Hmmm… RC… I try to move objects with my mind, it always works for me in a dream (and obviously doesn’t in real life!!)
It looks like part 1 has been moved to the archive. The link in the first post now gives the message “the topic or post does not exist”. (Edit: somebody fixed it. 
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The BIG reality check topic - part 1
I’ve found that counting toes works like counting fingers. Actually, it works even better for me. It may not be very useful if you frequently wear socks/shoes in your dreams, though. 
I’ve also become lucid by counting somebody else’s fingers. 
I thought that perhaps you could press something against your skin for a while as an RC. It’ll leave a temporary impression IRL, but in dreams, it might not… I haven’t tried it, though. It seems like a lot of other RCs are quicker and easier.
I dont think RC’s are actually what initiates lucidity, they just help you question reality (in my LD’s anyway). For example IRL I frequently do 2 RC’s. I hold my nose and try to breathe through it, and try to put my finger through my hand.
In dreams when I do this, my finger never goes through my hand, and I can only slightly breathe through my nose. If i squeeze really hard I usually cannot breathe at all, and so I think I just hadn’t blocked my nose properly, or had I?. I usually debate this for a while untill I convince myself I’m dreaming and go ahead and fly (3rd RC).
So in conclusion, RC’s do work for me in the sense that every time I’ve had a DILD, I have done a reality check, but lucidity hasn’t been induced by the RC itself. Most of the time the RC’s fail (fail as in don’t work as they’re supposed to), nevetheless, lucidity’s acheived one way or another. Cheering.
Merged into the BIG RC topic
Whenever i look back on my dreams i always say…wow that was a perfect time for a reality check. I can just never remember to do them. My dreams just seem to keep flowing naturally and i never notice anything strange or abnormal when im dreaming. Its all perfectly normal. Is there anything i can do that will help me remember to do a RC?
Recognize dream signs. This is one of the advantages to having a dream journal - you can find dream signs that likely will show up in a dream.
For me, for example, I find that whenever weird things start going on with my car, I’m usually dreaming. So I remember to do RC every time something weird happens to my car.
Or, you can just RC whenever something common shows up. For example, there are a lot of doors in my dreams, yet none of them are usually locked, so I check door locks to make sure that I am (or am not) dreaming.
I do a RC everytime something weird happens. After doing RC becomes natural you will LD more.
MatrixMan’s advice about the dreamsigns is very good, it also helps if you categorize them and perform a reality check everytime you encounter one of the dreamsign like situations in real life.
The other key thing about reality checks is that you have to do them frequently enough for them to become habitual. Do 20-30 RC’s a day until you start to perform them without thought, at this point they should began to frequently carry over to your dreams and result in lucidity.
thanks alot that really helps me out
I had bit of an unsettling experience during last night’s dreams… I came across a book that mentioned ld4all and did a reality check, half-expecting it to succeed, which it did, so I didn’t go lucid. I guess the moral is to always do RCs seriously, but the fact is I usually do. It also bothers me that I could read the book with little effort. At least it’s better than no RC at all.
Can anyone offer advice that can help me get it right the next time?
I am really mad and also really angry at myself. I do lots of RC during the day. In more than 4 dreams when i did an RC My fingers looked normal. I want a reliable RC!
The text reality check is pretty reliable in my experience. The nose plugging one I hear is very reliable.
When doing reality checks it’s advisable to raise your level of awareness because if the reality check doesn’t work maybe you’ll pick up on something else.
The key is what you expect, I imagine. In my one and only LD I executed three kinds of RC’s and they resulted in the the exact types of failures I was expecting:
- extra fingers on my hand
- mirror shows only a weird jumble, not a reflection
- I can push my finger through solids
So when you do a RC, become aware of the way the RC is supposed to fail. By the way, I haven’t done a RC in my dreams since the my first LD :-((((, that’s really annoying. I even meditated about lucid dreaming and read about hypnagogic hallucinations in my dreams, but it never occurred to me to do a RC again.
Anyway, good luck with your LDing and persist.
-NL
How many RT’S a day would you say is necessary for the technique to be effective? I’ve been doing RT’s for a long time, and it seems to me that you can never do too many. What do you all think?
I merged this into the big RC topic 
Hi, I have read somewhere that the recomended is 12 but I honestly think there is no safe number to follow from experience. The best way to implement RTs or RCs is to only do them when U see a dreamsign or something odd that happens. A shortcut to remember to do RCs in the dream is using the WBTB method, U wake up then stay up for a few minutes writing down a mantra or sentence like " I will remember to check my watch and realise I’m dreaming" a few times. I’ve had a lucid dream after I did that but U will need to focus on Ur intent when U are writing it.
IMJ
From experience I can say that 20 is optimal.
Why ? I am doing them reasonless and it does not ties me in anything. While something werid happes or not, point is to ask yourself: “Am I dreaming?” You have to think that you are dreaming or not, question reality of world around you. Reasonless staring at hands will make you to stare at them in dream. But not to realize that you’re dreaming.
I can also say that RC’s works best when used with Autosuggestion and MILD.
My biggest problem is the motivation to ask myself “Am I dreaming?”
Too often in waking life, I don’t remember to perform my RCs, or when I do it’s very quick and without thinking, or I feel “I’ll never do it in a dream.” I know it’s not true, but that’s the way my brain thinks. What sort of things could MOTIVATE me towards RCing more often, more regularly and at more appropriate times?
I learned something quite valuable… RCs don’t work the same way for everyone. I, for example, RC every once in a while, while others can RC many times a day, every day.
I tried to be like that, and I found it tiresome. My suggestion for you is - RC whenever something feels odd, or when you see, hear, touch, taste, smell something different. I learned that DILDs only depend on your state of mind. Or at least that’s what works for me.
Sometimes, even if nothing surreal happens, I realize I am dreaming. My advice is, do not stress yourself too much with RCs.
Oh, and another thing: Learn to believe you can do that kind of stuff. Half the work is believing on what you can do.
I’m pretty sure that’s where all my Lucid Dreams come from, or simply from my mind working out “Wait, that’s not right…”
I’ve never RC’s in my dream (Well, I have while lucid, but to no avail) but all my dreams come from logical thinking. Thanks for the advice, I’ll still RC but like you said, won’t REALLY worry about them too much.
i hope my constant repeating of RCs during the day will make me do it during my dreams because i never find my dreams weird while having them…(and they are!!!) and then whan i wake up i cant belive i thought it was just a normal granny with TWO HEADS!!!
what can i do to bring some logical thinking in my dreams??? 