What's up guys? I'm new and stuff

Hey guys, I just registered and thought I'd share how I ended up on this site.

I've been in to Lucid Dreaming for a couple years now, but have never been able to quite figure it out (mostly due to laziness and lack of practice). I've alway kinda browsed the web for tips every once in a while, but never really got serious about it.

This all changed this past week. Most likely due to watching Inception (a couple months late, I know, but whatever), I've been really motivated to try this again. I tried the dream journal thing around last summer-ish, but never really made it a habit so it didn't do much for me. But this past week, I decided to make myself a unique "reality check." I hadn't put much research into it, but for whatever reason I thought it was plausible that the scar I've had on my arm for about 8 years would not show up in my dreams. So, I decided to check it either by looking at it or rubbing a finger over it, to check if I could see/feel it. This went on for about a week, until last night when I finally got myself to do the check in a dream.

In the dream, me and my friend were sitting in a weird room I've never seen before (I rarely dream of places I've been to in real life). There was a huge clock in front of us that was spinning around noticeably faster than normal, and I asked my friend about this. She actually was the one to suggest to me "maybe we're dreaming" which (looking back of course, not in the dream) I thought was odd cuz I've always read that people in your dream always tell you you're awake. So anyway, when she said that I immediately checked my arm, and sure enough that familiar feeling of the scar on my arm was there. So, I accepted that I was awake and decided the clock must be some kind of prop or whatever, and preceded to have a boring dream. When I woke up, I was understandably upset that I'd blown my opportunity with a failed reality check, and immediately went online to get more information.

After browsing a couple of sites, I came here and found all the awesome conveniences with the forums and online Dream Journals, so I thought this could be perfect for helping me get serious about learning to master lucid dreaming. I hope I can find a few cool people to help me out in my journey. But anyway, thanks for reading all that and drop me a line if you feel like helping out.
Peace y'all

:welcome: to DV!
I think it's cool that you tried to experiment with your own ideas on RC in the dream world, you may well come up with some discoveries in the future that way :)
I'm interested in DILD more now and always searching for new reality checks, but for now the only one that really works is a nose plug check. I just don't know how it can fail (it can only fail if in a dream you think that it's OK to breath through your nose plugged). Despite the fact I still do other RC, they almost never seem to work - hands look normal, jumps are fine, text is stable, numbers on digital clocks still work from time to time though :)
Try to keep a dream journal again, with new intentions it can help, also if you often dream about unfamiliar places DJ can help you keep on track if any of these places occur more than once - it could be a good dream sign.
I'm new to lucid dreaming too, but anyway, good luck!

Hey thanks for the advice! I've decided to do the DJ thing on here since I used to lose my notebooks before haha.. hopefully it don't take too long for me to log on here before I lose my memory of the dream. I've been wondering about the most common RCs.. Haven't been able to try them yet but I'm hoping the nose plug thing will work.
But yeah I figured my own checks would be better than generic ones that everyone uses. I guess I was wrong, at least on that one, but then again I've only been able to try once so maybe I'll keep with it to see if I can get it right. Thanks again!

Welcome to DreamViews! The problem with your RC was that since you know your scar so well, it will likely feel the same in your dream (or at least you mind will make you think it feels the same). If you are going to use this as a RC (which is fine and seems like it could work), then definitely go with looking at it. Make sure you know exactly what it looks like in real life (which I'm sure you do :P). Then look at it in the dream and see if anything is different about it. The key is to look at your scar, look away, and then look at it again. I'd almost guarantee that it will look differently than it is suppose to. In dreams, the "feel" for something seems to be duplicated much easier than the exact look of that same something (in my experience anyway). Also, always use multiple types of RCs. I also recommend the nose pinch reality check...pinch your air passage in your nose closed and attempt to breathe through it anyway. This RC has never failed for me. Like Mischief said, it is cool to experiment with different/unique RCs, but always have a staple RC to go along with it. Nearly ever RC I have tried has worked at some point, but failed as well (with exception to the nose pinch...which is still at a 100% success rate for me). Good luck to you and if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask!

@Mischief Managed - The key to the text and digital numbers RC (which I've labeled as the 2nd best RC) is to look at them, look away, look back at them, look away, and look back once again. Usually the first time you look back they will have changed, but by the third time they definitely should have changed. The only problem is, remembering to look away and look back a few times without accepting the dream as reality.

In my last LD I did it before and after I became lucid. In a dream I was reading a book and in the middle of one of the words was letter in a different font than the rest of the text - in was capital "T". This made me remember that text is unstable in dreams and can be used as a reliable RC. So (well, not excepting that it can be a dream though) I looked away, than back, twice. I tried to find if anything changed in the paragraph I was reading - nothing did, even this weird "T" stayed on its place. I quickly thought that it may be misprint, but my own thought didn't persuade me, because at that point I already looked around and noticed that the place where I am only looks half-familiar - as if I've already seen it, but haven't been here before, like from a movie. So after that I did usual sequence of RC - looked at my hands, tried to push one hand through another, all fine, then I pinched my nose. After that I realized that I'm indeed dreaming and decided to look at the text again. Look away, look back, twice again. All stayed the same. I can't remember what was written though, my dream recall suck now:(
I don't even know how many lucids I've missed, because of this. But, I don't have that much of experience with all of that, it will probably be different in the future :)
I probably have written it wrong - numbers are the opposite - the seem to go crazy in the dream, but only after I accept it to be a dream.
Anyway it's complicated, but I can always rely on nose pinch, which I actually always do few times - the feeling is so weird it's hard to believe))

Indeed, I love the feeling of breathing through my nose when its pinched closed, lol! That is pretty cool that text is that stable in your dreams actually. I can read anything once, but the next time I try to read it is either completely changed into different words or a jumbled mess. I wonder, do you read often in waking life? Maybe that has something to do with your text remaining stable. I don't read very often...a few books a year is all.

