Thread: Reality Checks - RCs

Thanks for the awesome tutorial Gab!

I just had a couple novice questions:

How do I get past the feeling of "I am definitely awake" in WL? I have been trying to do at least 5-10 RCs every day for the past four weeks or so, and I try to be aware as possible when I am doing them, but I always get the feeling that I am definitely awake. I want to get rid of this mindset because I know that it will carry over into my dreams, but I don't know how to fight my brain saying "This is so real, it can't possibly be a dream". Even when I tell myself that I might be dreaming, I don't feel like I am really believing it, and because of this, I feel less excited about doing a RC.

Also, how do I know that I have come to a logical conclusion in a RC if I do not acknowledge whether or not I am dreaming? For example, what I have been doing in the past is, after finishing a RC I would say to myself "OK because I understand where I am, how I got here, what I'm doing, etc., and because the RCs did this, I must not be dreaming". If I should not acknowledge that I am not dreaming, how do I prove to myself that I have collected enough evidence one way or another to finish the RC? And does this mean that I should not acknowledge that the specific reality tests I performed failed?

Originally Posted by dreamingnow

How do I get past the feeling of "I am definitely awake" in WL?

Build high levels dream recall, dream awareness (meaning, awareness *of* your dreams, realizing you do dream, a lot, every night, etc.), and acquire a few hundreds/thousands of non-lucid dreams in your DJ (doesn't take all that long with 5+ dreams recalled per night). Particularly, vivid dreams where you feel truly present in the moment and entirely "awake." The ones where you wake up and think to yourself in amazement, "Wait, you mean, *that* was a dream!?!?" Do this and you will deeply acquire the gut realization that any conscious moment could be actually taking place in the dream state. Somewhere around 11% of our conscious experiences take place in the dream state, so that's a pretty good chance!

Also, how do I know that I have come to a logical conclusion in a RC if I do not acknowledge whether or not I am dreaming? For example, what I have been doing in the past is, after finishing a RC I would say to myself "OK because I understand where I am, how I got here, what I'm doing, etc., and because the RCs did this, I must not be dreaming". If I should not acknowledge that I am not dreaming, how do I prove to myself that I have collected enough evidence one way or another to finish the RC? And does this mean that I should not acknowledge that the specific reality tests I performed failed?

It depends I suppose on the particulars of your RC(s). With nose pinch in a dream, it is so obvious to me the particular feeling I get, like my internal breathing apparatus is disconnected from my physical body. Also note that you may get lucid without ever doing RCs. RCs are helpful to cement budding lucidity in a dream, but sometimes you just get lucid without needing to do a RC. This comes from building familiarity with the dream state as compared to the waking, and something in your internal "spidey sense" just tells you that this is the dream state.

I think Gab's point is really to avoid forming and dwelling upon the "I am not dreaming" conclusion, because this thought can prevent lucidity. Sure, some little part of you knows this, but you want to avoid forming this complete thought and dwelling on it. Rather, redirect your thoughts to something like (this is what I do), "Hmm, well, I *will* be dreaming TONIGHT! And I'll get lucid!"

Something else I like to do from time to time is "fake" a RC. Like, do nose pinch, but intentionally "miss" my nose so that I can breathe, and then pretend that I am getting lucid in a dream. If this happens in a dream, all the better. And it lets you get some practice in experiencing the thought of "Yes, I am dreaming!" and hopefully build this thought into your dreaming mind.

If you get a RC result that indicates "not dreaming," it's good to slow down, and reeeeeeaallly concentrate on it. Do several different RCs, carefully and thoughtfully. The worst thing is doing an RC in the dream state quickly and ignoring the result. Doing RCs slowly and carefully is the best way to prevent that.

Trust me, once you get lucid (and you WILL! probably very soon!), a lot of the mystery will become clear. It just takes time and experience with the dream state.

Thanks FryingMan! This has given me a new perspective on RCs!

I have been trying to do at least 10 RCs per day, and for the past couple weeks I have done an average of 7-10 each day, with 5 being the bare minimum. Is this enough to improve my awareness, or should I be doing more? I want to make sure I am doing as many as I can, but I am also trying to be very careful to make sure that I don't start to get tired of RCs as a chore that I "have" to do.

I tend to believe that it is quality and time spent on reflective moments rather than the absolute # of RCs that you do that makes the most difference. Remember that an RC comes about as a combination of already heightened awareness ("something's not right/odd/weird") together with memory ("I want to recognize the dream state and doing RCs is a way to help me to do that"). I recommend trying to hold heightened critical/self awareness for as long as possible throughout the day. If someone's doing "fire and forget" RCs that take a second or two, I think 5, 10, or 100 per day won't make much of a difference since that person is continuing to exist in a non-reflective auto-pilot state.

