I had a VERY frustrated with this dream! Does this happen often? I must have checked my reality 20 times in my dream…
I don’t remember the entire dream scenario but I was talking with someone who I can’t recall. I believe I was inside an off-white building with some windows. Within the dream I said, “Wait, I’m dreaming!” and I performed a reality test in which I tried to put my right hand through my left. It worked just as it would in reality, in which my right hand could not go through the left. At first I dismissed the thought and resumed what I was doing but a few moments later I thought, “Wait, no, I really am dreaming!” and I tried it again… and it worked as it would in reality. The person I was talking with thought I had gone mad. This made me VERY frustrated which reckoned a spell of attempts to overcome the reality check. Each time it operated just as it would in the waking realm and each time I grew more and more frustrated. I tried again overcome the threshold of the dream by plugging my nose. In the dream, I should be able to continue to breath while my nose is plugged. This also worked as in reality. With my nerves on end I devised an ultimate attempt. Recollecting on the techniques portrayed within a LD book I am reading, I said to myself, “In dreams, you can fly!” so I began gallivanting through the hallway trying to achieve an unrealistic (in waking) air-time. After failing miserably, and feeling quite embarrassed about it, I finally (wrongly) admitted, “Ok, I’m definitely not dreaming.” and continued my dream as normal… I nearly punched myself when I woke up.
Iam yet to performa reality check ina dream even tho I do at least 20 a day, and also when I do reality checks I do at least 3 so to make sure one doesn’t slip thro the net.
My finger comes out of it’s joint slightly when I pull it. Seems weird but long story short would this be a suitable RC I can never be bothered with others. ( And prefer to be different )
Freaky… does your finger come out IRL ? If so, it wouldn’t be good as an RC as your finger comes out IRL and in dreaming life… hope you understand what I’m talking about
Okay! I did not realize how awfully creepy the thumb through palm RC would be! It’s just gross! But it did work, I have no idea what prompted me to do an RC while I was dreaming but to see your thumb go through your hand and the nail pop out on the other side is definitely good at shocking you lucid!
didn’t want to make an entire new post about this, but had an interesting experience last night.
I’ve gotten into the habit of counting my fingers as an RC, don’t do it as often as I should, but anyway, counted my fingers last night in a dream and they were all there. For some reason I wasn’t satisfied that this was reality and kept counting them, finding them all to be there. Then I pinched my nose and discovered I could breathe through it. with this confirmation, I didn’t proceed to have a lucid dream or any fun lucid adventures. I simply didn’t care and continued on. the only part of the dream I remember today is me doing the reality checks.
usually if I discover I’m dreaming I get excited and try to make things happen. this apathy confuses me. any idea why I couldn’t have cared less, or how to concentrate and maintain lucidity?
For me personally I do not think that I would do good with this particular RC. Just because of the fact that my dreams tend to be a bit more realistic and take on the characteristics of RL. I am not saying that I don’t have weird dreams I am merely saying that some RC that work for others do not work for me. Everyone probably experiences this to some extent.
Seems to me…that this here was your actual dream-sign In other words, if you are ever convinced that you’re dreaming…or even question whether or not you’re dreaming for real…then, for sure, you’re almost certainly dreaming!
LOL! Sorry, but this is really funny…the whole scenario you presented in your post. I say this because I’ve been there many times. I’ve been duped by “reality checks” many times in dreams…and the funny thing is, I get duped by second guessing whether or not I’m dreaming after I come to the realization in the dream that I am, indeed, dreaming. There’s some kind of weird feedback loop in play here that I’m at a loss to describe accurately…but it has something to do with the dream’s representation of second guessing the self…and how it represents the irony of that second guessing…it’s like the second guessing reverses the property of how the “reality check” works, or something like this. Of course, this is just my impressions upon reading your post. Can’t verify this in any way other than gut instinct.
Anyway, thanks for the chuckles . For what its worth, you’ve given me some deep insight, with your post, into how to approach this phenomenon when it occurs in dreaming…and for that, I thank you
With respect to earlier posts, looking at my hands still works for me…or has one the occasion that I happen to look in dreams. Typically, the tips of my fingers will disappear…or my thumbs will grow to cartoonish proportions. That’s usually enough to kick off lucidity.
However, it seems one of the most reliable developing checks, for me, is a certain bodily “feeling” that is the signature of lucidity in dreaming…a certain vibratory buoyancy that is the essence of the dreaming body. The value of this “check” is that holding my awareness on this bodily sensation seems to gather intensity in the dream…and helps to sustain lucidity throughout various complex tasks. I’ve been away from ld for awhile, so…have to revisit how “valid” this is for me when I return. Not long now
So is there a method to prompt your concience to make a reality check within a dream other than doing it often in real life? Cuz ive been reading this read for a quite long time now and i see that people do RC with stuff they’ve got at hand in real life, but when im dreaming i hardly have anything around that will prompt a reality check, in fact, its like im there but i dont even see my own body, let alone check for something with text or a vending machine or stuff in my room (i never dream about locations im familiar with)
Lincourtz, whether you “see” your body or not, you should be able to do RCs with it. I don’t look for my hand when I go to pinch my nose; I and other humans have proprioception, so I can guide my hand to my nose with little thought. If you have a head in-dream, why not try putting pressure on your tongue with your teeth? I and some other people have found this to be an effective, discreet RC that results in having no tongue to bite in dreams. Surely you can do a body-based RC if you put your mind to it.
Also, I think you want to say “conscious mind”, as your conscience is your inner sense of wanting to do the right thing.
Thank you very much, i still dont know much of the terminology and im trying to get used to it. ill keep going with my reality checks and see how it turns out!
)
In other words, if you are ever convinced that you’re dreaming…or even question whether or not you’re dreaming for real…then, for sure, you’re almost certainly dreaming!
