Very Successful Quick Trick to aid Reality Checks

**RavenOfShadow** · 12-12-2014 12:17 AM

Hey guys; haven't been on the forums in a long time but I have continued lucid dreaming in my absence. A recent trick has been getting me great success, and I figured I'd hop on to share it.

Anyone with a phone, a set of keys, and a wallet or purse will understand this:

Whenever you stand and relocate from one place to another, it becomes second nature to pat yourself down to make sure you have your keys, phone, wallet, epi-pen; whatever you constantly carry on yourself. What I have done is to observe this mindless phenomenon, and to make it mindful. Every time I find myself reaching for my phone or keys to make sure they are still on me, it now triggers a quick reality check:

Is what I'm doing making sense?
Does my location make sense?
Do I have control?
What does being in this moment feel like? (Body aches, breathing, smells, clothes on your back)
Is gravity normal?
etc.

Taking this one step further, I placed a coin in my pocket that is usually empty; my ritual now is phone, keys, wallet, coin - Bam, reality check. Sitting on the coin and remembering its there and why it is there in the first place also triggers a reality check, and mindful awareness.

Now, whenever a dream scene changes or my dream self moves locations in a vivid dream, I will often instinctively check for my belongings and before I know it I am lucid.

If you're looking for a way to remember reality checking that doesn't involve a complicated set of alarms, or expecting yourself to remember to RC every time you see the word "congruent", try this one out.

**InnerVision** · 12-12-2014 07:59 AM

I really like this! I recognize this phenomenon and I really think this will work for me as well. I'll post some results in a while.

**VagalTone** · 12-12-2014 12:04 PM

Hi, can i ask you to clarify the following for me ?

Taking this one step further, I placed a coin in my pocket that is usually empty; my ritual now is phone, keys, wallet, coin - Bam, reality check. Sitting on the coin and remembering its there and why it is there in the first place also triggers a reality check, and mindful awareness.

You feel the coin in your butt lol ?

We really make a lot of mindless RCs during the day, like switching lights and checking time

**PercyLucid** · 12-12-2014 12:28 PM

Add to that list:

Where was I before? And before that? Helps with recall and with having a chance to recall, "before i went to sleep... so I am dreaming!"

**Sensei** · 12-12-2014 08:46 PM

I don't like to use time when RCing, because my mind has a vast knowledge of cake memories and can make it super believable.

I like the idea of having something in your pocket along with Wallet, keys, and phone. I use the doorway as a check for those 3 and reality check, but it is funny because of how background it has become. I will pass through a doorway in waking and be like "where are my keys?!" Or in a dream I will walk through a doorway and be like "... I am dreaming."

**RavenOfShadow** · 12-15-2014 03:04 AM

Great to hear, InnerVision! Let me know how it goes.

Originally Posted by VagalTone

Hi, can i ask you to clarify the following for me ?

You feel the coin in your butt lol ?

We really make a lot of mindless RCs during the day, like switching lights and checking time

Haha yes - It is the same as sitting on a wallet in your back pocket. You feel it, through your pocket, are reminded its there, and that can then serve as the check.

Originally Posted by PercyLucid

Add to that list:

Where was I before? And before that? Helps with recall and with having a chance to recall, "before i went to sleep... so I am dreaming!"

Yes absolutey. That wasn't a complete list by any means, as the tutorial isn't on HOW to RC but rather a trigger for it. Just was giving an example of some of my usual thoughts. Knowing where you were before is a HUGE one, I agree.

**PercyLucid** · 12-15-2014 12:15 PM

The bigger the list, the better. Some RC work best for one person while others do for other, it is about finding that sweet spot. Hand check and gravity check are the bests for me.

**RavenOfShadow** · 12-16-2014 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by PercyLucid

The bigger the list, the better. Some RC work best for one person while others do for other, it is about finding that sweet spot. Hand check and gravity check are the bests for me.

Absolutely, thus why I said "Etc." The tutorial was about triggering the check, not about what to do while checking.