Awareness Within the Dream

This practice runs across one night. Before sleep, sit on the edge of your bed for a minute. Set a quiet intention, kept simple. If a dream arises tonight, may I notice that it is a dream while it is happening. Lie down and sleep as usual. Do not strain for it. Some nights nothing changes. Some nights, in the middle of a dream, a soft recognition arrives, a quiet 'I am dreaming this'. Stay with that recognition gently, do not grab at it. The same awareness that knows you are dreaming knows you when you wake.