Thread: Reality checks didn't work (still became lucid though) + some other questions

So last night I had my first MILD after a week since I began trying. I had 9 dreams collected in my dream journal and I had already begun noticing some dream signs so last night, after waking up in the middle of the night, I visualized myself doing some reality checks in one of the places where I often find myself in my dreams.

I fell asleep and I found myself in that place and I did my reality check (finger through palm, I forgot the breathing through my plugged nose one) but I actually COULDN'T get my finger pass through my palm and it felt very realistic! Eventually I still felt like something was wrong, I asked myself how I had gotten there and since I couldn't answer I tried to fly, I succeded and I became lucid.

Has anyone ever experienced that?

Anyway, as soon as I became lucid, I stabilized my dream by rubbing my hands and repeating myself I was dreaming. I was in a park, close to my GF's house, so I decided to pay her a visit and I got there, but windows and doors were closed. So I decided to do a body spin wishing her to appear, but I didn't succeed. I tried a couple of more times, but with no results I kept walking, I found some of my friends and I complained about not being able to "evoke" dream characters, without mentioning I was dreaming, but they didn't answer. Eventually, even though I was still trying to stabilize the dream by rubbing my hands I woke up.

Any tips?

I liked this, because I read a lot on different reality checks and I read something charley Morley said about some Reality checks not being true for different people.

For me math is fine recorded a couple times in my dream journal they where only vivid dreams but numbers are fine for me.

I have noticed a few dream teachers click their fingers a lot when explaining dream control so "girlfriend appear now and click fingers" might work no idea as i am still learning.

Yeah, I made a guess: maybe it depends on the learning style.

For example I'm more of an auditory type of guy, so the finger through palm RC doesn't work as effectively as asking "Am I dreaming?" and "How did I get here?" (self talk - auditory).

But it's just a guess, let's wait for someone more experienced.

Personally if i do a reality check its the nose plug one. Once this didnt work for me either, (in your dream blocking your nose will have no effect on your breathing,) but one time i did struggle to breathe when doing it. I don't know if maybe i was sleeping funny at the time.

Sometimes an RC wont work. That's why it's good to have at least 2-3.

Sometimes RC may fail, if you when practicing it in waking life, don't fully believe, that it will work. So if you don't expect your finger to go through your palm when practicing, then that's how it will be in your dream. It's the intent and expectation that you set up.

But as you noticed, you already got some awareness just before you RCed. That awareness told you to RC and to ask yourself if you are dreaming. So it's not really RCs that get us lucid, but the awareness question and questioning your reality, believing that you could be in a dream that accompanies RCs when practicing.

Ok, so I need to question if I am dreaming or not on deeper level when practicing RC in the waking world, thanks for the tips!

LD lore has it that finger-through-palm is less reliable than the nose-pinch. I've only every done nose pinch and hand-check in a dream and both worked fine, but nose pinch for me is so very clear.

For dream control, you shouldn't "wish" for something, you have to *know* that it will work, that's a different mindset that comes with some experience, but you can try it right away. Creating fake/pretend memories is a great way to do this, "oh, yeah, <DC name> is right behind me, here, DC, take my hand (reach behind you), let's go (bring your hand around in front of you)!". You're steering the narrative of the dream this way and some use this to great effect (e.g., sivason).

It's the same way in normal dreams where you see something vague and shadowy, and believe it's something scary, and voila, it turns into something scary.

First MILD after one week? Impressive! And congrats!

I could suggest that you could try other RCs too

I got an idea, why not use a top for a RC? Like in the movie inception.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

LD lore has it that finger-through-palm is less reliable than the nose-pinch. I've only every done nose pinch and hand-check in a dream and both worked fine, but nose pinch for me is so very clear.

For dream control, you shouldn't "wish" for something, you have to *know* that it will work, that's a different mindset that comes with some experience, but you can try it right away. Creating fake/pretend memories is a great way to do this, "oh, yeah, <DC name> is right behind me, here, DC, take my hand (reach behind you), let's go (bring your hand around in front of you)!". You're steering the narrative of the dream this way and some use this to great effect (e.g., sivason).

It's the same way in normal dreams where you see something vague and shadowy, and believe it's something scary, and voila, it turns into something scary.

First MILD after one week? Impressive! And congrats!

Thanks man, great tips, especially the ones referring to DC, I'll use them

Originally Posted by CTX

I could suggest that you could try other RCs too

Yeah, that's exactly what I want to do, apart from trying more mindfully the RC's I've been using so far.

Originally Posted by pepsibluefan

I got an idea, why not use a top for a RC? Like in the movie inception.

Oh, that would be freaking awesome, I like this idea, I'll try it out, thanks

Hmm, nose pinch takes like 1-2 seconds max, spinning a top may be fun, but: you have to find some "flat surface," pull out the top from somewhere, and then stand there and watch it spin for a while. And it might still fall over .. if you want to spend your dream time watching a top spin, go ahead...

I never had much success with finger-through-palm either. I think the trouble is that it's too hard to imagine, realistically, what it would feel like. With nose pinch, you know what both outcomes feel like in waking life. I think counting fingers is a more reliable backup than finger-through-palm.

But like gab said, it's not so much the outcome of the RC that matters. It's the critical, reflective thinking and questioning the dream that makes you lucid. The RC practice is there to build the habit and to prevent you from losing lucidity immediately.

As for the dream control stuff, keep at it and try different things. When you're first starting, give more attention to having frequent lucid dreams rather than worrying too much about quality. More lucid dreams means more time to experiment, so keep up with the MILD discipline.

I've had that experience too. I think that by getting used to RCs in real life, you kinda expect them not to work. The mind is a powerful thing, and will reflect your expectations subtler than you'd think. If you do an RC whilst awake and of course note that your thumb does not go through your palm, your dreaming mind mirrors that experience. You have in fact learned and conditioned yourself to know that your finger can not go through your palm. I found it more efficient to study your dreams in order to find your personal RCs or signs that you are dreaming. some reoccuring image, some habit that will clearly show you that you can't be awake. I for instance find myself often in my parents house and trained myself to know that I must be dreaming the instance that I am there. Of course, if you suddenly have that overwhelming sensation that you are dreaming, despite finding no prove to it, and then become indeed lucid, feels way cooler and more powerful

Oh, that's a good tip that I found to be very useful, like Gab suggested: in your waking life you have to assume you are dreaming, or at least you have to assume that that may be a dream and when you do RC's (I turned to "how did I get here?/What was doing 1 hour ago?" and the nose pinch ones) you really intend them to work and you end the whole thing with a mantra.

Thanks guys, I'm moving forward!