DOORS

Did anyone remember the door exercise on leaving class last night? ;) I.e., to notice which way every door opens that you walk through.

I told you it wasn't easy!

But try again.

And again...

Re: Doors

I remembered for the first two doors I went through last night, but then...No such luck. We'll see how it goes tonight!

I managed to remember all the doors Wednesday after class and then totally forgot the next day. Thanks for the reminder.

Doors doors, many doors though out the days,,,I did remember walking through the door upon my departure from class

After Class I noticed the one door leaving the classroom and my car door.

As soon as I was driving away I realized that I should have noticed 2 doors leaving the classroom! Clearly this is going to be a challenge.

This weekend I didn't remember the assignment let alone the doors - Today I put a post-It note on my steering wheel that says "DOORS!"

Whenever I see the note I think back and talley the number of doors I passed through since I last read the note and I talley how many times I remembered to do a reality test- This afternoon when I went out to lunch my score was 2/17 (With my note in the car I have a perfect score for car doors 2/2!).

I failed altogether... HOWEVER, when I am driving somewhere or taking a walk I realize should be counting doors. Then I again forget. This is discouraging. Does this mean I am just unaware??? Or is my mind just full of other matters???

Sandy, Don't be discouraged! For most of us realizing when we go through a door doesn't serve any purpose.

The point of this excercise is to "do the task" and experience what happens when we try it.

I imagine for a furniture mover this assignment is probably easier- they have to pay attention to door size (and sofa width) on a day to day basis.

This isn't easy! I was good after class, as Sandy said but seemed to forget after getting in the car - have picked up the habit again. On the upside, I am becoming more and more aware of when I am dreaming or not, though last night I could not convince myself I was not assigned to be an embed reporter with a division of Marines in Iraq!

Well I am just coming back from a coffee break and my Post-It note reading "DOORS!" only served to inform me that I am not remembering when I walk through a door. My tally since Lunch is 1/20ish

Our office manager was opposed to the idea of my wasting good post-it notes by marking all the doorframes here at work so I have to come up with another idea.

When I tally the doors I walked through durring the day I think back to specific actions and count the number of doors I know are on a given path. Maybe the trick is to do the same procedure in advance.

Now that I have tallied the doors I have missed I am going to think-forward to some of the actions that I know I am going to perform today: Walk to the water cooler, pickup a delivery, staff meeting, etc. etc. I then visualize myself walking through each door that connects these tasks and I visualize performing a state test(I look at my digital watch, look away, and verify the time)

Stay tuned for my next set of tallies hopefully my scores will improve.

Okay, this is the first time I've done this. Are people actually watching my spelling mistakes as I write, or do I have time to edit? Doors. I forgot almost all together the first 3 days. Man what an exercise in staying present. I'm always on the go thinking 11 steps ahead. So tonight I taped a picture of Jim Morrison to my watch, since I'm always hurrying, watching the time. It's working, except now I can't get the words and melody, "people are strange when your a stranger" out of my head. I've noticed about 10 times more doors and have become self conscious about how many times I move from room to room. Since one of my dogs follows me everywhere, he's very grateful that I'm starting to modify my behavior.

Hi, everyone! I like the idea of your post it notes, Michael. Like the rest of you, it seems to be on and off again. I find myself running around and then go, "Oops!" I am having some great dreams though! Last night I was at a wedding with about 3000 people attending. Never did see the bride and groom, but I had a great time. I only hope one day I can return there lucid. What do you think it's like doing the Hoky Poky in a dream?

Last night was much easier to remember the doors. Maybe physically touching them has something to do with it. I remembered most of the doors at home all night, and then forgot today. I probably need to do the visualization every morning. Last night before I went to sleep, I did the mantra to myself "I will remember to notice when I'm dreaming." A weird thing happened. I usually don't notice any time that I wake up at night unless I get up. Last night I woke up 6 or 7 times after dreams. I usually remember dreams vividly and in great detail, but I didn't remember one dream. I just knew I had been dreaming. Each time before I went back to sleep I would say the montra, and each time time wake up asking "was I lucid?" Then I noticed that when I'm first falling asleep, I know I'm falling asleep when the thoughts in my head stop making sense. Then they blur into an unknown scene or story. When I'm conscious of this I either wake up, or let go and say "cool, I'm going to sleep." It doesn't make sense if we're supposed to be in stage 1 sleep with no dreams at that time because it sure does seem like I launch straight into dreaming. I was lucid during this in and out time, but as soon as I let go into total sleep, it seems like I let go of any power I have to enter. I guess I was trying too hard last night. Feels like I took a step back in losing dream recall, but a step foward in the lucidity area. I think maybe I need more diligent practice in writing down my dreams and with remembering the doors. I'm going to go stand on a chair for 10 minutes now. I can't wait to have a lucid dream! Oh yeah, I just remembered. Right before I fell asleep for the first time I had a vision that I was standing in the doorway to a dream and I was so excited to walk through the door. It was the best feeling in the world and I guess it kind of freaked me out too.

Sarah, in your last post you said: I know I'm falling asleep when the thoughts in my head stop making sense. Then they blur into an unknown scene or story.

Sometimes when I am reading before bed I stop turning the pages and get lost in my own dreamy thoughts. If I'm lucky I wake up and get to bed before morning. This particular type of dreaming just as we drift to sleep is called Hypnogogic imagery. I believe that it is normally very brief and is then closely followed by stage 1 sleep.

If you do a keyword search for Hypnogogic you can read other peoples descriptions of experiences like this.

I expect this topic will come up more later in the course as we discuss additional methods to become lucid.

I like the image of standing on the threshold of a dream, its sounds exciting!

I have sooo enjoyed thinking that I am going to sleep and will be dreaming what I want to dream soon. Remembering doors has been a constant challenge for me. I think I remember them about 20% of the time - choosing to touch the frame has helped, but not much! Through reading the book and concentrating on what I want to accomplish in my dreams, I have seen a serious increase in what I want to see in dreams, it has been amazing!

The doors are hard, but a powerful exersise. I'm not lucid yet, but 2 nights ago I had a dream in which I talked to a person about whether this was a dream or a dream-like experience, and about our dream class!

Richard, I've noticed when I start having dreams where I'm talking about dreaming, I usually will have a lucid dream within the next few days, so you're close! A suggestion would be to do a reality test whenever you are talking to someone about dreaming ( in waking life). Then when you are dreaming, you will likely remember to do a reality test in the dream as well. Good luck!

DOORS? WHAT DOORS?!

How many doors have you dream-walked through in the last several weeks without noticing what it was you were doing? What is the difference between this unconscious state and sleep-walking?

Is this evidence for a relative lack of cognizance characteristic of everyday sublunar life?

Confucius says: "The way out is through the door. Why is it that so few will use this method?"

Nearly a thousand years ago, Hakim Sanai wrote that: "Humanity is asleep, concerned only with what is useless, living in a wrong world." Do you think this is any less true now than then?

Wachet Auf? Stephen