Thread: Reality Checks

Light switches - they usually don't work in dreams.
Text - writing will often change if you look away, and then look back.
And my personal favorite, holding your nose and trying to breathe through it. This is easy, fairly discreet, and has proven reliable for me.

I've never been able to successfully pull off a reality check in my dreams. If I ever get to the point of awareness where I would remember to do one, I realize I'm dreaming and bam, I'm lucid.

I use to do the nose RC all the time, but I havn't done it in a long time because after I did it a bunch it would mess with my ears (and it failed a couple times).

My now (and 100% reliable) RC is looking at my hands, at the grooves in them, counting my fingers(this helps a lot), and rubbing my hands together.

Also, try to remember how you got to where you are. Where you were 5 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, 3 hours ago, etc.

Without a doubt, the fastest way to high lucidity for me is to ask someone near me if I am dreaming. They are normally a bit reluctant to discuss it (that darn subconscious), but pretty much whatever they say, the effect is extreme and immediate.

One of the disadvantages of this RC is that its tricky to practice it in waking life - well, without the lady behind the counter thinking you're a few crayons short of a box, that is.

Holding my nose and trying to breath has been the best reality check for me. Its worked most of the time.

Originally Posted by ;304394

Holding my nose and trying to breath has been the best reality check for me. Its worked most of the time.
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yea same with me but if your nose i block during reality i may not work i had trouble bretheing though my nose last night it worked though

THANk you for all your replies so much.

I like counting my fingers or looking at a clock.

I just look at my digital watch, look away and look around to notice anything weird going on, and then look back to see if it's the same time as before. Always seemed to work.

i use the nose one too.
i have also had instances where the lights don't work
so far in all of my lds, i was pretty sure that i was already dreaming without an rc.

Good topic; I was thinking of doing this but hadn't got around to it yet. I try to avoid falling in the habit of doing an automatic 2-second hand-look, which I still do occasionally when my timer goes off and I don't have time for to really think about it and do a good RC. On my voice recorder I have several scenarios which should always trigger a good reality check, and I try to listen to it a couple times a day, sometimes before bed. I wanted to list these out somewhere in case my battery dies and I lose them, so this is as good a place as any. This is what I have recorded (actually a combination of RC's and RC triggers):

1. If you're in a strange house, you may be dreaming.
2. If you're very worried, you may be dreaming.
3. Remember to check numbers and writing; remember to look at your hands.
4. If you're in a crowd of people, you may be dreaming.
5. If you're travelling by a method other than a car, you may be dreaming.
6. Is everything detailed, and do the details make sense?
7. If you're talking to people you haven't spoken with in a very long time, you may be dreaming.
8. If you're at a place that you haven't been to in a very long time, you may be dreaming.
9. If you're talking to people from work, and you're not at work, you're probably dreaming.
10. Do you know where you are at, where you are going, and who you are with?
11. Remember to ask DC's, Why am I in this dream?

I also try to do RC's whenever something strange happens; for example today I saw a guy dressed as a Subway Sandwich, then I went to a friend's house and threw the ball for his dog (strange dog, strange place), anything out of the ordinary that may remind you of a dream. I like the one about asking people if you are dreaming, the only trouble with that is IRL there aren't that many people you can ask to get in the habit without looking like a nut.

Another thing I do is try to really think about proving that it is not a dream whenever something weird happens or it is time to do a RC. Try to change the writing or the clock, not just look back and see if it is the same.

The nose one has worked 100% for me, and I've used it at least 25 times.

pulling my finger throughout my awake time. when i do it in my dreams, it stretches and is sometimes accompanied by a wacky sound.

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

Good topic; I was thinking of doing this but hadn't got around to it yet. I try to avoid falling in the habit of doing an automatic 2-second hand-look, which I still do occasionally when my timer goes off and I don't have time for to really think about it and do a good RC. On my voice recorder I have several scenarios which should always trigger a good reality check, and I try to listen to it a couple times a day, sometimes before bed. I wanted to list these out somewhere in case my battery dies and I lose them, so this is as good a place as any. This is what I have recorded (actually a combination of RC's and RC triggers):

1. If you're in a strange house, you may be dreaming.
2. If you're very worried, you may be dreaming.
3. Remember to check numbers and writing; remember to look at your hands.
4. If you're in a crowd of people, you may be dreaming.
5. If you're travelling by a method other than a car, you may be dreaming.
6. Is everything detailed, and do the details make sense?
7. If you're talking to people you haven't spoken with in a very long time, you may be dreaming.
8. If you're at a place that you haven't been to in a very long time, you may be dreaming.
9. If you're talking to people from work, and you're not at work, you're probably dreaming.
10. Do you know where you are at, where you are going, and who you are with?
11. Remember to ask DC's, Why am I in this dream?

