Reality Check's not working.

**Barry** · 05-11-2012 11:35 AM

The finger to palm reality check has never worked for me, my hand remains solid. The nose plug rc usually works for me, but I tried it last night and it failed and caused me too lose lucidity. I can't remember why, maybe I had a false sense of not being able to breathe? Anyone know how to resolve this or have an alternative rc which usually works, needs to be one where I can do wherever I am.

**Robot_Butler** · 05-11-2012 11:38 AM

My reality checks are never 100% effective. Even reliable ones like re-reading text can fail me. I think the best way to succeed with reality checks is to really try and put yourself in the right state of mind. Practice being super aware, and really questioning your self and surroundings.

**Barry** · 05-11-2012 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

My reality checks are never 100% effective. Even reliable ones like re-reading text can fail me. I think the best way to succeed with reality checks is to really try and put yourself in the right state of mind. Practice being super aware, and really questioning your self and surroundings.

In my last LD, I was 100% sure I was dreaming even before I did any RC's, in this ld I wasn't as aware so that might be the problem.

**Mydera** · 05-11-2012 06:27 PM

Are you in the habit of doing more than one reality check at a time? If not, try doing two different RCs every time. Try doing the finger palm one, then the nose plug if the first RC seemed normal. Do this in waking life as well of course, so it'll be second nature in a dream

Even being super aware can fail sometimes I think. I've have a lucid where everything felt so super real and right, that even knowing I was in a dream, there seemed to be so much evidence for why that dream was real and not a dream. My first reality check even passsed and I had to do a second one before I actually knew I was dreaming not just thinking I might be.

**Lichi** · 05-11-2012 07:00 PM

Yep it doesn't work very well but it depends on how you look at it or what are you expecting to happen. I realized in my first induced lucid dream that actually the finger doesn't goes through the palm, but if you look at it with attention you will see that it makes a kind of hole. Of course it depends in each one of us but my results for that reality check where that: It makes a black hole in my hand (scared me a lot, almost wakes me up) and if I see on the other side of the hand it looks like a mountain.

Anyways that's not a reality check that you have to trust a lot because in another dream I had I did the same reality check but the hand where I wanted to do the hole in the palm was closed, so I couldn't see any action. However it's a very good reality check since all you need is your hands. Try along with that RC the one that you look at your hand and find it weird. Check if you have all your fingers.

**Hukif** · 05-11-2012 07:03 PM

No 100% reliable RC, as everyone said doing more than one RC at a time is a good way to do it. For me, nose plug, re-reading, finger through palm and several others just don't work so I have to do gravity one. It works most of the time but even that one will fail me from time to time and I am forced to check on the air as a secondary RC, which can fail too.

**Barry** · 05-12-2012 04:54 AM

Yes I do 2 rc's in waking life and when im dreaming at the same time, nose plug usually works must of just been unlucky. I might try the gravity rc, thanks for the advice everyone.

**DreamBliss** · 05-12-2012 04:57 AM

I put post-it notes on objects around my room that I interact with a lot. One in my MP3 player case, one on my clock, now I have one on my hand. I trained myself to, whenever I saw these, look at am hands, look around, and ask myself, "Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?"

But I have a unique problem. Before this I used the Dream Sign of common locations and people. That worked great, then all of a sudden I no longer went to common places or saw common people! So I did this check for a while, still am, but it stopped working too some months ago. Dunno why. Have a whole thread dedicated to it. Oh and I can't use clocks, I've only ever seen one in my dreams. Experiencing Deja-vu, trying to figure out how to use that now.

In any case try the post-it, look at hands, look around the room, ask yourself if you are RC. Or you could try the common places, common people DS. Either of these should help you in combination, as other posters have said, with any of your other RC methods.
- DreamBliss