a dream too. So, I’ve trained myself to ask the question all the time.
Thanks, Allison. I appreciate your sharing how you use both practices. Seems like you have found ways to incorporate both naturally into your days. I’m going to try to as well! And totally amazing you remembered this question in your lucid dream
Thanks for your response. Can you please share how you practice prospective memory training everyday or when you were a beginner LDer? Do you only one action each day or multiple? I seem to be horrible at this.
Can people share how they approach this? At what time during the day do they pick their actions they will remember to do and so on.
What had been your experience with this? Challenges you’ve faced.
Hi, I am still in the process of increasing my RCs and I am using mainly routine actions like walking my dog, washing my hands (and checking if they look normal) or when I realize that I feel angry or sad.