I also try to do RC's whenever something strange happens; for example today I saw a guy dressed as a Subway Sandwich, then I went to a friend's house and threw the ball for his dog (strange dog, strange place), anything out of the ordinary that may remind you of a dream. I like the one about asking people if you are dreaming, the only trouble with that is IRL there aren't that many people you can ask to get in the habit without looking like a nut.

Another thing I do is try to really think about proving that it is not a dream whenever something weird happens or it is time to do a RC. Try to change the writing or the clock, not just look back and see if it is the same.
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Great reality checks thanks a lot. But what I dont understand about reality checks is, I don't think i'll be able to do reality checks as I can't control my dreams yet so I wouldn't have a reason to.

you don't need dream control for them really. if you do reality checks throughout the day, it gets in your subconscious and you'll just automatically do them also when you dream.

Heres what wikipedia suggested(just thought i'd post it for the hell of it)
Read some text, look away, and read it again, or to look at your watch and remember the time, then look away and look back. Observers have found that, in a dream, the text or time will often have changed.[15]
Flipping a light switch or looking into a mirror. Light switches rarely work properly in dreams, and reflections from a mirror often appear to be blurred, distorted or incorrect.[16]
Closing one eye and looking at your nose, seeing that it's not there. This was proposed as an experiment on a popular lucid dreaming forum,[17] and there were several anecdotes of success on that forum, but its principle has not been scientifically studied, and this reality check may not be reliable.
Covering your nose and seeing if you can still breathe through it.[citations needed]
Pressing the index finger firmly into an area of the body such as the chest or leg. Since matter is usually plastic in the dream state and does not resist change, the finger will usually penetrate the dream body with little resistance and no pain.[citation needed]
Observe your hand in a dream, often the hand has incorrect number of fingers.[citation needed]
Pinching oneself — in a dream no pain may be felt, though in many situations, lucid dreamers have observed that they do experience realistic sensation of being pinched.[citation needed]

I usually put my finger in my butt, it doesn't hurt as bad if you're dreaming so it works 100% of the time. Happy Dreaming.

Originally Posted by chron911

Great reality checks thanks a lot. But what I dont understand about reality checks is, I don't think i'll be able to do reality checks as I can't control my dreams yet so I wouldn't have a reason to.
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That's why I have the list of reminders; these are common dream signs for me, so whenever they happen in real life I try to do an RC and then hopefully when I am dreaming I will do the same thing, and then when the time is weird when I look at my watch, or I can breathe while my nose is shut, I realize I am dreaming.

(However: a lot of times I just realize I am dreaming without an RC, and then I sort of do them out of habit altho I already know I am dreaming.)

I usually just realize automatically but I am always testing Anything Mechanical to see how it holds up. Most of the time my environment changes so much I find myself slipping into the realm of regular dreaming and I have to do find a mirror or something to trigger that Lucidity again.

The digital clock/watch RC never fails for me.

I usually put my finger in my butt, it doesn't hurt as bad if you're dreaming so it works 100% of the time.[/b]

Bet that's a fun one in waking life.

Originally Posted by Eminence

I've never been able to successfully pull off a reality check in my dreams. If I ever get to the point of awareness where I would remember to do one, I realize I'm dreaming and bam, I'm lucid.
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Pretty much the same for me, the 1 reality check I've done in a lucid was put my finger in my palm, and that was after I was already lucid and just wanted to see what would happen. It was stretchy

Originally Posted by jswift

I usually put my finger in my butt, it doesn't hurt as bad if you're dreaming so it works 100% of the time. Happy Dreaming.
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wtf?

Originally Posted by Cain

wtf?
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Let's not ask :yumdumdoodledum: