How do you change a False awakening into a lengthy lucid?

[marcher22]

Hey there. Um i was wondering because i went for an after noon nap @ around 12:30 and then woke up after a False awakening at about 2:00 (woah. Exactly 90 minutes) Well i didnt become lucid after the false awakening because i didnt do a reality check. But i was wondering ..people say that a false awakening is a sign that your about to wake up. well lets just say your false awakening turned into a Lucid dream how would you make your dream longer. Infact how would you make any dream longer because from what i read your in your REM state for about 10-40 Minutes. So lets say you did a WILD and 39 minutes later (earth time) your still in the dream, how could you make it longer to lets say 50 minutes if your REM state only lasts for 40 mins. sorry i just had this question because it seems unclear..and do False Awakening mean your getting closer to lucid dreaming?

[Domineek]

The best thing to do would be to stay relaxed, its really exciting when you find you are lucid dreaming, maybe do something to stabilize your dream. Like screaming clarity and just relax and have fun.

[drewmandan]

The length of the REM state assumes no conscious intervention, but that assumption obviously isn't valid if you're lucid. Nevertheless, if you know you can't prevent waking up, you can try using DEILD to get back in. People usually call this "chaining". But it does take a lot of skill.

[Snowy Egypt]

Nevertheless, if you know you can't prevent waking up, you can try using DEILD to get back in. People usually call this "chaining". But it does take a lot of skill. All it really requires is good recall. To me, it's one of the easier LD methods and one I like to suggest to members who are having trouble WILDing.

[marcher22]

The length of the REM state assumes no conscious intervention, but that assumption obviously isn't valid if you're lucid. Nevertheless, if you know you can't prevent waking up, you can try using DEILD to get back in. People usually call this "chaining". But it does take a lot of skill. So Basically your saying it that as long as your lucid and stay lucid your dream time in a dream can be as long as you want if you can keep your dream stable?

[Shady]

