Reality Checks - RCs

REALITY CHECKS

A reality check is a common tool used by dreamers practicing all techniques, but mostly DILD. They are practiced during the day, either spontaneously, or with help of some reminder.

Why do I need to do a reality check?

1. Repetitive action of checking reality will start happening in regular dreams.
2. Heightened awareness during practice helps gain awareness in regular dream.
3. Once having awareness, it confirms lucidity.

How to do a reality check?

RC starts with an awareness question, something like "Wow, am I dreaming?" (When I ask this, I personally do believe that I'm dreaming. But even if you don't, do not ever think to yourself "Of course I'm definitely awake". If you believe that you are awake, then you will have same thoughts in your dream and you will not get lucid.)

Examine the nature of your current world. Analyze if you feel strange and if the visual field looks normal. Check your cognitive function. Ask yourself "Do I remember things from earlier in this day?" "Do I actually know what day this is and if I should really be here?" "How did I get here, what was I doing 2 hrs ago?"

Examine your surroundings and try to compare what you see with how you remember it should look like.

Do a Reality check and fully expect it to work. Then you say your mantra. I use "Next time I'm dreaming, I realize I'm dreaming".

Since it's not really the RC that will get you lucid, but the awareness question and questioning of your reality, it's very important that you believe you are dreaming and that your RC will work.

Important: Even if you come to the conclusion that you are not dreaming, don't acknowledge it. Don't say/think "I'm not dreaming". Instead, say a mantra "Next time I'm dreaming, I realize I'm dreaming", or "Next time I RC, I realize I'm dreaming." Otherwise, you may RC in your dream and out of habit you will acknowledge that you are not dreaming.

How often should I do a reality check?

You can RC every time you remember to do so. Or if you hear/see a reminder that you set.
It can be a few times an hour to few times a day. In general, the more you do it, the better—as long as you don't do them mindlessly or as a routine chore, without paying attention to the real point of doing RCs which is questioning your reality and expecting to be in a dream.

Different Reality Checks

It's always best to practice at least 2-3 RCs at the same time.
Some of the best RCs based on ease of practice in a dream and success rate:

1. Looking at hands + Counting fingers Or without counting fingers - Very reliable
2. Nose plug - Very reliable
3. Thumb/palm - Very reliable
4. Gravity - Very reliable
5. Try to change something - Very reliable
6. Switches - Less reliable
7. Reading - Less reliable
8. Make your own


1. In Waking Life (IWL) Look at your hands, palms up and notice details. Count your fingers. Do they look normal (color, shape, size, can you make your finger longer?) Do you have the right amount? Don't expect to count 10 fingers. Don't expect them to be normal.
This is a good RC because your hands are always there, IWL and in a dream, and you can practice this discreetly.

2. IWL - pinch your nose shut with your hand and try to breathe. Fully expect to be able to breathe. If you can breathe, you are in a dream. Also a good RC because your nose is always there, little less discreet to practice.

3. IWL - Try to gently push your thumb through a palm of your other hand. Pay attention to the sensation. Anticipate that it will go through. In the dream, do the same. If it goes through, you are dreaming. Good RC also because you don't have to go and look for them and quite discreet to practice.

4. IWL - Say, "If this was a dream, I could levitate" and expect to float up. Gently push off and expect to start rising up. Do the same in a dream. Good RC, you can do it anywhere and totally discreet.

5. IWL - look at something and try to change it. Say "if this was a dream, that [something] would be [something else]. You can think of an item being some other item, or try to change color, size, movement... It's fun and it transfers into your dream very well. Don't forget to use emotions when doing it - be sure you are in a dream, so the thing will change. If you have a dream goal, like summoning something, you can try to do that, as if you were in a dream.

6. Try to turn on a light switch. In a dream, flipping a switch may/may not work. But people do report that they can turn on lights in a dream. And if there is no light switch near in a dream, you would have to look for one and waste your time.

7. Try to read. In a dream, you can read, but when you take a second look, it will say something different, or gibberish. Also time on a clock may have letters instead of numbers. But it can also look correct. And you have to find a clock in a dream before you can do RC.

8. Make your own. You can make pretty much anything into RC. Just make sure you preceed it with an awareness question and you genuinely believe you are dreaming. For example if you wear glasses, articles of clothing, how far can you throw something, try to summon something or make it walk through the door. If you have something that you only see in your dream, like a dream watch (BrandonBoss's RC), you can keep checking if you have that. The possibilities are endless.

If you have problems finding some item in a dream that you practiced RCs on in Waking Life, switch to something that doesn't require any external object. For example, if you RC on your bracelet, and you don't see it in your dream, that may stop you from RCing and losing your chance at becoming lucid. This is another reason why practicing 2-3 RCs is recommended. You may pick them from different categories. For example, 1 RC - [item], 2nd RC - your hands, 3rd RC - gravity.

Tools to remind yourself to RC

You don't have to limit yourself when and how and why you do RC. It is best to use all possible reasons to better your chance that some of them will work.


1. Use an activity reminder - something you do often. RC every time you:
- walk through doors
- use the restroom
- notice a specific color
- get a phone call
- get a drink
- and anything else you can think of

2. Use a physical reminder - audio or visual
- set your watch to beep every hour
- set your timer
- put some sticky notes all over your place, school books, laptop, door frame, wall above you bed, first thing you see in the morning
- put a rubber band or bracelet on your wrist
- and whatever else you can

All these are just to help you get into habit of RCing. Pretty soon you will find that you will start RCing even without them. And that's the best way to do it. Spontaneously. Whenever the feeling "OMG, what if this is a dream" strikes you.

3. Dream signs - anything that occurs often in your dreams AND in your waking life.
You RC on these in WL every time you see it, think about it or say it out loud. Then, when they show up in your dream, you are likely to RC there as well.

