What is a good reality check... I mean really.

[nobodycares]

Checking your watch, looking at both hands, holding your breath.... if I wanted to do a reality check to test the reality of the situation I'm in, it would have to be glaringly obvious to test reality or have to be something that would benefit me in some way.

What better checks are there? I know I'm breathing so I don't check to hold my breathe. It's hard to do this on a continuous basis because when you're not in the dream world you're wasting your mind energy on things that you already know are present. Our body breathes for us so your mind doesn't have to consciously think about doing it. This is why things like this don't make sense to me, and if this whole dream/lucid thing doesn't end up working then I'll look like an idiot for having tried it.

There's got to be something else. I'm looking into dream yoga, but every book I find is huge on philosophy and it takes me ages to go through and find how-to instructions.

(I get dreams are awesome... I get the point!!! Show me how to do it).

does anyone recommend any sort of good reality check or book I can read to help me? I'm trying to understand everything around me but it's hard when you actually have important things going on in your life. I'm not about to give up on what I'm doing just so I can dream at night.

Does this make sense?

[[SomeGuy]]

If you spin around a lot and you don't get dizzy, you're probably in a dream.

[lucidspark64]

It's hard to do this on a continuous basis because when you're not in the dream world you're wasting your mind energy on things that you already know are present.

not entirely true. i've been surprised when i realized i was dreaming because the dream i was having prior to becomng lucid, sometimes is something normal like waking up in the morning, or driving somewhere.

the only real reality checks i've relied on were 'sticking my finger through my palm' and 'checking the clock'. but there are a few other like rereading text or closing one eye and looking at your nose to see if it's still there. for you, try remembering what you were doing before what you are doing now. like if you are doing homework, think about what you were doing before starting. if you can't remember how you got there, you are probably dreaming.

just... don't do pinching... never do pinching

"pinch me, i must be dreaming"

*slap*!

[Souperman22]

The point of doing reality checks is so that they become a habit, and if the habit carries on to a dream, you get a DILD.

[Walms]

Different things work for different people which basically means, no "good" RC, and yes you have to make RC an habit for it to work, and generally question reality along with the RC for it to be mroe effective.

[[user-name]]

I dont have a really "set" reality check. and I use a lot of weird ones that Ive never read about. When Im dreaming I dont really stop and think about what I read on Dreamviews.

[Michael]

Shoot yourself in the head with a 9mm. if you live, you're dreaming.

If not, then, REALITY CHECK!!!

[[user-name]]

Shoot yourself in the head with a 9mm. if you live, you're dreaming.

If not, then, REALITY CHECK!!!

good one :lol:

[Mzzkc]

I think I might be alone in this, but I don't RC outside of dreams. Sure, I've done the one and only RC I use, once or twice, IWL, but I never made a habit of it. Hell, I don't even RC after waking up, unless I think I'm dreaming. The RC is just confirmation.

The one I use, with great success, is the on where you hold your nose and breathe through it. Quick, clean, and effective.

[LAUR]

try drag your finger if your finger expands then your understand that you are dreaming and you become lucid

[panta-rei]

http://dreamviews.com/community/showthread.php?t=4470

[Shift]

Just click on the evil grins in my signature. It's really not difficult. You'll look like an even bigger idiot for not putting in some incredibly simple effort and learning to lucid dream on a lucid dreaming website where thousands of people vouch for the effectiveness of it. The fact that you're thinking about this and dream yoga means you understand that it's legit. So just do some RCs, and you'll be LDing in no time.

Also, the mental reality check (awareness) stressed in the beginning of the tutorial is precisely the same thing as dream yoga. These are literally all the same thing- increasing your overall awareness in life so that you are aware and question, in your dreams to become lucid. So yes, with dream yoga this requires no physical reality checking, so there you go. Mental reality checks.