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Originally Posted by KingYoshi

The problem with your RC was that since you know your scar so well, it will likely feel the same in your dream (or at least you mind will make you think it feels the same). If you are going to use this as a RC (which is fine and seems like it could work), then definitely go with looking at it. Make sure you know exactly what it looks like in real life (which I'm sure you do :P). Then look at it in the dream and see if anything is different about it. The key is to look at your scar, look away, and then look at it again. I'd almost guarantee that it will look differently than it is suppose to. In dreams, the "feel" for something seems to be duplicated much easier than the exact look of that same something (in my experience anyway).

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Really? Well I'll definitely try that from now on... I had always been kind of mixing up whether I'd look at or feel it, I never thought it would make a difference. I'll make a habit of only looking at it now, to see if that works. And I'm on the same boat as you, hardly ever read anything so hopefully if that theory is true I can start using it as a reliable RC.
Unfortunately last night I didn't sleep very well for some reason... Maybe I spent too much time on this site that day and got excited or whatever. Hopefully tomorrow night will be better

Yes, I actually think it has something to do with me being a huge bookworm X) I read a lot, love words and have passion for linguistics, foreign languages, literature and writing. I care a lot for words and I think I don't even fully except the whole idea of text RC, because I want it to be stable. Actually before I even had my first LD, I had this crazy idea that it would be beneficial to actually read something in the dream. Like scan the text before that and in the lucid dream, while having full access to all subconscious information form the book out of it and read it there, study or whatever. Maybe it's completely nerdish, but I find this idea so exciting :)

That's actually a huge reason why I'm learning to LD myself. I'm hoping I can use it to give me all that extra time to study and learn, away from all the distractions of waking life. I'm not entirely sure if it works like that, but I figure it's worth it to at least try. I think that's one of the most exciting things about lucid dreaming! Being able to teach yourself things in your dreams that you'll remember and be able to use in waking life

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Originally Posted by MischiefManaged

Yes, I actually think it has something to do with me being a huge bookworm X) I read a lot, love words and have passion for linguistics, foreign languages, literature and writing. I care a lot for words and I think I don't even fully except the whole idea of text RC, because I want it to be stable. Actually before I even had my first LD, I had this crazy idea that it would be beneficial to actually read something in the dream. Like scan the text before that and in the lucid dream, while having full access to all subconscious information form the book out of it and read it there, study or whatever. Maybe it's completely nerdish, but I find this idea so exciting :)

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Ah, I figured you were a big reader...that explains your stable text in dreams for sure. I think that you have a very cool idea there. If you make some progress in it, be sure to make a thread about it or hit me up or something. That would interesting stuff for sure.

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Originally Posted by KickinBird71

That's actually a huge reason why I'm learning to LD myself. I'm hoping I can use it to give me all that extra time to study and learn, away from all the distractions of waking life. I'm not entirely sure if it works like that, but I figure it's worth it to at least try. I think that's one of the most exciting things about lucid dreaming! Being able to teach yourself things in your dreams that you'll remember and be able to use in waking life

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I have always believed that lucid dreaming brings infinite possibilities. I have no doubt that they could be used to learn. Like I said above, be sure to post any progress you make on the learning/study front. There would be many people who would be interested in reading it. Good luck to you and if you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks man, I'll probably just keep this thread to update my experiences. At least until I actually start LDing for real

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That's actually a huge reason why I'm learning to LD myself. I'm hoping I can use it to give me all that extra time to study and learn, away from all the distractions of waking life. I'm not entirely sure if it works like that, but I figure it's worth it to at least try. I think that's one of the most exciting things about lucid dreaming! Being able to teach yourself things in your dreams that you'll remember and be able to use in waking life

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Exactly. That would be so amazing to benefit from it in waking life. I'm thrilled with this idea!
Also keep this thread updated with your upcoming LD success ;)

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I have always believed that lucid dreaming brings infinite possibilities. I have no doubt that they could be used to learn.

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I think the same - there is nothing impossible inside my head (well, except probably for not being able to breath through your nose pinched lol). Mind is obviously the best thing happened to human being X)
I will definitely make a thread about my experiments. But I'm only in the beginning of my journey, so now I better stay focused on having more LD's at all :dreaming:

Haha I'm glad there's at least a few people out there interested in my story. Well the last couple days haven't been too great... I think I might be working myself up a little too much. I haven't been able to sleep well lately which means I haven't been dreaming lately. Very disappointing. I feel pretty tired even as I type this, so maybe I'll be able to get to bed early and have some good REM sleep...