Side note: Sometimes you get a dream sign that is not so common in your waking life. For example, a school you used to go to years ago, friends that moved away, deceased family members, or even things from movies, like dragons, actors, or anything similar.

Obviously, if you don't see these in waking life, you can't RC on them. But, not all is lost. You can RC on photographs, even on pictures you draw or find on the internet. Also, every time when you think of the person/item/place, you can say it out loud and imagine how it looks.

4. When you notice something strange. It can be strange for real or you just pretend it is. Let's face it, our lives are not that strange, so we have to make up some stuff.
- a classmate shows up when you know he is at home sick
- you thought you still had some beer in your fridge but it's all gone
- it's lunch time, you should be hungry, but you are not
- boy/girl that has been ignoring you is suddenly talking to you
- you see or hear anything and you think to yourself "that's strange"

5. At random
-every time you get the sinking/exciting/freaky/exhilarating feeling in your stomach, that what if this was a dream and you didn't notice

Did your RC fail?

This is one of the most common questions about RCs. Why did my RC fail?

For example, you are in a dream, you get the urge to RC, or you decide to RC because you get suspicious that you could be in a dream. You RC and it doesn't work. Your thumb won't go through your palm, you can't breathe with pinched nose...

This can happen if during your waking life practice, you don't believe that your RC will do what it's suppose to do. If you think "I know I'm awake, so I know my thumb will not go through my palm". This thought will also happen in your dream. And since our dreams are ruled by our thoughts, what you say/think/believe, will happen.

And since we know that it's not really the RC that gets us lucid (although sometimes it may seem so), it is absolutely critical that we believe that we are in a dream, and that our RC will do what it's supposed to when we are practicing during day. If you are not able to believe that you are asleep, then at least be opened to idea, that you are dreaming. Have some doubts, don't be sure that you are awake.

Then, this thought "I'm dreaming and my RC works" will manifest itself in our dreams and it will get us lucid.

The truth behind "I never RC in my dream and yet I get lucid. So RCs are not needed."

You may notice that sometimes you get lucid and you didn't even do an RC. It may seem like you just got lucid out of the blue and RCs are not working, because you didn't even use it and got lucid. Important part of RC is the awareness question, when you ask yourself if you are in a dream and you truly believe that you are. So this belief may happen in your non-lucid dream, and you will suddently believe that you are in a dream. You may or may not follow that up with RC. But this realization didn't come from nothing. It came from your hard work of practicing awareness and RCs.


Conclusion

After practicing Reality Checks together with awareness and mantras, pretty soon these actions, and most importantly, feelings, will start to happen in your non-lucid dreams naturally. Awareness question and associated feeling will give you some awareness and possibly even make you lucid, and RC will either help you realize that you are lucid, or it will help you confirm it. Happy dreams.

Well put together.
This must have taken some time.

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Originally Posted by TiredPhil

Well put together.
This must have taken some time.

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Thank you, Phil. It took me 6 days. On 7th day, I rested.

Any questions, folk, here is the place to ask or comment.

Nice work, Gab -- I don't think I've ever seen a more thorough review of RC's. Clear, too... Now if you can just make it mandatory reading for all DV members, you'll be all set! ;)

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Originally Posted by Sageous

Nice work, Gab -- I don't think I've ever seen a more thorough review of RC's. Clear, too... Now if you can just make it mandatory reading for all DV members, you'll be all set! ;)

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Thank you Sageous. And thank you Dream Guides BrandonBoss, Scionox, JoannaB, Paigeyemps and mod Sivason for helping with finalizing and spellcheck.

Thanks for the write up Gab, it unlocked a key misunderstanding for me about RC's that I totally missed.

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Even if you come to the conclusion that you are not dreaming, don't acknowledge it

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much appreciated. TY

This is amazing Gab, nicely explained. Exactly the stuff I need to be doing upon coming back. Wrote a mini version of it on my phone so I can remember exactly what to do. :cheeky:

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3. Dream signs - anything that occurs often in your dreams AND in your waking life.
You RC on these in WL every time you see it, think about it or say it out loud. Then, when they show up in your dream, you are likely to RC there as well.

Side note: Sometimes you get a dream sign that is not so common in your waking life. For example, a school you used to go to years ago, friends that moved away, deceased family members, or even things from movies, like dragons, actors, or anything similar.

Obviously, if you don't see these in waking life, you can't RC on them. But, not all is lost. You can RC on photographs, even on pictures you draw or find on the internet. Also, every time when you think of the person/item/place, you can say it out loud and imagine how it looks

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Nice work Gab !

Reality checking is a very stimulating practice and the perfect introduction to LD.

I would just like to say that a very important DS i am having lately is about high school friends. As i don´t see them often in WL, i RC everytime i think about them, as you suggest, and also, as a way to RC, i try to find them in my surroundings.

What i am suggesting is that a DS may be not only a reminder to RC, but also the RC itself. For instance, in my nLDs i usually fly, but somewhat misteriously i don´t get lucid. So, i decided to try to fly as one of my RCs. And by now i have found my self flying a couple of times ;)

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Originally Posted by Kactus

Thanks for the write up Gab, it unlocked a key misunderstanding for me about RC's that I totally missed. much appreciated. TY

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Thank you, Kactus!

Yes, that's because it's your mindset what counts. Not really the RC itself, but what you think and believe while you doing it.

Finding yourself doing an RC in a dream and thinking "no, I'm not dreaming", or "yes, I'm dreaming" makes all the difference.

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Originally Posted by VagalTone

I would just like to say that a very important DS i am having lately is about high school friends. As i don´t see them often in WL, i RC everytime i think about them, as you suggest, and also, as a way to RC, i try to find them in my surroundings.

What i am suggesting is that a DS may be not only a reminder to RC, but also the RC itself. For instance, in my nLDs i usually fly, but somewhat misteriously i don´t get lucid. So, i decided to try to fly as one of my RCs. And by now i have found my self flying a couple of times ;)

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Trying ot find your high school friends in your present environment could be a great RC! And yes to flying - I use the "levitation" RC, which is just slightly different.

