Reality Checks:
The Gateway to Lucid Dreams

Reality checks are probably the easiest way to have lucid dreams. They are not the only way - and certainly aren't 100% reliable - but they don't require any skill and quickly teach your subconscious mind to learn lucid dreaming.

If you are new to conscious dreams and have never tried this technique before, you have every chance of experiencing a lucid dream tonight! That is the beauty of reality tests - they can create spontaneous lucidity.

If you are practicing other lucidity techniques, you should be performing daily reality tests as well - just for good measure. I can't stress enough the impact that reality checks have on your self awareness in your waking and dreaming life.

Learn Lucid Dreaming

To learn lucid dreaming, you must be able to tell the difference between a dream and reality. If that sounds weird - stick with me. Because reality is about to get even weirder...

How do you know that you are awake right now? You might say:

• because I can see
• because I can feel
• because I am aware
• because I just am!

Using this system, you will never wake up in a dream! Your subconscious mind can't test the same principles as your logical conscious mind. It's the reason you have normal dreams every night, instead of clear, conscious dreams.

In order to have self awareness in a dream, you need to have that "eureka!" moment. Something that jogs your conscious mind into waking, so you have the capacity to say "hang on, this is a dream!" Reality checks will provide that cue.

OK, brace yourself for an activity that may seem a little stupid. You're going to perform some simple tasks that rely on basic physics and logic. As you do them, consciously ask yourself if you are awake or dreaming.

Perform your reality checks every couple of hours throughout the waking day. It's best to combine two together. Soon they will occur in a dream automatically, and when they do, you will become fully lucid. You may even lucid dream tonight.

What happens when you perform a reality test when you are awake? Exactly what you expect to happen - absolutely nothing.

But prepare to be astonished when you do a reality check in a dream. You will find yourself breathing without oxygen, floating and flying, shape shifting, moving through mirror portals - and anything else you dare to try.

Any combination of these reality checks will expose the true nature of a dream... and your lucidity will be instantaneous.

My personal favorite tests of reality are: pushing my fingers through my palm, floating or flying, looking at the time, and testing my vision without glasses.

Sometimes I try to push my hand through the desk or wall. It is a wonderful feeling when you actually can push your hand through a solid object in a lucid dream. Your conscious lucidity makes this feel real - and, naturally, very weird!

Self Awareness in Dreams

Besides teaching people how to learn lucid dreaming, reality testing is a great way to increase your self awareness. What do I mean by self awareness? Well, most of us mosey on through life without ever questioning the world around us.

It is human nature to establish neural constructs based on our experiences. I know that I can't fly and that walls are solid. There should be no reason for me to continually question this. Unless you are a lucid dreamer!

By constantly checking the information your brain is giving you, it will increase your self awareness. It is like learning to walk all over again. Not only does this provide you with lucidity triggers, it provides a greater awareness of the dreamstate. This will make your lucid dream experiences as vivid as reality.

There is no doubt about what lucid dreams are: if you have had one, you know about it. But there are varying degrees of self awareness in a conscious dream. So it makes sense to turn up the clarity as high as you can! That way, everything you see, hear and touch will be as close to reality as possible.

And that is why lucid dreaming has such a profound reputation. It is not a form of day dreaming. It is a new reality altogether...

Reality Checks: FAQ

How often should I perform reality checks?

You should always test your reality when you wake up, to be sure that it isn't a false awakening. After that, try to do a test every couple of hours throughout your day. Perform one last check before you go to sleep, while reminding yourself to have lucid dreams tonight. In time, it will become such a habit that you won't even notice yourself doing it.

How can I remember to do regular reality checks?

Some people who learn lucid dreaming decide to write a capital "L" for Lucid on the back of their hand, which reminds them. However a more discreet method is to do a reality check every time you perform a certain action, like opening a door, looking at your watch, getting into a car, or walking down the stairs.

Put stickers around your workspace, asking "am I dreaming?" and "is this a dream?" Or install this free reality check software onto your computer.

Why didn't my reality check give me a lucid dream?

Sometimes you can do a reality check while dreaming and it gives you a positive result, meaning you wrongly identified your dream as waking reality. That's why it's important to do at least two reality checks together. If one fails, the other will expose the dream for what it is.

Sometimes flying doesn't work for me as a reality check, because I simply don't expect it to happen. That is where the importance of self awareness comes in. Other people have problems with the light switch test. If your chosen reality check doesn't work, pick a new one.

When your reality check works, you will have the realization that you are dreaming. This is your gateway to spontaneous conscious dreams - and may even a lucid dream tonight!

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