Is it possible for reality checks to be wrong?

well I was wondering how reliable reality checks can be? The story is last...well- this morning I should say, I tried wilding and had vibrations for the second time, I remember the vibrations being pretty intense and going on for a while, to a point where I was starting to ache in my side from it, so I remember thinking I should try moving...so I did. I kind of rolled backward and tried poking my hand to see if my finger goes through and poking a wall to see if my finger goes through that. The wall felt solid, and my hand felt numb as it it were asleep, so at first it seemed like my finger was going through (and I had a moment of excitement) but then I felt this numbing poke, and I was afraid to try harder in case I poked myself bleeding. So I assumed that it didn't work and rolled back to sleep. Sometime later I wake up again, and after thinking about it, I'm not so sure whether or not that was in fact a false awakening, because the second time I woke up I felt completely awake, where the first time felt hazy, and hard to remember when I look back on it.

so my two questions:

how reliable are reality checks? (how reliable were the ones that I tried?:?)

&

how do you usually feel during false awakenings? (because I felt so blurry headed and tired, that I just assumed I was awake. Are lucid dreams always, always clear?)

if you're dreaming, you'll KNOW you're dreaming

In a word, yes. I've had them fail a number of times.

If I'm not careful about really thinking about things when I do a reality check, it gets to be just another habit that I'm not paying much attention to. That's when they fail.

**EDIT**

Oh - and as far as false awakenings, I've felt everything from vividly awake to seriously impaired. It varies wildly.

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Originally Posted by shotbirds

if you're dreaming, you'll KNOW you're dreaming

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huh

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sometimes RCs fail but you might as well try- it's more effective than never RCing. RC isn't just an action- they work by prompting you to question ur environment.

I supose then that I didn't actually have a false awakening?

because I was wondering (for the hand poking reality check) whether or not your finger always goes through your hand?, and if in dreams walls are never solid? because if the answer is yes to both then I didn't have a false awakening...

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Originally Posted by pj

**EDIT**

Oh - and as far as false awakenings, I've felt everything from vividly awake to seriously impaired. It varies wildly.

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AH okay! see that was what I was wondering, because i was feeling seriously impaired, which made me think that I could not be lucid dreaming, otherwise I would have proceeded with other reality checks, turning on the light, checking the time on my cellphone and what not...but since I was feeling so sleepy and out of it, I ruled out the possibility that I was actually dreaming. :?

It can be a really funny thing... and then just letting yourself get distracted for a moment can put a quick end to your lucidity.

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Originally Posted by Migato

I supose then that I didn't actually have a false awakening?

because I was wondering (for the hand poking reality check) whether or not your finger always goes through your hand?, and if in dreams walls are never solid? because if the answer is yes to both then I didn't have a false awakening...

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Yes to both your questions, I don't think you had a false awakening.

you can't really tell if this was a fals awakening b/c you weren't sure if you were asleep or awake. they don't have a distinct feeling. a false awakening is just when think you're awake when you're really not.

your finger doesn't always go through your hand. sometimes it does though, pay attention, see if anything else weird happens too, as in maybe you've grown an extra finger, etc.

My finger has never gone through my hand in all the times I've tried (although they were vague lucids) but yes, reality checks can fail.

hmm...well I was kinda hoping it was false awakening, because that means that I would have succeeded at the wilding. ..well almost.

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Originally Posted by Grunkie7

My finger has never gone through my hand in all the times I've tried (although they were vague lucids) but yes, reality checks can fail.

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were you able to feel yourself poking your hand?

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Originally Posted by Migato

were you able to feel yourself poking your hand?

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Heh, I don't really remember. One was in third person and non-lucid so that one doesn't really count, and the others were very vague and cloudy so I doubt it. (Probably why they didn't work right)

Reality checks have failed for me before...usually when I think that "of course I'm awake". What I've started to do with the finger count RC; will myself to have more than five fingers. If I'm awake of course it won't work, but in a dream will power has a very noticeable affect. Instead of assuming that you're awake, assume that you're dreaming (just check to make sure before jumping off a skyscraper :) ).

Yes, some of them can fail.
One dream I had, this one guy said he had learned how to turn invisible and then did just that and jumped out at me at random times. I counted the fingers on my hands, and tried to poke my finger through it. It didn't work at all. I just felt myself poking my hand.

