good luck.

just one thing...pinching yourself isn't a helpful reality check, and is actually a bad habit to get into. if you do it in a dream you will simply produce the sensation of a convincing pinch

the whole point of reality checks is to recognize the main quality that distinguishes dreams from waking life: changeability.

see, dreams can be incredibly realistic (which is why we accept them), but they are almost always shifting and changing, and generally producing certain situations or objects which have been changed in such a way as to be different than normal, realistic, stable waking life.

so, this is why pinching yourself in a dream will only fool you if you do it in a dream.

checking text twice is one of the best ones, as it takes advantage of the shifting nature of dreams. as well, hopping in the air expecting to fly is an excellent one (as gravity is almost always changed slightly in dreams) if you float for even a second, you can be sure you are dreaming. as well, think back over the last five minutes and try to remember everything in logical sequence. if you can't, or it doen't make any sense (e.g. you were at the store in your hometown, then at a circus in china, now in your bedroom) you are likely dreaming.

not nitpicking, it's just way easier to get into good habits right off the bat

it will help immensely to always keep this in mind when thinking about lucid dreaming....when you become aware in a dream it will usually not seem less realistic, only less stable and logical.

thus, never use how realistic your surroundings/situation seem as a way to tell if you are dreaming, only how stable or to put it another way, never use how realistic a pinch feels as an RC, but something like whether or not you have seven fingers on the hand doing the pinching (changeability).

sweet dreams