How exactly does this reality check work?

I read many posts about RCs that say looking at your hands is a good reality check. Why is that, how does it trigger lucidity? With other RCs I can understand, you try to breathe while pinching your nose, you can still breathe, ok that's not possible in waking life, must be a dream, or you try to levitate and it works, ok this shouldn't work iwl either, must be a dream, but hands? What's so special and lucid-trigger about looking at your hands? If someone could clarify this I would really appreciate it, I've been wondering for a long time..

They say in your dream you could have more or less fingers on one hand. My friend said he saw he was missing his middle and ring finger, like they were just blurred out. Another says he had 16 fingers on one hand. What you do for the RC, is count your fingers. Not just look at them, but count each one to make sure they're all there and there aren't any extras.

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Originally Posted by ageofthunder

They say in your dream you could have more or less fingers on one hand. My friend said he saw he was missing his middle and ring finger, like they were just blurred out. Another says he had 16 fingers on one hand. What you do for the RC, is count your fingers. Not just look at them, but count each one to make sure they're all there and there aren't any extras.

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I see your point about missing/extra fingers, but every time I accidentally saw my hands in dreams they looked just normal. And I read instructions that don't mention the counting, supposedly you just look at your hands, and if you want, say a mantra like "I know when I'm dreaming" or something like that.. Even without the mantra, allegedly looking at your hands somehow can trigger lucidity. Maybe it has something to do with stopping and focusing your awareness/self awareness? Don't know..

In my case, whenever i go lucid i always look at my hands and they are usually abnormal. If not, i usually blink or look again and they change almost everytime. If they still don't change there is still the possiblity of keeping lucidity, but many times i just believe it's reality.

Idk, i always check my hands, it's probably conditioning or habit

Yes, hands just don't look 100% normal. I have had trouble counting fingers, or they look slightly sparkly or farther away, etc. But frankly I go for the pinched nose as it is well defined.

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Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

I read many posts about RCs that say looking at your hands is a good reality check. Why is that, how does it trigger lucidity? With other RCs I can understand, you try to breathe while pinching your nose, you can still breathe, ok that's not possible in waking life, must be a dream, or you try to levitate and it works, ok this shouldn't work iwl either, must be a dream, but hands? What's so special and lucid-trigger about looking at your hands? If someone could clarify this I would really appreciate it, I've been wondering for a long time...

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I think your answer is a two-parter, Mimi.

First, as has already been mentioned, there is nothing you know as well, perceptually, as the shape, contour, and movement of your own hands. If you look at them in a dream, and something is amiss (i.e., a 6th finger, or perhaps they're too big, or shaped wrong, or not there at all), you might wonder what's wrong with them, and then wonder if this is a dream. In other words, it is a RC based on familiarity, which is most helpful... also, just looking at your hands is about as simple and accessible as an RC can get, so it is very easy to practice in waking life. But this is all assuming that RC's are meant to trigger lucidity; I believe, though, that their real value might lie in confirming lucidity, so:

Second, if you are already slightly lucid (i.e., you wonder if you are dreaming, or have just realized you are in a dream), the action of raising your hand to your (DC body) face can prove a powerful affirmation of your suspicion that you are dreaming. This is not only because you can do your planned RC and look for anomalies, but also because -- by raising your hand to your face -- you are doing something outside the dream schema you've been given that night. By making this intentional, conscious movement based on a memory (the need to RC) and formed in self-awareness, you will heighten your lucidity, your control, and perhaps gain a bit of stabilization to a point where you can fully understand you are in a dream, and then have more lucid strength to start your adventure.

I'm sure there are other, less wordy, reasons as well, but these are the two I'm most familiar with, with the second (confirming the notion that you are dreaming, rather that inducing lucidity) being the rationale that has been around for for as long as I can remember.

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Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

I see your point about missing/extra fingers, but every time I accidentally saw my hands in dreams they looked just normal. And I read instructions that don't mention the counting, supposedly you just look at your hands, and if you want, say a mantra like "I know when I'm dreaming" or something like that.. Even without the mantra, allegedly looking at your hands somehow can trigger lucidity. Maybe it has something to do with stopping and focusing your awareness/self awareness? Don't know..

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Maybe you could use that to incubate seeing your hands as a dream sign, by associating the feeling of being in a dream when you look at your hands. So when you see your hands in dreams, you will remember that it's a dream! I think that's a little bit different from reality checks in terms of confirming or inducing lucid dreams, but it's still pretty neat.