Thread: Did a reality test but it was an epic fail

This is a first time thing for me, I did a reality test, (the old hold your nose, close mouth and breathe to be exact), and I quickly realized I was dreaming.

However I didn't become lucid. I knew I was dreaming but failed to become lucid. I continued to reality check but none of them made me lucid. I knew I was dreaming but didn't feel lucid at all, whats up with that?

Lucidity just means you knew you were dreaming so you were lucid. What do you think lucid means. (This is an actual question, not an insult)

That's the reason I really don't care about RC's and only do them a few times a day. If I did it in a dream, I prob wouldn't think twice and just keep dreaming, so I have to fig out how to become lucid

Being Lucid is simply knowing your dreaming.

However, I believe I know what you're talking about. It's difficult to describe for many, but I've discussed it on here many times before.

Your dream self 'knows' your dreaming, your Id. You, your ego, does not. Its like observing your dream self say "I'm dreaming right now" but not actually becoming conscious of that fact. Merely words.

I agree with the guy above me, now that I think of it he's right. I remember it's happened to me before and you need to really try to wake that part of your brain up. Did it feel like you only kinda knew, like you full knew but still not really feeling it?

I've had something similar once. What follows is a fragment of my dream journal:

"After we got coffee I noticed I didn't had my wallet on and that I was wearing very weird work clothers. I decided I should take of as many work clothes that allowed me to walk around normally. Everything went wrong, I somehow accidentally got my pants off and was sitting there in my underpants (on the ground holding my jacket on top of it). I did so many reality checks but all my fingers were normal and I couldn't breathe through my nose (this is something I have to check), I realized all kinds of things were off and that I didn't even knew how I got there. People came to me asking wtd I was doing. I told them "I have no recollection of how I got here, as if I woke up here. My reality checks keep on failing *doing one again* and these clothes all seriously weird!". I found all these obvious dream signs too much and finally counted 22 (!) fingers: LUCID. "

And another one that is more recently:
" I thought this to be unbelievably low and could hardly believe it. So I reality checked but my hands looked okay. Jeroen stepped by and handed over my keys he had stolen, laughed at me and walked away. He answered positively when I asked him if they had done this. Thinking again how screwed up this was, friends driven apart, bicycle like this I decided to reality check again and again my hands looked okay. I looked around and thought this could not possibly be a dream but it was so screwed up I decided to go trough all reality checks I knew because I couldn't possibly believe real life would be so fucked up either! When I pinched my nose I could breath through it and I was extremely relieved! LUCID! "

I think the key is to be persistent. As far as I know I never failed to recognize a dream once the thought of it slipped my mind.

Achieving lucidity without reality checks is extremely rare for me. I've only had it happen a few times, but it makes sense because as soon as I feel or suspect something about dreaming I simply reality check (even reality checks that get me analyze the "feel" of what I'm going through at that moment, but I never achieved lucidity because of that type of reality checks).

EDIT: now I've come to think of it, I've had this more often than just the two fragments of my journal I just posted here. I guess it's one of the reasons everyone keeps telling people to do more than one type of reality check!

Originally Posted by ExoByte

Being Lucid is simply knowing your dreaming.

However, I believe I know what you're talking about. It's difficult to describe for many, but I've discussed it on here many times before.

Your dream self 'knows' your dreaming, your Id. You, your ego, does not. Its like observing your dream self say "I'm dreaming right now" but not actually becoming conscious of that fact. Merely words.

Spot on.

Originally Posted by ExoByte

Being Lucid is simply knowing your dreaming.

However, I believe I know what you're talking about. It's difficult to describe for many, but I've discussed it on here many times before.

Your dream self 'knows' your dreaming, your Id. You, your ego, does not. Its like observing your dream self say "I'm dreaming right now" but not actually becoming conscious of that fact. Merely words.

That's the thing though. I don't mean to call you out, or to say that your theory is any less valid, but that's a very Freudian way of thinking. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to be a very limited way of thinking, and not at all beneficial to the goal of Lucid dreaming, because it infers that the dream world is beyond your control.

but it does explain DCs and why they react the way they do when you become lucid. Hm... Research is needed. still it's interesting to think this way!

Thanks for that link man.

Originally Posted by Darkborne

That's the thing though. I don't mean to call you out, or to say that your theory is any less valid, but that's a very Freudian way of thinking. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to be a very limited way of thinking, and not at all beneficial to the goal of Lucid dreaming, because it infers that the dream world is beyond your control.

but it does explain DCs and why they react the way they do when you become lucid. Hm... Research is needed. still it's interesting to think this way!

I think you misunderstand me. I am not saying this is what Lucid Dreaming is or is the reality of Lucid Dreaming. I am saying this is a situation and a phenomenon that occurs sometimes.

Lucid Dreaming is being fully and consciously aware in a dream the same way you are during waking life. The issue the poster is having is, it seems to me, is that he is saying or coming to the realization that he is dreaming, without getting that consciousness or awareness. That said, his DREAM self is aware, but not HIS mind, which is the conflict of the ego and the id.

Originally Posted by ragincajun2288

This is a first time thing for me, I did a reality test, (the old hold your nose, close mouth and breathe to be exact), and I quickly realized I was dreaming.

However I didn't become lucid. I knew I was dreaming but failed to become lucid. I continued to reality check but none of them made me lucid. I knew I was dreaming but didn't feel lucid at all, whats up with that?

That happened to me A LOT (before I started getting this awful insomnia). I wouldn't say it is a lucid dream because normally if I don't have control I forget that I am dreaming and then continue to play in the dream.

Ah sorry, exo. I misunderstood your post.

However, it does make sense. Thanks for clarifying.

I did this recently. I knew I was asleep but I didn't seem to get my logic back, thus odd occurrences in the dream world seem normal. I managed to fly for a bit but not very well.

Whenever I am in this state I try to fly and do crazy stuff like normal but I usuall fail at it. It's like a part of me is still holding on to the rational thoughts of waking life. Maybe I need to further leave behind those nagging things and understand that I'm living in a subjective reality, whether it's my dreamscape or waking life, all things are possible.

Find something else to hopefully find out that you are dreaming. Or just dild.