Lucid Dreaming: Reality Checks

Light and Light Switch: Try to turn on or off the light sometimes they will not work, or flicker. Also, is lighting around you normal for the time of the day and place you are in?

Vision: Do you have perfect vision? If you use glasses when awake, can you see fine in your dream?

Nose: Close one eye. Can you see your nose just fine?

Rememberance: Can you remember how you got there? What you were doing just before? What were you doing an hour or two earlier?

Mirrors: Mirrors many time act as doorways. There may be strange sights in the mirror, or your reflection may seem weird, out of place, blurry… the mirror surface may feel extremely soft to the touch, or even sticky.

Doors: If you are inside your home or a familiar house, open a door, see if it leads where it should, are any things out of place? Things there that shouldn’t be, or things gone that should be?

Outside/Sky: Look at the sky. Is there anything strange or out of place? How about your surroundings?

Gravity: Jump. Are you floating down, or do you fall heavier or slower than you should?

Talk: Talk to yourself or talk to someone else. How do you sound? are you even speaking or do you “know” things? Are you hearing or do you “know” what they reply. Sometimes, friends and family or even strangers in your dreams will give very odd responses to your questions. Ask them something, anything. Do they reply accordingly? Do they even make sense? Do they move their lips but you can’t hear them?

Powers:  Do you suddenly have superpowers? Can you fly?

And last, but not least (although of course, there are a few other things you can try out if you think you’re dreaming); if you’re fairly sure you’re in a dream, try going through a mirror or wall. You have to really, really want it!

Once you are certain you’re dreaming, you can slowly start to practice changing things. One of the hardest things I’ve encountered is making people or large things appear. If you look away then look back, you may find it much easier than trying to have things appear right before your eyes.
You have to will it hard, but be careful not to concentrate on it too much or you will wake yourself from overexcitement.

I realized I was dreaming, but then, I started to feel like I’d wake and finally did. How can I prevent that from happening?

If you feel you’re beginning  to wake just relax and tell yourself you are not ready to wake yet.
Some people say that closing your eyes and “faking” a false awakening could work out. However, for the most people seem to agree that closing your eyes in a dream may actually wake you up for real.

Another thing you can do is rub your hands together and focus on that simple thing until you get your grasp back on the dream.

I performed a reality check and it didn’t work.

If you expect real world results on the check, then you will get real world results.
Also, not all checks will work all the time, which is why you should perform more than one.

I performed a reality check and it came positive, however, I didn’t realize I was dreaming.

Being aware that you are dreaming is difficult, you have to be very focused. Sometimes even if you realize you are dreaming you will not be able to control your dream, this may take some practice.

Well, now you know how to find out if you’re dreaming. Next time you think you are dreaming, look for these signs and perform a few reality checks!
And if you manage to recall a dream with these techniques, be sure to share it, I would love to hear about that!