About the "Hand throught arm" reality check

We've all heard of it. If you think you're in a dream, you just push one of your hands through your other one. If you hand goes through the other one, congrats, you're in a dream!

Except reality checks don't always work. I'm sure some of the more experienced members already know this, but I, for one, would have wanted to find out about it earlier. Here is what happened:

I woke up in a bed that wasn't mine, in a house that certainly wasn't mine. I decided to do the reality check mentioned earlier. Not only was I able to see my hands very cleary, which is something that many people say does not happen in dreams, but I was also unable to push my arm through my hand. It seemed as though whatever part of my brain was constructing the dream had a firm grasp of real physics.

I ended up going back to sleep, which ended that dream.

I hope this servers as a heads up for others. Not all reality checks might work. In fact, none of them may, if your brain understands the difference between what is and is not possible in the real world. I'm still trying to find a way to get around this problem.

You're totally right. I've had various checks work and then fail. And I know what you mean about your hands being so clear. If the dream looks and feels that incredibly real, reality checks might not work, for the reason you mentioned about your brain having a firm grasp of physics.

I don't have a 100% perfect solution, only something that has worked for me over and over, and that's looking into a mirror. It hasn't failed me yet, so maybe it's just a matter of sorting through different RC techniques and finding out what works best for you. But I agree with you, none of them are certain. My mirror might fail me one day, but I dare it to try!!

The RC that has never failed me is the nose plug.

I did the finger through palm RC once and it worked, though it was not instant, you kinda have to put some pressure on it and give it a moment.

Flying as a RC has yet to work for me. I jump up, but land right back down every time.

I exclusive use a gravity check. If i can jump too high... I'm in a dream. Try it! :shadewink:

I always use more than one RC, sometimes even 3 or 4, just to be sure I am/am not in a dream. I normally preform the nose plug first, followed by checking my hands and sometimes looking at a clock then looking away, and then back again. Usually with this, even if one of them fails I have two more to be sure whether or not it's a dream. They haven't failed me yet :)

One that never fail for me is questionning how I got there, what I did before. If there is no answer then I know I'm in a dream. :P

For some reason, i always rather push my hand through a wall, or even walk through one.

This is why doing multiple checks is so important. The nose plug is usually very reliable for me, possibly because of how it relies on something constant from the waking world.

the most reliable is the nose pinch that i know of, works everytime. just pinch your nose and see if you can breath, if you can your in a dream