Lucid Dreaming

Had a dream I was playing Hamlet, but hadn't learned my lines,
so I was faking iambic pentameter with whatever came to mind.

True story. Usually I don't recall my dreams, but I slept late this morning, which I think makes for lighter sleep and a greater likelihood of recalling them.

There are people who work on experiencing lucid dreaming, which is a dream where you know you are dreaming, and where you may even begin to exert conscious control over the dream.

I've occasionally experienced that sense of knowing I'm in a dream - often it's a nightmare, where I'm struggling to wake up. But I've never really cultivated my potential lucid dreaming abilities.

One thing would-be lucid-dreamers do, is develop the habit, when awake, of checking whether they are dreaming. For example:

When you are dreaming you cannot read text for longer than a few seconds, so try reading text to prove to yourself you are not dreaming.

This again will carry over into your dreaming world and you will start asking the same questions in your dreams which can turn into a lucid dream.

On the other hand, I've heard that constantly checking "Am I dreaming?" can sometimes lead to an unhelpful inner sense of distance from reality.

When a car is coming at you
is not the time to doubt
whether you are in a dream
or out.