Common Reality Checks:
Written by Shift
Memory Check
This is THE MOST IMPORTANT RC, that should really reflect your suspicious state of mind when you suspect you are dreaming. The memory check is a review of your recent memory. Where are you? How did you get there. Do you remember getting there? Do you remember the trip? Who are you with, and should you be with them? Does it make sense that you are with them in this situation? Do you remember meeting them, or planning to meet them? How did you end up in the situation?
This can be a tricky reality check, but for the most part is one of the most critical thought processes that you should be going through to learn to lucid dream. Simply learning to ask yourself these important questions can cause you to become lucid without any further reality checking.One downfall to this reality check is that, in cases of false awakenings where you wake up in your own bedroom, it will fail. All memories will suggest that you were just dreaming, but are now awake, in waking life, laying in your bed. Unless there is something very unusual about your environment, chances are you will not catch it. Because of this, especially for those who have FAs frequently, other reality checks should
always be used to compliment this one.
No one knows for sure why text in dreams can be so unstable, but whatever the reason it serves as a very handy way to reality check. Text can be wavy, blurry, illegible, be in characters you are not familiar with, say things that don't make sense,
and it has a habit of changing what it says when you look away. Because of this, to reality check you can look at any body of text and just give it a quick read-over. It may appear normal at first glance, which is why this reality check should always take a bit longer than other RCs. Make sure to look at text, look away from it, and then look back. If it still hasn't changed, try glancing away and then back at the text a third time to see if it has changed. While looking back at the text, imagine that it says something different than what it did the first time you looked at it.
In addition to reading, writing text in dreams can often have the same problems. Trying to write, then reading what you've written (if you were able to write) is another way to do this reality check.
Just like reading text, numbers themselves also have problems remaining stable in dreams. This is yet another convenient reality check, because people frequently look at their watches and human society usually has the time plastered all over the place. Whenever you feel the need to reality check, check up on the time. What time is it? Is it supposed to be that time? Do the hours make sense, and are the minutes below 59? Make sure to look away and then look back, expecting the time to change (you can think of it like a timer to convince yourself it should be changing).
Any numbers can be used, it does not have to be the face of a watch, but a watch is a very helpful way to conduct this reality check, especially for those who want to do reality checks as inconspicuously as possible, since people are usually glancing at the time anyway. Make sure that you are using a digital clock or watch, because an analog clock without numbers will not work. You can also make sure to ask yourself, 'Am I even
wearing my watch?' If you are, check the time. If you are not, ask yourself why not.
This is also a fun check, because every so often a minute will end as you are glancing away, and you will notice the time has changed on you! This should spark even more intense reality check efforts ;)
Sometimes in dreams, mechanical and electronic devices will fail to work properly, working improperly or not at all. One of the most commonly spoken of is the light switch or lamp. Attempting to turn on a light can fail or cause a lightbulb to blow out, failing to change the illumination level of a room. Switching a light switch, or using a computer or phone or other things of this nature are good tests, especially with more complicated devices. Many also use text, so you can do a 2-in-1 while using the device and RCing to any text.
One of the most popular things to do in a lucid dream is to fly, and this reality check incorporates the ability to fly while
also getting you on your way into the clouds if you
are dreaming. To do this reality check, simply try to float from where you are up into the air, or try to jump. Your body will begin to float if you imagine yourself gently lifting upward; if you jump, the absence of gravity will cause you to float back down to the ground, rather than landing as you would in real life.
Very often, hands will appear to look strange in dreams. They may appear wavy, hazy, even discolored. They may even appear reversed (your right palm would have its thumb on the left side, rather than the right). Very, very commonly in dreams, the number of fingers on a hand will not add up. You may find your hand to have six, or seven, or more fingers, or even only two. When doing this RC, make sure to very carefully pause and inspect your hands, carefully counting the number of fingers.
This reality check relies on the fact that, though you have hands in dreams, they are not real and do not exist. They are just images you are perceiving, and have no solid form. Because of this, they can push through other objects, and other objects can push through them. To do a finger-through-hand (aka hand-in-hand) RC, take the finger of one hand and push it into the palm of the other hand. Visualize the finger tip coming out the back of your hand, while telling yourself 'this is a dream, my hands do not exist.' If you are dreaming, the finger will pop out the other side of your hand.
The purpose of the Nose Pinch reality check is to completely block your airways, yet continue to breathe and not begin suffocating. This is because, for the most part, your body is managing your breathing while you sleep. In a lucid dream pinching or plugging your nose, just as you would in a swimming pool, is pinching a nose that doesn't really exist. Your real nose is still wide open and air is passing through it. Despite pinching your dream nose, you will continue to breathe in real life, and you will still be able to breath in the dream since your mind will be able to provide you with or emulate the feeling of breathing deeply. To do this RC, simply pinch your nose completely so that you cannot breathe through it and close your mouth. Try to inhale through your nose.
An adaptation on this RC is to close your throat from the inside, blocking your airway, and then attempting to inhale. You will not have to use your hands at all, and can do it without any visible signs that you are doing anything out of the ordinary, so this is also a better RC for those who wish to conduct them in an inconspicuous manner.
There are many other less common reality checks that people have come up with over the years. Reality checks are just ways to test which reality you are in, so anything that is different in the dream world from the real world can act as a reality check. You can make up your own, if there is something in your dreams that frequently shows you are dreaming.
Alternative RCs:
Ask yourself "How did I get here?"
Ask yourself "Did I put these clothes on?"
Look into a mirror. Who are you?
Try to 'phase' through objects- like the finger through palm, but with any objects,
ex: your entire arm into a wall or desk.
