How to distinguish a dream from reality. Sleep criteria

When we are in a dream, we cannot distinguish this dream from reality; according to our subjective sensations, the dream world is no different from the real world. But in fact, this world is much less stable and more changeable. It is his variability that “gives him away.”

There are universal signs of the dream world that work for everyone, and there are personal ones. We will call the first sleep criteria in order to separate them from the second. Sleep criteria are a must for beginners to test reality. Experienced dreamers can use personal signs of sleep, and the awareness mechanism will work faster.

So, sleep criteria are kind of cheat codes. Even if you have never experienced a lucid dream, you can use them. How? Testing reality. You need to ask yourself as often as possible in the real world, “Is this a dream?” and check using sleep criteria. Whatever method of inducing lucid dreaming you use, you must add reality testing using criteria. Gradually, a habit develops, and in a dream we use exactly the same patterns of behavior as in real life. This way, the dream world will not be able to “fool your brains” by pretending to be reality.

How to distinguish a dream from reality

1. Read any inscription twice: read it, turn away, turn around and read it again. In a dream, the inscription will change.
2. Try to remember what you did in the last five minutes and how you got here. Difficulties will arise in your sleep.
3. Look at your watch. In a dream, the hands dance as they want and do not want to show the time, and an electronic clock works the same way as text - it is constantly changing.
4. Try jumping high. In your sleep, you will feel that gravity is no longer the same.
5. Look at your hands. In your sleep, they will deform right before your eyes.
6. Try to remember what you last did: wake up or go to bed. In a dream you will not be able to remember, this question will cause you difficulty.
7. Try turning the light on or off using the switch. In a dream, the switch may not turn on, or you may even experience a strange dim feeling even though it has turned on.
8. And finally, to quickly wake up and get out of the sleep state, pinch yourself.

To check, it is better to use not one criterion, but at least two, at least at first. For me, the first one turned out to be the “working” criterion, probably because it is the easiest to use in real life. At first I simply instilled this habit, and only then did I become convinced that the inscription was changing.

Since ancient times, people have had deep reverence for dreams. At all times, dream interpreters are held in high esteem; astrologers, magicians, and those who are good at solving dreams flourish in royal courts. After all, since ancient times people have known that some dreams are harbingers of important events and changes. And here the question arises - how to determine that a dream is prophetic before the events predicted by it happen?

In fact, there are several basic principles that will help separate visionary dreams from all unnecessary mental trash. And the first of them is directly related to elementary logic. They should not be considered prophetic dreams that offer contradictory or outright fantastic solutions for any situation. You must understand whether the scenario seen in the dream is likely in reality. If, escaping from a pursuer in a dream, you spread all eight wings plus the tail and fly out through the window straight into the soft green sky, then you can safely write this dream in the “nothing” category. A prophetic dream will definitely be consistent with both reality and common sense.

The second point concerns the environment of the sleep space. If the prophecy concerns career growth, then in the dream the events will take place in an environment reminiscent of an office, and not in a medieval castle or in the Amazon jungle.

And finally, there is a good test that allows, with 80% probability, from all the dreams you saw last night, to identify the one that really carries a prophecy. The first thing you need to do is remember the dream, and then answer a few questions about it. For each affirmative answer you should give yourself a plus sign.1. Were there people or objects in your dream that exist in your reality?
2. Did the plot of your dream seem quite plausible and could take place in life?
3. Have you ever had prophetic dreams before?
4. After you woke up, did you have a feeling that your dream would certainly come true - a feeling of confidence?
5. Did the plot of the dream relate to an issue that is relevant to you at the moment?
6. Do you have experience in deciphering dreams or working with them in any way?
7. Do you have experience in meditative practices, immersion in trance, altered states (hypnosis, prayer, meditation, etc.) of consciousness?

The more positive answers you receive, the more likely the dream about which the questions were asked is prophetic.

As you can see, distinguishing a prophetic dream from a fantastic one is not so difficult. Although here, as nowhere else, the rule “what is trained is certainly developed” is relevant.

Prophetic dreams in some cases can save a person’s life. Therefore, many people would really like to learn how to distinguish different pictures that they see in a dream from real prophetic dreams, where each image can act as a harbinger.

How to distinguish a prophetic dream from a simple one

A dream that can be considered prophetic will certainly be unambiguous, vivid, and very clear. Vague symbols and hints may be present, but only in very small quantities. As a rule, such a dream contains a maximum of clear information, sometimes absolutely literal.

People who live in harmony with their own subconscious, who are attentive to the voice of intuition and the clues that dreams sometimes send, are best able to recognize a prophetic dream. It is not difficult for such people to see and accept the help that the subconscious sends.

In the broad sense of the word, every dream is prophetic. Any of them contains elements of knowledge, prophecy, and warning. They can be either explicit or hidden. In some cases, an event is repeated more and more persistently in a dream, and this is a rather alarming sign.

