Thread: What reality checks work best for you?

I think that the best reality check you can possibly do is just looking at your environment and asking yourself if everything is right, how did I get here? Does that make sense? Ask yourself what day it is, what time and so on and so forth. In a dream, almost always, one or more of these things just arn't right =) It takes some more effort and getting used to, but this kinda general awareness seems to work best for me All the 'classic' reality checks don't really seem to work for me all that much =/

I think the ifnger through the palm test. It is easy to to do, and you cna test it many times durring the day.

It's been the watch that has triggered it every time for me! Gotta love it.

It depends on the dream. With a certain type of dream, usually, the clock & the reading the book works, but if it doesn't, RCing my bed works just as well, since my bed should be empty, & should there be somebody in there, I then know, & just go read the book anyways, as it will save me some time reading it later when I wake up!!! Right Ramu?

Other than that, I usually don't need to RC to know I am dreaming.

I, personally, don't use reality checks. As I've said before I'm training a constant frame of mind in relation to resolving the dream state ("Power of resolution technique" from LaBerge) but since it's extremely tough to keep a truly constant frame of mind about it (other thoughts kind of get in the way, heh) I do it as often as possible by flinging my thoughts and concentration to do as stated in the technique - tell myself that everything is of the substance of dreams.

I become fully aware of my environment and situation, I concentrate on it and tell myself that I'm dreaming while being fully aware of the circumstances about. So it's as Lucius said, only instead of asking myself if I'm dreaming, I tell myself that I'm dreaming.

Originally posted by Lucius
I think that the best reality check you can possibly do is just looking at your environment and asking yourself if everything is right, how did I get here? Does that make sense? Ask yourself what day it is, what time and so on and so forth. In a dream, almost always, one or more of these things just arn't right =) It takes some more effort and getting used to, but this kinda general awareness seems to work best for me

I completely agree. In fact, I've never become lucid from one of the "classic" reality checks.

A dream just has a certain feel to it that is altogether unique to me... The reality check I use most often is simply to ask myself whether I'm dreaming. The answer is usually obvious.

i don't use reality checks when I dream. I just sleep and then I'm automatically lucid. But that's because I've been lucid dreaming ever since I was like 4 years old. I just found out in January that what I was doing actually had a name. I didn't know at first that not many people could lucid dream. It's kinda weird going to sleep and then when I'm dreaming I feel like I'm awake but I'm not and I can do all sorts of weird things like flying and move objects and set things on fire without touching them. I love lucid dreaming! But I'm sure that there are some things that I still don't know about lucid dreaming so that's why I'm here. To learn what I don't know. I guess I didn't help so I'm sorry guys!!!

Originally posted by Krys
i don't use reality checks when I dream. *I just sleep and then I'm automatically lucid. *But that's because I've been lucid dreaming ever since I was like 4 years old. *I just found out in January that what I was doing actually had a name. *I didn't know at first that not many people could lucid dream. *It's kinda weird going to sleep and then when I'm dreaming I feel like I'm awake but I'm not and I can do all sorts of weird things like flying and move objects and set things on fire without touching them. *I love lucid dreaming!

Nice to see you're so enthusiastic about it even after doing it since you were 4 years old.

I've been singing since I was 5, but I sure don't stick it to people like that!

D

The first one I used was Trying to Hold your nose and still breathe through it. So, Im sticking with it.

The only reality check that seems to work for me is looking at my fingers and counting them... it is hard to do so when you're dreaming, and most of the time you'll probably notice an extra finger.

I guess the best way to do reality checks is to wait until you do one unintentionally in a dream, and from then on do that specific reality check in waking life because you know it works. If you've done it accidentally before while dreaming then the chances are that you'll be able to do it again more easily.

I try to stick my tongue through the roof of my mouth. No one can tell that I'm doing it, so I can pretty much do it all day if I'm feeling ambitious.

Originally posted by Dangeruss
I try to stick my tongue through the roof of my mouth. No one can tell that I'm doing it, so I can pretty much do it all day if I'm feeling ambitious.

Have you had any success with that? I was wondering if some things are too easy to do, then you won't pay enough attention to them and they might not be effective... but if it's worked for you it sounds pretty good.

I started out doing the finger through the palm test, but I actually had it fail a couple times. Yet I thought I was dreaming because things just seemed wrong. That's when I remembered the breathing test. So I did that and have been doing it ever since. It's never failed me yet.

I've had the breathing test fail on me before, in a FA. I knew it was a dream, and when the RC failed, it was odd.

I initially came to this site because I had decided to do a research paper on Lucid Dreaming because I feel it is interesting and not enough people actually know about it. So, I start off with a nice hello.

As for my "reality check," I have always used television shows. I like to run a show like Scrubs on my computer as I am sleeping. This serves as a trigger for me to realize that I am dreaming. I use Scrubs more often than any other show because I know it very well and noone else I know watches it. So, when I am dreaming, I will hear lines from the show and that often triggers me to realize my environment and the fact that I am dreaming. Similar to the digital watch thing, but adapted for me.

I always study my hands....I don't know why, but it works for me. I got it out of a Carlos Casteneda book, and it was like magic.

Haven't lucid dreamed in awhile, and not many times, so I haven't developed a personal RC.

The reality check I experienced was when half of the street was covered in snow and half wasn't. Then in another dream I noticed something was wrong with a necklace of mine. Thats it, so far.