Thread: reality checking infront of people

Ok guys I need some major advice here, obviously i'm going to be around people for most of my life, so how exactly can I reality check infront of their faces(do I do a nose pinch infront of their faces?!?!?! not likely).


So any ideas how can I RC without looking like a madman?

Ok, I have a few...

Say to yourself in your head "If I was dreaming I could/would levitate"
Look at peoples faces, do they look weird?
Look at the time, does it seem correct?
Read something, does it make sense?
Look in a mirror, what do you see?
Look at your hands, how many fingers do you have?

One of the simplest, and probably most natural, forms of Reality Check is to just observe your surroundings and ask yourself things like "Could I be dreaming now?" and "Is there anything unnatural about this place?".

The best RC is nose pinch. It's 100% when you do it right and you don't look as a freak. It looks like you're scratching your nose.

Originally Posted by Nfri

The best RC is nose pinch. It's 100% when you do it right and you don't look as a freak. It looks like you're scratching your nose.

Yeah but that looks wierd kinda cuz you're trying to breath through it which looks and feels wierd (to me at least...)

Originally Posted by Yuusha

One of the simplest, and probably most natural, forms of Reality Check is to just observe your surroundings and ask yourself things like "Could I be dreaming now?" and "Is there anything unnatural about this place?".

Originally Posted by ParadoxOwl

Ok, I have a few...

Say to yourself in your head "If I was dreaming I could/would levitate"
Look at peoples faces, do they look weird?
Look at the time, does it seem correct?
Read something, does it make sense?
Look in a mirror, what do you see?
Look at your hands, how many fingers do you have?

Yeah I do ask myself these questions, but I don't really have anything to confirm them with if i'm actually lucid...

I tap my index finger on a surface and see if it feels exactly like it should. In a dream a hard surface will often have some give and feel spongy. Also the tap should make an appropriate noise at the exact same time.

I lightly click my teeth together and see if it felt correct and produced the expected sound heard through the jaw bone (dreams never get that odd internal noise effect correct). Then I run my tongue over my teeth very slowly. the tongue can feel the tiniest detail in waking life, but in a dream the sensation will be vague and kind of numb.

I look at the skin on my hands and check for fine detail such as fine wrinkles, blood veins, and tiny hairs. In a dream hands are normally fairly smooth and have little fine detail.

Create your own checks using these ideas as examples.

I just kinda figured that the social awkwardness of reality check ends up being worth it

Originally Posted by ThAtaInTmE

I just kinda figured that the social awkwardness of reality check ends up being worth it

nah man, you dont want people thinking your weird

Originally Posted by Barry

nah man, you dont want people thinking your weird

If you are a lucid dreamer and try to convince other people that lucid dreaming is real then you are used to feeling weird.

Casually push the index finger of your right hand into the palm of your left. No one will notice. If it pushes through or feels spongy, you're dreaming. Usually just looking at your hand is enough to know for sure.

DH

I use a variation of the nose plug RC that I've heard some people refer to as an epiglottis block.
I keep my mouth closed and block my nose from the inside, without using my hands. I guess it's like how you can kind of close your nostrils off if you don't want to smell something unpleasant. Keeping them blocked, I then do the same action I would if I was breathing in - my chest will expand a bit and there'll be pressure in my throat, but no air will pass through.
For me, this works the same in dreams as a nose plug RC, because I'm able to breathe straight through even when it feels like my mouth and nasal passages are closed.
I am yet to be detected using this RC. It changes my breathing pattern for a second, and gives me a very slight feeling of being out of breath, but it's not noticeable from the outside.

There's a thread with another hands-free RC idea here:
http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...d-testers.html
I imagine you could do this without visibly puffing out your cheeks, if you just tried breathing out through your closed lips.

Good luck, I'd be interested to hear what works for you!

I just do a very subtle hand-through-palm or breathe-through-nose check. Just wiggle your finger/fingers when you're doing them to make it look like you're scratching an itch; people will think nothing of it.

