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Find out if you’re dreaming or awake with easy elastic band test�
Intense dreams often leave you distorted and it becomes hard to tell if you’re asleep or awake. A dream expert shows an easy technique to determine the state of your mind.
Dreams are visions our mind creates in sleep and lucid dreaming, which you’re aware of as it unfolds, is also a very common occurrence. In fact, a study reveals most Americans see five common dreams.
Easy test to find out if you’re dreaming
Lucid dreams can be so good that you wouldn’t want them to stop, or exactly the opposite to jolt you from sleep. But if you think you’re stuck in a dream, an elastic band is all you need to snap out of it.
“Lucid dreaming expert” or oneirologist Daniel Love is popular for sharing various techniques for lucid dreaming. In one of his videos, he recommends an easy test to tell if you’re awake or asleep.
Wear an elastic band around your wrist before going to sleep. Ensure the band hangs loose on your hand. At any point in the night, if you aren’t sure whether you’re in a dream or not, Daniel says you should “ping the band” on your wrist.
Don’t pull the elastic band so hard that it hurts you. However, a light ping is enough to make you realize you’re awake.
“If you don’t feel anything, it’s a dream. This is more effective if you use it as a regular reality check throughout the day,” he says while warning that it may seem bizarre to others.
However, if you’re aware of your surroundings while dreaming but aren’t able to move, you’re probably experiencing sleep paralysis, which you can overcome by following a doctor’s advice in our previous story.
How to lucid dream often
Daniel’s channel on YouTube has several step-by-step guides to increase your tendency to have lucid dreams, which can be an immersive experience and a perfect opportunity to explore everything that goes on in the dream world.
The dream expert recommends maintaining a journal that you can use to write down your dreams in detail and keeping it beside your bed so you can make an entry within a few minutes of waking up.
You can always use a voice recorder to make a note of more crucial details of your dream in the middle of the night if you can’t make a note of it.
A dream journal isn’t meant only to write your visions; going through your notes later helps you better understand your dream patterns and the thought process driving them.
Making it a habit to journal your dreams regularly is important to continue seeing lucid dreams as it helps train your thoughts.
Very Well Mind notes: “This means that people with heightened abilities to monitor their own thoughts may be more likely to experience lucid dreams,” based on research that the said state of mind in sleep is associated with awareness and reflection.
- NEW STUDY: Australians are the world’s worst sleepers
