FUN RC's - Making Reality Checks a Fun Activity

I am always looking for ways to keep my reality checks fun and fresh which make them easier to keep doing. My latest RC twist which I posted on another thread:

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There is also a good series called Travelers on netflix which seems like it should be available for a while. What I find dreamlike about it is that when they travel they look around in a bit of wonder at their new environment and new body. I found it an interesting way to do a reality check - it heightens the reality check and brings you into the present moment. I basically imagine I just travelled into my body (while awake, but just like finding yourself in your dream body) and I find myself more present and self-aware in doing this. Watching the series so far I have found that it creates a lot of opportunities for awareness practice in the normally fairly vegetative activity of watching tv. So I enjoy the show and get lucid dreaming practices in at the same time.

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As most of us have learned, a mindless RC is worthless. It is important to really slow down and become aware during your reality checks.

Another fun RC variation of the above that I alternate back to a lot is to imagine that I am dreaming right then and there and look around in wonder. I do my RC, feel my presence in my environment and think about all the fun or interesting things I could do if I were dreaming right this moment. Sometimes I add thinking about what specifically I want to do next (useful for when you plan to do certain tasks when lucid).

I may expand on this later if there is enough interest. Feel free to share your ways of making RCs fun! :)

Here are a couple of other things to add (to any fun components of your RCs as in the examples above). The following components may not add to the fun factor, but they add to the impact of the RC.

1. If you've ever had a DILD where you were dumbfounded (or at least close to dumbfounded) to realize that everything you experienced before you became lucid was all a dream, then I recommend to recall that dream vividly when you do at least some of your RCs. It may be that it seemed so mundane and/or life-like before you realized you were dreaming that you were very surprised to realize that you were dreaming. A vivid memory of such a dream can really cause you to realize that any moment could be a dream. Such dreams can help you to not assume that you are awake when doing RCs. Such assumptions result in a half-hearted RCs.
2. Have you ever stopped and thought about a moment from earlier in the day and how it is not super vivid? These moments are often very dreamlike when looking back on them. When you really settle into that realization - that every moment passes - very much like dreams - it makes it easier to question your surroundings when doing an RC. This mindset/practice is part of dream yoga. An example of how I do it sometimes: "What was I doing moments earlier? That memory does seem a little dreamlike...I should do an RC!"

Below are several more ideas I have collected over the years. Hopefully anyone reading this thread can find several that fit them. At the very least, it will serve as a repository for me.

This truly questioning state of mind I keep coming back to is nothing new of course, but these examples are here to help keep up that state of mind throughout the day and throughout the days of our practices. This is aided by combining the standard easy-to-do RCs with the right state of mind and getting to that state of mind in many new, fresh ways to keep it interesting and thus sustainable. RCs done in this way are like going from a lawn mower engine to a jet engine, supercharging your awareness (when done right and sustained). Signs that you are doing it right include aha moments, naturally sustained awareness, and truly WTF moments!

I personally like to find ways to balance self-awareness/mindfulness (to aid in having lucid dreams) with environmental awareness (for increasing vividness of regular dreams). I also subscribe to Sageous' RRC method of looking at the interaction between self and surroundings (link below).

