How to perform reality check?

I have recently gotten a big interest in lucid dreaming, and I am still not clear on a few things. I was reading the guide and it said to realize that you are dreaming, you should perform a reality check such as looking at your hands or reading text. However, how can I do this in the first place if I have absolutely no control over my dream? Also, not really related to this question, but what does an LD actually feel like? Does it feel exactly like real life? Anyways, thanks for any help in advance :smile:

LD looks like real life with sugar on top!

First you should make a dream log and take notes every time you wake up, don’t trust your memory it will go away in 5 minutes.

When you think in the dream that you are dreaming perform several RC, I tried it six times in the last week and got no luck but I was only performing the hands one, we are very naive in the dream before entering LD.

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When you practise reality checks IRL, It will be a more likely response in a dream because it’s part of your normal activities. It’s not exactly true that one has no control whatsoever in dreams. We have control but we are not thinking logically. Our mindstate is very different. We act impulsively and are extremely suggestible. Our impulses are largely habitual so get into the habit of questioning wether you are dreaming!

I’ve almost completely stopped doing RC’s IRL. I still do them automatically in dreams anyway, just as if it was a habit.

Reality checks aren’t simple as they seem.

Mostly, you need to train IRL, but you may never get used to think it will show you aren’t dreaming, which is a easily done mistake.

At first you need to ponder how would it be if you were dreaming before testing reality. If I’m dreaming, the test should show me, this, or fail, concentrate on the event thinking you could be really dreaming. If you get surprised to see you aren’t dreaming, what you pondered is not true, then it’s your real life.

Unfortunately some parts cannot be told so easily, you may need a lot of training, but don’t give up, negative thoughts are the worst for LDing.

I find that I usually get into a LD, or any good ND when just falling asleep, or just waking up. Usually what happons is I get this wierd feeling of being paralized, as well as a lightness around my body befor a dream comes on. I tend to try and use it to my advantage, knowing a dream is just around the corner when I feel the sensations. My own kinda reality check.

i always just do a spiderman hand gesture and when a web shoots out i know i’m dreaming.

i bock my nose and close my mouth. if i can breath (which feels really funny) im dreaming :grin:

yea I agree with renshuden it does feel really wierd!! All you need to do is block your nose with your thumb and index finger and close your mouth then try and breath. Also you can look at a clock and then look away before looking back at it. If the time has changed drasticly your dreaming. :content: To do them in your dreams just do them in real life ALOT!

Well, you can’t, and that is probably one of the flaws in the theory of RCs as it is communicated by some. :wink:

I think the point of RCs is rather:

a) when you already are lucid (i.e. you are conscious in a dream and know that you are dreaming) to determine whether you can do stuff that would not work in WL, just to be sure. This amounts to a way to increase lucidity, since failing a RC is by itself a “lucid action” which cannot be done in WL.

b) when accidentally doing them (through conditioning in WL), to notice something odd about the world which will make you lucid.

Certainly you cannot consciously perform a RC if you are not already lucid. Thus, recommendations like “if you get lucid, do a RC” make no sense to me. :eh:

I’d say, if you are lucid, do something that you want to do in a LD (you already know you are dreaming, right?). If you enjoy the outcomes of failed RCs (which are such a thing, of course), then, by all means, do them. If you don’t want to waste too much time, just do anything that you would want to do do in a LD. :cool: So much for a).

As for b), while it might work for some to attain lucidness, I think it is simpler to just establish an attitude of questioning reality as often as possible. If you are in a dream and think of flying, you will fly. Other odd things will happen just because you think of them. The surroundings will reflect your mood. Compare this with WL, and you will be able to notice the difference without doing any RCs at all.

Ultimately, you will have to find out the importance of RCs for yourself. I’m just suggesting that they are by no means necessary to attain lucidity.

Sensations are much like in real life concerning realism and detail, but they can be much more intense and varied, too. In a way, it feels much like real life but still is totally different. I guess that is part of what makes LDing so much fun. :smile: