Thread: New to LD. Reality checks issue!!!

First of all, hi everyone
I'm new to LD, I'm a psychology student and just finished reading Dr Stephen LaBerge's book and publications. Very excited to try LD.
I have had many (5-10 per week) very vivid dreams and I'm sure most of them could turn into LD.
I have a problem doing reality checks because anything that happens my mind just justifies it in the most random ways! And that's where I need your help. Any tricks of trade that you could share to program my mind with the question "Am I dreaming?" ?
Last night for example I tried to induce a LD. I had 4 dreams which i recalled right after waking up and wrote them down. One of them was playing poker with my friends and some most random people I've never seen in my life on the floor in next to the bathroom and i locked my GF outside on the tarrace like an animal because she was annoying me(lol?) . As ridiculus as it may sound, my mind justified it somehow and I did not ask myself if it was a dream...
Many thanks for your help

Hey and welcome to DV! I'm sure you'll find the community friendly and helpful (:

As for your question, I suck at reality checks. I can DILD just find, but it's never from an RC. Maybe try WILDing instead?

Originally Posted by Meakel

Jen was 13 years old. A fairly normal girl. She spent a lot of time online.
One day, she made a new friend. He liked the same bands, worried about the same subjects.
They decided to meet at the local mall. She went. So did he.
Only he wasn't in junior high.
HE WAS A 1500 LB GRIZZLY BEAR.
1 in 5 children online get eaten by wild bears. And you didn't even know bears could type.

LOL bro loving your sig!!! xDDD

Welcome to DV man!! It sounds like you are quite a natural LD'er as 5-10 vivid dreams per week is quite good! (From what I know)
Dream recall is pretty much the base of all of Lucid Dreaming. But I can see yours is already pretty good.
Now, as for your mind justifying all the real random things in your dreams.... Don't worry, that's completely normal. Everyone gets that (again, from what I know), but mainly just try to do reality checks throughout the day, or maybe just try out KingYoshi's All Day Awareness.
I would recommend reading that, and also this: Puffins DILD Guide

I'm sure you will be a good LD'er and it's good to be dedicated. Don't give up if your first LD takes a while (Although I think that for you it might come quickly), because for some people it takes ages.

Hope I helped!

If you have any questions at all, feel free to PM me or an admin!

Thanks guys.
NightSpy2, I will definitely read the guides. In fact, gonna do it now because I'm bored at work .
As for my good dream recall, I've being doing it for years now and the vivid dreams started to come more often. It's only been recently I found out that you can actually be fully conscious and controll the dream. I think it will be my passion for the rest of my life !

Originally Posted by teddyk

Thanks guys.
NightSpy2, I will definitely read the guides. In fact, gonna do it now because I'm bored at work .
As for my good dream recall, I've being doing it for years now and the vivid dreams started to come more often. It's only been recently I found out that you can actually be fully conscious and controll the dream. I think it will be my passion for the rest of my life !

Oh right, nice! Yea I reckon I'm going to be LD'ing for the rest of my life too haha! Such a good way to entertain yourself, and not just wasting 1/3 of your life sleeping boringly. xD

Welcome to DV. Doing an occasional gravity check works for me. If I can fly, or leap tall buildings, I have trained myself over the years to recognize the dreamstate. Good luck to you!

It is perfectly justifiable to lock your GF on a terrace. That is not ridiculous. Mine is currently spending the night in the yard. But seriously, it is tough to battle stupid thoughts in dreams. We all have them. You should check out some of the ADA or DILD tutorials for help recognizing dreams. There are also many other ways to try and induce an LD. Happy dreaming!

Hi, can I just ask; 5-10 a week, one or two a night or all of them stacked ontop of each other over a couple of nights?
And if anything seems at all odd, you have to train yourself to RC naturally. Something strange, and your hand has to go straight to your nose (I'm talking about nose plug test here, it's probably the best RC) and then there's no doubt you're dreaming. Even when something good or bad, even if it isn't unusual, I do an RC.
Perhaps you should try WILD..?

Originally Posted by ItsMEE

Hi, can I just ask; 5-10 a week, one or two a night or all of them stacked ontop of each other over a couple of nights?
And if anything seems at all odd, you have to train yourself to RC naturally. Something strange, and your hand has to go straight to your nose (I'm talking about nose plug test here, it's probably the best RC) and then there's no doubt you're dreaming. Even when something good or bad, even if it isn't unusual, I do an RC.
Perhaps you should try WILD..?

5-10 very realistic dreams over the week. I have way more dreams on weekly basis, around 4 or even more per night. Didn't realise that I have so many dreams untill I started my dream journal.
The problem I have is that whatever dream I just can't do these reality checks. It's like I don't remember to do them. I think I have to program my mind to ask myself for RC all the time, then in dream I will too. That's what I'm working on right now

Hey there.
There really is no trick to reality checking. Seeing as you mentioned that you have many vivid dreams per week, I'm sure you realise they all feel about as realistic as life with maybe something slightly off. What you should practice in reality is RC'ing when you question something weird that has just happened or the thought 'am i dreaming?' comes to mind. Soon enough, it will feel natural and you will do it fairly often. As the name states, it's a reality CHECK.
Good luck~

I would try doing a mantra or concentrating on LD or something with having one before falling asleep. You could also try learning a technique which is almost guaranteed (WILD), although that will take practice (I'm still getting it down).