How to Perform A State Test and Reality Check
A state test, also known as a reality check, is a simple exercise used to identify the dreamworld and trigger lucid dreams. It is a critical tool in the lucid dreamer’s toolkit and one of the most important things to learn for students new to lucid dreaming.
Performing a state test successfully is not easy and requires practice. While the exercise is simple, there are several common pitfalls and mistakes that need to be avoided. Most of all, state tests need to be trained so that dreamers actually perform them while they are asleep.
This guide will get you familiar with the basics of this powerful technique. It will describe our recommended state tests (changing text, and flying or levitating), offer advice for overcoming the most common roadblocks, and explain why state tests are powerful for more than just inducing lucidity.
What is a State Test?
A state test is any action or behavior that accurately determines if you are dreaming. Lucid dreamers use state tests extensively to trigger lucidity. Examples include trying to fly or levitate, looking at a sign or a clock twice and seeing if it the symbols have changed, and trying to willfully change some feature of the environment.
Lucid dreamers practice state tests throughout the day to form a habit of questioning reality. Once you form this habit, it becomes inevitable that you will perform a state test while dreaming. If the state test works, you’ll become lucid.
How to Perform a State Test
Performing a state test is one of the critical techniques for learning and mastering lucid dreaming. It is learnable. For some, state tests will come easily, and for others, developing powerful state tests will take more effort. The important part is being sincere and following through.
We will cover two of our favorite state tests. For more in-depth instruction, listen to the audio guides “Changing Text” and “Fly or Levitate” in the Shape Lucid Dreaming app.
Changing Text
This state test is a great one to learn and practice because it can be deployed in almost any situation, without raising eyebrows or interrupting other activities.
Start by finding written text, a symbol, or a shape somewhere in the environment. It can be anything, but it should be theoretically fixed and unchanging, like the title on the spine of a book or a logo on clothing. Look at the symbol and commit it to memory. Look away or close the eyes, then imagine the symbol morphing into something else. Envision it in great detail, and really believe that what you see in your mind’s eye is changing. Then look back to the text or symbol. If it has changed, then you’re almost certainly dreaming.
Flying and Levitating
Attempting to fly or levitate is a powerful state test because it will immediately transport you into a rich lucid dreaming activity if successfully performed in the dreamworld. You’ll quite literally start flying. However it is not well-suited to beginners due to the risk of insufficient effort (it is easy to feel foolish to sincerely practice this state test), so we recommend only practicing this once you are confident and dedicated.
To practice this state test, simply believe that you are about to start flying or levitating. Willfully lift yourself up into the air and start flying. (Warning: do not jump off of anything.) If you do start to levitate or fly, then you are almost certainly dreaming.
Sincerity Is Important
The most important part of a state test is being sincere. Try to truly question the nature of reality. Is this a dream? Why are you sure that it is or is not a dream? How can you be even more sure? Follow this thread to the end until you have proven whether or not you’re dreaming.
A good state test is embodied curiosity. If you are genuinely curious about just how real this world is, your state tests will work.
When to Perform a State Test
We recommend performing a state test anytime anything slightly out of the ordinary happens. If the sky looks a different color than normal, perform a state test. If you see someone acting abnormally, perform a state test. If the laws of physics seem warped, it is likely that you are dreaming, and you can find out by performing a state test.
Some lucid dreamers use “target event sighting” as state test triggers. In the morning they will make a short list of events that will prompt a state test. These can be normal events like turning the stove on, or rare events like seeing a friend who lives in another city. By performing state test after setting an intention earlier in the day, you will train your mind to be responsive to goal and mnemonic prompts – which helps dramatically when performing techniques like MILD.
Target event sighting is similar to performing state tests when encountering a dream sign. A dream sign is any recurring pattern of your dreams. (We recommend lucid dreaming students record their dream signs.) Anytime you notice a dream sign, be sure to perform a state test.
The Shape Lucid Dreaming app includes Am-I-Dreaming reminders delivered randomly throughout the day. When you receive a reminder, perform a state test. Since the notifications are delivered at random, you’ll learn to perform state tests in a myriad of circumstances.
There is one more high-power moment that we recommend you perform a state test: anytime your imagination seems to alter the environment. For example when someone is walking towards you, approaching from a distance, and you eventually recognize them — how can you be sure that your imagination hasn’t conjured them? That is a good time to practice a state test.
Common Mistakes
These are the common errors and pitfalls when trying to perform state tests:
- Not following through. Many lucid dreaming practitioners don’t fully complete the state test. Maybe the results are ambiguous, or maybe it feels silly to question reality, so the state test is abandoned either before starting or shortly after initiating it.
- Not being sincere. After practicing state tests for several weeks it can become easy to go through the motions without genuinely wondering if what you’re experiencing is a dream. To combat this pitfall, we encourage lucid dreaming students to make sincere curiosity the central focus of their state tests.
- Dismissing the dream state as being unlikely or unrealistic. Many, many lucid dreamers have been within a dream, performed a state test successfully, but dismissed the results as unrealistic! If there is any possibility that you are dreaming, follow through with the state test or engage an additional state test until you are certain.
- Not performing state tests when strange things happen. It is common to see an obvious dream sign like a cartoon character hanging around or a feature in the environment morphing before your very eyes, and not considering that you might be dreaming. Get in the habit of performing a state test anytime anything even slightly bizarre takes place.
The Effect of a Good State Test
An effective state test will tell you whether or not you are dreaming. If you perform a state test (like changing text, or levitating), you will know with great confidence whether or not you are awake or in the dreamworld. If it turns out that you are dreaming, you can move on to performing targeted dream actions.
There are more subtle benefits besides triggering lucid dreams that we think readers should be aware of. Perform state tests is a deep act of curiosity, and this curiosity can have a profound effect on waking life. State tests make lucid dreamers curious about how reality operates. It makes lucid dreamers pay closer attention to their daily lives.
State tests also open the mind. The simple act of wondering, “is this a dream?” can break down stiff mental constructs that interfere with a fresh engagement with the current situation. Surfers who perform state tests perform better on waves. Mathematicians who perform state tests are more creative in their problem solving. Try performing a state test when you are in an argument with someone… the emotional tension will quickly give way to curiosity and understanding.
Conclusion
State tests and reality checks play a central role in the journey of lucid dreaming. They trigger lucid dreams and open the mind. They form a strong bridge between daytime lucid dreaming practice and actually having lucid dreams at night. By mastering state tests during the day, lucid dreaming practitioners produce more lucid dreams at night.
An effective state test is both sincere and conclusive. If you find yourself timid to try a state test or unsure of the results, double down on your curiosity and try an additional state test. Once you perform a state test and realize that you are dreaming, immediately move on to performing predefined target dream actions or goals.
Be sure to practice state tests anytime something strange happens, when you encounter a dream sign, or when your expectations and imagination seem to conjure events in the real world. Safely perform your chosen state test and find out if you are dreaming.