[Nightprowler]

The hard part for me is knowing when to reality check in a dream. The only time when I question myself if I’m dreaming is when something unusual happens. I say to myself, what a minute am I dreaming? Then I do a reality check to make sure that I am dreaming. It is a simple reality check that I do, and it works every time I do it in a dream. I do the jump technique and I fill myself go up about 10 feet in the air and then slowly float back down to the ground then I know for sure that I am dreaming.

Try out the jump technique that is the only reality check I use. You can do this outside of a dream throughout the day but make sure no one is around, you might look like a weirdo.:eek:

[Enlightenment]

I use the checking hands method mainly.

[Sentaku]

Plug your nose and try to breathe. If you can then you're dreaming.

That one has got me lucid many times.

[Enlightenment]

Plug your nose and try to breathe. If you can then you're dreaming.

That one has got me lucid many times.

I never quite get that one because if your lips are slightly parted then you can still breathe :? I know it would be the last thing I'd be thinking about if I became lucid - "oh, are my lips closed or not?" lol :shock:

Or............. maybe I'm just weird :lol:

[Mzzkc]

I never quite get that one because if your lips are slightly parted then you can still breathe

Not if you do it right. Having your mouth open or closed should not affect it at all.

[Greed]

Plug your nose and try to breathe. If you can then you're dreaming.

That one has got me lucid many times.

This one never fails i check my reality every time with it and it always works.

[Enlightenment]

Not if you do it right. Having your mouth open or closed should not affect it at all.

No matter how hard I pinch or plug my nose I can still breathe if my mouth is open as I just breathe through my mouth lol.

[Akono]

lol it's not about breathing through your mouth....just hold on to your nose and blow....normally your ears will pop or something...in a dream you just blow. You can have your mouth wide open and still do the RC. You just need to make sure you blow like you're clearing the pressure in your head.

oh back on topic....maybe if you had a keychain with something written on it.

[Enlightenment]

lol it's not about breathing through your mouth....just hold on to your nose and blow....normally your ears will pop or something...in a dream you just blow. You can have your mouth wide open and still do the RC. You just need to make sure you blow like you're clearing the pressure in your head.

Argh OK, my bad lol :D I thought it was about breathing lol. No wonder it never used to work for me :D

Anyway, my favourite method is definitely checking my hands.

[fragmastr]

I think it looks weird to try and plug your nose in public, or any of the other reality checks such as spinning or jumping....so you may have to save those for more private times.

I personally prefer just to look at my hands...always works. If I see something weird, then I am dreaming...and I usually count 7 fingers.

I hate when my girlfriend catches me staring at my hands, lmfao. She is always like "what are you doing"?.

[Tweek]

Plug your nose and try to breathe. If you can then you're dreaming.

That one has got me lucid many times.

This is what I've been doing the last couple months. I don't really like the finger through the palm one even though it's given me my best lucid. I can still RC with the nose in bed and not wake up like I would with the palm and finger.



As for looking weird in public plugging your nose... It's a lot easier to be casual about gently plugging your nose vs. looking visibly at your hand and poking your palm. :p Besides who cares if some one asks you what your doing or even tells you they do RC's too!

[Yume.no.ato]

Every single time I find the plugging your nose and trying to breathe is the most efficient. I've heard your breathing in LDs corresponds with your real body's breathing, so its a pretty surefire test.

I tried the one with counting my fingers, but....
I still had 5 fingers, except my hand was gnarled and ghastly with deep grooves.

Trust me RCs are important for catching False Awakenings.
My first WILD I only caught because I did a routine nose check like I usually do after waking. I thought I'd just woken up from Sleep Paralysis. That is why RCs are important. You'll miss out of a lot of Lucids otherwise.

[Pegorian]

I use my watch as a reality check. It's digital and if I'm in a dream the face rarely shows actual numbers, and the one time there were numbers it was something like 38:23.

Another reality check I like, although it is a bit more work, is just to look around and think about what you're seeing, see what doesn't make sense.