Are RC's really needed?

Hey guys, so I was wondering if reality checks are really necessary to lucid dream. Personally I always forget to do them and I just can't make a habit of doing them. In every single lucid dream experience I've ever read something made the dreamer realise that it's a dream, like seeing some friend who actually lives on the other side of the planet or a dream character directly telling them they are in a dream. In all the stories they realise they are dreaming first and they do the RC to make sure it's a dream. They don't become lucid because of a reality check. So that's why I'm asking if RC's are really necessary?

You're kind of right. Just doing the motion of an RC doesn't really get you anywhere. The only real way just plainly doing RCs would get you lucid is if you did then non-stop until they became a habit that carries over in to your dreams - which would require way too much effort than is worth.

But the importance in the RC is not in the action, but rather in the mindset in which you do them. When done correctly, RCs make you become aware of your surroundings, your current feelings, your senses, etc. so that you begin to question if at that moment you're actually in a dream. And that mindset is what transfers over to dreaming life much easier than habitual mindless RCs. Plus, having good awareness vastly improves the quality of your lucid dreams.

Now I'm not entirely dismissing the motion of RCs. It's true that it's more common that you realize you're dreaming before thinking to RC. But I've had dreams that were so vivid and realistic that I questioned how they couldn't be real life. And it's in those situations that doing the motion of an RC can greatly help, as that will confirm any notion you might have of being in a dream.

I'd never really thought about it, but looking back, that aspect of 'doing RC's so much you accidentally carry them over to dreams' was something that I never made use of in my lucid life. In my case, when I get lucid, I often (not to say always, because I'm not completely sure), have the feeling that I'm dreaming first - for any reason what-so-ever - and then, and only then, I make a reality check, because sometimes things just seem a little too real, and a reality check is the thing that really tells me if I'm actually dreaming or not. I think I wrote about this previously on this forum, hold on...

*Checks forum*

Yes, I think this is it, and it matches my current view of things even better than I was expecting (it is kind of an old post):
http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...ml#post2172684
In it, I explain my views on routine reality checks, and how I believe a much better way to go about things is to do routine awareness checks, if you will. It isn't a big post anyway.

I'd like to also add that ultimately - for someone who's very experienced with dreams and dreaming - I speculate you'd need to use reality checks to distinguish between dreams and awake life, or if the dream's 'aura' or 'feel' would be enough for an experienced dreamer to pick up on it; I haven't reached that state, so I can't tell.

Anyway, hope this helped.

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Originally Posted by spellbee2

The only real way just plainly doing RCs would get you lucid is if you did then non-stop until they became a habit that carries over in to your dreams - which would require way too much effort than is worth.

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Even if you achieved this, if you're just doing the RCs “out of habit” without really paying attention and having the proper self-aware mindset, they likely wouldn't be useful at all because you would probably just do the RC in a dream and either have it indicate reality, in which case you still think you're not dreaming and remain nonlucid, or have it indicate dreaming but you come up with some “explanation” that disproves it's really a dream, or you even nonlucidly go through the motions of being lucid without truly being so. Paying attention and having the proper reflective mindset during an RC, whether in waking life or in a dream, is a must.

I agree that RCs are not absolutely required for lucid dreaming. I've had LDs in my childhood long before hearing about them or knowing what they are. However, practicing them (properly) during waking life is useful to help strengthen overall lucidity/self-awareness, and they're also a helpful tool during a dream when you start to suspect you're dreaming and just need a little more confirmation to boost your confidence and solidify your lucidity.

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Originally Posted by RaveCrazedDave

I believe a much better way to go about things is to do routine awareness checks, if you will.

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You are correct, however the RCs are meant to act as a component of awareness checks anyway.

Ultimately, all these things are simply tools. Don't confuse the tool with the goal. A person who has achieved some form of constant high self- and environment-awareness would need no such tools or tricks. I think moving toward that level is the goal, and RCs and other tools are things we take advantage of on our way up, but eventually they could be cast aside.

You don't have to do reality checks during the day, you can just use it in a dream if you like.

Awareness is a very intuitive and simple thing, but not easy to learn when one has been unconscious for one's whole life.

Therefore teaching beginners to practice reality checks during the day is one way to start going in that direction, to think about what it means to be aware. However, starting with general awareness practice like mindfulness and meditation is a more direct way to work towards lucidity and conscious dreams.

But as has been mentioned above, reality checks are a great tool, but it's the awareness behind them that make them useful. For example I just woke up from lots of dreams where I experimented with imagined movement reality checks. First I imagined myself rolling out of my bed, well I actually did roll out of my bed. It was so vivid and real that I hit my head and thought "Well in a real dream I would not hit my head so this can't be a dre..." and I woke up. Then I imagined writing down this dream on a paper but I knew it was a dream, then I woke up again and I thought let's try imagining a really weird thing to see what my mind would do with it. And I imagined toothpicks and a seeing a gasmask. The toothpicks was on a pile on my floor and I was wearing the gasmask...

So are these the best ways to lucidity? No.. lucidity is the best way to lucidity. But you can be highly aware in a dream without actually be lucid, just like in reality.

Reality checks is exactly what the name suggest, a way to check what reality you are in.

A hammer is useless if you aren't aware while using it, because you will miss the point, it's the same with a reality check.

Peace! :meditate: