Thread: Reality Checks - RCs

Oh nice, I have never tried that before.

I seem to be getting at least one dream a night about work. I really REALLY gotta start RCing at work. Doing something fun. Like trying to make my boss drop his pants. Or make him fly away.

This is just so fantastic!! I'm going to think of every RC I do as practising something that i'm going to do (when i'm dreaming), something that when I get good enough will work! This has totally turned on its head my idea about RCs and the correct intention I should have.
I can't thank you enough gab! You guys here at DV are just Mind blowing.

Originally Posted by MeohMyoh

This is just so fantastic!! I'm going to think of every RC I do as practising something that i'm going to do (when i'm dreaming), something that when I get good enough will work! This has totally turned on its head my idea about RCs and the correct intention I should have.
I can't thank you enough gab! You guys here at DV are just Mind blowing.

Well thank you, meohmyoh!

And yes, RCs are something that will happen in your dream, if you do it during daytime enough and with intent and emotions. You don't have to be experienced or "good" at it for them to show up. They will happen automatically because you will tell your mind during daytime practice that they will happen when you are dreaming next time.

RCs can really be anything. You can use a classic one (nose pinch, thumb/palm, looking at hands/counting fingers). Or make your own. When you notice that your mind is not excited about your RC anymore, that's when it's time to make a new one. Something that your mind will find fun and amusing to do.

Have fun!

I have or thought I had a big problem with Reality Checks for my dreams. I realised that during most of my dreams its like a movie and I can actually see myself walking or whatever (3rd person view), sometimes its like the camera is doing crazy panning in a film which would assume I was flying to see things in that way.

So when I woke up I decided it would be better doing RC such as checking what I was doing before this point in time or what do things look like as In my
dreamscape as there seemed to be very little there no objects except the important ones.
For example in a dream where I crash into another car (this happens so frequently), all that will be there are the cars and maybe a faded outline of a road and pavement or fence but nothing else. No sky, No houses, No people unless the cars stop.
And I don't notice much colour either it won't be a red car or a blue car,just a car.

So I spent sometime thinking what my RCs should be then I went back to sleep.

Next dream I have has my daughter asking me to play a computer game. I go into the game and its now all 1st person, I can control the car and the dreamscape is all multicoloured. I can even morph the environment a bit.

I think it was a dream about lucid dreaming not a lucid dream? In the dream I think i'm in control but I think i'm possibly only dreaming that?

But the weird thing to me was that my dreamscape changed from the usual low-budget version to hollywood version with just a few thoughts.
I'm now really curious to see what my next dream will be like.

I've been told to come to a reasonable conclusion after I do rc.but somewhere in this site I've read that I'm not suppose to say that I'm not dreaming,so what sort of conclusion am I to reach exactly

Originally Posted by kabl

I've been told to come to a reasonable conclusion after I do rc.but somewhere in this site I've read that I'm not suppose to say that I'm not dreaming,so what sort of conclusion am I to reach exactly

The conclusion is - I am dreaming

Since this will transfer itself into your non lucid dreams, it's important not to tell yourself that you are awake (not dreaming). Even if you obviously are awake. Because sooner or later you will be in a dream and it will be so obvious that you are awake. But only until an urge from your daytime practice makes you RC and you count 8 fingers on one hand (or any other RC) and realize that you in fact are not awake, but dreaming.

If you have dreams with little or no objects to do RCs on, that's when it's best ro rely on the classic looking at hands, counting fingers, thumb/palm, nose pinch. Simply because those things are always there.

And if you worry that you have never seen your hands in a dream before, don't worry. To do an RC in a regular dream will come as an urge. You don't decide on doing it or not doing it, or which one. It will just happen, because your daytime training gives you a bit of awareness and this urge to RC.

The awareness and the RC will happen so close to each other, that it's hard to say sometimes which came first. But it's awareness then RC. We become aware (lucid) and RC will then confirm to us that yes indeed we are lucid.

Also it's best to practice more than one RC. At least 2, but more is even better. So you can pick one of each. 1 classic, one with another object and maybe one that you invented.

To your last part:
It's possible to not have control in a lucid dream. It's also possible to have control in non-lucid. And anything in between. Including dreaming about being lucid but not really being lucid. Or having lucid dream elements in a non-lucid dream.

That is a legit list you came up with. I am going to start doing these RC's. Thanks!

question to gab about rc's, although i did this before, but i returned to practicing ld after little more than 3 years.

Well first of all, i was not good at rc's ,i mean it was a pain in the ass to imagine 6-7 times a day: this is a dream.I ended up quitting rc's after a couple days, but i wanna give it another try after years
i found i less irritating form ,but the concept is the same i think, so the question is, is this also can work?

-for eg. i am in the kitchen and eating.I imagine that i just ended up here from nowhere,(how it happens all the time in my regular dreams, im in the middle of a story and a scene out from nowhere)
So imagine that: i catch myself ended up here from nowhere and than i asked myself, how i ended up here?and trying to remember what was i doing before this, and where i came from.
But becouse i know the answeres is still required to imagine this is only a dream?this is not so clear, although im not very new to lucid. i kind of avoided those times the rcs, instead i did the ada(ok rcs about awerness too) and meditation, mantras etc
but i will practice the rcs but i cant understand clearly, why is searching for the answeres(how i ended up here, where was i 10 minutes before) if u stay in the conclusion that this is a dream although u knew the answeres.

and you do the finger through the palm, fail ,coz u are awake, but u still need to imagine this is a dream?this is wierd for me.

ok,let me to rewrite my question, to make it more simple
if i have to imagine (in waking life, while i questioning for eg. my previous location,what was i do etc) this is a dream, wouldnt be its more logical that, just pretend i cant find the answeres(since this is a dream) instead of FINDING the answeres?Thats it, i think u know how i mean.

Originally Posted by itsok

...

-for eg. i am in the kitchen and eating.I imagine that i just ended up here from nowhere,(how it happens all the time in my regular dreams, im in the middle of a story and a scene out from nowhere)
So imagine that: i catch myself ended up here from nowhere and than i asked myself, how i ended up here?and trying to remember what was i doing before this, and where i came from.

Yes that works. This is to enhance your daytime memory and also memory in dreams.

...why is searching for the answeres(how i ended up here, where was i 10 minutes before) if u stay in the conclusion that this is a dream although u knew the answeres.

Because in a dream we come to conclusion that we are awake. But we need to come to conclusion that we are DREAMING. And that will happen only if during your daytime practice you will believe that you are dreaming, or that you could be.

and you do the finger through the palm, fail ,coz u are awake, but u still need to imagine this is a dream?this is wierd for me.

It may be weird, but it works. Btw there are cultures that believe our dream world is the real one, and the waking life is just a dream. If you find that intriguing, even if you don't believe it to be true, think "omg what if..."

Btw this will be much more easier to do after your first lucid. When after you are 100% sure that you are awake, but you will get an idea that you are dreaming and you RC because of your practice and you will realize that omg you are dreaming! Even if you were just a second ago 100% sure you are awake.

ok,let me to rewrite my question, to make it more simple
if i have to imagine (in waking life, while i questioning for eg. my previous location,what was i do etc) this is a dream, wouldnt be its more logical that, just pretend i cant find the answeres(since this is a dream) instead of FINDING the answeres?Thats it, i think u know how i mean.

What we think and believe is what will happen. If you believe that you don't know the answer, they you will not know the answer in a dream. If you believe that you are awake, then same thing you will believe in your dream.

It's fair, but your last sentence has driven me to another question.

""What we think and believe is what will happen. If you believe that you don't know the answer, they you will not know the answer in a dream. ""

But this should makes me lucid, or im i not right?I mean if i cant find the answeres in the dream, that is the chance to makes me lucid.
Since i started again the rcs(3days) i always found the answeres in my waking life reality checks.So this will happen is this habit appear in my dream?I thought i will really searching for the answeres, and since i will be in my dream state, i wont find them.(and this is makes me lucid)
So should i pretend/believe while i do the (waking) reality checks, that i can not find any answeres about my previous locations and activities?