If you guys have your favorite or unusual RC, post it here. We would love to hear it!

my fav is reading coupled with a light switch.
these always works for me.

I have discovered, that for me, switching up my RCs helps. I don't know if my mind gets bored with same RCs after a while, or I just get so used to them, I don't really pay attention when RCing. So after a good run with certain RCs, I like to invent a new one. The more exciting and fun it is, better the likelyhood, that my mind will pay attention and "play along" with me.

Did anybody experience that? RCing more in dreams after switching to new RC?

This is great tutorial Gab! There are so many little things that it is easy to forget about. I think it would be helpful for me to read this periodically as a reminder. I also like VagalTone's way of looking at dream signs and RC's!

As to your question above. My few RC's during dreams were after I already knew I was dreaming...not sure why. But I do realize that they help with my awareness! :) Duke396 told me about an app (that I didn't find when I was first looking for one) that has truly random alerts along with other features. App is called "Awoken" for android. I quite like it and chose a tone that sounds "dreamlike" to me and so far helps me to invoke that sense of wonder Sageous talks about.

Quick story. I am walking out of the store IWL and had a close parking spot. I walked right up to my car and my key fob/remote wasn't unlocking my car or flashing the lights...gave me that dreamlike feeling of "this is strange, this should work, the battery can't be dead already!" It was an identical car to mine that was actually a few more cars down. There is no chirp or anything when I unlock.

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Originally Posted by gab

I have discovered, that for me, switching up my RCs helps. I don't know if my mind gets bored with same RCs after a while, or I just get so used to them, I don't really pay attention when RCing. So after a good run with certain RCs, I like to invent a new one. The more exciting and fun it is, better the likelyhood, that my mind will pay attention and "play along" with me.

Did anybody experience that? RCing more in dreams after switching to new RC?

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I agree switching to new RCs helps to keep and rebuild enthusiam, which plays a crucial role in RCs. I am not sure that keeping the same RC is something so desirable, because not only enthusiam may decline but also because it is the awareness habit that, perhaps, is more important and not the kind of RC itself. Indeed many people complain that they never RC in the dream, but that somehow it helps and they get lucid.

And, keeping the same reasoning in the last post, one can switch to new RCs according to one´s recent dream signs, as i did with my jump/ flying RC. By doing so, i guess i am telling my subconscious mind that i can only fly in my dreams. So, even if i don´t remember to RC in my next dreams, i may see my DS and recognize « hey, my RC is working, i am dreaming».

So, in general, if one is having a recurrent dream sign ( a dream sign is always recurrent ! ) it makes perfect sense to use it to RC and think about IWL.

Been RCing about 10 times daily for nearly two weeks now, haven't had an LD yet. I just don't have awareness in my dreams. What am I doing wrong?

^^ RC's are a step in the path to LD'ing, Giantsqu1d, not the whole walk.

Because she's much better at it, I'll leave it to Gab to fill in the details, but suffice it to say that successful LD'ing comes from a mental preparation soup that includes self-awareness, memory, and expectation as ingredients. RC's are certainly in the soup too, but the are not floating alone.

You might check out the tutorials here on MILD, DILD, and WILD, if only to get a better feel for what's involved.

Gab & VagalTone: switching it up to include floating/flying is definitely a positive for me so far! :) It simply feels fun to ponder and I feel it will help and may have already! I had been experimenting with noticing gravity's effect on me throughout the day but it is harder to maintain focus on normal gravity in reality versus a random ~hourly check in a more fun way...attempting to defy reality. I may keep the other as a long term goal to become lucid more quickly.(Hukif's idea, not mine).

[Edit: I think I have answered my own question, so no need to read all this below unless you want to...basically I know how I should proceed for now :) ]

Gab, VagalTone, Sageous, or anyone with input. I am looking for any suggestions to tweak my RC work IWL. The adjustment above translated quickly to at least the semi-lucid part of what became an LD but there are two challenges to work through that came up. Quick background: I use the "Awoken" app on android for a truly random reminder and chose a dreamlike reminder tone. Reminder comes on 14 random times in a 14 hour window between 8am-10pm. It also a separate dream clue setting to have the same sound go off during your sleep, that I have set to 6 times between 5am to 6:55am (I have heard it once during what I assume was a dream state since the sound was magnified and odd but thought I was awake at the time. This was actually the same night and was some time before I had this LD). I also RC in other situations. I am currently using a float RC and then looking at hand/counting fingers. I enjoy doing the float RC, IWL. I look up towards the ceiling or sky and simulate/visualize floating(imagining that the RC will work) and it almost feels like I am getting closer and closer to the ceiling(or zooming in the focus)...it is somewhat fun but nothing like in an LD of course. In my last LD the float RC didn't work so I went back to one I had been using regularly lately - the finger through palm - and it didn't work. This caused me to go to what I would think was semi-lucid before getting back on track by doing a 3rd one - the pinched nose breathing one - and it worked. I even did it two more times just to make sure I was truly holding my nose pinched since the first two RC's not working threw me off in the dream. DJ entry, if interested. Issue #1, RC's not confirming a dream within the dream possibly due to the way I do my RC in waking life - feels somewhat real but I know that I am not actually floating IWL and that may have translated into the dream as well. Issue #2, I always just take off flying but in this dream after confirming with the 3rd RC that I was dreaming, I intended to float and then take off flying but did not float. I rectified this by just taking off flying like I normally do without any doubt. This is the first time I was intending to fly but had trouble(trouble floating to be more accurate), since at least I was a child...though I did start the intent to fly by floating which is different than normal. I am guessing that I started this time with a float because of my float RC IWL or because I wanted to check it again since it didn't work earlier in the dream...I don't recall my thinking at that time except that I wanted to show my son's DC that I could fly.

