I wake up before I realize I'm dreaming.

[atomik]

I have very close to having a lucid dream only twice. Both times it seamed that the exact moment I realized I'm dreaming - I wake up. It all happens within a fraction of a second. I see things like "try spinning to stay in the dream", and I keep that in mind, but there just isnt time I have always been very bad at dream recall until recently, and I have been attempting lucidity for about a year now with very little luck. So, anyone have any techniques for staying in your dream where you realize you are dreaming and wake up a fraction of a second later (without even having the chance to use one of these methods)? Thanks for any advice.

[wombing]

i had this happen to me when i was first starting to become lucid as well. i had a handful of dreams where i was just starting to suspect i was lucid and awake, or just be in the process of saying "aha, i'm dreaming" and i'd wake up. even my first dream where i actually stayed in the dream long enough to say "i'm dreaming", i only managed to jump into the air and fly away for about 2 seconds before i woke up. it seems to just be part of the learning process for some people. gradually it becomes easier to stay in the dream without waking up, and fully gain lucidity. staying calm is paramount. i know this is easier than it sounds, but it might help to visulize/imagine yourself becoming lucid in different scenarios, and instead of getting overexcited, calmly going through a set routine. e.g. "hey, i'm dreaming".....perform a reality check such as breathing with your nose plugged...proceed with the dream. also, you may also want to suggest to your mind throughout hte day, and before bed, that any lucid dream you wake up from quickly will lead to a false awakening. if you become lucid and feel yourself waking up, believe that you will still be dreaming when you open your eyes in bed. do a reality check everytime you "wake up" from a lucid to avoid being fooled. a combination of these two helped me prolong my lucids. keep on truckin though...you sound like you're really really close to breaking through completely.plant the seeds of calmness in your subconcious and you should have a decent length LD in the near future

[Nikki]

I have a similar problem... Most of the time either I realise I`m dreaming and immediately wake up or I`m aware of the entire dream scenario and I can`t change anything about it. I once didn`t even manage to wake up until I started screming to wake myself up! control is a very big problem for me. it only works sometimes, not always, even when my dreams are very vivid and I`m very aware that I`m asleep.

[atomik]

Thnx for the tips Yeah I havent gotten to the point where I can use those methods (cause of waking up instantly), but as you said, I'll keep on truckin'

[Axis]

atomik It’s a very common problem, not being able to stay in your dreams; I combat this by not expecting much from the dream itself. It sounds crazy but it works for me. What I do when I feel as if I’m about to wake up from a dream or Lucid Dream is focus on the smaller things in the dream and not expect anything big to happen. It doesn’t matter if the dream is all black and nothing is visible, focus on the fact that you are aware that you are trying to stay in the dream Try not to think about what you will do if you stay in the dream. Good luck. Nikki The way to combat your problem of not being able to control things in your dream is to not try very hard to control things. For example, if you go to sleep determined to, say, create a chair from nothing in your dream and you find yourself fighting yourself to get this chair out of nothing. The way to train yourself in this skill is to try to create or change things that are smaller and are less significant, such as a leaf or a pen. I hope it works out for both of you. - Axis