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Reality Checks - What are they?
Let me start by saying that this subject often raises a few
eyebrows because by it's very nature it can seem a futile
exercise...... until you have your first lucid dream. Then it
all becomes clear.
Reality checks are exactly what their title describes. They are
a method by which you can check to see if what you perceive as
being real IS real.
At this point, most people will say "I know my reality is real!"
- but do you?
Sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste are the five main ways
that we perceive our reality. Some would argue that there are
six ways, but that is a whole other story.
Now, all of those senses go into the brain to be interpreted as
'Reality'. What happens when the brain starts to make its OWN
reality? i.e. when you are dreaming. How as a lucid dreamer can
you tell if things are real or not? You need some method that
will differentiate the real world from the dreaming world.
The answer is the reality check
The reality check is THE most powerful method for having a lucid
dream.
Very few people know this but you will often have what is know
as a 'false awakening' during the night. Those are the times
when you wake up and do something such as checking your clock or
maybe listening to a noise that may have disturbed you.
Often, you haven’t woken up at all! What has happened is that
you have become conscious IN your dream. Yes that's correct, you
have been lucid dreaming and you never knew it.
If you had been used to reality checking, you would have been
able to spot this and would have had a wonderful lucid dream.
As you can see, checking your reality can bring the awareness
needed to trigger a lucid dream, whilst you are dreaming. This
opens up opportunity's to lucid dream that you never knew were
there.
There are several different methods which enable you to
distinguish between this 'real' world and the (much more fun)
lucid world.
A simple method that I prefer to use is the 'pinch nose' relaity
check. This one can be done anywhere anytime without looking
silly. Simply pinch your nose with your mouth closed and try to
breath in through your nose.
If you cannot breath in, you are awake in this world. If you can
breathe in then you are in a dream. For reasons unknown, you can
breath through a closed nose or mouth in dream world. This will
cause you to become lucid and hey presto, you are having a lucid
dream!
It is possible to lucid dream without using reality checks but I
would say that approximately eighty percent of my lucid dreams
are triggered by reality checks.
Copyright 2006 Andrew Strachan. Andrew Strachan has been
lucid dreaming for over 20 years. Anybody can learn how to lucid
dream. Learn the techniques he uses so that you can learn to
lucid dream yourself.
http://www.lucidfun.com
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