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Originally Posted by fogelbise

... I think it would be helpful for me to read this periodically as a reminder.

...My few RC's during dreams were after I already knew I was dreaming...not sure why.

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Yes. I strongly believe, that reading and re-reading posts and tutorials is a great way to prime our mind for lucid dreaming. Especially, if while reading, you think to yourself "oh, this is good. I will do the same. It will work for me. I love this idea. I don't get how it works, but I will have leap of faith and I will do it". Even if you don't say it with these words (these were just examples), it's enough that you think it. It counts as setting your intent, even if only subconsciously.

It happend to me on numerous occasions, that while in transition to a LD, or during LD, I recalled a relevant part of a tutorial, as if I had perfect memory. I'm not sure, I would be able to recall those details in waking life, but while in a dream, I was able to.

We RC in a dream, because something reminds us to do that. Most of the time, it's awareness. And most of the time this happens, we already kinda know, we are dreaming. But we still go through with RC, because that's what we have practiced.

If we RC in a dream, but it doesn't get us lucid, that's most likely because we only practiced RCs without awareness. So we just repeat what we did during day, but same as other things we dream about, they don't get us lucid.

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Originally Posted by giantsqu1d

Been RCing about 10 times daily for nearly two weeks now, haven't had an LD yet. I just don't have awareness in my dreams. What am I doing wrong?

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It's possible, that you are doing it right. You just may need some more time for your practice to show up in your dreams.

Also, make sure, that you are practicing awareness with your RC. Those should go together, like a hamburger and french fries. "Would you like some awareness with those RCs?"

Although this tutorial provides enough info to get you started, please check out article that Sageous linked. And also his excellent WILD tutorial, especially the part about mental prep and RCs. http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/
Good luck:alien:

Another great guide, Gab. I've been doing the "looking at the hands" RC in waking life for as long as I can remember. Oddly enough I never do this in my dreams though. The idea that I may be dreaming is usually enough for me to spot a distortion in the dream space before I even look at my hands. It works indirectly.

Being that many of my non lucid dreams involve fighting for someone else with weapons or even fighting dragons (!), there is too much risk in examining my surroundings or doing a normal reality check, so in this case if I find the dream a bit too unbelievable I will usually just block my airway without using my hands; it's sort of like a nose plug but blocking the trachea instead because it seems to take less energy to do so while being physically engaged. It is useful because you can perform it quickly without taking your mind off of what you are doing.

this helps alot, thank you. great idea's, i was wondering what to do when a dragon showed up in my dream

I check if things are too heavily detailed and "normal" to be in a dream. I find dreams sort of "smoother", and more grandios, so if I see a bunch of clutter somewhere, or a wire poking out of something, etc. that I know would not be important enough for my subconscious to create in a dream, I know I am awake.

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Originally Posted by Frightlight

I check if things are too heavily detailed and "normal" to be in a dream. I find dreams sort of "smoother", and more grandios, so if I see a bunch of clutter somewhere, or a wire poking out of something, etc. that I know would not be important enough for my subconscious to create in a dream, I know I am awake.

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Hrm, great, if that works for you.

I hope I will not mess up your method here, but I have found, that in my lucids, my vision is much better than in WL. And everything is so much more "real". Colors are more vibrant and more beautiful, details are more "detailed", techtures feel exactly as they should, it's just so darn real, I could not tell just from that if I'm in a dream.

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Originally Posted by Frightlight

I check if things are too heavily detailed and "normal" to be in a dream. I find dreams sort of "smoother", and more grandios, so if I see a bunch of clutter somewhere, or a wire poking out of something, etc. that I know would not be important enough for my subconscious to create in a dream, I know I am awake.

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Of course, now you've opened the door for your unconscious to sneak some clutter and loose wires into your dreams, just to better make them more real for you. ;)

But seriously:

Like Gab, I've found the details in my dream rival or mirror waking-life as well -- especially if I take a moment to observe (or check) for them.

Also, trusting your judgement that a room is "waking-life" accurate during the dream is slightly risky, given that you must trust your addled non-lucid memory as well.

Oh, and I forgot to say, that every time I'm 100% sure I'm awake, but I check anyway, I become lucid: P

So if i have relied on my feeling, I would have missed becoming lucid.

I normally make objects move or make the light turn on and off (like Matilda :P) That seems to work well for me. If I'm thinking "Am I dreaming?" then I definitely am because I've never questioned it when I am in fact awake :P

I like to stomp my foot onto the ground. If the sensation feels unusual, then I'm dreaming.

Imagining the reality check in you mind is VITAL. I didn't do it before, but when i started doing it, the next night, i had my most realistic semi-lucid, i've had(and the first one) which lasted for like 1 - 3 minutes and had amazing physical sense(so high, that i didn't even know if that was really a dream or not, unless i didn't reality check, and still i was a bit scared that i will mess up something).

Imagining the moment when you get lucid and happy about it also helps.

You RC, pretend yo just got lucid and something weird happened. Your favorite actor/actress walks through the door, ...

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Originally Posted by gab

Your favorite actor/actress walks through the door, ...

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*looks through dream journal*

because of reasons. :3

Nice, this helped me alot.

Hi,

Usually when I do a RC, I can approach it as if I'm genuinely unsure as to whether I'm dreaming or not, however, when I attempt to do another one (maybe an hour later), I can't seem to question it in the same way as before, because I'm now fully certain it's reality due to the RC I did just an hour ago, and know that nothing has changed in that time.

Do you think there's a way to overcome this? I just find it difficult to be 'consistently unsure' as to whether I'm dreaming or not.

Thanks!