But if you're taking a solid minute or more to slow down, stop, consider your surroundings/thoughts/emotions with honest critical reflection, recall your last 10-15 minutes, remember your goal to notice the dream state and set solid intention to do similar reflection in your dreams in order to get lucid, and then do a solid RC or two with full attention, even 2-3 of these moments during the day is better than 10 or 100 "fire and forget" RCs. Of course, the more these proper reflective/awareness/memory moments you have, the better ,and the longer you can maintain this reflective mindset throughout the day the better. Enjoy the process and build it slowly over time so that it doesn't feel like a chore, so that you rejoice every time you remember to hold these moments. Because every single one of these moments is a moment of lucidity! You're doing nothing less than transforming yourself into a lucid person!

Thank you! So, after I finish the RCs, how should I work on maintaining that mindset? Is that just thinking about my surroundings and about LDing?

Everyone needs to find what works for them. The way I frame it for myself (I discuss it more here) is:

Strive to:
Pay attention to all your experiences
Reflect upon your experiences (are they dreamlike?)
Practice recalling your experiences, (and remember your goals to be lucid in dreams)
Do this both day and night

You just start doing this more and more. Once you start getting used to the feeling of being tuned in, and aware of your present experience (and of your awareness!), the feeling of being on auto-pilot (not paying attention, reacting and not reflecting) becomes more and more obvious. You'll start catching yourself more and more having fallen into that mind-less state.

Some excellent and very approachable books to read on the subject of mindfulness are:
"Mindfulness In plain English"
and
"Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life"

These discuss primarily building attention and focus (and somewhat about reflection, but for different goals)

Since these are not LD books, you need to add in elements needed for LDing, which as I said are reflection about your state, and memory (of goals, of dreaming, of your experiences).

I did not work check the nose shut and breathe. I can not breathe during sleep with a closed nose. I almost choked.
У меня не сработала проверка закрой нос и подыши. Я не могу во сне дышать с закрытым носом. Чуть не задохнулся.

The three RCs I use are pushing my fingers through my hand, then counting my fingers, then trying to breath through my nose. Not going to lie, these RCs are a little bit boring to me now. Should I change one or all at all to make it more exciting to do them? I always liked the idea of trying to change a color of an object around me. Should I for example do that instead of counting my fingers?

pushing my fingers through my hand, then counting my fingers -works
then trying to breath through my nose - not works

I'm late for this, but maybe you'll still find this helpful. . . .

Originally Posted by dreamingnow

Thank you! So, after I finish the RCs, how should I work on maintaining that mindset? Is that just thinking about my surroundings and about LDing?

I figured I'd give some two-cents to some of the questions you asked. FryingMan's explanations are excellent--there are just two more things I can think of that also might help you.

The first is that I suggest actually creating your own reality check, instead of just relying on the more common ones. What I personally do is that I imagine something to be behind me in my mind's eye (e.g., a purple door, myself, an angel, etc.) while fully expecting it to be there, turn around, and if it's there--well, I'm not awake, but if it isn't there then I'm probably awake. You can also see others' personalized RCs in this thread and on this site in general.

FryingMan said that they don't think that the number of RCs a person does is as important as self-awareness, and I agree! You asked how you might be able to get rid of the "I'm definitely awake" idea in the waking world, and I have something for that. Consider this: every night you go to bed, you are convinced that you're awake. Every single time (unless you're lucid, of course). Meditate on that for at least thirty minutes or longer. Let it really sink in: when you're asleep, you "know" you're awake--and when you're awake, you "know" you're awake.

Once you've really become accustomed to that thought--that you really might be sleeping right this moment--it will be much easier to hold that mindset.

Could someone give me some more examples of things to look for to remind me to do reality checks?

You could use things which you think are common to your dreams, like dream signs (specific people, situations, places or anything you think crops up often etc.), you could also use arbitrary things which are not necessarily exclusive to dreams, but also present in reality (like going into buildings, trees, a particular animal, colour, object etc.). You can create set-times to do them also, like everytime you have dinner, get into your car, enter the workplace, when you wake up etc. or you could also use an app or an alarm to sound throughout the day to remind you to. You can pretty much create any type of reminder.

Reminders are cool, but even better is to RC without any reminders. Ofc you can start with the help and they may just start showing in your dreams. But random time RC is cool too, since it doesn't rely on anything specific other than your "omg this is crazy, this could be a dream".

Thank you for in-depth guide mate. Appreciate it

Originally Posted by Jaywlkrr

Thank you for in-depth guide mate. Appreciate it

You are welcome, mate

One check that never fails me is counting my fingers. I always have the wrong number of fingers when I'm dreaming. :p I also do a couple of other checks, but they are not as consistent as the counting fingers one.

When I do the checks when I'm awake, I usually ask myself: "Am I dreaming?" "Why am I not dreaming?" "How can I know for certain that I'm awake?".

One of my most common Dream Signs is trying to find a bathroom and being interrupted. Usually there’s other people present or there’s something wrong with the toilet like a missing door or no lock etc. I’ve tried many toilet-related RC’s in the past, but I think I’ve come up with one that might work (provided I remember to do it!)...

I’ve decided to sing a song each time I head to the loo. Music gets stuck in my head easily and I believe I’m more likely to remember to sing a song than repeat a mantra. Soooooo... (its subject to change) it’s going to go something like this:

“I need to pee
Is anyone stopping me? (At that point I look around)
Does the loo look right?
Is the seat the right height?
Can I lock the door behind me?”