Crap, my RC's fail left and right. Just this morning, I did the exact same thing you did. My finger didn't go through my hand, but my driveway was perfectly clear and dry, even though it snowed like hell last night, so I still knew I was dreaming. Otherwise, everything felt just like reality and I honestly didn't know I was dreaming except for the fact that the driveway was different.

Like 2 or 3 nights ago though, I was in a school with a huge locker room in the basement that seems to go on forever. (A recurring location in a lot of my dreams) Again, it seemed so real, I thought to myself, "So this is actually a real place, and not just a place in my dreams." I then thought, "Wait a second," did the same RC and it failed. So I thought, "Yep, this is a real place alright." I was so mad when I woke up.

If you woke up though and still felt groggy, I would guess it wasn't actually a FA.

Yes, most RC's fail once in a while.

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Originally Posted by unseen wombat

Crap, my RC's fail left and right. Just this morning, I did the exact same thing you did. My finger didn't go through my hand, but my driveway was perfectly clear and dry, even though it snowed like hell last night, so I still knew I was dreaming. Otherwise, everything felt just like reality and I honestly didn't know I was dreaming except for the fact that the driveway was different.

Like 2 or 3 nights ago though, I was in a school with a huge locker room in the basement that seems to go on forever. (A recurring location in a lot of my dreams) Again, it seemed so real, I thought to myself, "So this is actually a real place, and not just a place in my dreams." I then thought, "Wait a second," did the same RC and it failed. So I thought, "Yep, this is a real place alright." I was so mad when I woke up.

If you woke up though and still felt groggy, I would guess it wasn't actually a FA.

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hmm I did feel groggy, very much so in fact, the weird thing was I had just rolled out of having the vibrations, I mean like I was having the vibrations for a while and was getting tired of it so I tried the rolling thing, hoping maybe I'd roll over into a dream. So...when does a person enter sleep paralysis? Do vibrations mean you've reached SP or could you get the vibrations but still move afterwards?

thanks for replying guys xD Well now that know RC's can fail, I'll just have a small list of rc's next time I wild.

You could try doing the nose RC (pinching your nose and then trying to breathe through it, if you're in a dream you will be able to do it). I have never heard of that failing for anyone.

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Originally Posted by Cerulean_sea

You could try doing the nose RC (pinching your nose and then trying to breathe through it, if you're in a dream you will be able to do it). I have never heard of that failing for anyone.

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It's possible though. If you really think you are awake and really expect not to be able to breathe, it could be. Probably never happens, but it is possible.

And then there's also the possibility that the dream messes with your brain, making you believe that breathing through your nose while pinching it is normal. :D

yea, generally if you have to wonder if your dreaming, you very well might be, it is usually a pretty huge difference. That is just the thing. When you do reality checks during the day, if you just blow them off thinking "of course im awake" that could very well carry into your dream. You need to actually think about it durring the day, whether your positive or not. Also i read this thing where it says every once in a while while doing reality checks in a dream you should pretend like it worked.

I wonder about the vibrations too. Sometimes I get vibrations incredibly strong, then feel like I'm sinking back into my body and I assume the WILD failed. I'm not so sure though. I meant to try rolling out the next time that happened, but I had to get f***ing woke up last Saturday morning right as the vibrations were at their strongest. I then had a bit of mild vibrations and a mild sinking feeling, but when I rolled out I was awake.

This weekend I'm going to try it again. I think the sinking feeling might be the transition into a dream. If it is, it's going to be the most amazingly real dream I've ever had, because I feel for all the world like I'm awake after they finish.

But to answer your question, in my experience, no, the vibrations aren't SP, and if you try to roll out during them, you'll just roll your real body. I've done that already a lot of times during mild vibrations. I've never tried it during the extremely strong ones though.

1. yes RCs fail in even the most vivid LDs and non-LDs.
2. each person will have certain RCs that work for them, and others that seemingly never work (for me the finger thru hand never worked yet, but for others it is almost always!)
3. there are many unpublished, unknown RCs which just may work for you. for instance, for me a piece of furniture was missing from a room in my house and that helped make it clear that it was a dream.
good luck, and keep searching your dreamscape!