Pretty much eveyr LD that I’ve had has been a DILD, and in pretty much all of them I’m become lucid without a reality check. I don’t know how it happens, but I just realise I’m dreaming, alot of the time I don’t even think to myself, ‘I’m dreaming’ or whatever. Lately I’ve been having more than ever this way, so I think I might be on to something here, because I can just simply realise I’m dreaming without really even thinking about it, so if I get better at this then I’ll be having LDs all the time. Any thoughts on the matter?
well on the first 3 nights of knowing about lds i had a lucid dream every night getting higher and higher lucidity, the 3rd being high lucidity. but since that one i havnt had any more and its been about 3 nights since. all of them was without any method or rc (i tried after i knew i was dreaming but it failed) and they are really ‘normal’ dreams, no strange aliens or anything like that… i just know im dreaming for no reason, do you have any idea how i could keep having more like this because its stoped? 
Similar to what was discussed in another topic, I don’t think that it is RCing in a dream that will allow lucidity neccesarily in a DILD. RCing is the act of questioning reality rather than specific RCs. If you have this mindset, it is the “mindset of RCs” that allows DILDs more often then actual RCs causing DILDs. As someone else pointed out a while ago, “How can you RC if you aren’t lucid, if becoming lucid requires an RC?”. Since we know that we can become lucid and that we do RCs in dreams, we can conclude that the only way this is possible is for us to become lucid due to our mindset and then RC once lucid.
I just realized there is one more possibility, but it has never happened to me before: doing an RC unconciously by habit instead of mindset (fine line difference), and becoming lucid from the RC. Has this happened to anyone? And how often?
lol kmcdonald, you always sound like you have a PhD in dreaming 
, how long you have to ld to know so much?
i think on some level we always know we are dreaming, well at least i do. when im scared in a dream or i want it to end i rub my eyes and wake up… but i never did that irl lol. but then i dont know that its only a dream so theres nothing to be scared of, i think the higher this level of natural lucidity the easier it would be to become lucid. has anyone any idea on how to raise this level?
RC’s have worked for me, but only when questioned if it was a dream first. If you are already questioning if you are dreaming, then that is where an RC is useful. If it wasn’t for that RC, then you might miss out on a wonderful lucid experience!
My opinion on RC’s is that they are not necessary to do during the day as a habit, because I find that none of my habits carry over into dreaming. Example: I pick my fingernails during the day, but never ONCE have I picked my fingernails in a dream. (I know this is discusting, but I can’t shake this habit; have had it since I was 3 or 4 years old…)
Now, in exchange for not doing RC’s in waking life, I suggest instead questioning reality, THEN doing an RC. When I first started on my quest for lucidity, I would plug my nose and try to inhale around 70+ times a day, but that is all I would do. I wouldn’t Question Reality, which is what really is essential. When you start to constantly be cynical about things, that personality carries over into your dreams and you will find that things won’t slip by you as often as before.
Like recently, I was in a dream and I saw my friend drinking a Jack and Coke. I realized my friend doesn’t drink, so I plugged my nose and surely enough I could breath in just fine. Lucidity resulted.
Heh heh, lucidMonkey, I am very interested in the brain/mind in general and AI, and an avid programmer, so I end up sounding like I have a Phd in dreaming I guess because that is the way I think 
I don’t ever remember rubbing my eyes to wake up, or anything even similar. As a matter of fact… time for a poll relating to this. I am sure people have an opinion/experience but don’t really want to write it all out.
I think the way RCs are meant to work is through habit, and thats why you’re meant to do them lots during the day, so you’re carry on and do them in your dream aswell. But as confusion said, habits often don’t carry over to dreams. So using a RC once you’re already lucid is probably a good way to use them, because it just makes sure that you are dreaming, hopefully giving you higher lucidity.
I just realised that what I’m having are probably MILDs, not DILDs, because everytime I wake up from a dream in the night, I remind myself to notice that I’m dreaming, and then tell myself I’m dreaming.
Its all because reality checks arent done properly.And i dont mean the actuall act.I mean the situation.
If you do rcs all day all the time,sure thing,like MCDonald say…olny when gaining lucidity one will be able to perform rc.Still good as we know reality checks are more for confirming lucid state than causing it(sadly)
BUT- rcs done based on our dreamsigns is another story.Keeping the habit of doing rcs in RIGHT situations will cause better situation.If you dreamsign is your girlfriend then do it when you see her.Allways.This way you will not need to be lucid(hopefully:) to perform rc.
Its easier said and done but understanding the DIFFERENCE is helpfull.Just helpfull.
I can’t say I’ve ever done an RC in a dream out of habit, but I suppose if I did it ten times a day then I might. If I ever use them it’s after I already suspect I’m dreaming because I’ve gone into an underground tunnel at night and emerged in a country lane in sunshine or some other not-very-subtle clue. I have also used RCs when I get a bit confused and am not sure whether I’m dreaming, when I’m about to do something dangerous or potentially embarrassing or illegal. The key to it seems to be that sensation when you wake up from whatever you’re thinking about and go, “Hang on a minute…” - I’m doing that just now.
After a bit of experience I now sometimes find that I’ll just pop into a dream and go, “Ah, here we are!” - not quite as often as I’d like to, though.
The funny thing is, and I’ve thought this before - you can be sure that you’re dreaming but you can never be sure you’re not dreaming. LD is the only certainty in life…