In what cases can you have prophetic dreams?

It is not always possible to see an unambiguous dream that has no hidden meaning. We can say that there is a chance to see it if a person is really in great danger. Basically, the subconscious still prefers to transmit information in encrypted form. For example, a dream about war may mean a conflict that will soon happen in the family or at work. A collapsing house does not necessarily mean the destruction of a building - most likely, it symbolizes the cessation of some important stage of life.

A prophetic dream, as a rule, represents a certain plot in which the development of events will occur logically and in a certain sequence. Such dreams cannot in any way be called woven from scraps of some impressions. Instead of the usual scattered pictures, figures, images, faces, prophetic dreams are a kind of plot developing over time.

In such a dream, many have the opportunity to influence the course of events in a certain way, to change it at their own discretion. Prophetic dreams are always very realistic and well remembered, and this makes it easier to interpret. The more accurate the information that the subconscious is trying to give us, the more opportunities we have to properly prepare for the event and survive it with little loss.

If you suffer from insomnia, go to Rostov Veliky. Sleep will begin to return to you as you approach the city. And after you live in Rostov for a week or two, you will have difficulty distinguishing between dreams and reality.

Officially, Rostov the Great has been exchanging money for 1156 years. The reporting point is considered to be 862. It is this time that dates back to the entry in the oldest Russian chronicle, “The Tale of Bygone Years,” which says that the city was owned by Rurik, and the “first inhabitants” belonged to the Merya tribe. True, many historians believe that the entry was added to the chronicle in the 12th century, but it is unlikely that this somehow radically affected the fate and temperament of Rostov.

As already mentioned, Rostov arose on the site of the settlement of the mysterious Merya tribe. No one knows what kind of people they were, what gods they professed, and where they ultimately disappeared.

Rostov froze in the north-west of Nero, as if carefully, “like a thief,” hugging him. In the south, in a more advantageous place, in the very underbelly of the lake, where the Sara River flows into it, at least since the 7th century there was a center of the Meryan people, called by archaeologists the Sarskoye settlement. Judging by the excavations, during which a large number of silver coins, copper and tin ingots, weapons, jewelry and objects from Western Europe, the Kama region, Volga Bulgaria, and Kievan Rus were discovered, the settlement was a major trading hub.

Probably, initially the founders of Rostov did not plan to stay here for a long time, since settling on a low coastal terrace, the most disadvantageous coast of Lake Nero, would have been very strange for the enterprising Normans. Most likely, the long-term plan of the colonialists was to move south, to the Sarskoye settlement. But something unknown disrupted these plans, and Rostov fell asleep in a “strange” place for a thousand years. I fell asleep like a passenger in the waiting room of a provincial railway station, sleeping through my train and never waking up.

The trace of the city of Rostov could have disappeared already in the 11th-12th centuries if the Kiev Metropolitan had not sent here in 990 with a missionary task to baptize the inhabitants of Zalesye monk Theodore. While still in Kyiv, the monk was ordained Bishop of Rostov and went to his flock. The first mission of St. Theodora failed: the local population expelled the bishop from the city.

Two years later, the new prince of Rostov, Boris, returned the bishop, understanding all the prospects for the presence of the episcopal see in the city. But after his death, the pagans again drove out the bishop. But, despite this, the diocese managed to stay in the city, and not only to stay, but also to become one of the most influential in the first centuries of Orthodoxy in Rus'. This fact left Rostov in the context of Russian history, and the city somnambulistically, like a sleepwalker, trudged behind her, arms outstretched.

For a short time it even bore the title of “capital city,” until the “table” moved to the more lively Suzdal. The city humbly submitted to fate.

In 1237, Rostov surrendered to the Mongol-Tatars without a fight, and in the 14th century, it also humbly accepted the primacy of ambitious Moscow. Then the Rostov boyars went into voluntary exile: “alas, Rostov and his princes took power, reign, property and glory from them.”

Then the city became part of the oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible, and in 1608 the troops of False Dmitry II burned Rostov and took captive the Rostov Metropolitan, the future Patriarch Filaret (Romanov). The occupiers did not set foot on Rostov land again - for more than 400 years.

True, Rostov itself has retired from the big Russian game, having resigned itself to the fate of a provincial city, about which the Rostovites themselves tease: “The land is damp, the water is rotten. The people are like an oak." When you walk around Rostov, somewhere subconsciously you perceive it as a “budget” film pavilion. It is no coincidence that many films were filmed here.

Moreover, along with the self-evident historical ones (“Peter I”, “Ivan Vasilyevich changes his profession”, “Split”), filmmakers found here good “platforms” for comedies (“Thirty Three”, “Seven Old Men and One Girl”, “Policemen”) and thieves" and the same "Ivan Vasilyevich...").

