who wants to critique my reality check?

[cygnus]

i think i've come up with an alternative RC that may work better for me. for a while i've been using the finger through the hand method. i like to conduct RCs often so that i might become habituated enough to carry this into my sleep. but i think i just get used to seeing my finger not pass through my hand and having the same thing happen in my dreams. i had one dream where i kept on poking my hand to no avail and got a bit frustrated with this method (but became lucid despite the RC failure, maybe because it still heightened my awareness). so i'd like to use a RC that isn't neccessarily a check of how real a situation is - or rather one that is not dependent on something happening that won't happen in waking life. maybe instead, something that increases your awareness through some sensory cue. one that i've been using recently i do almost every time i walk through a doorway, go from outside to inside or vice versa, or see a dream sign. i look at the palm of my right hand and rub a circle on it with my left index finger while saying to myself, "is this a normal situation - does this feel like a dream? am i aware of my breath, am i mindful?" then i rub one complete circle on my hand while focusing on how this feels and watching the motion. i'm hoping that this will start to pay off especially because it isn't something that could fail in the same sense as the traditional RCs. let me know what you think and feel free to suggest another method that works along these lines.

[panta-rei]

... Okay. First off, this is basically the same thing. A failed RC is just your mind getting used to one thing, and doing this one thing over and over will cause your mind to get used to it. I think I've told you this before, but... DO MORE THAN ONE RC! Your mind won't get used to one RC, do three at a time, and alternate which RCs are those three. This whole thing could be bypassed by this...

[cygnus]

thanks Delphinus, but that doesn't really answer my question. i'm not really thinking about the redundancy of RCs - i want to know if you can train yourself to use a cue to assess your state of awareness insteadof trying to poke your finger through your hand or trying to breath through your closed nostrils, which are things that won't happen in your waking life. if i rub a circle on my hand and watch and feel the motion from beginning to end, it isn't a matter of this failing, rather it's something that is symbolic and uses your senses in association with increasing your awareness of your waking/dreaming scenario. does that make more sense? i guess i'm trying to talk about a different "shade" of RC or something...

[panta-rei]

I knew what you meant... I was just saying how you couldn't have to worry about the whole RCs not happening in real life thing. Which is the point. RCs aren't supposed to happen. This is sounding more like a stabilizing technique... Not really a reality check.

[Shift]

Yes, you're talking about just stabilizing and using a mental check at the same time. Basically, pausing to ask yourself if you're dreaming and focusing only on that question, ignoring the things around you. This isn't a new reality check, just questioning yourself (part of all reality checks) while touching your hand (not sure how that part of it is anything but stabilization). My suggestion to you is that the next time you find yourself lucid, well aware that you're dreaming try out all the different reality checks. See them happen, feel them, do them a few times to see what it's like. Then, when you try them in waking life you'll really know what it's supposed to be like. And Delphi is right, always do a few- the mental one is the priority, but always back it up with 2-3 others.

[cygnus]

yep - ok. i think i'll try this out for a while (my idea), see if i start doing it in my dreams, then post again. if it doesn't work i'll alternate between a few checks like you said, D. i think you're right that only doing the finger through the hand thing is bound to fail... i have successfully done RCs in lucid dreams, i just wanted to do something different. and my stabilization technique is different from this, but maybe related in a way... we'll see - i kinda have a feeling about this, maybe it'll work. thanks for the input.

[Nemo]

I have recently used a check along these lines and noticed improved results. I consider, "if this were a dream, how could I improve my awareness?" I then shift my focus away from my thoughts and into my awareness of visual, auditory, and tactile input, then try to increase this awareness. Also, "how does my present perception indicate whether I am dreaming?" This question parallels your idea, "does this feel like a dream?" More specifically, which aspects make it feel like a dream? Is this a normal situation? Within a dream, I usually answer this question with a "yes," even if I am hunting velociraptors from a zeppelin. I find a useful solution is to recount as far as possible the series of events that led to the present situation. The more detailed or more vivid you can recall the chain of events, the better.

[FlyFree]

I like to consider what would be different if it was a LD after preforming my RC. I digg your idea though. Might add that to my repitrore.

[cygnus]

I have recently used a check along these lines and noticed improved results. I consider, "if this were a dream, how could I improve my awareness?" I then shift my focus away from my thoughts and into my awareness of visual, auditory, and tactile input, then try to increase this awareness. Also, "how does my present perception indicate whether I am dreaming?" This question parallels your idea, "does this feel like a dream?" More specifically, which aspects make it feel like a dream? hey cool - that gives me some encouragement. i often find that if my awareness becomes slightly heightened in a dream i don't even need to do a normal RC, i just know from the feeling that it's a dream and then try to stabilize. i don't think your RC and stabilization technique have to be so different - my stabilization technique involves looking at my hands and repeatedly making quick glances at a few objects while returning to the sight of my hands (using them as a point of reference until everything's in focus), then rubbing my hands together and focusing on my body and my breath... potentially works really well, but i've been too distracted by girls recently to really stabilize fully i normally try to familiarize myself with the dream "feeling" by reading through a bunch of entries in my dream journal and getting a sense of the general mood or how my faculties operate. i'm liking the rub a circle in my hand thing so far because it's an action with a distinct beginning and end that is tied to my questioning of the world around me by stimulating my tactile and visual senses. now i'm asking myself those questions first and then doing the circle to check again my level of awareness. i'll see how this works in the long run - glad to hear what you're using is starting to work.