Reality Checks And Building Awareness: Triggering Lucid Dreams

In the past we have given some tips on how to start lucid dreaming through preparation of the room and through the use of binaural beats. But ultimately, once inside your dream, it is important that you recognize that you –are- dreaming, and not really awake, in order to start the lucid dream experience. This is important because dreams can be so vivid that you may accept it as reality, only to realize upon –truly- waking up that something was amiss in what you experienced, and that it was a dream instead! This is where reality checks come in.


What are reality checks?

Put simply, a reality check is an action or trigger that will help you distinguish between the dream world and reality. This is because the normal sensory experiences we have in the real world are not enough, because in a vivid dream, they are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing! There is a need for something more for the mind to know whether it is awake or it is dreaming, and that is what a reality check is.

Usually, it is something very simple, something easily recognizable in the real world, but will yield a different experience in the dream world. When your mind realizes that the reality check does not match what happens in reality, this is usually when it accepts that it is dreaming, and triggers the start of the lucid dream experience.


How to do a reality check

The reality check starts, as with everything about lucid dreaming, with the mind. More specifically, the mind doubting whether or not what it is experiencing is real. “Is this a dream? Am I dreaming? Or am I awake?” are very potent questions that, once the mind is trained to ask, can make the act of doing a reality check much easier.

Once your mind begins to “doubt” what it is experiencing, perform a reality check. There are many ways to do a reality check; below is a short list the most common and most effective reality checks

1. Check normal body functions – can you hold your breath without difficulty? Are you having trouble seeing or hearing things, or actually see or hear better? What do your hands and arms look like when checked up close? A common practice is to try to push a finger through the palm of the other hand. Does it go through? If the answers to these questions are not what you’d normally answer when you’re awake, you’re dreaming! 
2. Recognize words/numbers – attempt to read something –a book, a clock, anything you might think are words on numbers-. Try to perform basic arithmetic, or answer very basic questions. If you cannot or are having much difficulty doing so, you are in a dream!
3. Recall common information – try recalling your own mobile number, or home address, or your license plate. If you are awake, this will be easy. But because the part of your brain that controls this is shut off when you’re asleep, if this becomes a near impossible task, you are dreaming.
4. Break the laws of physics – check your feet and see if you can will yourself to hover or fly. If not, jump up and see if you’ll float back down instead of fall normally. Try to lift the first thing you see, and check if there’s weight, or if you need effort to do it. If you feel like you’re starting to turn into a superhero, you’re in a dream!

When to do a reality check and building self-awareness

As a basic rule of thumb, you do a reality check when you feel like it. If you feel like something is wrong or out of place, and have even a small inkling of doubt whether or not you’re awake, perform a reality check. Even if you feel like you’re absolutely positively sure you’re awake, if you feel doubt, perform a reality check.

What this does is it reinforces in our minds what is real, and also makes it second nature for us to doubt and check our reality on a regular basis. Not only does this increase your self-awareness, and awareness in general, in the real world, this habit will also be carried over in your dreams. And this is when it becomes easier and easier to use reality checks as a key to unlock and start lucid dreaming.

To be used to doing reality checks, set triggers that will remind you to do so. A popular and effective way is to do a reality check when you do habitual actions, like when you check your phone, or open your bedroom door, or step out of the house. Any event that you do regularly can be a trigger for you to spend 1-2 seconds of your time on doing a reality check.

If that isn’t enough, you can also remind yourself via notes. Place a note on your door, or your steering wheel, or your laptop or book.

Despite all these things, however, sometimes reality check will fail, and this is not your fault. It simply means either your will to do a reality check isn’t as strong yet, or the dream is so powerful and vivid that it is almost more real than reality itself, which can alter the results of your checks. If this is the case, just go with the flow until something happens that will reveal the dream. And when that happens, do a check again, and keep doing so until you enter the lucid dream state!

To help you strengthen your reality checks, listen to this binaural beats track to increase awareness.

And don't forget to visit our binaural beats music library here!