I find it to be best, if you are sure, that you could be dreaming. I mean, have this ever happen to you in a LD? You were 100% sure that you are awake, but you RCed anyway and you had 6 fingers? It happens to me all the time. I think it happens, because when I read a thread, I think to myself "wow, that may work for me, I gotta try, even if I don't think so". Then I do it, just in case. Just to be sure. And it does work. With RC, or with rolling out ot my body while WILDing...

If you think of that, it's fairly easy to believe at any moment, that you could be dreaming. But if you can't, then RCing anyway, just in case works as well.

During day, you can think "well, I could be awake, but I RC anyway". But you see, even when I think that, I still believe, that I could be asleep more, than I believe to be awake.

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Originally Posted by Eamo24

Usually when I do a RC, I can approach it as if I'm genuinely unsure as to whether I'm dreaming or not, however, when I attempt to do another one (maybe an hour later), I can't seem to question it in the same way as before, because I'm now fully certain it's reality due to the RC I did just an hour ago, and know that nothing has changed in that time.

Do you think there's a way to overcome this? I just find it difficult to be 'consistently unsure' as to whether I'm dreaming or not.

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There's no need, ever, to be genuinely unsure of whether or not you are dreaming, Eamo. That is not really the point of RC'ing. A Reality Check is simply a state test, a quick check to confirm that the place you currently occupy is not a dream. If you are practicing a solid enough RC, like looking for Gab's sixth finger, or perhaps seeing if your clock reads the same time each time you view it, then there is no reason to be sure or unsure of anything -- the test will confirm for you.

So the way to overcome this difficulty is to simply not worry about being genuinely concerned... just do the RC's when you remember to do them, and if you do them with sincerity (the only genuine thing you need do is honestly ask the question, "Is this a dream?), then that is enough. Indeed, RC's tend to work best when you are absolutely, genuinely, confidently, sure of your current state!

Oh, and if you find doing an RC within an hour of the last a bit disinegenuous, then do one every two hours! ;)

Thanks, gab & Sageous. That’s some very helpful advice!

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Originally Posted by gab

have this ever happen to you in a LD? You were 100% sure that you are awake, but you RCed anyway and you had 6 fingers? It happens to me all the time.

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It actually did, gab! I became lucid once from a RC where I was 100% convinced I was in reality. The dream itself was so normal and presented almost no oddities whatsoever; it just took a simple RC to confirm that it was in fact a dream! So yes, I’d imagine that keeping in mind the possibility that it always could be a dream when RCing would definitely make sense. ;)

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Originally Posted by Sageous

So the way to overcome this difficulty is to simply not worry about being genuinely concerned... just do the RC's when you remember to do them, and if you do them with sincerity (the only genuine thing you need do is honestly ask the question, "Is this a dream?), then that is enough. Indeed, RC's tend to work best when you are absolutely, genuinely, confidently, sure of your current state!

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Great advice, Sageous. ^^ This part really helps things.

Personally, in dreams I've only ever done RCs out of curiosity once lucid ("so what DO my dream hands look like?"), or as aids to stability once lucid ("this seems so realistic, am I really dreaming?"). For me once I even entertain the notion that I'm dreaming, I get lucid. But I still do them (nose pinch, hand check) regularly in waking life, so that they become reflexes to any dream-like situation, in addition to seriously considering my environment/state. The nose-pinch helped me keep lucidity at least once when having a very realistic LD, so it's good to do them regularly!

Hi,

I was just wondering if it would be a good idea to reality check to a change of location, e.g. when going outside, going inside, going between rooms etc.

I’ve been looking to find some arbitrary things to RC over, which might have a good chance of appearing in a dream (as dream signs are very difficult to work with), and thought that this might be a good one.

So do you think RCing to every change in location would be a good idea?

Thanks! ;)

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Originally Posted by Eamo24

Hi,

I was just wondering if it would be a good idea to reality check to a change of location, e.g. when going outside, going inside, going between rooms etc.

I’ve been looking to find some arbitrary things to RC over, which might have a good chance of appearing in a dream (as dream signs are very difficult to work with), and thought that this might be a good one.

So do you think RCing to every change in location would be a good idea?

Thanks! ;)

---

I'm betting the whole pile of beans on it in fact. Not only transitions, but also evaluating every location. Trying to stay aware of my location all day long, continually evaluating it to determine if it's a waking location or not. Thus, my sig :). I've been working on this for a few months and I see evidence of the practice seeping into dreams. It's taking a while but I think it's a good investment. Location is a more complex than other options because it's a multi-faceted evaluation, unlike a more one-dimensional attribute like blinking or breathing or gravity.

I notice being in locations more than I notice transitions though. Transitions in dreams tend to be more "jump" than smooth walking through doors for example, so I also evaluate every time I have a new location in my vision where I didn't have high awareness/memory of how I got there.

I chose location because I found I had a fairly strong sense of location/orientation in LDs, I can draw overhead maps of my path through most LDs where I'm moving "on foot." It may not make sense for everyone. And it may not work for me well enough either, due to its multi-faceted nature. But I'll give it a few more solid months and see how it goes.

It may not be the best RC ever, and I really don't use it because I usually use four of the suggestions Gab has written. But I will tell you my suggestion anyway.

close eyes, and believe that you can see anyway while having them closed.If you actually see,you're dreaming

In terms of utility, really nothing can beat the nose pinch. It's fast, it's easy to interpret (simple yes/no), you can do it anywhere under any circumstances in a dream, with or without vision, you don't have to find anything first, etc. And it works probably the most reliably of any physical RC.

Hi,

I’ve recently began reality-checking to everyday things like going through doorways etc. The thing is, I encounter things like this a lot throughout the day, and find it difficult to make the same effort to RC every time. After a while it becomes very tiring and repetitive and feels like more of a chore.

I know that RCs shouldn’t feel like a chore, so I wonder is there a way around this?

