Reality Checks don't work in my dreams, what now?

[hapkidoman]

I am so mad/excited right now, because I just remembered that last night when I was dreaming I did a reality check. I said, "Am I dreaming?" and then pinched my nose shut to see if I could still breath (the same thing I did about thirty times during the day). I'm so excited that it worked its way into my dreams, but when I did the RC in my dream I remember being able to breath through it and thinking, "Why can't I pinch my nose tight? If I keep doing this then when I'm dreaming I won't be able to realize that I'm dreaming!" But I was dreaming - I just thought that the entire time it was strange that in "real life" I wasn't able to pinch my nose close enough to stop my breathing! How do I go about fixing this conundrum? I obviously do RC's enough during the day to bring it into my dreams, but even when I do a RC in my dream I'm still not aware that I'm dreaming. Is there a fool-proof reality check that I should do instead? Or will my subconcious mind eventually "get it"?

[Adam]

Seems to me you are on the right track and don't need to change too much - Since you have worked on the nose RC I would continue to use that, but as a back up, try poking your finger through your other hand

[hapkidoman]

Thanks Adam, I'll try the finger through the hand RC. Is this sort of thing normal for people new to LDing? I was soooooo close! Twice! But at least I was close two nights in a row.

[Adam]

Quite possibly; I think it is more to do with the critical faculty for new lucid dreamers. Basically critical faculty can best be thought of as a kind of psychological membrane that separates conscious and subconscious. It constantly monitors all input from our senses and tends to reject that which does not agree with an idea or concept that has been previously experienced and accepted as 'valid' in some way. This is why if an individual has understood that s/he is dreaming, there will be a rejection of information to the contrary, just as certainly as if s/he believes him/herself to be awake. In other words, unless we can get beneath the critical faculty, it is very difficult indeed to make lasting change. So ideally you would need to separate you subconscious from always rejecting the notion that you are dreaming, by reality testing your environment, thus when you are dreaming and you realise this, you are more open to accept this environment. Hope this helps. Adam

[hapkidoman]

Thanks a lot, your information is always helpful. So basically, I just keep doing what I'm doing until my mind gets it? And also, is it easier to have a lucid dream the more you have them?

[Adam]

Exactly, just keep doing what you are doing. I mean there are other things to increase chances, increasing recal, vividness etc which all help. Happy to chare information if you need it. There are a lot of knowledgable people about all happy to help. Others may have some good ideas and techniques too to help you along the way. I dont think it is easier to have a lucid dream the more you have them; per se. I mean when you start lucid dreaming, you learn what works best for you, but everyone has dry spells, and some peoplee never improve on what they know. It really does depend on the individual. I think more peoples failures are down to: - Lack of regular routine sleep - Not getting enough sleep - Frustration - Anger - Lack of self belief and confidence. Have a look through some tutorials and such, theres a lot of information on the forum and main website. But if you have anymore questions please shout

[hapkidoman]

Awesome, thanks a lot.

[b12]

You're progressing well! Your dream recall is great, and you are actually doing RCs during a dream! You're well on your way to full-control Are you keeping a dream journal?

[hapkidoman]

I just started keeping a dream journal today. I don't physically write them down, but I use the online dream journal from lucidipedia.com which is extremely nice. I'm very impressed with them. Thank you very much for the kind words. I hope to eventually be able to have lucid dream. But since there are people out there like you who are providing advice/encouragement I know that it won't be too long before I have one. Thanks again

[King K]

The last time I did the "poke your finger through your other hand" RC, it failed, I still knew that it was a dream though, but I always end up failing when I try to walk through walls or anything "solid" in my dream.

[Bonsay]

I think the problem is that when you do RCs you don't consider the possibility that you might actually be dreaming. It's very important to be confused about reality. The "habbit" RC never worked for me, only the ones when I doubt my reality work.

[FrYeS]

When I do RCs during the day I always make sure to not just do the RC, but also ask myself the question "am I in a dream?", because if you look at reality checks as just a boring task and you never really question reality then it will be the same way in your dream. For example, you might try to do a reality check by flipping a light switch on and off. If the light doesnt work and you are questioning reality then it will succeed, but if you aren't questioning reality then you will just think of some stupid excuse like "oh the power must be out"

[hapkidoman]

Well, I had another dream last night where I did the RC and I could breath through my nose; however, I did it twice and thought, "I'm not dreaming, but if I was then I would be able to change my dream." So, without thinking about it, I closed my eyes and started to spin. I kept thinking that I wanted to see my girlfriend. When I opened my eyes, I saw her and her mother and they started to teach me Vietnamese. However, as soon as I opened my eyes and saw her, I didn't go: "Oh, wow! I am in a dream." Instead, I was just like: "Oh, there's my girlfriend." It was as if nothing happened. Why am I so brain dead in my dreams? Was this considered a low level lucid? At least this time I fancied the idea that I might be in a dream, maybe next time I will actually realize that I am in a dream! Any thoughts or suggestions?

[hapkidoman]

My dreams are alway fuzzy, it seems and are rarely vivid. As soon as I become lucid in my dream, will I suddenly be able to see more clearly? How does that work, or do I have to work on vividness just like I would work on dream control?