Be Better With Beta: The Benefits Of Beta Waves

In the past we discussed how binaural beats work, by affecting brainwaves and stimulating the mind to achieve specific mental, emotional, and even physical results. There are a number of brainwaves that can be affected, and we already shown what the benefits of alpha waves are, and now we’re going to see another brainwave pattern: beta waves.

What are Beta Waves?

Beta waves are officially classified as the frequency range of human brain activity between 12.5 and 35-40Hz, which is the range associated when the brain is conscious or awake. These waves are connected to the mind being active or working, and connected to being focused and sharp, as well as critical thinking.  They are also associated with the flight-or-fight response, which is responsible for what happens when we are faced with an anxious or threat-induced choice, which synergizes well with Beta Waves also being responsible for being very alert.

They are actually divided into three (3) classifications: Low Beta (12-15Hz), which is when the mind is in a quiet and focused mode, Mid-Range Beta (15-20Hz), which is when the mind is moving at a higher and faster pace, bordering on anxiety, and High Beta (20-35/40Hz) which is when the mind is experiencing stress, anxiety, dread.

Beta Waves are the brainwaves we experience the most in our lives, as many of our day-to-day activities require conscious effort to perform, especially when it comes to work, school, recreational activities, and even household chores. 

Some Differences and Similarities Between Alpha and Beta

In general, Beta Waves are associated with conscious effort and thinking, which is in contrast to Alpha Waves that are associated with relaxation and subconscious effort. Whereas Alpha Waves allow your body to perform in an almost “zen” like fashion, that is, without thinking, Beta Waves make your body perform better if it requires a lot of thinking and concentration. 

For example, while an athlete may have a sudden burst of Alpha Waves right before performing an amazing shot, a master welder will have a steady flow of Beta Waves in order to create a perfect weld that may mean the difference between life and death.

Another key difference between Beta Waves and Alpha Waves, is that Beta Waves are associated with logic, whereas Alpha Waves are associated with creativity. Both can be used for problem solving purposes, but with different approaches.

Both Alpha and Beta waves however can work in synergy with one another. For instance, a MMA fighter may rely on sudden bursts of Alpha Waves when his body naturally throws punches and kicks, but also on Beta Waves in order to make decisions on where to hit, how to maneuver, and when to run or attack.

In fact, a healthy mind is one that has a healthy balance of Alpha and Beta waves!

Benefits of Beta Waves

As mentioned above, Beta Waves are associated with concentration, logical thinking, and focus. And so the main benefits are related to those as well.

1.) Concentration and focus – Beta Waves allow people to be able to concentrate more, to drown out distractions and focus on the tasks that need to be done. When you need a steady hand and a sharp mind, Beta Waves are for you.

In addition, research has shown that improving Beta Waves also helps against ADD, helping kids to focus rather than have their attention diverted so easily. 

2.) Sharper thinking – Beta Waves make thinking faster, better, and more realistic. Information in the brain is accessed much faster, allowing for speedier decision making, and because Beta Waves improve logical thinking, any decisions made will be much more grounded in realism rather than the fantastic.

3.) Higher mental endurance – Like any machine or body part, the brain can get worn out and tired when it is worked too much. Beta Waves help in this by making the mind stronger and therefore last longer, allowing you to focus and concentrate and perform for extended periods of time, and can mean the difference between success and failure.

4.) Enhanced learning – Similar to Alpha Waves, Beta Waves can also increase learning, done on top of increasing concentration.

How To Increase Beta Waves

Activities that require mental focus and concentration are good ways to increase Beta Waves. 

Reading books is one way, in particular, books with compelling information or stories. The more that it forces your mind to exert effort, the better.

Playing mind games that require logic and critical thinking also helps increase good Beta Wave production. Chess, for example, not only forces the mind to be focused to succeed, but also to engage in logical and critical thinking that requires the person to be two or three steps ahead.

And then there's the use of binaural beats, which influences the mind by being in-sync with good Beta Wave frequencies and helping the brain reap its benefits. Listen to this binaural beats track for fitness that helps you keep focused and at the same time keeps you calm yet active. And don't forget to visit our binaural beats music library for more tracks and albums for all your brainwave enhancing needs.

