Performing reality checks in dreams, but no success after that...

Hey guys,

In the last month or so I've decided to get back into lucid dreaming. I have been keeping a dream journal, looking for dream signs and performing reality checks. In the past 30 days I have had the following dream experiences (simplified here);

1. I dreamed that I was swimming on my local beach, and then through the park which was for some reason underwater. Suddenly I was walking up a street near my house, and realised that I actually could not swim that well...I looked at my left hand (the RC I do mostly in real life) and my fingers were all warped and weird. I did the 'spinning around' thing, and ended up in one of the houses on the street. I tried to summon somebody who I had planned on trying to talk to when I had a LD, but it didn't work. There was no clarity at all, I eventually just woke up.

2. Three nights ago I dreamed that I was in the kitchen and saw a rat run under the computer desk. I got down and picked up the rat...it was one of my own pet rats, Piggy! I then realised that she realistically wouldn't be running loose in that room. I did the same RC, and while my fingers were normal at first they eventually began to look unnatural. I did the spin around thing and declared 'clarity now' as some people recommended. I still didn't get any clarity and could not go on any lucid adventures. I decided that in my next LD I would merely observe rather than attempt to take control.

3. Last night I dreamed I was in my car. The dashboard looked like it had some kind of problem with it. I asked my Mum's parter (who was suddenly there) about what was going on. When I looked back, the dashboard was back to normal. I did the same RC again and my ring finger was tiny. As per what I had planned, I just decided to observe. My Mum (who had also suddenly appeared) got out of the car, but after that it all went black.


Any ideas what is going wrong for me? Am I merely dreaming that I am having a LD? I'm taking confidence out of the fact that I am performing a RC when something doesn't feel right and doing things that I had planned from being awake (ie. the spinning thing, deciding to just observe etc) but I'm yet to really experience any awesome adventures, attempting to fly etc. Are these experiences normal?

Thanks heaps for any help :)

Hi Lucidyug :)

Your experiences are not altogether unusual, and it's really impressive how well you identify the dream state!

1. I have found that spinning to change scenes may get you somewhere else but it has a strong destabilizing effect on the whole dream. Maybe try out different scene changing techniques (opening doors with intent, opening portals, traveling there on foot) or at least commit to stabilizing immediately after spinning.

2. Keep working on Clarity and stability techniques. Instead of calling for clarity immediately call for clarity to improve in bits, perhaps counting down. "Clarity 10! Clarity 9! Clarity 8!..." For a while I liked to sit down the moment I was lucid, and look with awareness at everything around me and touch the material of the ground (be it tile, or grass, or bubbles) while thinking of every thing that happened up to that point. My goal was to identify everything that had been unrealistic which should have tipped me off to the dream state. This really solidifies lucidity, clarity, and stability, and conditions my subconscious to be more aware in the future.

3. Keeping a balance in your attention is a key to stability. If you focus solely internally or externally the dream falters more easily. This may have been what happened here, Hand rubbing is a good dream-saving technique I have a friend that takes this to the next level and does a full body pat to save a dream (it makes you bring your whole body back into the dream instead of just your hands), or the "meditation" I described above might be right for you too.

Maybe some of this will help, but I have a feeling you will get it down one way or another :) keep up your RC's cus your great at them. Let me know if you get one of those great adventure dreams ^ _ ^

Welcome back, Lucidyug!

Indeed, great job realizing something strange in your dream. Your daytime RCs are certainly paying off, since they are happening in your dreams. But you don't mention, if you actualy realize you are dreaming? You just say you look at your hand and then you go off to do things.

Maybe you just not mentioning it, but do you feel any excitement when you realize you are dreaming? Do you actually think something like "yeeey, I'm dreaming"?

If not, than you are most likely not getting lucid. This happens often, when you do RCs and they start to show up in your dreams, but the awareness is not all there yet. For the awareness to happen, you should practice that during day.

Before you RC, you look around yourself, ask yourself how you got there, what you doing, examine your surrounding if they look the way they should. You believe, that you could be in a dream. Then you RC and you believe, that it will work, because you are in a dream. Then you make affirmation, that next time you are in a dream, you will realize that.

Here is some more about that
Induction Methods and Techniques - please check out the DILD and RCs tutorials here and ask your questions. We will be happy to help. :alien:

Thanks so much to both of you for your help!

To answer the question, I do get a bit excited but not manically over-the-moon. I'm not sure if this is because I am not actually lucid or just that I have a tendency to keep calm. I've had lucid dreams in the past (before I knew what they were) in which I was 100% aware that it was a dream and this doesn't seem entirely like that experience.

I had another LD experience last night, my third in the past week. To summaries, I was at McDonalds looking out the window down on some buildings. I noticed they were kinda 2D and flat, like post cards. I did the finger LD, and noticed that my ring finger was tiny. I began rubbing my hands together (per RebelSeven's advice :)) and left the store. Once outside I did another RC (my fingers were still messed up) and actually asked myself where I had been before I was at McDonalds. I can't really remember my own answer though.

I attempted to fly, and managed to soar up about 50m in the air which was pretty cool. I got up to the height of this big lamp-post, after which I couldn't really get any higher. I attempted a headfirst dive towards the ground, but at the bottom of the dive when I tried to head back up again I couldn't and woke up.

I'm not sure whether I was technically lucid or just dreaming about having a lucid dream. But last night the thing lasted much longer than the previous 3 encounters (perhaps due to the hand rubbing thing) so I feel I must be on the right track!

Sorry to bump this thread but I had ANOTHER possible LD last night. I was looking into the mirror in my lounge room and the reflection kept changing between that of a young girl and that of myself but with really different hair. I knew it didn't seem right...as per the advice from gab I thought to myself "this does not seem right, I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming", so I did a RC and sure enough I was! I stood up and walked into my room with intent, hoping to find a dream character in there who I would like to talk to. Unfortunately he wasn't there, and after that the dream kinda faded out.

The problem is that I am not certain whether these are legit lucid dreams or just dreams about lucid dreams. Is there a surefire way of determining during these experience whether they are truly LDs or not?

Thanks!

If you KNOW you are dreaming, than you are lucid. That part is pretty straight cut :)

I think it would help you immensely if you took the time in the moment you became lucid to come to a full and complete stop and appreciate the nature of your surroundings. Touch something near you, and wonder at that fact that it's only existence is in your mind.

In my experience this will greatly lengthen the lucid.

And you are doing a fantastic job at getting lucid :) it seems to come pretty naturally to you