(ps i've had my very first ld in my life, when i didnt even know the lucid dream exists. it was about twenty years ago when i was 13.I can remember it perfectly.it was after i played basketball all day long with my friends, and produced a very succesfully wild, i couldnt think anythink else for a week, i didnt really understand what was that, and pretty much happened the same recently, except i already knew what is ld.
But i havent had any dilds, ever )
so wild 2
dild 0
pretty wierd stat

You mention the habit of RCing. Yes, the point is to transfer a habit from daytime practice into a regular dream. Habit is the RC, but more importantly is the state of mind. It's the belief, that yes, you are dreaming.

http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/13212...ods-dilds.html

Im not gonna lie i've red about lucid dreaming a LOT, not just these days , but when i found the ld is exist(about 2010 or 2011)
i cant describe with words and numbers how much i've red.Not just here, but everywhere on the internet, even books.

Im pretty sure ive red even what you linked

So i wanna ask u to answere this question: when i do my waking rc and questioning my previous location(s) and activitie(s), should i imagine/pretend to not knowing the answeres?Or should i finding them?

Originally Posted by itsok

So i wanna ask u to answere this question: when i do my waking rc and questioning my previous location(s) and activitie(s), should i imagine/pretend to not knowing the answeres?Or should i finding them?

This is actually 2 different items.

1. Awareness
2. Transfer activity from daytime to a dream

1. We do this excercise of trying to remember backwards what did we do minute ago and before that, and how did we arrive to where we are at that moment to get better awareness.

I'm sure many of us are going through our days like on autopilot, like a zombie. We drive to work, but do we notice things around us? What cars are next to us, the stores on the street, pedestrians? Or do we just have a tunnel vision, focusing only on narrow field of vision, not really caring about anything more.

Then that's how our dreams and lucids will be. Foggy, low lucidity, and we can't stay lucid for a long time.

If during your daytime practice you come to conclusion (find the answer) that 5 min ago you arrived home and before that you were driving home and before that... Then in a dream you will come to conclusion that 5 min ago you were going to bed so now you must be asleep.

But if you don't find an answer during day, you will not find any answers during night as well and you will just continue with your non-lucid.


2. When we RC during day and think "I am dreaming", this will start happening in our non-lucids and it will urge us to RC and we get lucid.

The only thing we "pretend" or "fake" is the realization that we are dreaming at that moment during daytime practice. But after your first LD, when you realize you are dreaming even if just a minute ago you KNEW you are awake, it will no longer be fake. Because you will remember that no matter how sure you are you are awake, it only lasts till you RC and you realize you are dreaming. At that can happen at any time. Even right now.

Thanks it seems i do it in the right way.
One last question: What do u think about the idea: you looking dream- like pictures during the day?(it is a lot easyer to imagine and believe u are really dreaming now)

It shouldn't be so hard to psych yourself up over something very very cool, even if it's unlikely to happen. Like Omg, what if I was picked to be an astronaut going to colonize Mars, or what if I won the lottery, all the cool things I could buy and do, or what if [insert your fantasy here]. We all do this, it's called day dreaming. And the possibility of you being asleep and dreaming at this very moment is higher than winning the lottery. I don't want this to come out rude, but "just do it".

http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/13212...ods-dilds.html

During day, pause what you doing and ask yourself a question "Wow, am I dreaming?" that jolts your attention and makes you stop doing whatever you doing. For a moment, entertain the idea, that you are sure this is a dream or false awakening and feel the excitement in the pit of your stomach. Just pretend, that you have had a lucid dream before that was indistinguishable from waking reality, so this moment could also be a dream and you don't know for sure until you RC. Really consider the answer. Don't just automatically answer "Of course I'm not".

it was very helpful, also red the linked topic.Love the #5RC.

BTW i had a dream about my work mate, and he has told me about his tech to constantly have lucids
And i did NOT perform an RC in this regular dream
it was so annoying when i woke up..

i'll keep doing the wl rc's.