• childlike openness: try not to explain away everything too quickly (in waking life or in dreams!) - RC instead with a "you never know attitude." The door blew open - probably because of the open window/very windy - not so fast - probably not a ghost - but what if I could be dreaming right now! Try not to always have the quick answers. Don't we almost always ignore all kinds of oddities in our dreams and during the day! Kids would go ooooh when they see the door open by itself - we need a little more of that in our RCs. When I brush my back teeth with my electric toothbrush my digital clock's digits warble in a very dreamlike way (from the vibration of the toothbrush - but I now take that opportunity to RC and to reconsider that any moment could be a dream). This idea is at least partially influenced by the open beta thread that the link in the next bullet is a part of.
• shake-wake: doing a double take (shaking head quickly side to side several times like you just became aware of where the heck you are. Alternatively use that feeling that you just became lucid). Adapted from exercise 3a here: https://www.dreamviews.com/attaining...d-day-3-a.html
• looking for the dream: stopping what you are doing and looking for the dream in your surroundings. Got this idea from DV friend CanisLucidus: https://www.dreamviews.com/members/canislucidus/
• RRC: Sageous' reverse reality check - he describes some ways to do it in the following link (minus the RRC label) - http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...ml#post2193957. It also involves remembering what you were doing or thinking "just before this," perhaps 5 or 10 minutes before.
• taking a step back: Like it says, just taking a step back. It can be figuratively or literally, and then assessing if you could be dreaming.
• release method: I have this quick release technique adapted from a Chris von der Mehden tutorial video which is no longer available. It is harder to describe and to get right, but the pay off is huge! You can try imagining a red square and then let go of the image of that red square and take a moment to notice what that feels like to let go of the image. Repeat until you are familiar with the sensation of letting go. Now that I am very familiar with that feeling, I like to activate that feeling as I let go of my breath after a nice deep breath in. In fact, that may be an easier way for some people to become familiar with the feeling of letting go - by just taking a deep breath and then letting go of the breath. Feel that relaxation and see the world around you come into full view. It is great for becoming instantly aware and "in the moment."
• radar: Goes well after the release method above. Do the release and then move your focus around. In other words, release and then expand your awareness like a rotating and oscillating radar station that is bouncing radio waves off of everything around it, and simulating those waves returning back to you (brings you back to a focus on self-awareness). This is an idea influenced by the RRC.

Great tips fogelbise, and important to reflect! I agree the state of mind is likely the key to effective RCing

I have always found useful imagining i was dreaming when RCing, but found it somewhat tiring to do everytime i RC.
LDing takes effort i know..

I also enjoy the idea of not accepting the first automatic explanation for the things that surprise us...Indeed if i could i would RC everytime something strange happens.
Or even more difficult, i would practice looking for ramdom strange things in my environment instead of waiting for my attention to notice it ( well, this is really what a RC is, but we usually look for the same thing, that is, we usually do the same RC, and probably it is refreshing to look for new things )

Thanks fogelbise! Good ideas and some things I never knew before :)

This idea may be a little controversial, but it seems to be rather effective when I try it. If you are anyone that already has real challenges with discerning what reality you are in, then this is not something for you without a doctor's supervision.

It pairs with certain RC's and goes well with these two ideas from above:

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1. If you've ever had a DILD where you were dumbfounded (or at least close to dumbfounded) to realize that everything you experienced before you became lucid was all a dream, then I recommend to recall that dream vividly when you do at least some of your RCs. It may be that it seemed so mundane and/or life-like before you realized you were dreaming that you were very surprised to realize that you were dreaming. A vivid memory of such a dream can really cause you to realize that any moment could be a dream. Such dreams can help you to not assume that you are awake when doing RCs. Such assumptions result in a half-hearted RCs.
2. Have you ever stopped and thought about a moment from earlier in the day and how it is not super vivid? These moments are often very dreamlike when looking back on them. When you really settle into that realization - that every moment passes - very much like dreams - it makes it easier to question your surroundings when doing an RC. This mindset/practice is part of dream yoga. An example of how I do it sometimes: "What was I doing moments earlier? That memory does seem a little dreamlike...I should do an RC!"

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Spoiler for the controversial idea:

The idea is to get to a slight level of unease, or of being uncomfortable or slightly worried along the lines of "am I really sure I am not dreaming right now - let me do several RC's!"

You can follow it with "The next time I am dreaming I will RC (do an RC or two as you get to this part of saying this to yourself) and realize I am dreaming."

I used singing as a reality check before. I can carry a tune well enough but my singing voice is not star quality. I noticed in dreams that my singing voice, probably 60% of the time, is epic. Whenever I sang and sounded amazing I'd think, "Got to be a dream," and it was. Of course, the other 40% of the time my dream singing voice is the same as my wake voice (or worse) so these did not help me to get lucid. If you sing often throughout the day and your voice is less than epic, this could be a little trick to add to the ld kit.

^ @Methos - definitely a fun RC, thank you. I have found myself singing naturally in LDs just from the joy of the experience but I do think I should make an effort to sing as much as possible. My voice is definitely better in dreams as well, but that isn't saying much for me.

I am having good results with my last post, the controversial one. Almost all of my LDs in the past have been after WBTBs, but I have noticed an uptick in spontaneous (DILDs) that seems to correlate with this practice. I don't use the idea in every RC that I do because I think it would become too rote.