Although it is difficult to call the city conducive to fun. Perhaps Rostov’s “sleep mode” creates a good mise-en-scène for the “funny.” To tell the truth, when you leave the city, you find yourself thinking that you have been in the Christopher Nolan film Inception, in a limbo where it is impossible to distinguish whether you are asleep or awake.

One of the main attractions of Rostov is the unique belfry, for which huge thousand-pound bells were cast. Thanks to the ringing of bells, you maintain contact with reality. You leave with the feeling that it rains here all the time. Even when he doesn't go...

When you are in a dream, it is difficult to understand that what is happening is illusory, the world created by the imagination looks so real. However, if you take a closer look, the signs of fantasy reveal a dream. To understand how to distinguish a dream from reality, you need to use numerous recommendations from experts. Over time, the fictional and real worlds will no longer confuse you.

The first thing that allows us to distinguish the fictional world from the real one is self-awareness. If a person realizes that he is dreaming, he can modify his own dreams. Recognizing a dream is not easy. As soon as you are overwhelmed by the feeling of the illusory nature of what is happening, ask yourself: are you dreaming? Remember what happened a few minutes, seconds ago. During dreams, there are no memories; a person is only in the present.

Don't try to pinch yourself. On an intuitive level, you remember the feelings associated with it. The brain will send signals that can deceive the senses of touch, smell, etc. Therefore, trying to take off will not help you understand your dreams. The person knows that this is impossible in the real world. The subconscious will not allow flying in a dream.

The problem with lucid dreaming is a decrease in concentration. The senses that allow us to analyze the situation become dull. A person does not think about whether he is sleeping or not, even if he dreams of something impossible. Therefore, it is difficult to carry out dream tests.

The method of unique beacons is popular. Think in advance about which objects should evoke a clear association with sleep. It could be a thing, a color or a person. As soon as you see this, your brain will send a signal to analyze what is happening. Then try to use one of the ways to understand the real and fictional world.

How to distinguish a dream from reality

Numerous experiments with dreams have discovered general laws that operate while the body is resting. Night fantasies cannot go beyond certain physical laws. Remember them if you want to understand how to distinguish a dream from reality:

• Perform a breath test by pinching your nose and closing your mouth. If there are no problems and air enters the lungs, you are sleeping;
• find a mirror and look at the reflection. In reality, it remains clear, without changing. In a dream, the reflection is blurred, blurred, and constantly deformed;
• remember how you remember the place you are in. In a dream, furnishings and the arrangement of rooms will differ from the present;
• pay attention to your hands. In the illusory world, they will float like an image in a mirror, or pass through each other. You won't be able to count your fingers either;
• An easy way is to look at the nose while closing one eye. In reality this is simple, but in a dream it is impossible;
• find the clock, look at the hands. They will behave incorrectly - they will either start spinning wildly or stop;
• It will not be possible to read one inscription more than once. The next time you try to look at it, the letters will change, the meaning of the phrase or word will be distorted.

More on the topic: Exit to the astral plane in a dream

Reality Check Practice

The practice of checking in the real world will help to separate fiction and reality. Start working by being awake. For example, from checking inscriptions. Read any phrases or words that come your way. Do this several times in a row, bringing the habit to automaticity. If you see an inscription in a dream, you will read it a couple of times without thinking. When you realize that the letters have changed, you will think about the unreality of what is happening.

Another way to train is to try to take off. Stand on the floor and jump, setting yourself up for the possibility of flight. The more often you carry out such tests, the greater your chances of taking off in your dreams.

Determine what reality you are in using several tests simultaneously. Combine reading the inscriptions with viewing a mirror image, trying to remember the previous scene. It will not be possible to distinguish fiction from reality the first time. Frequent and regular training is required. Also in a dream, pay attention to the following points:

• distant objects cannot be seen, they begin to elude the eye;
• try to run fast. In dreams, two scenarios are possible. Either you will not budge, or you will instantly move to any, even distant, point;
• in a dream it is easy to walk through walls, breathe under water, look at the bright daytime sun without pain in the eyes;
• flip the light switch. Most likely it won't work.

Although other people are most often present in dreams, the dreamer notices the asymmetry of their faces.

Lucid dreaming, scientific research

Scientists have been developing a method for lucid dreaming for several centuries. People have tried to control the imagination since the 18th century. Then the Italian Luigi Galvani conducted an experiment that discovered “animal electricity” to the world. The scientist found that the body of a living creature produces electricity, and its source is nerve endings.

In the 19th century, the development of technology allowed us to take a step forward. Scientists were able to measure the electrical activity of neurons anywhere in the nervous system. Already in the 50s of the 20th century, developments were used in the discovery of sleep phases. After this, attempts to find out what controls dreams were made repeatedly.