[FrYeS]

Well, I had another dream last night where I did the RC and I could breath through my nose; however, I did it twice and thought, "I'm not dreaming, but if I was then I would be able to change my dream." So, without thinking about it, I closed my eyes and started to spin. I kept thinking that I wanted to see my girlfriend. When I opened my eyes, I saw her and her mother and they started to teach me Vietnamese. However, as soon as I opened my eyes and saw her, I didn't go: "Oh, wow! I am in a dream." Instead, I was just like: "Oh, there's my girlfriend." It was as if nothing happened. Why am I so brain dead in my dreams? Was this considered a low level lucid? At least this time I fancied the idea that I might be in a dream, maybe next time I will actually realize that I am in a dream! Any thoughts or suggestions? That is interesting, my advice to you though is to not give up for feel like an idiot for not realizing this! Oftentimes as an amateur it can be very hard to notice that you are in a dream even though its screaming in your face. (I'm still an amateur myself but this is one of the things I have learned from dreaming quite a bit) To answer your question about vividity, in my dreams I often go through phases of vividity, where sometimes my dreams will be vivid for a week straight, and then I cant remember a good dream for 2 weeks after that. There are ways to increase the vividity of your dreams like taking vitamin b6, however if they arent always vivid it doesn't mean anything is wrong.

[hapkidoman]

Alright, I had four dreams last night, and in two of them I did a RC to see if I was dreaming. In each of the dreams I plugged my nose and could still breath through them, but in each of the dreams it never really "hit" me that I was dreaming. I always thought, "Well, its actually reality, but if I was dreaming then I could spin and change the scene." In one dream, I did spin and I kept saying, "I'm in a dream," even though I didn't actually believe I was in a dream. I kept thinking, if I'm in a dream then I'm going to close my eyes, spin, and then when I open my eyes, I'll be in an open field with my girlfriend. I opened my eyes and I was in the exact same dream and thought, "See? I knew I wasn't dreaming." If I actually believed I was in a dream, then I could have had FOUR lucid dreams within FIVE nights! But instead, I have no lucid dreams. Has this happened to anyone?

[hapkidoman]

I'm going to start trying to stick my finger through my hand as a backup RC. I'm sure that will be more of a, "Holy crap! I am dreaming!" Then just being able to breath through my nose. Any other suggestions, words of wisdom, or words of hope?

[mylucidworld]

I'm going to start trying to stick my finger through my hand as a backup RC. I'm sure that will be more of a, "Holy crap! I am dreaming!" Then just being able to breath through my nose. Any other suggestions, words of wisdom, or words of hope? It's very important you take your reality checks seriously, otherwise you won't in your dreams. I used to have this problem of failed reality checks because i didn't take them seriously but now i always do and i have alot more successful reality checks. Do you take them seriously?

[hapkidoman]

I'm pretty sure that I take them seriously. I will ask my self in my head, "Am I dreaming?" and then I plug my nose and try to breath. Then (recently, as in today), I try to stick my finger through my hand. Then I say, "I guess I'm not dreaming, because I can not breath and my finger can not go through my hand." "If I was dreaming I would be able to breath and push my finger through my hand." We'll see if this new adaptation will improve my luck. I'm excited though, because if I did become aware that I was dreaming when I did RC's then I would have had two lucid dreams last night!

[Super Duck]

A little old thing that I do is pull your finger. In the dream world people either pull their fingers off or strtch them to three times their origional length. And as an extra feebie, hands often look strange in dreams anyway, so while you're there stretching your finger to 60 metres, you will have another finger; a missing one; too many to count; some of varying sizes; none at all or just possibly a regular hand Good luck.

[mylucidworld]

I'm pretty sure that I take them seriously. I will ask my self in my head, "Am I dreaming?" and then I plug my nose and try to breath. Then (recently, as in today), I try to stick my finger through my hand. Then I say, "I guess I'm not dreaming, because I can not breath and my finger can not go through my hand." "If I was dreaming I would be able to breath and push my finger through my hand." We'll see if this new adaptation will improve my luck. I'm excited though, because if I did become aware that I was dreaming when I did RC's then I would have had two lucid dreams last night! When you do a reality check my advice is don't say at the end of it i guess i'm not dreaming or anything like that because this will become a habit and you will miss many lucid opportunities. But yes it's good to think if the reality checks worked you would have become lucid twice. If you can learn how to make them work in your dreams then you are going to be very happy. I used to havethis problem but i sorted it through changing my reality checks and taking them more seriously and now i am having frequent dilds without having to use my method which is great, and normally a few a night when i become lucid.

[King K]

ARGHH! After re-reading this thread, I remembered that yesterday I did a RC while I was dreaming, and it failed because I couldn't breath through my nose, I thought "damn, I'm not dreaming". I am sick and I can't usually breath through my nose when I am facing upwards, asleep or just laying on a bed, so probably the best way for me to RC could be to close my mouth and try to breath.

[hapkidoman]

Thanks for all of the advice. Does anyone have (or have had) this problem in the past? From now on, I will not say, "I guess I'm not dreaming" at the end of my RC. Hopefully this, coupled with the "finger through the hand" technique, will yield some good lucid experiences. I'm so close, I just know it. Hopefully, I'm right. I will post tomorrow and see if I have a lucid dream tonight. I just started the changes in my routine so it may take a couple days to work their way into my dream. Is there any other advice/wisdom/ideas that anyone would like to share with me or with those reading the thread? Thanks to all of those who have posted already.