Originally Posted by Liolar

I just do a very subtle hand-through-palm or breathe-through-nose check. Just wiggle your finger/fingers when you're doing them to make it look like you're scratching an itch; people will think nothing of it.

Yeah I do the nose breathe thing. Nobody catches on. But from what I know most people don't even know what LDing is let alone a reality check so they'd probably assume your just plugging your nose cuz you smell something

I'm the oddball out in that your common reality checks have never worked for me.

I'm right with the crowd, though, when I say that you'll have better luck if you come up with your own reality checks--ones that aren't so attention-drawing.

Just for example, I always say to myself, "When you turn around, you will see a ____." (More often than not, it's one of those green Mario pipes--you know what I'm talking about? And I just jump through them. Either I let the dream take me to wherever or I visualize where I want to go and land there.) I picture the "whatever," quickly turn around, and if it's there then I'm dreaming and not, then I'm not.

It's easy to cover this up in front of people, too. "What? Oh, no. I just thought I heard something."

Originally Posted by CNGB

I'm the oddball out in that your common reality checks have never worked for me.

I'm right with the crowd, though, when I say that you'll have better luck if you come up with your own reality checks--ones that aren't so attention-drawing.

Just for example, I always say to myself, "When you turn around, you will see a ____." (More often than not, it's one of those green Mario pipes--you know what I'm talking about? And I just jump through them. Either I let the dream take me to wherever or I visualize where I want to go and land there.) I picture the "whatever," quickly turn around, and if it's there then I'm dreaming and not, then I'm not.

It's easy to cover this up in front of people, too. "What? Oh, no. I just thought I heard something."

Nice, I may borrow that.

I have had reality checks fail, therefore I do three reality checks each time. I first count my fingers, then I try to push my right index finger through my left palm, then I pinch my nose and try to breath through it. If anyone saw me do any one of these things alone it would be easy to brush it off. Either I'm doing simple math. Or I have an itch on my palm. If anyone saw me do the nose plug they would think nothing of it. It's not like I'm visibly huffing or something. I just look like I'm scratching or pulling a hair off or whatever. It's actually really common for people to fidget with their noses. Seriously, just people watch for a while and you'll see it. Equally, people spend more time than they realize looking at their hands. You can do any of these things quickly and deftly enough to not be noticed. If anyone saw me doing all three or caught one multiple times, I would just look like I have OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. This is a fairly well known disorder so people won't question or ask much. Really, if you think about it, RCs are a form of OCD. And as long as that is your only tick people won't care or judge you much for it. Why worry anyway? Who cares what other people think? If they are that judgmental and so close minded that they won't let you explain, who needs 'em?

For some reason I never commit to the attention-drawing reality checks when I'm around people or dream characters. Like you said, I'm too focused on not looking like a mad man, haha.

The reality check I usually do when I'm around people is the "look at at the time twice" one. Looking the time is a very natural thing that everybody does. And the best thing is that it's really easy to find a random clock in dreams. I do either that or the "mental" reality checks.

Just look at something and try to change it with your mind?.. I thought it was pretty obvious. Look at a glass of water and try to make the water turn red/blue for example. Or imagine and will the glass to shatter in front of your eyes. In waking life, of course, nothing would happen, whereas in dreams, this would have at least a small effect upon the objects, letting you know you're dreaming.

Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

Just look at something and try to change it with your mind?.. I thought it was pretty obvious. Look at a glass of water and try to make the water turn red/blue for example. Or imagine and will the glass to shatter in front of your eyes. In waking life, of course, nothing would happen, whereas in dreams, this would have at least a small effect upon the objects, letting you know you're dreaming.

Mimihigurashi is definitely right on this one; trying to change things with your mental powers is another good reality check. You could turn someone's hair blue, or force a tree to turn into a giant slide . . . if you're having trouble doing this (which isn't uncommon--it can be hard to change things drastically when looking at them) then just turn your head away or close your eyes, imagine the "new" thing, expect it, and look again.

so how exactly can I reality check infront of their faces(do I do a nose pinch infront of their faces?!?!?! not likely).

