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I am thinking that Reality Checks (or Reality Tests) are more likley to succeed if they are tailored to suit your particular learning mode (probably nothing new!) The idea of a learning mode is that different people favour different ways of processing information (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) - and also learn better if information is presented in these ways.
So for example - you get a piece of flat packed furniture - if you jump straight in without referring to the instructions you are probably Kinesthetic; if you lay out the pieces to look at and scan through the instructions you may be Visual; if you read out the instructions then you may be Auditory.
VAK TEST& LDing POST HERE
NOTES:
You can be multimodal i.e. use more than one mode.
This is the simplest version of the theory - there are more modes proposed elsewhere!
It seems that many people who DILD do not use the RCs to realise they are dreaming at all - instead they are used to confirm, stabilise or increase lucidity. However it does seem that reality checking during the day may become a habit that passes over into dreaming because regularly performing RCs may improve awareness, discrimination and perceptual acuity generally. This could turn out to be the critical issue, as it may be this awareness which leads one to notice the unreality of the dream (rather than the RC?)
http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/inde...howtopic=12067
"To become AWARE. Such a broad statement. Yet when practiced, this will not only help with DILDs and any other technique you may try but by consciously making a daily effort to be more aware of your surroundings this will enlighten your senses and enable you to achieve a greater sense of yourself and everyone and thing around you. Very important."
Where dream signs or triggers DO make one question reality (leading to an RC) I would also suggest that these be tailored to suit the learning mode. (How to best establish a trigger/ RC habit, identify a dreamsign or actually perform a RC are separate issues for now.)
Lastly the idea may suggest that certain dream incubation methods other than RCs for DILDs would suit individuals better.
e.g.
MILD may suit Auditory folk.
WILD might suit Visual (if the process involves visualisation) or Auditory (if its counting) or Kinesthetic (if its monitoring the body/ breath) people
etc.
I've taken the liberty of breaking down the RCs from the RC Tutorial and rearranging them by learning mode (below)
Won't post much more just now - so what do y'all think?
Adapted and expanded from: RC TUTORIAL
V
Memory Check - recreate/ visualise recent scenes
Mirror Check - look at your self/ clothing/ hairstyle carefully - same/ different?
Self Observation Test - as mirror check
See if fingers all present and correct
Look for a dream sign
Look at your watch or a clock
Attempt to Read (with eyes)
Look for unusual things in the world
Look at the layout of your room - all OK?
A
Attempt to Read (Aloud)
Counting fingers aloud
Memory Check - ask yourself what happened recently.
Literally asking in the dream 'Am I dreaming?' (KVA)
Say something - all OK?
Play some music - all OK?
Talk to somebody - all OK?
K
The Breathing Test - Breathe through pinched nose?
Do something physical to the objects/ world around - all OK?
Trying something considered improssible:
Flying
Levitating
Putting your finger through your palm
Going through a mirror, window or wall
The action might well be primarily K but the feedback about if its OK would likely be multimodal.
VKA
Look out/ or otherwise test for unusual things in the world
Turning the lights on/off or other mechanical/ electronic failure
Use a computer. All OK?
VAK Look/use a telephone
Are all the numbers in order? Press the "call" button. Do you get the
"boooo" tone?
KVA
(General Awareness)
Constant physical awareness - be here now
Emotion Analysis
Smell something - all OK?
Look outside - all OK? Look, feel, smell, sound etc
Notice a dream sign (could be K,V or A)
KV
Attempt to Write
Do something physical with your body - whether or not it is normally possible in WL - AOK? The RC is probably K i.e. it feels wrong or, V looks wrong
Look at your pets - all OK? K Stroke them. Do they feel as they should?
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I totally agree with your theory that learning mode affects how you LD. I'd also like to add the idea that what you spend most of your time doing affects it.
For example, I spend alot of my time watching television in my den (Yeah I'm a lazy bastard), so being there is a dream sign for me. 90% of my LDs took place in my den.
Just throwing that out there too.
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That makes a lot of sense - I'm multimodal according to that test so I guess I have to keep doing all of them though! Keep up the good work, I'd be interested to know what comes of this.
