Quick Reality Check Tip

Hey Everyone!

I'm really new to this forum so please excuse me if this post is in the wrong section :(

Pretty much all I wanted to do was share with you guys a quick tip I think could help some people with the obstacle of mindful reality checks. (Bear in mind I haven't had a lucid dream that I can remember yet so take this advice with a grain of salt).

The hardest thing I found when I started doing reality checks was I was either doing them automatically and not really taking much notice of them or I would justify my ASSUMPTION "this is not a dream" too easily.

I've found the following mindset to be extremely helpful in overcoming these obstacles. Most of the tutorials I've read about state that Reality Checks are mindful awareness exercises designed to test whether or not you are in a waking or dreaming state with the goal being that if this becomes habit you will perform one within a dream and become lucid.

However I would like to state my new mindset is not TESTING what reality you are in but instead PROVING to yourself that you are awake instead.

The good thing about this mindset is that it stops the brain from automatically assuming on a subconscious level that "I know I'm not dreaming" or "I know I'm awake" by challenging it to justify the real world on a more meaningful basis. If you question not "am I dreaming?" But instead "am I awake?" I find that it helps a lot with making reality checks a lot more mindful and effective.

Again I haven't had a lucid dream so bear in mind I am by no means a professional on this matter (who is :p) and also remember that every person is different. This mindset helps ME to perform more meaningful reality checks and I am in no way discrediting other RC tutorials, it is merely an alternative mindset others may wish to try.

Thanks guys and I hope someone out there finds this helpful :)

Hazzamo, it seems that your thinking on reality checks is very intuitive. Once you check out a number of the threads on this site, you will see that many others recommend that you don't just question whether or not you are dreaming, but whether or not you are awake. One thread you may want to check out is a tutorial by Naiya at http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...d-secrets.html. She says the same thing. Another tutorial I would recommend is one on the fundamentals by Sageous at http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/12557...mentals-q.html. His WILD tutorial is great as well. I am a beginner at LD'ing who has only had a couple of LD's, but have found these tutorials and the practice of them, very beneficial towards having more vivid dreams and better recall, and will hopefully lead towards more LD's. So much of what both of these experienced people say seems to make a lot of sense to me. Best wishes on your trek into LD'ing.

Yes, this is a key approach to a reality check. You have to realize you may in fact be dreaming even if you "know" you are awake, and assume your reality check may indeed confirm you are dreaming. It is really something when it really does show you are dreaming and catches you by surprise. I have been so sure I was awake, that I had to test over and over to convince myself I was in fact dreaming.

I disagree with this. You are not trying to prove that you are awake when doing an RC during the dream. You are trying to prove that you are dreaming.

Doing RCs during the day is like rehearsing for a play. When you are rehearsing, you know that it is not real, but you pretend that it is so that you are better prepared for when the real deal happens.

When doing RCs during the day, pretend that the RC fails and that you realize that you are dreaming. After this, pretend doing what you plan to do after you realize you are dreaming so that you are prepared for that as well.

I think that we are all saying about the same thing. A dream may seem and feel so real that you don't know that you are dreaming. By doing something strange (RC's when you are dreaming)such as poking a finger through your palm, you are doing something you cannot do in real life, thus while proving you are not awake, you are also proving that you are dreaming. When you are awake, you know it and don't have to prove that you are. As Dolphin says, you need to do RC's during the day, rehersing as if you are dreaming in order to ingrain the practice of doing RC's so that you will do RC's in your dream to verify that you are dreaming, and to set the scene for what you want to do when you are dreaming.