Thanks. ;)

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Originally Posted by Eamo24

Hi,

I’ve recently began reality-checking to everyday things like going through doorways etc. The thing is, I encounter things like this a lot throughout the day, and find it difficult to make the same effort to RC every time. After a while it becomes very tiring and repetitive and feels like more of a chore.

I know that RCs shouldn’t feel like a chore, so I wonder is there a way around this?

Thanks. ;)

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Well, for one, you could change your mindset, and look forward to the checks. And if a check indicates "not-dreaming" (a term I'm loathe to use now, I consider myself as always dreaming but we need a common vocabulary), then think how much you love dreaming and how you're looking forward to the next one. You control your attitude, keep it positive. Know that the more you do it, the more likely you'll do it in a dream, and feel happy and positive and expectant.

Or you could do fewer checks....but I think more is better.

Also, Eamo, you do not have to do the same RC every time. If a particular RC grows tedious or, worse, robotic, then change it; do something different, perhaps something fun. As long as you are careful to always treat them as FryingMan describes above, it doesn't matter what you're doing, as long as you are doing it sincerely, and are truly testing your state.

gab, this helped me out immensely so far.

I've already gotten into a semi lucid state thanks to practicing these reality checks. I'm doing close to 5-10 a day while doing stories, and this is my 4th day doing them.

The cool part about being a reporter is that there tons of situations I find myself in where I question whether or not I'm dreaming. -Which helps me out a lot.

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Originally Posted by Reporter

gab, this helped me out immensely so far.

I've already gotten into a semi lucid state thanks to practicing these reality checks. I'm doing close to 5-10 a day while doing stories, and this is my 4th day doing them.

The cool part about being a reporter is that there tons of situations I find myself in where I question whether or not I'm dreaming. -Which helps me out a lot.

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This is specifically why I make an effort to get out and about (I currently work from home), because having a variety of experiences in different places with different mixes of people while doing LD techniques I think best simulates the dream scenario (as opposed to always being in the same place, which for me is very undreamlike).

Hi,

Would it also work if you did reality-checks whenever you think of a dream sign or oddity? I mean, if certain triggers do not appear enough in reality for you to develop a good habit of reality-checking to them, could you just ‘think’ them instead, or pretend they’re happening?

Thanks

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Originally Posted by Eamo24

Hi,

Would it also work if you did reality-checks whenever you think of a dream sign or oddity? I mean, if certain triggers do not appear enough in reality for you to develop a good habit of reality-checking to them, could you just ‘think’ them instead, or pretend they’re happening?

Thanks

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Absolutely.

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Originally Posted by Eamo24

Hi,

Would it also work if you did reality-checks whenever you think of a dream sign or oddity? I mean, if certain triggers do not appear enough in reality for you to develop a good habit of reality-checking to them, could you just ‘think’ them instead, or pretend they’re happening?

Thanks

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Yes, and as noted on another thread now active, you don't need to "fake" dream signs. Just imagine that wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you could be dreaming right now! Do an RC, look around, check things out, read a few signs, check memory, etc. Do this often enough and LD frequently should really pick up after some time (time for everyone is different: could be weeks / months even, don't give up! It will eventually start to really kick in).

Whether you actually see your dream sign or not, it doesn't really matter, IMHO. What matters is your state of mind at the moment when you realize you "see" your dream sign.

You can just say at anytime "oh wow, my dream sign" and get the real feeling of surprise when you RC.

This method worked for me when I was "surprised" at something strange happening. Nothing strange happened, but I told myself "wow, now that's strange". And then this feeling happened in my regular dream, promted me to RC and I got lucid.

Thank you gab for this information. I've been doing my RCs half wrong. :-(

yeah, gab, I think that's good tip.
What about doing reality check also everytime when you see someone at first time? members of family, friends or others...

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Originally Posted by lucid555

yeah, gab, I think that's good tip.
What about doing reality check also everytime when you see someone at first time? members of family, friends or others...

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Sure, you can RC on anything and everything. Just don't forget to attach some emotion to it. Like "wow, never seen that before" and be genuinly surprised.

The emotion should be something that makes you stop what you doing and pay attention to the moment. Have very high awareness at that moment. As if you just woke up suddenly, you know something is going on, but you don't know what exactly. So you are intensively looking around, trying to figure it out.

Hi,

Do you think it would be a good idea to use the memory of the last time you did a reality check, as part of a current reality check? I thought it might be a more convenient way of testing memory.

Yup it would be a good idea. Anything related to awareness, improving memory and lucid dreaming is bound to be an effective tool for aiding lucid dreaming.

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Originally Posted by Eamo24

Hi,

Do you think it would be a good idea to use the memory of the last time you did a reality check, as part of a current reality check? I thought it might be a more convenient way of testing memory.

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Yes, good idea. But i can guarantee that another member came first with that idea :) i will try to find it just for curiosity, as it is quite fun 2 guys come up with the same idea ( kind of laberge vs hearne )

Edit: here it is ( i found it by searching liked threads)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eamo24

Hi,

Do you think it would be a good idea to use the memory of the last time you did a reality check, as part of a current reality check? I thought it might be a more convenient way of testing memory.

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Not only memory of your last waking world reality check. But also memory of doing RC in a dream, when you got lucid. Together with the excitement that you felt and amazement and any other strong emotion. The "wow, I AM dreaming" feeling is very helpful.

Is it me or have I hear that in an awesome book before.......

One thing that I've had happened is the need to do a second RC.
on my first RC, my hand was normal, I lay in bed for a few minutes.
For no reason, I decide to do a second RC, which then got me lucid.
Ever since then, I've gotten into the habit of doing multiple RC's.

Multiple RCs is great because sometimes the first one can fail in a dream. I personally count all my fingers, then do a nose-pinch RC.

Agreed. Multiple RCs are always good. You never know which one will your mind like and use.

It's a good idea to switch them around from time to time. Get a new one. Something that your mind will find exciting, new and worth paying attention to.

