Subconcsious Reality Check Preferences

Hi, this is my first thread on Dream Views.
I have had a pretty rich dream history, I think you could say. I had experienced about 3-5 natural lucid dreams (LD's without conscious effort) before I found out what it was called and the implications.

The first time I ever tried to consciously induce a lucid dream, I was 15 and all I did was wander around the house all day touching walls and asking myself, out loud, if I was dreaming, as well as doing a considerable amount of reading-up on the subject.

That night, I went to sleep as usual; no mantra's, no visualization, no pills, no dream journal, nothing more than I usually did as I went to sleep.
And I had a lucid dream.

I was in the middle of a nightmare, in a house with yellow walls. I wasn't even aware of my actions or what I was saying, but I reached out and touched a wall. I heard my self say "Am I dreaming?" and everything suddenly became intensely vivid. Ripples spread out across the wall, reminiscent of the motions of a pond when you throw a stone into it. I looked at my hand and the valleys and mountains of the skin of my palms shifted and morphed in front of my eyes.
The next thing I remember was making a peanut butter and jam sandwich (I must have been hungry). I assume I lost lucidity.

Anyway, I gave up on trying to lucid dream after a while as my sleep patterns went to shit and I got insomnia. I have had probably 3 natural lucid dreams since then, and I am currently attempting to correct my sleep and my lucid dreaming routines.

I have gone through two "re-inspirations" in the past couple of years when I diligently tried to maintain a good routine... For about a week. Then my insomnia stopped me from getting any further.

The point of this whole post is, well 1) to see if anyone else has ever had a lucid dream on the first night of trying (it seems to be pretty rare), and 2) to pose the question: are our subconsciouses predisposed to certain reality checks? As in, do you have more chance of lucid dreaming if you find a reality check that your subconscious, rather than your conscious, prefers?

Because I have been using other reality checks since then and haven't managed a lucid dream on purpose at all. Maybe I should go back to the "walls" one. I know there are obviously other factors involved, but what do people think?

Hey there Warique! (oooh I saw you in chat the other day >.< )

Hmm I'm pretty sure there are people who had it on their first night of trying. I had mine about 3 days into it. As for the subconscious question, I can't really say for certain. But what I was thinking was that if there is a certain reality check that your subconscious prefers, then I guess that certain RC will have a better chance to get you lucid. What I mean to say is..

For example: You're looking for yellow flowers. Thus you are predisposed to identify that certain color when you're looking at a huge bush of flowers with different colors. So when you look at the bush, it's easier to identify and pick out the yellow flowers since you already have in mind what you are looking for. In the same sense, if your subconscious prefers something, then when it sees that thing, you'd be more susceptible to knowing you are dreaming, as opposed to other reality checks which your subconscious might just brush off.

Not sure if that made sense lol. But yeah, if your subconscious prefers a certain RC then that would definitely help you out since it's basically your subconscious working in the dream world. Though I'm not sure how you will be able to know what reality checks your subconscious prefers.. >.> furthermore, in my case, I become lucid before I reality check. Perhaps we can take note of the reality checks that seem to work the most?

Yeah, that's actually a really good analogy. I hadn't thought of it that way specifically.
I haven't really had enough lucid dreams to make any sort of conclusion based on my experience, because I've only had one lucid dream on purpose and the other ones have been natural. But when I had the natural ones, I never needed to do any reality checks, I just knew I was dreaming.

Taking notes would be a good idea, but I have to be able to lucid dream again first lol. I was just thinking that there must be something behind the fact that I had a lucid dream straight away with the walls check, but none so far with the method where you try to push your finger through your hand.
I have also been deeply contemplating what it means to be dreaming and/or conscious when I do my reality checks, whereas before, all I did was the reality check with no further thought as to the meaning behind it.

well Warique i fully understand where you are coming from. From the time i was a young child, i started lucid dreaming not so much saying that i was in a dream, but being able to control what happened in them. Until a few years ago (I am 16) i didnt know that this was not normal. Now i know that im dreaming and i have a certain way to control my dreams. (close my eyes, think of what i want to happen, count to 3 and when i open my eyes it'll be there). Recently a friend of mine told me that when you read things in dreams its fuzzy and a couple days later i noticed it, realized i was dreaming and kept lucid dreaming. He also told me when he looks at his hands and sees a red mark then he knows he's dreaming. A few nights late i experienced the same thing. Many people have different triggers that allow them to know they are dreaming. Personally i dont need to recognize that im dreaming to be able to have the benefits of lucid dreams. Perhaps its because i have a general idea when exactly im dreaming. Also as im wondering the frequency you are able to lucid dream and if you had to teach yourself, because i never taught myself it just happens and i can lucid dream at least once a week.

Hey Warique.

Interesting OP, I am going to try this, read back through some dream journals and look for recurring dream patterns and try and build my reality checks around that, as you'd think you have a much higher chance at lucidity if you're doing something throughout the day that you do in your dreams.

I've only ever managed to do a reality check in a dream once I've already become lucid, so it's more a way of double checking before I fly about in the buff. I'm looking for some ideas to ingrain some DILDs so going to give this a shot.

Cheers.

Smorelb: Yeah during my research I learned that younger people often lucid dream but don't say anything about it because they think it is normal. As I said, I always used to, I just didn't think anything of it. I had an aptitude for being sure I was dreaming without the reality checks. However, when you grow up and start going through puberty, dreams, and especially lucid dreams become a lot less frequently remembered (because you always dream, you just don;t always remember them). This is due to hormones, stress and disrupted sleeping routines. Good to know you have retained the ability. I never had to teach my self but I only had a few lucids before I learned what they were (over the course of about 10 years), though I had many vivid regular dreams.
The first one I can remember must have been when I was 6 or 7 and I was being chased around a vineyard by a combine harvester. I turned around at one point and saw the monkey from The Lion King climb out of the driver's seat. I exclaimed "Oh it's just Rafiki!". I then turned around to find a Lego world behind me and proceeded to will all the plastic people into real people one by one, but some of them came out half Lego-person, half real-person. And I never thought anything of it. Perfectly normal haha. Being able to lucid dream once a week is an impressive ability though, man. You should build on it. Focus on your dreams and amplify your talent!

Thebigm: That's my thought, bro. However, I've never had to do reality checks to make sure I was awake; I've always just known.
Good luck

I may post this again when I've been a member for longer. Perhaps more people will pay attention to an "experienced" member than a "noob".