So Basically your saying it that as long as your lucid and stay lucid your dream time in a dream can be as long as you want if you can keep your dream stable? Not speaking for for drew; but my opinion on the matter: In a sense, but first get out of the mindset that time actually exists in your dream. It is "running in the background" so to speak; but nothing you do while in there will have an effect on the "outside world" time or your place in it. Short lucids are usually a result of instability; not the actual or potential length. If you were going to wake up, you were going to wake up. Time is a very situational perception to begin with and is seemingly ever changing; although it really isn't even here to begin with. Maybe while studying for a big test the minutes seem to drag on; but when your out at a bar with the friends it seems like its over before it even started. Now is yesterday and tomorrow at the same time; it just depends where you are when it happens.. It requires someone to make the conscious decision that it happened at a time other then now. The only reason time exists is because we say it does. (I realize this sounds whacky and doesn't even apply to your question; but it might help in understanding the next paragraph). I don't know about you but I've had plenty of lucids that seemed like anywhere from seconds to minutes to hours to days; even weeks.. When in reality the 'actual' time spent dreaming probably doesn't vary more then a few minutes; 15 at the max. Amazing how minuscule changes can stretch amazing lengths when they are given room to grow. As the Matrix says; some rules are meant to be bent; some broken. Maybe you cannot completely avoid the bodies natural 'waking function'; but surely you can trick yourself into thinking your prolonging it significantly. Not to mention holes in recall can inevitably lead to the illusion of time distortion; even if you are 100&#37; sure that your last dream was 20 minutes (Either in reality; or the dream world).. it wasn't.. What you remember of it when compared to your current perception of time (And say how long these things might take in reality) is basically how you determine how long a dream is. You can see how confusion can arise considering driving to work in real life takes 20 minutes; while in the dream world I usually just appear there; or its always around the first corner. You basically fill the holes and say "Ok I was dreaming this long". You don't need to use any conscious effort for it to happen; this happens on its own because we do this constantly. Major assumptions are made that simply are not true, take a step back and always observe your situation in the dream again. Hopefully you can kind of see what im getting at by looking at the image below. Which line is the longest? None, they are all the same size; the one you can see the most of dominates because its a natural reflex. Just because you cannot see something doesn't mean it isn't there. Is it really so far fetched to imagine the same thing applies to dreams? Recall is just another form of this; this is about as simple as I can explain it.. so many other things happen behind the scenes that could literally take me hours to even try to explain.. for now just imagine those smaller lines or blocks as fragments of a dream. Now ask yourself; what tells us that these blocks are separate from one another or that there are 'gaps' in between them? Well the fact that there isnt a seamless transition from point A to point b. Something doesn't add up or you just don't remember what happened before you got where you were, or after where you last remember being. Without going into to much detail; I've found can go back and make a 'custom transition' while still in the dream world. I'll try to make this understandable but long story short; I preform action A, B, then C while in a dream. After completing C I do not remember how I got there to do it. I remember what I did during A.. but I just can't connect the dots. B doesn't exist anymore essentially "shortening" my dream. Why not make my own B? Go back and preform A again, create a new b that is both logical/practical to stem from A; but lead up to C. (That probably makes no sense). After doing so the new memory usually completely overwrites the non existent memory and I am completely unaware that B didnt exist before; although many times I have gone back the sequential reenactment stimulates my memory causing the original B to come rushing back. Often times you do not get the chance to reenact dreams; or you may not want to waste the time.. however I personally feel spending the time to go back and create a completely solid memory has a better long term effect. The thing is that these gaps in memory continue to happen constantly.. Usually alot of peoples dreams are like 70% black noise; 30% good recall (Rough estimate of course). I would much rather wake up during the morning feeling like I had a long, somewhat linear dream with full recall, as opposed to 3-5 random like 2 minute fragments. The other thing I have found that if you are lucid already; reenactment often results in bringing the dream somewhat into my long term memory. I know its still a dream so it shouldn't have any effect; but I feel like both the lucidity and the repetition simply reinforces my desire to remember. I have also experiences flash backs in non-lucid dreams very often; which completes the same task and in fact can lead to lucidity due to an extremely strong feeling of Deja Vu. Just to paraphrase, these dreams are no different in length; I simply think that they are because B is missing from my memory. (And believe me; I really do believe them to be shorter; not "missing something"). This of course lead me to the question of how far this illusion could be stretched; and I'm still in the midst of exploration and experimenting to really find a consistent way to 'manipulate time' while dreaming (That actually consistently leads to seemingly lengthier lucid). You'll have to wait a while before I can give any real concrete answers; but hopefully something you read here might spark a bit of interest leading you to some of the answers we are looking for. Honestly one of major variables is how much you remember; and how many specifics go along with your recall so work on that first. Whether or not conscious activity (Lucid Dreaming) plays a role in the length of REM phase is beyond what I know atm; somewhat hard to prove considering there are already plenty of known variables and such that majorly effect it; or at least the consistency of it. Consciousness isnt exactly a generic example. Now some super quick info that I really don't feel like writing 5 paragraphs about ><: REM phases and lengths are not written in stone. They are simply the more reliable stage where it is very common to experience longer more vivid dreams. It is 100% possible to dream at any stage during the night. The stability of these said dreams is another story usually. False Awakenings do not indicate the end of an REM phase; or that you will wake up. Sure it can mean that to any given person on any given night; but that is such a broad and untrue statement. It is simply another type of a dream; its possible to have a FA the second you fall asleep.. right before ya wake up.. or anywhere in between. How long after you wake up is completely situational. Long story short; yes your on the right path and congrats on the FA. The number one thing you want to do is work on your recall and intention. You have to want it! (Which I'm sure you do). Try to get into the habit of always doing a reality check or two when ya wake up because you never know. If you experience any sort of lucidity while dreaming, your doing great (Even if its for 5 seconds because you lose it soon after).. In time the connection will strengthen as the good ol' snowballing effect usually applies to all aspects of Lucid Dreaming. Based on your inquisition about FA's and "being on the right track to lucid dreaming"; my best advice is dont worry about length; concentrate on quality first. There will be a learning curve if you ever want to see real success; falling randomly into lucidity (Or a long LD in your case) out of no where is great.. but if you want real consistency ya just gotta take it one step at a time. The only time you should worry about lengthening lucid dreams is when you can have them basically at will. For now; just work on having them on a regular basis, and recognizing the dreaming state subconsciously. You wouldn't bring your band in to the recording studio before learning to play your instrument . A 1-5 minute lucid is better then nothing, and I can promise they will lead to the lengthy ones you are looking for. On another note I think I'm going to chop my fingers off so I cannot type huge replies when they are really not needed; hopefully you can pull some kind of answer out of it. Sorry bout that.

