Knowing that you're dreaming can be a useful
technique for a number of purposes, ranging from
checking your dream state when seeking to lucid
dream (you need to know you're dreaming to be
able to become lucid), to wanting to know if
you're awake or dreaming after receiving a shock,
or having been in an accident. Are you dreaming
or are you awake? Here are some ways to test your
conscious state.
!! Steps !!
Check whether you're dreaming when you're awake. Although this may
seem counterintuitive, lucid dream advocates suggest that it is
important to test during the day whether or not you're dreaming.[1]
The reason for doing this is that if you get into a habit of checking
in waking life, theoretically, this checking habit will cross over
into your dream life. By deliberately checking during waking hours,
you can create a particular habit for your mind to try out one or
more of the following reality checks, such as reading a piece of
paper when wondering if you're dreaming, or checking a clock. When
the habit is tried out in a dream, and fails to perform "normally",
then its failure lets you know that you're dreaming.[2]
* Naturally, it is not recommended to test flying or throwing
yourself off tall buildings. Dangerous activities are for noting
while dreaming, not testing. What can be tested includes reading,
looking, trying to move objects, etc. Use your common sense and
your knowledge of common dream signs!
* If you are really awake, then you might want to consider why
you're worried about whether or not you're dreaming. For example,
have you taken drugs or have you been poisoned? Are you an
accident victim? Are you hallucinating? Might you be suffering
from concussion or some other injury?
* If you are injured or out of your depth mentally or emotionally,
either call for medical assistance or signal to somebody to help
you as best you can.
The spooky man Know the common dream signs. There are some very
common, shared experience dream signs that indicate you're
dreaming rather than sitting wide awake. Reality checks work off
these, as discussed in the following steps, but for starters,
some of the more common dream signs include:[3]
* Flying unaided.
* Falling, but never quite reaching an end (although, a sudden jolt
in a fall can be enough to awaken you properly).
* Having a monster, dangerous person, or strange creature run after
you or attack you.
* Paralysis - something terrible this way comes but you just sit or
stand there because you cannot move.
* Being lost in a familiar place.
* Talking to deceased persons.
* Being naked in public (walking into the CBD, sitting on a bus,
sitting in class, etc.).
* Not being harmed by being stabbed, shot, wounded, etc.
* Normally reliable mechanical devices failing to work as normal,
especially if you need to get away from something.
* Missing body parts, with lost teeth being very common in dreams.
* Taking a test when you don't know the answers. Taking a test naked
when you don't know the answers!
* Perform a series of what are known as "reality check tests". If
you are dreaming, things won't be as they seem normally. Reality
checks form a regular part of lucid dreaming and are a means by
which you can be actively more involved in your lucid dreaming.
Some lucid dreamers like to perform reality checks during the
waking hours because it increases the opportunities for lucid
dreaming.[4]
Check appearances. They can be very deceiving in the dream world,
where distortions are common and even the norm.
* Look at your hands, feet, legs, etc. Are they the usual shape? Do
you have the right amount of digits?
* Is any part of your body disfigured?
* Try to find a mirror. What does your reflection look like in the
mirror? In a dream state, you probably won't look like the real
you. The reflection will often be blurry or distorted.[5]
* Does you hair color and length appear like it should, or has it
changed length, texture and color?
* Are you doing things that you couldn't possibly be doing in real
life, like being a star football player, or a movie star?
Are you on the moon or over the moon? Test your strength and
abilities. Clearly, if you can fly or lift extremely heavy
objects, you're not awake. Test your abilities as follows:
* Try to levitate or float. If you can, you're in a dream state.
* Can you wish yourself somewhere else and be there in an instant?
* Try jumping on the spot. Can you jump over the moon, or maintain a
jump for an abnormally long period of time? Or did you jump
straight up and then land on Earth with a thud?
Check everyday occurrences. A good test of
whether or not you're dreaming is if your
usual waking habits distort or are
inconsistent with what is normally done. For
example, if you usually turn the key once to
unlock a door but your dream has you turning
it three times despite the fact that this
would not be possible in waking life, then you
have a sign that you're dreaming.
* Look at the ground underneath your feet. Does it look normal or
not?
* Can you speak normally? If your voice is extremely croaky or not
coming from your mouth at all, you're more than likely dreaming.
Test your powers of moving objects without touching them
(telekinesis).
* Are you able to shift objects across a room or area without going
near them?
* Can you switch appliances and lights on and off with thoughts
alone? In addition, note that the level of light will rarely
change as a result of flipping a switch in a dream state.[6] Be
aware that not every lucid dreaming advocate believes that this is
a reliable test - for some dreamers, nothing changes when a light
is switched on and off.[7]
* Can you make objects appear before you just by wishing?
Consider the other people around you. If you're talking to people
who have been dead for years, then that's a sure sign that you're
dreaming. Why you're talking to them is a whole other area for dream
interpretation, but the fact that they're there, casual as, means
you're dreaming.
* Are you schmoozing up with your enemies like they're your best
friends? Definitely you're dreaming!
* Does your grandfather suddenly have extraordinary super powers or
your sibling has started being nice to you?
* If you're in familiar surroundings, can you recognize the people
around you or are they all complete strangers?
Try reading. In dreams, reading is difficult
as the words become distorted.[8] Try looking
away from the text and then looking back
again; if it's a dream, there is a high
likelihood that the text will have morphed
into something else.
* Test this while awake. Read the paper, look away, then come back
to it again and read it. Hopefully the text has stayed the same!
The point of this is to reinforce this as an action for your mind
whether or not it is dreaming.
* Keep something to read next to your bed. If you have just finished
a lucid dream, it's possible that you're still dreaming. If not,
and you're actually awake, you can read the text next to the
bed.[9]
* Look at a digital watch or clock. This is a variant on the text
distortion - again, if the digital numbers blur, change, or make
no sense, then you're probably dreaming.[10]
* Check complex patterns, another variant of text and clocks.[11]
Look at patterns, such as brickwork, floor paving, or soft
furnishing designs. Do the patterns remain the same or do they
change?
Consider the things that don't work to alert you that you're
dreaming. There are some tests that don't work to identify whether
or not you're dreaming because they are unreliable, or are too
easily assimilated into the dream world.
* Pinching yourself. The common saying "pinch me, I must be
dreaming" doesn't help you to work out whether or not you're
dreaming. You can feel pain in a dream, and pinching yourself in a
dream state can just tell your mind that you're feeling pain in a
dream or that you are dreaming you're awake.[12]
* Asking people if you're dreaming. Your dream characters are very
likely to tell you that you're not dreaming; apparently they enjoy
existing in your dream as much as you do.[13]
* Totem objects (as seen in the film "Inception"). In Inception, Dom
Cobb uses a spinning top as an indicator of dreaming - it doesn't
stop spinning in a dream, whereas in waking life, it would stop.
The problem with this is that your mind knows how a top works for
real and is likely to simply transfer that reality into your dream
world. It may not, it may well leave the top spinning. But you
can't rely on that possibility either way, as your dreaming mind
will do whatever it feels like with the object![14] The only
exception to this might be when you need an object to get away
from something terrifying - then, you and the object might just be
paralyzed.
* The toilet dream. This can be a bad one if you're thinking you are
awake as you sit on an imaginary toilet and wet the bed in
reality. And no, this isn't just for kids!
* Check your reality checks. A reality check as to whether or not
you're dreaming is only as good as its results. If your reality
check works reliably after a few dream tests, then it's probably a
good one to keep using. If it has a terrible hit and miss rate,
however, discard it and seek other reality checks that work best
for you.
!! Video !!
!! Tips !!
* The application of common sense can go a long way in working out
whether or not you're dreaming. If things are well and truly out
of the normal spectrum of everyday possibilities, such as melting
buildings, you're floating above the trees, or all the test
answers fall in your lap, then you can definitely be assured that
what's happening isn't in the land of waking reality.
* Check to see if you're snoring. It isn't possible to snore and
dream at the same time.[15][16] Naturally, you're not awake
either, so possibly you're in limbo!
* If you have watched movies or TV shows about falling into dream
states, there may be trigger sounds, sights, etc., that can make
you wonder if you're dreaming when you're awake. Try to pinpoint
the film or show that the trigger comes from, in order to reassure
yourself.
* A valid sign is if you aren't seeing this from your perspective
but you can see yourself doing whatever. However, this isn't that
good a method to use because when you're dreaming you hardly ever
notice the difference in perspective.
* Blind people dream without images but relying on their other
senses to be just as vivid as imagery.[17] Theoretically, being
blind shouldn't stop you from having a series of reality checks,
it is just that they cannot be visually based.
!! Warnings !!
* Sometimes the excitement of working out that you're dreaming can
be enough to awaken you. Not only disappointing, but potentially a
lost few hours of sleep ahead as you try to settle back down to
sleeping.
!! Things You\'ll Need !!
* Book or text to read
!! Related WikiHows !!
* How to Lucid Dream
* How to Interpret Your Dreams
* How to Influence Your Dreams
* How to Know if Your Dog Is Dreaming
* How to Remember Dreams
!! Sources And Citations !!
* Dreampush,
http://dreampush.com/reality-tests-a-common-lucid-dreaming-technique/
– research source for reality check tests
!! Article Tools !!
* Read on wikiHow
* Discuss
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