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Something that costs me lucid dreams is i find something odd, see a dreamsign, or just decide i want to do a reality check but i won't because i am in public. Last night for example i am in a car with old friends when odd things start happening so i want to perform a reality check but i won't because i am in public.
Who else has this problem?
Not personally, no. The reality checks I use can be done descretely. For example, I quickly look down at my hands and count my fingers, no one notices and things just go on like normal.
My reality-checks don't even require movement, so they're quite easy to do. Are you ashamed by people thinking you're weird for doing a reality-check, or what?
Hey there,
Personally I don't do a reality check that requires some sort of physical action. I just ask myself if I'm dreaming, and look around me with a critical eye, see if everything is consistent, look for oddities, and what not.
I figure when I'm awake, I always *know* I'm not dreaming (like I have some sort of sense for it), but when I'm dreaming, I'm often not sure. So, with that knowledge, my reality check is simply: unless I know for certain I'm not dreaming, I *am* dreaming :)
I guess though in your case, perhaps you could opt for two different types of reality check? One which you usually do and one in case of being in public? The most important thing after all is to ask yourself whether or not you're dreaming, right? Not the actual type of check.
Just my 2 cents,
-Redrivertears-
Yeah you don't have to sit there and hold your nose or try to stick your finger through your palm or anything. Just observe your surroundings and decide whether or not your dreaming, and be able to have an explanation for your decision.
I do that awareness check but if i see a oddity sometimes i automatically become lucid but sometimes i require a reality check. I know there are other reality checks i can do but i don't want to change them. And yes i do feel like an idiot doing a reality check when people are watching because in Wales lucid dreaming a is very unknown agenda and people will think i am insane or something. Imagine this you are walking down the street and you see somebody trying to put their hand through their palm, and trying to fly. If i go around doing that before i know it i will locked up in a nut house.
I think i'll just stick to the awareness checks, i get enough strange looks doing those.
This is one of the reasons i have not been able to do very well with reality checks, i don't know about any of you lot but i hate looking like a complete prat in public, i remember because i was in school and i held my nose and someone asked me why i was holding my nose and i said "i was just seeing how long i could hold my breath for", i then slowly walked away lol. Its a tough one though, i think if you did a reality check within your mind and not physically it may work for you.
LS and ld master, well the point that people here are making is that you don't have to do anything physical for a reality check. I wouldn't be caught dead holding my nose in class! :P
I always do the time reality check, or the reading one. They're 100% discreet, it's not weird for you to look at your watch, or reading the name of a street
I think i should maybe try not to care what people think of me, i sometimes try my best not to be myself, well at college i doubt it would be seen as weird at all, you should see my Maths teacher, he is crazy but he is really funny, he started singing a song about windows after asking me to open one?!?!
You don't have to stand up and yell "K, everyone i'm doing an RC now!!!"
If you wnna block your nose, put your hands on your face as if you were tired and slip 2 fingers to block your nose. If you want to put your finger through your palm, cup your hands and slip one down into the other palm.
Id, you are missing out on a something that can be vital to our LD's.
Reality checking has been key to me for re-enforcing my LD's.
How do I RC in public? There are many subtle ways to learn to remind yourself that you are dreaming. Everyone has given good suggestions.
I do a lot of RC's 'secretly'. What I mean is, if I am in public, at work, home, and I want to RC. I will just use the common daily routine tasks as RC's.
Something that you do every day in front of people can become a good RC.
Heres an exercise that I use all the time, and no one around has any idea of what I'm doing. You can use any common object.
Sitting at my desk at work, I look at the phone in front of me. I open my hand in the direction of the phone and ask it to come to my hand, I visualize the phone travelling across the desk into my hand. I can feel the phone moving towards my hand. Over and over, I mentally repeat the command.
So what do you think happens when I'm dreaming and I see a phone?
It travels across the desk into my hand.
This is going to be a good LD!
I agree, try taking up some RC's that are discrete and won't bring attention to yourself...jumping is out of the question.
I have been drinking tonight and i have been doing awareness rc's all night. I just hope looking like a prat all night will pay off.
what you can do is pretend you are about to sneeze and cover your nose with your arm (MAKE SURE YOU KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN)... put your arm over your nostrils and try breathing... if you can, CONGRATS... if you cant, move your head back a bit and close your eyes (so people will know you're about to sneeze and not a psychopath).
I missed a great lucid opportunity once with a nude female crotch in my face at a restaurant. All because I was "in public" and too embarrassed to do an RC so I let the notion that I may be dreaming slip away.
But in waking life, most of my RCs are discrete and not noticeable to others.
That's what I do. If there is no one around, I'll pinch my nose to do a RC, but if there are, I'll kind of half swallow, to block my airway, and then try to breathe. The watch RC works well too. If you don't wear a watch, just use nearby text.Quote:
I guess though in your case, perhaps you could opt for two different types of reality check? One which you usually do and one in case of being in public? The most important thing after all is to ask yourself whether or not you're dreaming, right? Not the actual type of check.
Why did you tell us this? The curiosity burns. :chuckle:Quote:
Originally Posted by Oneironaught
And to those who worry about looking like a moron, don't. There are many reality checks that can be discreet. Checking the time on a digital watch, or any digital clock, is one. Reading a word or two and double checking it is another.
The "hands" reality check is very simple and requires little physical movement. Just count your fingers. Obviously, you don't want to hold your hand up to your face and look at it with fascination, but that's common sense.
When I want to try the "finger through the palm" reality check, I just make a fist. Try to push the fingers on that hand through that very palm. Or if you like, try the WILD method of trying to stick your tongue through the roof of your mouth, or through your teeth. Works for me.
And of course, you can always just ask yourself "Am I dreaming?"
Because it killed me to be so close to lucidity at a time like that then fail for such a lame reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Silvanus350
One of the main ideas behind reality checking is to get yourself to ask the question "Does this make sense?" So, if you're sitting somewhere, just ask yourself a few basic questions and see if the answers make sense:
"Where have I been?"
"Where am I going?"
"Who am I with?"
"Why am I going somewhere?"
"How did I get here?"
Stuff like that. If it doesn't add up, then you can use a physical RC to conform whether or not you're dreaming. Looking at a watch a couple of times is another good RC. People just think you're looking at the time. If there's a drastic change, you're probably dreaming.
Haha! I think a lot of people have a slight reluctancy to do reality checks in public. I can imagine finding it odd to see someone randomly grab their nose or poke their palm with their finger.. and it's even worse when you're in the classroom.
I only really have two personal methods of discreetly reality checking. When I want to do the nose plug reality check, I quickly grab my nostrils with my fingers, time my breathing so I can test really quick, and try to play it off as if I were rubbing my nose.. The second one - putting your finger through your palm - I usually cover my right hand with my left as if I'm going to crack my knuckles, but at the same time move my finger into a position where it'll poke into my palm..
Or there is the simple solution to do a mental reality check. Look at the clock or some warning label in your car..
My favourtie RC, one that never failed me, is tryng to stick my hand through a wall. Or by lack of a wall another solid object.
No one will notice you doing something odd when you just poke your hand into a wall or object. It can be seen as a spontanious act.
Another thing I'm blessed with is simply not caring what people may or may not think of me. KI do my thing independant of the opin ions and judgements of others cause they don't impress me. You should give that state of mind a try; It means alot less worries and more of your attention available for things that DO really matter ;)