This means checking to see if you are dreaming, in order to initiate a
lucid dream, ie. one where you know you're dreaming. If you do any the following things regularly enough, you will eventually do one while you're dreaming, and become
lucid.
- Carry around a piece of paper with a sentence on it. Several times during the day, take it out and look at it. Then look away, and look back again. Repeat this a few times. If the text changes, or if you can change the words by looking at it, then you're dreaming.
- Whenever you check the time on a digital watch, look away, then look back at the watch several times. Apparently the best success will be had if you do this about five times. If you're dreaming, the numbers will usually change. I'm not sure if it works for analog clocks.
- If you are waiting for a bus, or you're a passenger in a car, you can look at a license plate, remember it, then look away and look back to check it again. If it changes, you are dreaming. This method definitely works, I have had success with it myself.
- Imagine that your surroundings are a dream. Try to float, or make things happen.
If all of the above fail, it doesn't mean you are definitely
awake. I have had several dreams where I have wished I was dreaming, but eventually decided I wasn't, even after
extensive testing...
So finally, try imagining that you really are dreaming, and think about what you'd like to do if you were. This is also known as
daydreaming!