ideasrule said:
When I was younger, I managed to get a few lucid dreams by deliberately trying to induce them. During the day, I would periodically hold my nose and see if I could still breathe, or count the number of fingers on my hands. I've no idea why, but these simple tests invariably failed during dreams.
It's called reality testing, and it's just one of those things. It's hard to keep track of numbers, and you don't breath in dreams. A classic test is to look at your watch or a clock (it will often be nonsensicle) look away, and look back... it will usually change. Text on a page will usually be gibberish too, or not even words, or change upon loss of direct attention.
It's that attentional issue at the core of reality testing in dreasm, because lucid or not, you ARE asleep, and that imposes a new set of restrictions and freedoms in terms of your thinking. Dreams are far more fluid than we tend to recognize even in dreams, but it's not strange because... we're dreaming.
@ILS: I've expereinced the same around emotions, but also if I've been working on a problem, or even struggling with something like a videogame... I tend to go through it in some fashion.
This fits with the learning/maintenance/repair theories of sleep.
@DR13: It's no guarantee, but Serena is not far off; being aware without the knack or a lot of practice is tough, and often wakes you right up.
One old trick is to set your alarm for roughly 5 hours after you go to sleep. Wake up, but don't do anything, and rapidly try to go back to sleep while focusing on your awareness. sleep cycles come more rapidly, and last for less time the longer you've been sleeping, so you can jump back into REM pretty quickly, maintaining awareness all the while.
One thing... it can be disturbing, because on the way you WILL experience hypnogogic hallucination, but then it can be fun too. If you find yourself waking in the dream, try changing the scenary or just spinning about in a circle. I haven't the faintest as to why, but it often works.
.
