Thread: Failed In Dream Reality Check

How many times do you reality check a day? What do you think about when RCing?

When doing a reality check make sure you are actually testing reality. Don't just go through the motions. And don't expect your finger won't go through your hand. Try to be more aware and next time you will become lucid.

{Everything that Zebrah said in his post.}

When you're doing a reality check, you should be consciously thinking about what you're doing. For example with the finger, you should be aware as you put your finger through your hand, and you should also be waiting to see what the result will be. A good way to improve awareness is to do a bit of ADA (All-Day Awareness) practice. KingYoshi wrote a great tutorial on ADA which can be found in the DV Wiki.

It may also help to do more than one type of reality check, because sometimes reality checks do fail.

ShockWave.

Bummer..you'll get it next time for sure.

Try multiple reality checks. Along with a physical one like the hand, or plugging your nose and breathing, do something mental that would normally be impossible. Will yourself to levitate, or attempt to alter something around you using only the power of your mind.
A physical + mental reality check is FAR more effective than either on their own.

Zebrah's right, I've been going through the motions and made a habit of that. But I tried a bunch of RC's and none of them are appropriate for the dream scape. Or at least, are reliable. Like looking at digital clocks or complex patterns. I've never noticed a clock in my dreams. Most of the time I'm never near one. As for complex patterns, I don't know, I don't think the "idea" has ever arisen in a dream. Although I was doing that RC for a while, mixed with the clocks, fingering my hand, and nose-plugging.

The two times I did the nose-plugging RC in a dream, I became mostly lucid, but I also because aware of my own chest, my actual breathing, and the feeling of the bed against my chest/torso and thus woke up, ripped from the dream.