Thread: How Do You Do A Reality Check?

ive gotten so many different methods of doing a reality check... how do you guys do it ? and which way do you feel is the best... also key points

I prefer the Nose RC, very easy and very effective. Just plug your nose and try to breathe in, in your dream you will be able to breathe through your plugged nose, if so, then you're dreaming

I normally poke the middle of my palm with my index finger. But the best reality check I have found, is sidestepping in front of cars, works everytime.

Originally Posted by Elixer

But the best reality check I have found, is sidestepping in front of cars, works everytime.
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Lmao..haha

I do the nose RC or the palm RC.

I always reality check when I wake up. I have caught myself in a LOT of false awakenings. Sadly, this is really the only type of lucidity I ever attain, and it is the weakest.

I nod forward and look overtop my glasses and observe the clarity change. Since I'm in the habit of removing them before bed and replacing them when I wake up I figure it will be an automatic deterrent for false awakenings (and false asleepings, which probably don't happen too often—I made up the word on the spot).

I do it by habit probably 50 times a day, which I'm pleased with, but I can't tell you how well it works because my recall really sucks (I'm workin on it though). One day...

I do the nose-plugging RC, but internally. Instead of plugging my nose, I plug my nose from the inside, with my tongue. Allows me to do it way more frequently. I also see if I can see my nose, and if I can not see it, then I am dreaming

Originally Posted by Marvo

I do the nose-plugging RC, but internally. Instead of plugging my nose, I plug my nose from the inside, with my tongue. Allows me to do it way more frequently. I also see if I can see my nose, and if I can not see it, then I am dreaming
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How do you block it internally... and will you really try to do it in a dream ? i cant think of a time you woudl do that in a dream... but then again im an avid CS:S player and last night i actually started to bunny hop around my dream =P so maybe it works... ive also been gaming in my dreams frequently.. i dont play wow but i was a character once...

i've never been lucid so, what happens when you poke your palm in your dream ? it goes through ? and why would you not be able to see your own nose in your dream... do you not have a body in your dreams ?

The point in reality checks, is to do them everytime something unsual happens, or to make a habbit of it. I'm making a habbit of doing it everytime I enter another scene or room. This works pretty well for most people.

About how you do my reality-check. Do you remember when you were a child, and you used fake-snoring to make people believe you were asleep? The way you do that. You apply preasure to the top of your mouth. Try and apply even more preasure. If you apply enough preasure, you can't breath. Now, I've tested this in a lucid-dream, and it works. It's done with a closed mouth of course.

The nose one is a bit different though. Just have both of your eyes open. If you can see your nose, you're most likely awake. If you can't focus on your nose, then you're dreaming. Some people can't see their nose though. This reality-check is not that reliable though.

Hi Dry!

I'm not convinced they work at all. I've yet to see someone who has spontaneously, in a normal dream, performed a RC and then become lucid. (I expect there are people who do - somewhere out there - and I would love to hear from you if thats you. I also keep meaning to check the posts - but you can't search for 'RC'&#33

Usually a DILD occurs when a person just notices something dream-like, and then they may do a RC to confirm or stabilise the LD. If the question ever arises in a dream 'Am I dreaming?' you could do a RC to check, but the question alone is usually enough - dreams are normally so very different to waking life. When awake, unless they are mentaly ill or on drugs I doubt anyone would hesitate in being able to say whether or not they are dreaming - and you don't need a specific RC for this as every sense will confirm you are awake.

Nonetheless doing waking RCs may get you in the habit of questioning reality, which may carry over into dreams. And I do various reality checks where I exercise various senses - trying to percieve the world more keenly - as well as the 'Inverse Reality Check' (confirming that ALL is a dream) of Tibetan Dream Yoga.

I have been researching fine-tuning RC methods to the individual by taking account of learning modes. People often have a dominant learning mode (could be Visual, Kinesthetic, Audial) - if like most people you are Visual - then employing that sense may work better than other methods.

See my signature below for links to VAK tests and a list of RCs arranged by learning mode.

Good luck!

I've become lucid from a reality-check maybe 2 times. All the other times, I just confirm that it is a dream.