Hi,

Would it be a good idea to reality check to things which are common to dreams AND waking life (as I don't have any obvious dream signs)? Things like going in and out of buildings, talking to people etc. I thought it would be a good idea as they're present a lot in dreams and in reality. Thanks.

I´m experimenting with doing RCs every 30 minutes. This way RCs is in your mind constantly and especially when it´s getting closer, like 10-5 minutes. That´s when you really are on alert. Because of the fact that you have to keep checking the time regularly you will always be anticipative that it´s soon time to do a RC.

The downside here is that time seems to fly by when you check the time so often. I felt a big different in the lenght of days since i started this.

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Originally Posted by rymdsol

I´m experimenting with doing RCs every 30 minutes. This way RCs is in your mind constantly and especially when it´s getting closer, like 10-5 minutes. That´s when you really are on alert. Because of the fact that you have to keep checking the time regularly you will always be anticipative that it´s soon time to do a RC.

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I just remembered, that I used to do that. It worked out pretty well. Plus, the goal of a reminder is to get you into habit to RC without any prompt. So the fact that you are anticipating RC before time is up, is great. This way you will be able to ditch the reminder and RC whenever you remember.

But this anticipation also sounds like a great thing to have in a regular dream. Suddenly you will find yourself having an urge to RC.

Good luck :bow:

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Originally Posted by gab

I just remembered, that I used to do that. It worked out pretty well. Plus, the goal of a reminder is to get you into habit to RC without any prompt. So the fact that you are anticipating RC before time is up, is great. This way you will be able to ditch the reminder and RC whenever you remember.

But this anticipation also sounds like a great thing to have in a regular dream. Suddenly you will find yourself having an urge to RC.

Good luck :bow:

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I dont get that last part ''This way you will be able to ditch the reminder and RC whenever you remember''. Or do you mean reminder as in an alarm? If so I don´t use that.

Ye for sure. This is what I´m thinking also. That the anticipation will swich over to my dreams. Just started with this though.

Thanks :armflap:

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Originally Posted by rymdsol

I dont get that last part ''This way you will be able to ditch the reminder and RC whenever you remember''. Or do you mean reminder as in an alarm? If so I don´t use that.

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Oh sorry, I thought you were using your watch alarm as a reminder to do RCs, as many of us do or did sometimes. I was just trying to point out, that from the beginning, to get into the habit of RCing, it's ok to use reminders such as alarms, sticky notes, bracelet... But the ultimate goal is to get used to doing RCs spontaneosly. But it seems like you are already there.

Happy dreams!

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Originally Posted by gab

Oh sorry, I thought you were using your watch alarm as a reminder to do RCs, as many of us do or did sometimes. I was just trying to point out, that from the beginning, to get into the habit of RCing, it's ok to use reminders such as alarms, sticky notes, bracelet... But the ultimate goal is to get used to doing RCs spontaneosly. But it seems like you are already there.

Happy dreams!

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Aha Okej. I think whats great with not using alarm is that you have to be aware all the time. With an reminder that goes away to some degree.

Happy dreams for sure!

The only thing that concerns me about doing very frequent reality checks as a “habit” is being sure not to get so used to them you begin doing them without much thought. Doing RCs in “zombie mode” seems to be a sure way to start getting dreams in which you perform RCs that indicate reality and never result in lucidity.

I've recently been experimenting with very frequent RCs while trying to still do them mindfully. I'm experiencing an apparent disturbing trend, though, of sometimes seeing positive-result RCs in dreams (which virtually never happened over the last several years that I've been experimenting with LDing). I wonder if this could be a sign that I might be doing them just a bit too habitually.

Otherwise, I feel like I'm on the right track. In addition to spontaneously deciding to do them here and there, I'm also trying to tie them to frequently-encountered general thoughts and emotions—any time I feel surprised, or something irritating or bad happens, or I find I was zoned out and have just come back, etc. Any time I feel an emotion, always sincerely RC before acting on it. In doing so, I'm hoping to eventually embed the mindset of questioning my state so deeply that I start becoming lucid in a high percentage of dreams. It also doesn't seem like a bad idea to try to let the question of whether I'm dreaming linger a bit after the RC (even if it appears to be reality); maybe a rouge RC positive then would be a bit less likely to fool me in dreams if I also have the mindset of continuing to watch out for other evidence of dreaming even after performing the RC.

Finally, if I feel the need for an RC even though I think I just did one, I encourage myself to do it anyway, since I sometimes have false memories in dreams of having done a RC that indicated reality, only to do it again and find I'm dreaming. :)

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Originally Posted by gab

Oh sorry, I thought you were using your watch alarm as a reminder to do RCs, as many of us do or did sometimes. I was just trying to point out, that from the beginning, to get into the habit of RCing, it's ok to use reminders such as alarms, sticky notes, bracelet... But the ultimate goal is to get used to doing RCs spontaneosly. But it seems like you are already there.

Happy dreams!

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Hi gab. Thx for ur thread about RC. Im very new for LD. Keep doing rc about 10-15 times a day n doing my dream journal also. Im using android app names awoken for remind me to do my RC. My question is : do this app will become my trigger of rc in the dream? Like a dream sign. Coz i never see this app in my dream. Thx. Sorry for my english, its not my daily language

Thanks a lot for this! Up until now, when doing RCs, I always end up telling myself that I'm not dreaming this time whenever I come to that conclusion. Will most definitely try to stick with using a mantra starting today instead of doing this and see if will make a difference as time goes on.

