Reality Check/Dream Sign didn't work.

[snubbie]

Well during my dream I took out my phone to add a contact to it. In the process I did 2 reality checks. Using technology and looking at my hands. Although these actions weren't intentional reality checks, I still did them and they didn't work. Do you have to intentionally do the checks for them to work. Also a second question is that during the same dream I did attain lucidity, when I met my father, who is in China right now, where I currently live (where he isn't). I actually attain lucidity a lot, its just that when I do, I usually try to wake up after that, I haven't gotten to the point (except once) where I tried to control my dream. How should I do that?

[gab]

Well during my dream I took out my phone to add a contact to it. In the process I did 2 reality checks. Using technology and looking at my hands. Although these actions weren't intentional reality checks, I still did them and they didn't work. Do you have to intentionally do the checks for them to work. If you just looked at your phone and hands as part of a plot in regular dream, I don't believe that was a reality check. You do RC only after you become lucid to confirm. So, first you become lucid for whatever reason and then you do a RC to make sure, you are in a dream. Why do you try to wake up after becoming lucid? In some lucids, you don't have control, or different degree of control. You can read some tutorials to see how you can control your lucid. (I don't have much experience with it yet).

[Mancon]

Hi! When you are doing a Reality check you have to believe it will fail. For example, when you are doing the nose-pinch reality check then believe you will be able to breathe through your nose. You should be aware of everything around you when doing reality checks. Don't just make it a habit you don't pay attention to. Next time you become lucid, just stay still for a moment and realize its your dream. Then just step out and control it whenever you want!

[JShadow]

Pay attention to your reality check, don't just do it blindly. Expect it fail like mancon said. Also be calm and examine your hands expecting your environment to be clearer when you look up. Then do what you want and do not think about waking up, you want to enjoy the experience as much as you can. And remember that anything you expect to happen in a dream will happen which can be a good thing or a bad thing such as waking up.

[CNGB]

What you did then was not a reality check. Simply looking at your hands or holding your breath is not considered a reality check. Looking at your hands and expecting something strange about them, or holding your breath and expecting to breathe is a reality check. Get it? If you're not consciously looking for "off" things in the dream world, then your dream self will simply pass it on as common and you won't realize that you're dreaming. As long as we're on the subject of reality checks, though, I think it's important to note that you might want to find your own RCs. Just because your best friend (for example) always becomes lucid after jumping up and down doesn't mean that you will. My own RC is the most effective that I have found so far, in fact, and that simply involves me expecting things to happen. For example, right after I finish writing this sentence, I am going to see a painting of a blue and pink giraffe. Nothing. And because I seen nothing, I am not dreaming. However, if I look behind me and see one of those green pipes from the old Mario games, then I must be dreaming--I did this two times the other night, and both times I became lucid.