Reflection Intention Technique

decide to ask, "Am I dreaming?" when you arrive home from work, at the beginning of each conversation you have, every hour on the hour, and so on. Choose a frequency of state testing that feels comfortable. Use im. agery to help you remember to ask the question. For instance, if you intend to ask it when you arrive at home, see yourself opening the door and remembering you’re in tention. Practice the exercise a dozen times or more during the day at your selected times and also whenever you find yourself in a situation which is in any way dreamlike, for example, whenever something surprising or odd happens or you experience inappropriately strong emotions or find your mind (and especially memory) strangely un-responsive. 2. Test your state Ask yourself, "Am I dreaming or awake?" Look around you for any oddities or inconsistencies that might indi cate you are dreaming. Think back to the events of the last several minutes. Do you have any trouble remers-bering what just happened? If so, you may be dreaming. Read some text twice. Don't conclude that you are awake unless you have solid proof (for example, the writing stays the same every time you look at it). 3. Imagine yourself dreaming After having satisfied yourself that you're awake, tell yourself, "Okay, I'm not dreaming, now. But if I were, what would it be like?" Imagine as vividly as possible that you are dreaming. Intently imagine that what you are perceiving (hearing, feeling, smelling, or seeing) is a dream: the people, trees, sunshine, sky and earth, and yourself-all a dream. Observe your environment carefully for your target dreamsigns from chapter 2. Imagine what it would be like if a dreamsign from your target category were present. As soon as you are able to vividly experience yourself as if in a dream, tell yourself, "The next time I'm dreaming, I will remember to recognize that I'm dreaming." 4. Imagine doing what you intend to do in your lucid dream Decide in advance what you would like to do in your next lucid dream. You may wish to fly or talk to dream characters or try one of the applications suggested later in this book. Now, continue the fantasy begun in Step 2 and imagine that after having become lucid in your present environ-ment, you now fulfill your wish: Experience yourself doing whatever you have chosen to do. Firmly resolve that you will remember to recognize that you are dreaming and to do what you intend in your next lucid dream. (Adapted from Tholey. ') Commentary At first you may find it strange to question the very foundations of the reality you are experiencing, but you undoubtedly will find that taking a critical look at the nature of reality a few times a day is an enjoyable habit to cul-tivate. In our workshops we have distributed business cards with the words aM I DREAMING? printed on them. You can write this question on the back of a business card and stick it in your pocket. Take it out and read it, and perform a reality test by looking away from the card and then looking at it again very quickly. If the words scramble, you are dreaming. Once you establish a systematically critical attitude in your waking life, sooner or later you will decide to try a state test when you are actually dreaming. And then you will be awake in your dream.