Reality Check, a bit of confusion...

[Monouk]

Ok, Ill put this bluntly. I dont know how to do a reality check. If somthing weird happens I guess you can think about it, but how do you really come to a conclusion if it did happen or not? If you were dreaming youd think you werent and go on. So if you think you werent and go on, then maybe you are dreaming. So you hafta think about that for a while. Its like theres an endless cycle of sitting there "thinking about it". But still, what is "thinking about it". I have a very 3d mind. When I think about things, I create a picture of it. Ill see somthing, and make this mental image of what I thoguht it was at a quick glance. I tried to do a check by comparing this picture to what I saw later, and it was different, thought I was dreaming, felt kinda funny, ran into a wall, got a massive headache and had to lay down for a couple minutes. And no I didnt run into the wall on pourpose. I dont entirely get how you do these things...but when I searched, I couldnt find anyone else having this problem...am I just overthinking it? Or and I not thinking it enough, in which case then I would be overthinking the underthinking. Yes, Im feeling contradictory tonite.

[Je33ica]

It's good that your analyzing it, maybe you just need to hear other people's opinions and views in order to extricate you from your confusion . I believe that when you preform reality checks when in a dream you will automatically know you are dreaming, however, on some ocasions, you may believe it is real. Therefore, you are right in a way, beginners do need to think about for a while (like myself ). And you shouldn't just preform reality checks when something weird occurs because weird things do not always occur in dreams. Sorry that you ran into the wall can't explain why you did, maybe you were just so convinced you were dreaming. Hope I helped, probibly not, what you were asking confused me I am a beginner so it may be a good idea to read the posts other people write

[Monouk]

That makes sense, I guess, but I still dont get what Im thinking about. If I think "is this real?" I always come up with some argument and never come to some conclusion...should I just know that if I can debate it with myself, that Im not dreaming? Also, since I still cant recall any dreams, Ill have no referance to doing checks in my sleep...

[dougdrums]

When I turn lucid, I just get a general feeling of "wierdness". I've noted that I get the feeling of wierdness whenever I see something unrealisticly insanly beautiful. I don't become lucid from the beauty, but from the wierdness. It's hard to explain, especially to a new person.

[Seeker]

I am like you. I don't know if weirdness is exactly the right word... It's more like a sense of awe. You are in awe of what is going on.

[Dream-Master]

Reality check does mean that you just ask yourself if you are dreaming. You actually check for the nature of dreams. What is the one feature of dreams that is different from reality? Their everchanging nature and dynamics. The fluidity of dreams makes the dream scenario change constantly, and that should tip you off that you are dreaming when you do the relality check. For instance, look at a builidng, close your eyes for two seconds, then open them again. In a dream, the builidng will have changed in that time, while not in real life. Read a sign or a sentence, look away, then read it again. did it change? It will in a dream. Running into a wall to do a reality check will not work. No difference here between real life and a dream. Your head will hurt. You can also spin with your eyes close and then check for major differences in the dream landscape. This is the tipe of thing you should engage in when you do reality check in waking life. Don't just ask yourself if you are dreaming but actually carry out the exercises I have indicated.

[Monouk]

So I should do a few things a couple times and see if they are different to make sure they are the same. That seems doable. And I didnt mean to hit the wall I cant quite tell what you mean by this awe or weirdness, so I guess Ill stick to these checks and get what I can. Maybe you dont understand until youve felt it. Now that I can check, I just hafta figure out how to remember tha dang things...

[dougdrums]

Yeah, awe... It's not like "whoa...", it's more like "wow" (but more like in awe wow, very strung out)... wow.

[evangel]

Originally posted by Seeker It's more like a sense of awe. You are in awe of what is going on. That's a great way of describing it. Some people might use the word deja vu, but that doesn't really nail it down. As far as reality checks go, they usually only work for me if they are "extremely" weird -as in "this could not happen in reality... this is followed by a subtle awareness of my physical body while my mind remains in the dream state (many people simply wake up at this point, I think, because they try to make themselves aware of their physical body, and in doing so, they pull themselves awake somehow).