No the nose pinch is really not the way to go, you just look weird by doing that in an ordinary conversation with someone. What you need to do is this.

Step 1: You find youself in a boring ordinary conversation.. How do you get out of this mess now?

Step 2: Ah, maybe this is a dream?!

Step 3: Scream out of the top of your lungs, LUCIDITY NOW!! I GOT THE POWER!!!

Step 4: Now enjoy your lucid dream! Or if it backfires, then try to get away from the staring eyes as smooth as possible.

Originally Posted by DreamyBear

No the nose pinch is really not the way to go, you just look weird by doing that in an ordinary conversation with someone. What you need to do is this.

Step 1: You find youself in a boring ordinary conversation.. How do you get out of this mess now?

Step 2: Ah, maybe this is a dream?!

Step 3: Scream out of the top of your lungs, LUCIDITY NOW!! I GOT THE POWER!!!

Step 4: Now enjoy your lucid dream! Or if it backfires, then try to get away from the staring eyes as smooth as possible.

Haha, you would probably leave the place in a straightjacket x]

I've had people stare at me while doing the nose pinch. They sometimes offer an explanation as to what I am doing:

"Oh, did you need to sneeze?" I usually just smile. I don't worry too much about people thinking I am weird.

So like Nfri, the nose pinch gets my vote, weird-looking or no.

But I am board with Dreamer's epiglottis RC, and also sivason's jaw click (though that seems to require a little higher awareness than I am at least able to conjure regularly in an LD). Also, I have had many LDs that would have utterly failed without a reality check to go with the "critical reflection" Yuusha mentioned. Something else I have done before: if I stare at my hand long enough and intently enough, it begins to distort (fingers twisting in on themselves and what not). I think this has to do with stuff in a dream being very fluid anyway so bound to change as you're paying strict attention to it. Also, Don Juan said it would work in The Art of Dreaming

Ok, so I've been giving this a lot of thought. I still don't give one flying flip if people think I'm weird or not since I see this whole "I have to be normal and accepted" thing as a huge charade that all people play that keeps everybody second-guessing and hating themselves and leads to a sheep mentality forming an unoriginal, uninteresting, unthinking, easily manipulated, and judgmental populous. That being said, I understand the draw of the masses so I will give you what you want: an undetectable reality check.
Pull your finger.
Sounds like the opening to a bad fart joke, but it is truly a great yet subtle RC. If your finger stretches like a rubber band or chewed up gum then you are dreaming. If it stays the same then you are awake. And you just look like you are fidgeting or popping your knuckles. Tada!
Warning: Never pull or yank vigorously. This can ruin your joints. Simply tug lightly with the intention of causing your finger to stretch.

Originally Posted by EamonWill

Ok, so I've been giving this a lot of thought. I still don't give one flying flip if people think I'm weird or not since I see this whole "I have to be normal and accepted" thing as a huge charade that all people play that keeps everybody second-guessing and hating themselves and leads to a sheep mentality forming an unoriginal, uninteresting, unthinking, easily manipulated, and judgmental populous. That being said, I understand the draw of the masses so I will give you what you want: an undetectable reality check.
Pull your finger.
Sounds like the opening to a bad fart joke, but it is truly a great yet subtle RC. If your finger stretches like a rubber band or chewed up gum then you are dreaming. If it stays the same then you are awake. And you just look like you are fidgeting or popping your knuckles. Tada!
Warning: Never pull or yank vigorously. This can ruin your joints. Simply tug lightly with the intention of causing your finger to stretch.

Oh wow, that's awesome reality check you've got there...
I'il probably start using it for practices

'Pulling your finger' combined with expectation, intention and belief that it will strech or that you will be able to strech it gives powerful combination.
- Thanks

Haha, you would probably leave the place in a straightjacket x]

Yeah sure, but what if it is in a straightjacket in a dream?