Thread: Missing dream signs, i never notice them in my dreams

Originally Posted by mlehmann121

hi,
okay I am kinda new to LD'ing but I have had about 5 and all of them were from just realizing what was going on in the dream was unusual..
the problem is that every morning when im writing in my dream journal i notice that I am missing obvious dream signs..

1st is there a way to train myself to notice these dream signs??
I keep telling myself to question anything weird in the waking world when I see it but for some reason I always forget


2nd I always forget to do RC's in the waking world.. I have thought about setting an alarm on my phone to beep ever hour on the hour, or even writing RC on my hand or my phone but I dont seem to ever look at my hand or phone in my dreams so idk if that will work, or maybe i will get so used to doing RC's so often that I will suspect something is wrong during my dreams?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks

"I keep telling myself to question anything weird in the waking world"

Honestly, how often does something weird occur in real life? I'm not talking about little weird things, I'm talking about the weird things that happen in dreams... things looking the way they shouldn't. These things are not ever likely to happen in the real world, hence you will never do your reality checks.

what are the dream signs you've noticed from reading your dj?

i really don't do too many reality checks while im awake, i mostly do a different variety of them while dreaming. when i'm awake i like to look at my hands every 30 minutes or so and think about if im dreaming or not. the way i look at it, if my mind is wondering if i'm dreaming every 30 minutes while i'm awake, eventually my subconscious will start to think it often. other things you can do are things like doing a reality check every time you go into a bathroom (if going into a bathroom is a dreamsign for you) or doing a reality check every time you look at the time (if you ever look at the time in a dream) by getting your mind in the habit of doing these things they will hopefully start to show up in your subconscious and you will be more likely to do RC's in dreams and become lucid. staying lucid is the next task

I know what you're talking about. Sometimes in the morning I could hit myself that a dream was full of dream signs and I didn't recognize a single one. Two nights ago I had one with dancing monkeys in it and even that would make me to a RC.
I am not a pro (6 LDs) but I think the key is really a constant awareness in the wake world about dream signs and regular RCs.

One of the hardest things to do is to identify dream signs in your dreams, because you still trying to teach your brain something new.... It will come in time, just be patient..

Originally Posted by mlehmann121

...every morning when im writing in my dream journal i notice that I am missing obvious dream signs..

...is there a way to train myself to notice these dream signs??

You are already training yourself every time you look back over your journal and notice the signs. Identifying what the signs are is extremely important, and it sounds like you're already doing that. It just takes some time to start noticing them more while inside a dream.

thanks,

yea i think i am going to set an alarm on my phone so i remember to do RC's or at least think about if im dreaming so it becomes a subconscious habit

I cant do the everytime i go to the bathroom or something like that bc I never seem to do the same things in dreams, or does everyone have personal dream signs? If I do i cant see one reoccuring in my DJ

When I woke up this morning, the light in my bedroom didnt work and I got all excited. Supposedly lights dont work in LD's, i dont know for sure bc i have never been inside in mine. So anyways I immediately did an RC only to find that i was awake, it was only a dead bulb.... maybe next time i will wake up in a dream

Originally Posted by mlehmann121

thanks,

yea i think i am going to set an alarm on my phone so i remember to do RC's or at least think about if im dreaming so it becomes a subconscious habit

I cant do the everytime i go to the bathroom or something like that bc I never seem to do the same things in dreams, or does everyone have personal dream signs? If I do i cant see one reoccuring in my DJ

When I woke up this morning, the light in my bedroom didnt work and I got all excited. Supposedly lights dont work in LD's, i dont know for sure bc i have never been inside in mine. So anyways I immediately did an RC only to find that i was awake, it was only a dead bulb.... maybe next time i will wake up in a dream

I feel bad for laughing like an ass at that, please forgive me!

sorry to bring this old thread back. i too have a chronic problem with this. lately my dreams have been amazingly vivid and complex but for some reason i have a massive blindness to constant dream signs. i mean i can be talking to a friend about dreaming in the dream for ages and still not catch on. i do feel its a good thing in a way because once i cure this hopefully the dreams will still be full of signs. i suppose the most consistent thing that reminds me im dreaming is when i just start to float so it seems it has to be really fckin obvious before stupid old me catches on. ive also found myself trying to get other people to be lucid in the dream even when im not.... the best reality check ive been doing lately is just trying as often as possible to retrace my last few steps. also constantly telling myself its all a dream seems to help, and just trying to fly even when i know im awake also helps yet i still miss the signs over and over to the extent that i can have an hour long dream full of signs that i miss. its almost like i dont want to get lucid because i know it may not last as long, but i know ill acheive more if lucid. cheers peace. x

It is not enough to recruit the critical faculty, one also has to dismiss 'the rationalising faculty'.

Through careful, critical perception, we may notice anomalies in the dreamscape; however, we have the tendency to rationalise this anomaly, so that it makes logical sense: With your critical eye, you may notice that your best friend has only one arm, and that in itself is odd. Nonetheless, the tendency to rationalise this alteration may lead you to concluding that 'Ah, he must have his other arm under that jumper', or 'I see, he's just trying to trick me with some optical illusion'.

It is this rationalising process that you need to tackle for dream signs to have any significance.

I suggest when you notice an oddity that you prevent any immediate post-reflective explanation on how this oddity can make sense. Acknowledge it simply as odd and unintelligible, and that only a dreamscape could explain its presence. This should increase the probability that you become lucid. Following this, you'll most likely find oddities in waking life that don't make immediate sense too.

Good luck.

I think Wolfwood has just given some pretty sound advice.
If I experience something that is even slightly out of the ordinary, in my waking life, I'll do a reality check. Even if I mention to myself, oh that person only looks weird because they might have been deformed at birth, I'll still do a reality check. Even if you're 110% sure you're not in a dream, reality checking in those situations is training for reality checking when something strange happens in your dreams.

My first lucid was obtained through a reality check that I had performed to try and prove to a dream character that I wasn't dreaming. So it doesn't matter if you actually believe you're dreaming at the time or not. Just do that reality check.

I hear you, I have tons of dreams where im with my friends playing football(it's my main dreamsign) but i've still not picked up any lucids from that dreamsign.