how do you realize you are in a dream?

Hi I've done some reading, and some dreaming, but I can't figure out how to realise I'm in a dream. What methods do you use?

Thanks

Sometimes you just know.

Sometimes, I just appear in a room and I know I am dreaming.

In my last Ld, though, I haf to put the pieces together. i saw a cut on my toe, that I had no idea how it got there. I also didn't remember going to sleep or waking up in my last dream enviroment. So whenever I noticed that I just started to get more consiousness and eventually put the pieces together.

It gets easier the more you do it.

Check out the tutorial on reality check. The tutorial section is linked to in my signature. The basic idea is that you have to notice something that can only happen in a dream (a dancing piggy, a floating object...) You just have to make sure that you are literally questioning whether or not you are awake, it's an odd thought.

As alot of people would usually say, do plenty of reality checks during the day and ask yourself "Am I dreaming?" Keep doing this day in and day out. Why? becase this will get your mind in to the habit of doing it not only during the day but when you are dreaming, so when you do it in your dream, chances are you it will fail and you will be like "wait a minute, I am dreaming" Make sure to do more then one. Some that I do is pinching myself and closing my mouth and plugging my nose and trying to breath. There are alot more out there but those are the ones that best suit me.

Hope this has helped you.

How I DILD. Definitely check out the quizzes.

It's only happened twice for me. The first was I noticed something out of the ordinary (my grandmother had my friend's cat) and the second happened because I used a reality check. About 7 times a day, I look down at my right hand and ask myself if I'm dreaming. I did that in a dream a few nights ago and almost went lucid.

The right technique at the right time plus luck...:)

IMJ