Newbie's question :
Do you guys draw dream sign in your mind when u do Reality check? How about have more than one dream signs ? lets say 7 dream signs? How the result if we compare it with perform RC without thinking dream sign?
Thank you btw,

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Originally Posted by Nove13

Newbie's question :
Do you guys draw dream sign in your mind when u do Reality check? How about have more than one dream signs ? lets say 7 dream signs? How the result if we compare it with perform RC without thinking dream sign?
Thank you btw,

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My take on this: when you're doing a reality check, you want your full concentration on the check itself. You have one and only one goal at this point: determine your state in a quick, clear way. When you're doing a reality check, your awareness is already raised and the notion of "hey this could be a dream" has already been reached in your mind, you don't need more "thinking," you need quick action: the RC. The RC has one and only one purpose: to fully determine your state.

Taking a moment several times throughout the waking day (or as often as you want as long as you can maintain the concentration and perform it honestly and thoughtfully) to reflect upon your state, your environment, your memories, thoughts, etc. is called a "critical reflection" moment. Those are the times where you can think about dream signs, and analyze your environment to decide if it is "dream-like" or not. It's a good idea to do an RC at those moments. But critical reflection is not the same as an RC, even though they are closely related.

Dream sign review is also good to do right before bed.

When doing an RC and when the result indicates "awake," do not think "I'm not dreaming." Instead, I like to think "Hmm (interesting). The next time I'm dreaming, I remember to recognize that I'm dreaming."

And sometimes (just to make sure I don't get habituated to the 'waking' result) I do a 'dreaming RC' where I pretend to receive the dreaming result and then go through my 'just got lucid' ritual.

thx for your reply. Its very helping
Another newbie's question :
at ur first LD, u did RC n realized u were dreaming or u realized u were dreaming first then u did RC for make sure. This just for first LD. Mybe at your level now you will realized you r dreaming without RC.

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Originally Posted by Nove13

thx for your reply. Its very helping
Another newbie's question :
at ur first LD, u did RC n realized u were dreaming or u realized u were dreaming first then u did RC for make sure. This just for first LD. Mybe at your level now you will realized you r dreaming without RC.

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In my first and indeed most of my early LDs I got lucid just be realizing it was a dream (I didn't even do an RC to check). However I did do RCs in the dream after initial lucidity to maintain lucidity. Recently I find myself needing to RC to get fully lucid, interesting!

Ooh okay. Noted. Keep learning

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.

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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.

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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

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.

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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

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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.

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.

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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.

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

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...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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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

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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".

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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:D
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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by FryingMan

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.

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amen :D

Here is a VERY strong one for me. Try walking with your eyes closed, anywhere. In about 15 steps my body flips out and forces my eyes open.

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Originally Posted by Mindraker

Here is a VERY strong one for me. Try walking with your eyes closed, anywhere. In about 15 steps my body flips out and forces my eyes open.

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Yeaaah on second thought better do that in a wide open space. Did that today in the mall before any of the stores opened, and I thought I was going to be OK. At 30 steps I slammed into a glass wall window of a manicure store. Thank goodness it didn't break. The cleaning guy behind me looked at me like w...t...f...

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?

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Originally Posted by dreamingnow

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

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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!

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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?

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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. . . .

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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?

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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

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Originally Posted by Jaywlkrr

Thank you for in-depth guide mate. Appreciate it

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You are welcome, mate :D

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.

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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.

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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.

Sounds like you're building great habits with your RC practice nia02, I'm sure within no time you'll have your first LD! Keep at it!

I also like that this thread has been reignited. It's got some great advice in.

For me, nose pinch ticks all the boxes; I'm able to do it using only 1 hand, I don't have to change where I'm looking/lose eye contact if I'm with people (as I almost always am in dreams), I can do it in complete darkness, and the sensation of successfully breathing through in a dream is so powerful it jerks me into lucidity - more so than something like reading jumbled text or counting.

However, I have had a few recent occasions where it's failed. I believe that is because I've maybe rushed them IWL, so I'm working on doing this really methodically, along with thorough mental checks. I also do a couple in a row, and really focus on the sensation of breathing through my nose before pinching it, and then expecting that to happen. I'd been using it successfully for about a month before this happened.

I know people mention mixing up RCs if your mind gets used to them - has anyone had success with sticking with the same one and maybe even recovering from some that have failed in dreams? Or is it the case once it's failed, you should move on?

I'm worried about switching the RC and causing a long LD drought as my brain catches up, and then having to do this again a month later when my brain catches up with that one. I wonder if many people have this relationship with RCs?

I've also been thinking about my own RC being reaching into my pocket and expecting something to be there, like a wand (which isn't something I tend to have in my pocket often :chuckle:) Does that sound like a good idea?

I've been using pretty much the same primary one or two RCs for several years and have never really had any long-term problems with them. On occasion I'll have a few cases here and there where they don't work properly, but it hasn't been a chronic thing, so I don't worry about it much.

I haven't had issues with droughts when deciding to try out a new RC, either. The worst that normally happens is that I forget about the new RC and just do the old ones as usual, and indeed trying anything new in an LD usually takes me some time and effort setting the intention to actually remember to try it instead of falling back into my usual habits. (This seems to be true of everything I do in LDs in general, not just RCs. I often find impulse and habit particularly strong when I'm in a dream state, so it can be a bit of a challenge at times.)

One defense against RC problems is to keep at least a couple in your arsenal so that you can try the alternative one(s) if the first doesn't seem to want to work (especially if you find yourself still suspecting that something doesn't seem quite normal). After some practice, I started finding that if I was in a dream and an RC wasn't working, I would often be suspicious enough to keep trying (either with the same RC or giving another one a chance) until I had proven to myself some way or another that I was indeed dreaming. Very rarely, things might go super badly and even this fails, but not very often. The key, I think, is to learn to trust your suspicions regarding waking vs. dreaming state (this might come with experience) and be persistent in confirming them.

And yes, I'd say feel free to experiment with your own invented RCs. Pretty much any action you expect to have a different result in a dream from waking life can theoretically work. The main idea behind RCs is that you suspect you might already be dreaming, so you do something knowing that it will behave differently in a dream in order to confirm it and strengthen that lucidity.