My current methods

Quest for Lucidity
1

I have achieved brief and fuzzy lucid dreams in the past; right now, it has been about 2 and a half weeks of deliberate trying, with no avail. The methods I am using are as follows:

Dream log: This includes, obviously, the dreams I have had, as well as when they took place during the night.

Reality check log: this includes undertaking about 10 checks per day, an 8 step proses, 1. Check text to make sure it does not change when looked at twice. 2. Jump in the air to ensure gravity is working normally. 3. Inspect surrounding to find that everything is relatively normal, and explain everything I know about something that seems even slightly out of place. 4. Retrospect over the last hours to ensure that my, “day” consists of longer than that 20-30 minute REM cycle. 5. Test pain with something like a pencil or knife. 6. Repeat steps 1, 2, and 5.

Should this be sufficient? I’d like to hear what more experienced dreamers could contribute. Thank you in advance.

2

5 isn’t an effective RC since you can feel pain in dreams.

3

Is that so? I was always told that you could not. There must at least be a reduction in stimuli while dreaming, right, (assuming you know by your 40+ LD)?

4

As I said, I personally wouldn’t trust it. It would be better to do the nose RC (plug your nose by holding it tight with fingers and see if you can still breathe) or finger through palm RC.

5

My understanding is that reality checks work differently from person to person, so if the pain test works for you, then I don’t see why you couldn’t use it. I’ve personally never used pain as a dream check, not because I feel that I will or won’t feel it in a dream, but because doing things that would inflict pain will normally cause me to wake up.