[Shift]

To answer this... I don't believe that a false awakening is a precursor to waking, because usually you just continue on in dream land. You either wake up for real, get ready through your morning routine for a long time (not waking up for a while), or you forget that you think you've "woken up" and continue on in the dream. The two false awakenings that I have had (that I remember) I turned into lucids. I think the most important things about FAs are to remember to do a few reality checks every single time you wake up, and to stabilize a lucid dream before doing anything else! That would be my answer to your asking how to stay in that particular lucid. That is how I would make the dream longer, rather than waking up a few moments later. "I had two false awakenings, both of which became DILDs. In the first, I woke up in my bed and everything seemed absolutely normal. I was laying down to go back to sleep, but my hair was getting in the way and annoying me. I started grabbing it behind my head and twisting it, and there was just too much hair! I didn’t want to put it on my pillow, so I started to push it behind the headboard, against the wall. I was kind of grossed out, thinking that there might be dust or something, but I had about 8 feet of hair. I remember thinking, “OK I seriously need to go get a haircut already. I knew my hair was long, but Jesus Christ!” As I’m stuffing it down, I pick up the last of the hair and attached to it is my own head. I don’t remember looking down at the neck to see what else was there, just that my face was in profile, looking to my left, and that I could see my mole and my nose, and my face was accurate! I realized it was a dream and started laughing at myself. I dropped the head and did a reality check, pushing my finger through my palm. It popped right through, and I looked around my room. It looked extremely real, except that the shelves were no longer in front of the window. I made the classic mistake and rushed into the dream, instead of stabilizing. I decided to find some flying shoes and put those on first. I looked on the floor and there were some sneakers scattered about, so I got two white sneakers and started putting them on. I tied the lace of the right foot, but when I went to put on the left foot I blinked, or everything went dark, and I woke up in my bed. After going to sleep, I had another False Awakening (not sure how long after, though). I woke up and I was lying in my bed. My mom came into the room and sat down by my feet, and she was holding a mug of coffee. As she sat it spilled on me, not a lot, just a few drops. I was wearing a light blue v-neck shirt I owned 8 years ago. I put my finger on the coffee where it was on my chest and put it in my mouth and it tasted real. My mom apologized and I told her no problem. I started to sit up in bed, when I realized that I was lying on the eastern wall of my bedroom, with my head towards the closet and my feet facing south. “Whoa, what?” I asked, and I immediately suspected it was a dream. “Is this a dream?” I asked mom, and she sipped her coffee and just said, unemotionally, “Yes.” Everything looked so realistic that I felt silly playing the game, but she knows how seriously I take reality checks. I sat up more in bed and saw that against the wall where my bed should be, was my bed. There were two in my room. Definitely, this had to be a dream, but it was so real! So I tried to put my finger through my palm, and it didn’t work. “Ok,” I told myself, “Do another reality check. Do a series.” So I looked down at what I was wearing (forgetting about that blue shirt from before) and I was wearing a pajama top with little Chilly Willys all over it or something. Not that distinctive, but tiny cartoon penguins. It was definitely a dream, I decided, because I don’t own that top. So I got up, thinking about how if I ignored her she’d disappear, and started walking across my room and trying to remember what I wanted to do in my next lucid. I knew that I wanted to play with a baby tiger, so I walked down the hallway towards the kitchen making those sounds that cats like. I got worried for a moment that some of my real cats would show up. As I was thinking this and standing halfway across the kitchen, one of my dogs ran by followed by a very weird and cartoony looking dalmation that was supposed to be my other dog. She was covered in black spots, more black than white. I remember her turning to look at me and I was thinking how cute she was and then I immediately woke up." I'm so pissed I didn't stabilize either of them before rushing into the dreams!

[gangsterwu]

@Shady: wow, how long did that take you? I think that is a good way of explaining the time concept in dreams.

[Shady]

Less then 5 or 10 mins; that's where the problem arises.. Before I know it there is a wall of text in front of me . And shift I know the feeling man; sucks! The worst part is like 2 seconds after ya have that second awakening and realize what just happened.. horrible lol.