If we RCed without any help in non-lucids everytime when something strange happens, we would be lucid non-stop. But no matter how strange our dreams are, we take them as normal.

That's why we need to train our mind to RC. Either at certain events, or at random, or anytime when our mind remembers the "omg I'm dreaming" feeling that we attach to our RCs during practice.

This is a lot of great information and all your other threads about lucid dreaming and techniques. Really helpful and must have taken some time to write all this. Well done

When doing the RC by asking yourself "am I dreaming " and then pulling my hand infront of me and looking at it in a way to see if something is different to it... What am I better of saying as mantra while looking at it?

"I am dreaming "
Or
"The next time I dream I will know I am dreaming"?
And what am I suppose to pretend to feel while saying one of those mantra and looking at my hand?

Originally Posted by mangadesuyo

When doing the RC by asking yourself "am I dreaming " and then pulling my hand infront of me and looking at it in a way to see if something is different to it... What am I better of saying as mantra while looking at it?

"I am dreaming "
Or
"The next time I dream I will know I am dreaming"?
And what am I suppose to pretend to feel while saying one of those mantra and looking at my hand?

While doing any RC, best is to set your intent that next time you are in a dream, you will RC and realize you are dreaming. The words are less important than what your message to your brain is. So you can use whichever language and words make most sense to you and they excite you and you believe (you KNOW) that they do work.

And while you RC during day, you should feel that you could be dreaming at that very moment. Then when in a dream, you will suddenly feel like you could be dreaming and you will automatically do your RC and that helps you realize you are lucid. At that time you will already be a bit aware, but many nead this extra push by RC to "realize" it.

I'm spending more time on dreamviews getting ready for the competition in less than two weeks time. I also have neglected my dreaming practice. RCs are so important for me but the depth and intention within my RCs is less than it could be. I need this extra curiosity in order to luicd more regularly. I do not question anything. I just presume either my mind is right or doesn't matter therefore I have control in my dreams but they are not lucid at all as I have attachment to myself. So my question is how can I develop that balanced sense of open curiosity? I think I have got so use to the world the way it is that I just presume I know everything and it is either there or it is not and not the in between balance.

Hello, Gab.

Is it possible to act reality checks on emotions?for example if you was feeling a certain feeling you could do RC? So if the RC is based of an emotion then when your dreaming and you feel that certain emotion could you possible become lucid?

Originally Posted by JoshMcNaught

Hello, Gab.

Is it possible to act reality checks on emotions?for example if you was feeling a certain feeling you could do RC? So if the RC is based of an emotion then when your dreaming and you feel that certain emotion could you possible become lucid?

YES!!!

EMOTIONS are far more important to reality checks than physical act of doing a reality check. Counting fingers, pushing thumb through palm are only a vehicle, something we can attach our emotions to.

That's why many people report that they got lucid and they didn't even need to do a RC. That's because the emotions (OMG I am dreaming) gives us a hint of awareness in a non-lucid dream and by then most of us knows we are dreaming. But from practicing the RCs - we get an urge to RC - thumb/nose/fingers... and that confirms our lucidity.

So those that claim "I got lucid out of nowhere, didn't even need to RC and that proves RCs are not needed" don't realize, that emotions got them lucid. And they didn't need anything to confirm. But most of us do need some kind of a confirmation.

Originally Posted by gab

e get an urge to RC - thumb/nose/fingers... and that confirms our lucidity.

So those that claim "I got lucid out of nowhere, didn't even need to RC and that proves RCs are not needed" don't realize, that emotions got them lucid. And they didn't need anything to confirm. But most of us do need some kind of a confirmation.

Yeah, most who claim "I got lucid out of nowhere" are ignoring the compound effects over time of intention, expectation, day work, night work, attention, reflection, memory, awareness, etc. It's true, RC's don't get you lucid, awareness/reflection/memory gets you lucid. RCs though are a critical tool to cement budding lucidity, and practicing them while awake means you'll be ready to reach for an RC during a moment of lucidity in a dream.