Set Your Lucid Dream Intentions: Why And How

Lucid dreaming is truly an amazing experience if done correctly. We’ve discussed how to prepare for lucid dreaming, what to expect when lucid dreaming, and how binaural beats can help in lucid dreaming, all of which can pave the way for a better lucid dream experience. But believe it or not, lucid dreams can still be much better! And that is done by having a lucid dream intention.

What is a lucid dream intention?

Simply put, a lucid dream intention is a goal or objective that the dreamer sets prior to dreaming and will aim to achieve once the dream starts. Not only does this make the lucid dream more solid and less prone to ending without any resolution, it also improves the quality of the lucid dream; instead of simply using the lucid dream for self-gratification (which can totally be done), the lucid dream can then be used for a lot more, like self-improvement and being in-touch with one’s inner self.

Think of it this way. A lucid dream without a lucid dream intention is like an improv performance. It can be fun and spontaneous, but the end goal can be blurry and it might not have a clear path to an ending.

A lucid dream with intention is like a show with a basic script. The dreamer already has a story in mind, and there is a clear goal at the end, but the details still have to be filled up, which the dreamer will do so while dreaming.

Having an intention right at the beginning also trains the dreamer to have more control of the lucid dream, and makes them better and better at controlling, and thus fully enjoying the lucid dream experience. Not only that, having a clear intention for the lucid dream greatly reduces the risk of having a lucid nightmare, since the path is clearer; in fact, one can have a lucid dream intention –specifically- to confront nightmares and deal with them, thus using lucid dreaming for a higher purpose: dealing with fear (we will discuss this in a future blog post soon.)

Setting the intent

Believe it or not, setting an intention for a lucid dream is as simple as telling yourself about it and continuously thinking about it as you drift to induce your lucid dream. There are a number of methods that many people employ, such as repeating a mantra over and over (which is also another way of relaxing the mind while repeating the intent; hit two birds with one stone) while others use powerful mental visualization during the lucid dream induction process.

Whether or not the dreamer ends up in a lucid dream immediately, or a non-lucid dream first, the intention will serve as a compass to guide the dream; in non-lucid dreams, the intention can serve as a trigger for the lucid dream, allowing the dreamer to start the lucid dream experience simply by being able to keep the intention strong.

But remember this : the lucid dream intent is a compass. It is meant as a guide, a north star, not a detailed map that will give you every single instruction or step. That is best left as a surprise and part of the experience! If you happen to feel like you’re straying from your intention, keep it in mind, hold on to it, and regardless of whatever twists and turns you experience, and whether or not you achieve your intent in one dream, you will eventually get to it!

Strengthening your intention

There are a couple of ways to strengthen your lucid dream intention to increase your chances at achieving it.

One way is to have a mantra to repeat over and over while you are awake. A mantra can simply be a phrase or a set of small sentences that dictate the intention of the dreamer, and are spoken or thought of repetitively.

Some people do this while they go about their day, constantly setting the intent for the lucid dream to come. But for people who cannot hold their thoughts well, this can lead to a very distracted day. So, others do this instead for a shorter period of time, just before they head to bed.

Another is visualization, where the dreamer uses imagery to instill the intent of the dream. To some
this can be more powerful than the words of a mantra as it sets a clear image of what they want to achieve in a dream, but can be a challenge for people who have a hard time visualizing thoughts into images. Like the mantra, dreamers can do this during the day or just before they drift to sleep.

And finally, using binaural beats is a good way to strengthen the intention, especially when done in conjunction with the two previous methods. This occurs when binaural beats are used to expand the mind and enhance the dream experience by influencing the brainwaves, altering it in such a way that it makes it easier to achieve lucid dreaming and keep to the lucid dreaming intention.

We do not advise listening to binaural beats while going about your day, so this is best reserved when you are relaxing or in a peaceful environment.

Listen to this binaural beats track for visualizing your goals which can help your lucid dream intention, and don't forget to visit our binaural beats music library for other tracks and albums!