Tell me about successful Reality Checks you've done!

I've started practicing again recently, so I can talk about myself as a newbie. Even though, I remember about 4 or 5 lucid dreams I've had in the last years, and the best memory I have of them is that moment of becoming aware of being in a dream. At least for me, was like suddenly believing in magic and letting your inner fantasy flow.
That's why I would like to know about the moments you became aware of yourself dreaming through a reality check or a similar mechanic. How it was? How did you feel?

My last experience was of myself in my room. I remembered to look at my hands to do a RC, and I found out something extrange. My ring and little finger from both my hands were shaking in a quick and extravagant way (that movement remembered me of Silent Hill monsters). Then, my hands started to turn darker and darker until black, and I started to distinguish a cosmic landscape (with stars and galaxies) in them, like my hands being some kind of window to the outer space I was looking through.
Then, I realized I was dreaming. I felt amazed of how eccentric visions my mind could create, and I stayed for a while just enjoying the sight of my hands.

As a begginer, Id love to know about your RC and how did you live them during your dreams :)
PD: I used the search tool first, I hope this thread is no repeated!

This happened couple of nights ago, I was going through my dream like normal when I looked in the mirror. For whatever reason I didn't have a shirt, but what was unusual was the fact that I had really thick hair on my stomach. For a guy, I don't really grow a lot body hair, and when I do it's thin. So, I stood there looking at myself confused. Then it hit me that I might be dreaming. So, I pinch myself and sure enough I was right. However, the dream didn't last. When I closed my eyes I woke myself up, but I'm still happy that I realized I was dreaming.

Lately, I've been catching myself dreaming very often, I´d say at least once every two nights. However, I have not been able to keep calm and wake up.
The first one was of me at school, there had been an announcement that we would go back home at 1:00 pm. When the time came, I started walking towards my bus and even though it was 1:00, the sunset was already happening, Then I sat on the front part of the bus at the side of the driver. Suddenly, I noticed that it was very weird for the sunset to be happening already. I also noticed that I never seat down at the front on the afternoons (just during the morning). Finally, I decided to pinch my nose and see if I was dreaming. The reality check worked, however, I didn't notice it had so I just kept dreaming non lucid. When I woke up, I noticed that the reality check had worked but that I had ignored it.

The second one was that I was outside with my mom walking on a side walk, there was nobody at the street, I didn't remember how i had gotten there so I decided to do a reality check, I noticed that it worked. I got very excited and everything started to become blurry (it always happens to me when I am about to wake up), also, one building started loosing its texture and started looking like the grey 3d buildings in google earth. I relaxed and calmed myself down, everything started to become very clear, even clearer than before I did the check. After that , a very modern car came, my mom and I got in and then I forgot that I was dreaming so I went back to non lucidness.

The last one was of me at school again, someone had told me that my jacket was full of hair (I have a cat so I thought it was because of that), but I didn't mind and kept with my day at school. Some time later, I was at a Spanish class with two of my friends (Tom and Sophia), I had taken my shirt off and nobody had told me off or noticed it. After that, I was saying something to Tom, so I was looking at him, then I heard Sophia saying ¨This cat left me full of hair¨I turned around to look at her, and she was holding my cat. It got scared and ran away, it went out the door. This two things made me feel strange and I did a reality check, I got very Excited and woke up almost immediately.

Sometimes during tricky FAs I'll go outside and jump as a reality check. If I'm not awake, I'll fly up and be like "Whee!!! I'm dreaming!!!!!"

My favorite RC's in a dream are the rare ones done when I can't believe that I am actually dreaming but I do RC's to verify "what exactly is going on here." I say rare because most of my in dream RC's are done after I already know that I am dreaming. The reason that I say that the rare ones are my favorite, is because the memories of those feelings are what make my daytime practices more effective.

Those in dream RC's go something like this: "This has to be a dream…but this feels like waking life!" RC: look at hand, nose pinch, float (at least one of these, sometimes all) "Wow, I can't believe all of these (mundane) events I have been experiencing these last few minutes were part of a dream!" But then I fairly quickly switch to whatever I want to do in my lucid. After experiences like that it is easier to take your daytime RC's more serious and to really stop and realize that "Any moment could be a dream!"

Another interesting type of RC is an unintentional RC that catches that I am dreaming. Like floating up to see over a crowd and being like "wait a minute, I can float!" I also catch myself floating over obstructions and realize that I am dreaming. These are most likely already semi-lucid dreams in order for me to think of dream-like solutions, but I just have not fully realized that it is all a dream yet.

I also like to do unique RC's for fun, like a recent one: Yes I am dreaming and if I were not, my wife would not let me do this right in front of this open window!

Sounds awesome, reading you makes me wish even harder to keep practicing, and I'm sure that makes an influence over my chances of becoming lucid some night.

I see that floating in the air is a common RC and, in addition, a great way of starting a lucid dream. I remember using this RC in dreams about 3 times, and is fun how effective can it be even without any kind of practice. For me, starting to float in the air (if I'm becoming lucid and I want to float) is extremely easy, even something passive I would say. Sometimes I may need to concentrate for a second and think about some force taking me up, but then is almost automatic.

Also, trying this RC normally happens me for no reason. First time I was in a park, talking with a friend. Suddenly, the possibility of being dreaming came to my mind, so I said "Hey, wait a second. I think I'm dreaming, let me try something.". In that moment I started to levitate, I think simply because I wanted to.

My reality checks are very unsatisfactory. Even totally implausible things I take as normal in my dreams. My reality check only tells me that even if it is strange it is real... WILD method is best, no reality checks are necessary.

I have only had a handful of LD but a couple RC's are still very vivid in my memory for their effectiveness.
A quick premise, I usually only try breathing through my clinched nose during RC's and don't bother too much with reading text or looking at my watch.

1) I was near my grandmother's place getting the car fixed. I didn't recall the garage being so close to her place, so I ask the mechanic if I am in the right suburb and he says Yes.
I then go and read the street sign, and the letters are all wrong, so I realize it's a LD. I perform my RC and I am away.

2) I am having a pretty intense dream (not quite a nightmare, but pretty close). The person speaking to me I believe to be the devil and his iris goes all red. I get scared and then I tell myself "this isn't possible, it must be a dream". So I do a RC and it's positive, so I just engage my senses and a dream scene forms...

3) I tried WILD, felt the vibrations, tried moving my arms and I thought perhaps my attempt hadn't worked and that I was moving my "real" arms, then I clinch my *dream* nose doing a RC and, again, it's positive, I'm in a LD!

Very exciting when you pull something like this off...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dolphin

Sometimes during tricky FAs I'll go outside and jump as a reality check. If I'm not awake, I'll fly up and be like "Whee!!! I'm dreaming!!!!!"

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I don't know why I started to levitate as RC for a couple of times until it didn't work and missed that opportunity. Most of the times I RC just to confirm because of when I mechanically do it, it's hard for me to break my own "it's waking life" mind set.