The proper way to do reality checks

Hi people,

While reading about reality checking in books and people's posts on this forum, I see that lots of people talk about things like setting alarm clocks to beep every hour, or write some sign on their hands for example, so that they remember to do reality checks.

Probably I'm wrong, but at first sight it doesn't seem very logical to me, since it could cause you to not do the reality checks in the dream unless your dream clock beeped or the same sign was written in your dream's hands.

Maybe it works because after some time using those reminding techniques people get in the habit of doing them without the reminders?

Right now I'm doing reality checks (trying to stick a right hand finger through my left hand and also closing my eyes and trying to float/fly) whenever I remember to, because it seems more logical.

What I would like to ask is - do you people who use such external reminding techniques have success because of it? And how does it feel, does your clock beep (or do your hands show signs) in your dreams and then you do the check?

Its true what you say, if it doesnt beep I dont remember.

Someone said before you had to do a reality check like every 40 minutes while your awake to remeber to do it every time you dream. I don't think anyone does it that often but my point is you need all the help you can get in remebering to check. I didn't use anything before and I would only remeber for like 3 or 4 hours at night and forget to check any other time during the day.

It did work then but not really often so I stopped untill I can think of a better way to do it.

It is important to find the way that works for you, and even develope your own techniques through other peoples! :cheers:

I dunno, I always just... remember to do it, I made it a habit.

I also use the hand method because its right there, and I dont wear a watch.. So thatd kinda suck for the clock one for me...

somebody should close themselves up for a week and think and talk about NOTHING but lucid dreaming and philosophy (to pass the itme).

I bet that might conjure up some results. It might simply come down to dedication.

this has been a very interesting post to me. I will start trying the hand one, but I aint setting any clocks - I would have to explain myself all the time, and most people think the whole lucid dreaming thing is crazy. If I try and talk to anyone about it, they just look at me like I'm insane, and my husband has asked me not to talk about it in public. I was rather chuffed the other day - his friend and colleague who is much older, and who he respects so much as he is something of a philosopher, started talking about directed dreaming - he said something like "oh yes, directed dreaming is so much fun". Hehe!! I presume that just means LDing!!

when i do reality checks, i usually question the waking reality i am in right now. i do this by restating the definition of lucid dreaming in my mind, and remember that this reality check is for my subconcoius. it has to be for my subconcoius(or unconcousness) because then when you are dreaming your mind will be trained to question the reality you are in, leading you to realize you are in a dream.

of course, this is slightly complicated so i do it at least 3 times a day, whenever i think about dreaming or this reality. i could do it more, but homework and stuff are messing with my mind. anyway thats my method, and its worked once right before bed one time, so im not using my method enough. but it doesnt matter on weekdays anyway for me. anyway thats my method.

Has anybody here realized their dream state after having a reality check that didn't "check in?" If so, what was it like after that?

AirRick101, i think i kno what u mean. ive experienced it alot.

i just fall right back into my dream.

Tonight Ive done a reality check, which worked like normal.

I had a false awakening and, had an argument with my grandparents, cause they "woke me up".

I'm so angry at them, that I scream on top of my lungs "THIS IS ALL A DREAM" and grab a paper to prove it.
I cant see many words clearly, but I see 5 hyerogliphic letters. They look very cool. I say to myself - "WTF???? they cant even put normal words in newspaper anymore, why should I check reality on this *LOGO* ? " ← Reality check worked, but I failed to interpret it...

I need to start remembering to do reality tests... i get so caught up in school that i'm only RTing 4-5 times a day :doh:

I think one thing to keep in mind is to (keep it real). What I mean by that is that no matter what method you use, you have to not fall into the habit of falling through the motions without really questioning whether your really in a dream state or reality.

what about the nose check does that really work, i havent had a lucid dream yet so i have no way of knowing if it does work, ps nose chek is where u close your nose and try and breath through it, if you do then your dreamin

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Originally posted by Howetzer
I think one thing to keep in mind is to (keep it real). What I mean by that is that no matter what method you use, you *have to not fall into the habit of falling through the motions without really questioning whether your really in a dream state or reality.

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He's right, the main way you would fail to interpret a reality check is if you do what he said not to do above...

Also, if hear a beep every hour and do a reality check, then you would probably expect to hear a beep every hour, therefore, you would hear a beep in your dreams and do a reality check and become lucid.

You all should try this technique that I was just told about, whenever you remember, tell yourself that you're dreaming, then do 5 reality checks to prove it, this way you can be sure of becoming lucid in your dreams, I wonder if it works.

I do a reality check on average once every hour, but that's never how I catch myself in a dream...it's feeling pretty pointless at this point.

how do you catch yourself in a dream? dreamsigns?

the hand method works, someone on this forum suggested writing AWAKE on your hand, i did that for about 3 weeks but stopped, but a week after i stopped i had a dream, i went into a stall to piss and looked down and was like "wtf is do i have on my hand?", at first it looked like scribble, but when i focused it said awake and i instantly became lucid

I've been trying various techniques, including writing 'you are dreaming' & 'are you dreaming?' on bits of paper left around the house. I do this with my partner and we hide them in strange places for the other to discover, as suggested in another thread. Its amusing, but since starting this I havent actually seen a similar note in a dream. If I did I'm sure it would work as my reality checking is normally quite good (I try to fly!). Haven't tried the watch/ alarm - I can see the problems there. There are two things this method may do - 1. seed the dream so that a dream watch beeps, and then you do an RC; 2. encourage you to remember to do RCs with or without a watch. Even RCs may not work - I frequently fly without being fully lucid, and I tried the hands method the other day (but I was already lucid enough to remember to try it!) It didnt work though - I saw my hands as old and gnarled, Nosferatu-like, and they were writhing like snakes - I concluded that I must be looking at someone elses hands, (Nosferatu's) and lost lucidity!!!!!

