Ack! Annoying reality check issue

[CrazyInSane]

Last night I was dreaming, and in the middle of my dream I said to myself, "this must be a dream", and did the nose RC. It DIDN'T WORK, and I indeed COULD NOT breathe through my nose. I think this is because I have a stuffy nose like 24/7 so this carried into my dream world. Either way, this was a real piss-off because I lost a perfect opportunity to have an LD. Anyone have any other types of RCs I could use? I've heard of the lightswitch one but heard it was unreliable. What do you folks use mainly?

[Oneironaught]

I've also had the nose one not work once. I rarely use it anyway. I've done it a few times but it's usually after I already know I'm dreaming. I just thought it was cool to do. But, like I said, once when I did it I could not breathe. I was already lucid by then but I definitely recognized the failure for what it was. I usually pause and really examine my surroundings for anomalies in-congruent elements. I also like to look at text and signs multiple times and try to notice things that change. I look at digital clocks or digital tuner displays multiple times. The classic double-take, only slower. Anything with a digital segment display serves the purpose. A few times a day I will look at my hand. I try to remember to look in mirrors as a reality check but only remember to do so when I'm in my bathroom at home, taking a p!ss. The other RCs (finger thru palm, telekinesis, changing colors of things, etc...) are things I save for when I'm already there. I just like to play.

[Mes Tarrant]

You could practice using dream signs if RCs don't work. For instance before bed you could say to yourself something along the lines of, "Next time I dream about someone famous I will know it's a dream." Maybe go through your dream journal and see if you find any patterns that you could use as dream signs.

[Merlock]

You could practice using dream signs if RCs don't work. For instance before bed you could say to yourself something along the lines of, "Next time I dream about someone famous I will know it's a dream." Maybe go through your dream journal and see if you find any patterns that you could use as dream signs. Aye, that's exactly the practice of using dream signs. It's why recall is important - you recall and record dreams, then go through them and find dream signs - things that appear in your dreams periodically. Then, it's a matter of linking reality checking to those things all the time, while awake and then hopefully while asleep.

[Mes Tarrant]

Exactly. Can take practice though. When I first started to LD, my dream journal was filled with dreams about school and me writing in the margins "come on, LD!!".

[Truffles]

Same thing happened to me last night, except with different check. I used the clock one, it failed but I didn't become lucid haha.

[RakelvonB]

Ha what's worse than doing the nose RC and not having it work, is when you do it and it does work yet still not realizing that you're dreaming . I did that a couple nights ago, I found myself in a different reality and thought 'hey this would be a perfect time to do a RC' so I tried doing the nose RC and found that I could breath perfectly. I thought 'Oh..I wasn't expecting that...but that would definatly happen if I was dreaming' But at least I had an LD two nights ago so it makes up for it :p I would have to say the best RCs are the nose one and the hand check because then you never have to rely on your surroundings to find say, a lightswitch or a clock, in most cases you always have a nose or hands and if not you're definatly dreaming!

[Mes Tarrant]

Ha what's worse than doing the nose RC and not having it work, is when you do it and it does work yet still not realizing that you're dreaming . I did that a couple nights ago, I found myself in a different reality and thought 'hey this would be a perfect time to do a RC' so I tried doing the nose RC and found that I could breath perfectly. I thought 'Oh..I wasn't expecting that...but that would definatly happen if I was dreaming' But at least I had an LD two nights ago so it makes up for it :p I would have to say the best RCs are the nose one and the hand check because then you never have to rely on your surroundings to find say, a lightswitch or a clock, in most cases you always have a nose or hands and if not you're definatly dreaming! Hehehe. :p I wonder why the nose RC fails for some people?? And why it's so reliable for others?

[Oneironaught]

Hehehe. :p I wonder why the nose RC fails for some people?? And why it's so reliable for others? I'd think the real question is, "Why does it sometimes work and sometimes fail?" I say that because - while the success rate varies from person to person - even those who use it very reliably can sometimes have a failure, either in false results or faulty interpretation of the results . And it may work sometimes for those who usually don't use it reliably. I'd love to understand or even identify the variables involved.

[Mes Tarrant]

Maybe it has to do with how realistic your dream is at the time?