Has anyone else tried something like this? I’d love to know if it worked for you.

@Finny, I definitely think this will work. I have had success with dream signs and love this idea of making the "mantra" a song. From my experience, the strongest results come from working with your dream signs during WBTBs or even mini-WBTBs, but can also be helpful when first going to bed. If you use this song consistently IWL and when laying in bed, I fully expect to see that this has worked for you.

Nice idea!

I hadn’t thought about using the song before bed! That’s a great idea!
I’m not sure if it would work during WBTB as I usually pee if I wake up, and my major dream Sign is going to the loo in my dream... so if I don’t feel the need to pee, there’s no dream Sign.
I might be able to get it to work during WBTB if I do it early enough in the night, say around 2am... I could have a big drink of water and sing my song as I go back to sleep... It would have to be on a night when I can sleep in the next day, so tonight is probably my last chance until next weekend.

Wish me luck!

@Finny, I don't know how you feel about it but something that seems to increase the effectiveness of reality checks is getting excited about the possibility that any moment could be a lucid dream. In situations where you don't need to pee, and that is your big dream sign, then you might also consider imagining or simulating that you need to pee when doing your RCs day or night. I've simulated things like being able to float (rising up on by toes while looking at the ceiling) and also having an extra finger (holding a finger from my other hand under the other the 5 where my 6th finger usually sticks out in dreams) and imagining that it is showing I am dreaming right then and what I would do next which is often fun and makes RCs more fun.

@fogelbise: I do something just like that already. When I’m on my way to the loo during the day (or whenever I think of it) I stop walking and try to hover towards the ceiling. This works as an RC 9 out of 10 times for me! I feel the excitement... but not too much, as that excited feeling has booted me out of too many LD’s over the years!

What I need, is a similar dream sign that is just as common... time to look through my DJ methinks!

I always do the reality check randomly during the day, when I feel the need to do it, or when I get a reminder on my phone. I stop doing everything and I tell to myself "hey maybe I'm in a dream, what if I'm sleeping right now?" after that I look around trying to find something strange or abnormal, if all the surrounding seems normal I tell to myself "every thing seems normal, but this could be a very realistic dream, so realistic that is identical to the reality". At this point I do the reality check, I look at my hand, count my fingers, I try to manipulate the environment and if all of this things doesn't work I think: "apparently I'm not dreaming now, but the next time I'll do a reality check I will discover that I'm dreaming".

I think I'm doing it right, when I do a reality check I really believe that I'm dreaming, but they never appeared in my dreams. I also tried to do RC with triggers like: when I open a door, every time I look at my hand, every time I see a person with blonde hair. but even this triggers never appeared in my dreams.
I can't do it with dream sign because the only one that I found is a situation in which I'm fighting against someone or something, and IWL I never fight.

I can't understand why my reality check doesn't work, am I doing something wrong?

Hi nia02, it takes time for daytime practice and heightened daytime awareness to manifest into your dreams. While you're adding in RCs and heightened self-awareness to your waking live, also work on dream recall and dream journaling -- this helps a lot. One of the foundations of lucid dreams is great dream recall and frequently having very vivid dreams. Be patient and keep up the practice. How's your dream recall?

Another recommendation is not to formally assert "I'm not dreaming" to yourself, but rather frame the thought as "well I'll definitely be dreaming later."

For your dream signs that only occur in dreams, you can still visualize these scenarios while awake, and add in the realization that "I'm dreaming!". The more you set up this association, the more likely it is to occur in dreams.

It's important to keep a positive attitude toward dreams and dreaming, while you're working towards your first lucid dream. Celebrate and be thankful for all your dreams, including (and especially) the non-lucid ones, this will IMO help to bring the lucids sooner.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Hi nia02, it takes time for daytime practice and heightened daytime awareness to manifest into your dreams. While you're adding in RCs and heightened self-awareness to your waking live, also work on dream recall and dream journaling -- this helps a lot. One of the foundations of lucid dreams is great dream recall and frequently having very vivid dreams. Be patient and keep up the practice. How's your dream recall?

Another recommendation is not to formally assert "I'm not dreaming" to yourself, but rather frame the thought as "well I'll definitely be dreaming later."

For your dream signs that only occur in dreams, you can still visualize these scenarios while awake, and add in the realization that "I'm dreaming!". The more you set up this association, the more likely it is to occur in dreams.

It's important to keep a positive attitude toward dreams and dreaming, while you're working towards your first lucid dream. Celebrate and be thankful for all your dreams, including (and especially) the non-lucid ones, this will IMO help to bring the lucids sooner.

Hi FryingMan, thank you for your advice, I'll try to do as you say.
My dream recall at the moment is quite good, I think, every morning I remember at least two dreams, one of witch is long and very detailed, while the other is just fragments with few detail, but sometimes when it's a good night I can remember three of four dream. however I steel have a lot of work to improve my dream recall too.
I'm trying to stay positive but sometimes is hard when you see no results; but I don't want to give up I'm sure I'll make it sooner or later.