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I think one thing to keep in mind is to (keep it real). What I mean by that is that no matter what method you use, you have to not fall into the habit of falling through the motions without really questioning whether your really in a dream state or reality.[/b]

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That's it - the key is developing a continual present-centred acute awareness of 'reality' - waking or dreaming. My most common dream sign is simply dreaming. The Tibetan dream yogins suggest that all is a dream!!!

:cheers: Cheers to keeping it real. My waking RCs aren't even about "am I dreaming?" I just stop thinking and look out on the world for what it is. When I get in the habit of doing this, I'll do it in my dreams, and when I do, I see that I'm dreaming.

I take a different view... I do no RT, i usually use no dreamsigns.

Unless it is a nightmare, i LD because i can feel i am in a different state of mind. I notice when i am drifting, and i can focus that and "fall" into a dream. 90% of the dreams i have are lucid, because i can pick that up.. the dreams that are non-lucid are ones that follow an extremly realistic plot, and even then i usually notice at a low-level that it is a dream.

Blinking has become an RT for me, because sometimes i'll overreact and think i am in a dream when i am not and i can change things by blinking

A important factor of an RC ive found out to be to get really into the "feeling" of not knowing if im dreaming even while im wide awake. Its like i if i do it properly i get into this overwhelming confusing state of awareness, where i almost believe that my body is lying sleeping in bed at home. Those are more effectfull cause they take more energy, more room in the reflectioned self of the dream the next night. So if im going to do an RC i have to go all the way;) and just not ask myself "Is this a dream" *lookie lookie* "whatever" "Hey there... bla bla bla" *forgetting*

Personally I've been so fascinated by and obsessed with LD'ing really that I seem to do RC's almost all the time... or, well, not ALL the time, but most of the time, whenever I start something new, like, I could do an RC when I start to make dinner, when I sit in front if the tv, when i listen to a song, etc... And it kinda becomes a habit after a while I hope...

This might be a "newbie" thing to say, but is it possible to LD without doing reality checks? For example, if you have a dream with purple trees in it, couldn't you just subconsciously say "something isn't right here, I must be dreaming".

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Originally posted by UseYourIllusion
This might be a \"newbie\" thing to say, but is it possible to LD without doing reality checks? For example, if you have a dream with purple trees in it, couldn't you just subconsciously say \"something isn't right here, I must be dreaming\".

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Yes! I for one haven't had ONE lucid dream that was caused by a reality check.

Yeah, I just want a quick and easy way to set your mind to recognise strange things like that. I mean, I see some of the stupidest things in dreams, but never second guess them... I just carry on what I'm doing. It's more frustrating then trying to wear a pair of pants with one leg...

My dream me is so stupid... :roll:

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For example, if you have a dream with purple trees in it, couldn't you just subconsciously say \"something isn't right here, I must be dreaming\".[/b]

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This is not a stupid question - but it is a kind of reality check!

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Yes! I for one haven't had ONE lucid dream that was caused by a reality check.[/b]

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Same here... I think its always just the general unreality of the dream that makes me lucid, but I don't understand why I dont always spot it. How can you do a conscious RC without first being lucid?! In a dream where I ask - 'somethings weird maybe I'm dreaming?' - at that moment I already am lucid - an RC, like attempting to fly, just confirms it. The only way I can think to increase the likelyhood of spontaneously asking the question in the first place is to practice present-centred awareness during the day (as I mentioned above). As it is most of the time I know I am dreaming at a deep level but still dont go lucid - I'm so at home in the unreality that I don't think of taking control.
*note to self*: sounds like a lesson for waking life...

A RC is just to check the reality of the reality your in. A test. After it you either realize something is wrong and your dreaming, or you realize you just have to go on with your waking life.
RC in dreams comes fra the habit in waking life, and fuction as a wake up call when your not aware enough "Well, have to do an RC then... ... oh my god im dreaming!??". After a succesfull RC there comes a moment of clearity where you realize your dreaming, and this i think is the point that many experience first without a RC, first, something just isnt logicaly right. So this has to do with awareness, where the brain twist itself to recognize the dream, a kind of automatic subconsciouss RC. A very reliable lucid enhancer ;)

One of the most important factors of doing reality checks, that often gets overlooked, is that whilst doing it one you have to mentally try to create the feeling that what you are experiencing right now actually is a dream. I always find this method very effective. :)

I do a reality check as often as I think of it. My method is to first look around me very carefully and look for anything strange. Then I think of the things I did before this particlular RC. The point is you always have a memory of your past actions in real life, whereas in you dreams you often can't remember "how the hell did I get here?". I don't think an alarm clock is a very good way to do a RC. I'm sure there are no alarm clocks set in your dream (unless you subconsciously make it so - definitely a debatable thing). This method certainly helped me achieve quite a lot of LD. What is very interesting in my dreams is that I don't actually need to perform a RC in my dreams... The moment I remember I have to do a RC in my dreams, I also realize that this is dream. It happens sort of simultaneously.
To sum it all up - I believe you should train yourself to do a RC as often as you can think of it. Cca. 10 times a day should be enough...

ALES

Ill try that technique because I just use my watch the nose technique and the hand counting. Ill try your technique.

Well, usually asking for something, & then having it appear is an obvious sign, but in a false awakening, I usually look in my bed. If there is a 2nd me unconscious, then I know that it is a dream, but I usually use body b4 mind technique :D .

well i have had one lucid dream and it became lucid when i was sitting in a transport, holding a piece of paper, something made me think "wait this is stupid," and i relized i was dreaming.

so i think i did a minor reality check and thought the whole situation i was in was stupid and lucidity ensued, stupid meaning unreal.