Fighting against Waking up

[Pieman]

I had a lucid dream last night and then it started to fade to white (thats how my dreams end), it annoyed me because i was having fun so i decided to fight it I fought it by trying to stand up or fly higher anything i thought would work, it felt like it was working but i felt like i was leaving my body, then my ears starting ringing and started to ache a little so i stopped. I was wondering if anyone else has fought against waking up and not died so i could overcome it ;p

[Zezarict]

Simply rub your hands together or spin, try the hands first because spinning takes a bit and might make you wake up anyway

[Darkborne]

I donno. I'm having trouble extending my dreams too, but there are plenty of resources around here that can help. I don't know if it helps, but i heard apple juice (or anything else high in vitamin B6) can help prolong your dreams.

[Elkfazer]

Although the rubbing of hands or spinning techniques may help you prolong the dream it's by no means a certainty if you happen to be at the end of that particular REM period. Another thing to try is passive re-entry when things fade to black, just lay there and imagine a new dream scene emerging from the darkness. This worked for me a couple of nights ago. It's probably coming out of a dream into SP but not quite what most people would classify as a DEILD. It's hard for me to explain really and I'm sure other more experienced LD'er's could help on that one. I think what helped me was that my dream ended by me being shocked by something within the dream that I wasn't expecting and so was in more of a relaxed state of mind when I entered the black phase.

[Mzzkc]

To prolong dreams, after recognizing signs that you are starting to wake up, you need only do one thing: immerse yourself as fully within the dream as possible. The key to this is using your senses to do the work for you. Personally, I use touch. I grab at the environment, running my hand over any textures that look remotely interesting. While I'm doing this, I bring my attention and focus to my surroundings. I take it all in, item by item, as fully and efficiently as I can. By immersing myself in this was, I am able to extend and stabilize my dreams for much longer than they would be otherwise. Give it a shot.

[speedbasssux]

I use touch as well. My method is to rub my hands on my chest. I think this works because it takes more "brainpower" to simulate tactile sensations than it does visual ones. Also, have you thought that there might be doing something within the dream to cause waking? I know that if I stare at an object for too long without shifting my eyes about then the dream will start to fade. Look back and see if there is a pattern in your waking.

[Lucidness]

I span in my first LD and it woke me up.

[lucidreamsavy]

OMG, I SO feel your pain! I've had quite a bit of LDs, and still haven't mastered keeping them to a nice long length (they certainly are fine, but not really compared to the amount I've had, in my opinon). I do what you guys said before, I like touch something, rub my hands together, or simply stare at something once I feel it fading. But, for me, there are 2 problems with this! 1). Most often this technique works, but only at first, then it suddenly fades again, I do it, then again I do it, etc. Eventually it won't work, and I'll wake up. 2). Most of the time, I don't even realize that it's fading, so there is nothing I can do about it! Also, I don't, at least in the LD think that they are going to end soon, so I should get moving.

[speedbasssux]

1). Most often this technique works, but only at first, then it suddenly fades again, I do it, then again I do it, etc. Eventually it won't work, and I'll wake up. Sometimes it's just time to wake up!

[Fabio-the-dreamer]

I had a lucid dream last night and then it started to fade to white (thats how my dreams end), it annoyed me because i was having fun so i decided to fight it I fought it by trying to stand up or fly higher anything i thought would work, it felt like it was working but i felt like i was leaving my body, then my ears starting ringing and started to ache a little so i stopped. I was wondering if anyone else has fought against waking up and not died so i could overcome it ;p What you were doing sounds like it was working, but if extending the dream is causing you discomfort, you should learn to chain dreams with DEILD, which would be better in the long run.

[sheogorath]

By trying to keep from waking, you only speed the process, you have to remain calm, and just spin or rub your hands together. It is easy to say to do this, but you naturally panic and try to Stay lucid, but this really is like trying to wake up. I struggle with this all the time.

[lucidreamsavy]

Sometimes it's just time to wake up! Perhaps, but it's NEVER once really truly worked before.

[RandomNumber677]

Last night in a LD I kept opening my eyes by accident and waking up, every time this happened, I just closed them again and acted like nothing happened. I believe this may be a DEILD, it works well.

[legbuh]

Rubbing hands works for me some times.. so does trying to re-enter by lying still. What's funny is a lot of the times you feel like you're waking up, but you're really not. I'm sure we've all experienced that where you are dreaming, do an RC, "wake up", repeating all night then when you really do wake up you realize that most of them were false awakenings and you think "darn! I WAS still dreaming".

[sheogorath]

actually, a think to try next time would be to prepare for a DEILD when you feel yourself waking. find a place and lay down perfectly still and close your eyes. Wait after you wake up, and you should be able to chain dreams. I used this once when i found out i was dreaming as i woke up, i just stayed relaxed and let the waking grab me. I lay still for maybe 10 seconds and I was another dream.

[Moonscape]

To prolong dreams, after recognizing signs that you are starting to wake up, you need only do one thing: immerse yourself as fully within the dream as possible. The key to this is using your senses to do the work for you. Personally, I use touch. I grab at the environment, running my hand over any textures that look remotely interesting. While I'm doing this, I bring my attention and focus to my surroundings. I take it all in, item by item, as fully and efficiently as I can. By immersing myself in this was, I am able to extend and stabilize my dreams for much longer than they would be otherwise. Give it a shot. I use a similar method regularly. When I feel my LD weakening, I relax and allow myself to become immersed into the dream environment. I use tactile methods to draw myseelf back into the LD zone. I can actually feel my body going back to sleep and consequently my LD takes on a stronger reality. From that moment on I experience a 're-awakening' into the LD realm. Now my dream control has become much greater, probably because I have now taken myself into a deeper and stronger LD level.

[lovelyrita]

When things become blurry or vague, I sometimes stare at something, trying to bring it into focus, making it clearer and more detailed. Like I'm focusing a camera. It sometimes works. When things start to fade to white, you could try simply looking at something and trying to "see" the color back into it, if that makes sense. Good luck!

[chase]

Try to grab something and hold on to it. This should keep you in the dream. Keep in mind though that sometimes you're just going to wake up and there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. Maybe your REM cycle ended. -Chase

[Pieman]

What you were doing sounds like it was working, but if extending the dream is causing you discomfort, you should learn to chain dreams with DEILD, which would be better in the long run. Last night my LD faded to white but this time i managed to get back into it by attemping to stare at an object, the thing is, everytime i tried it i couldnt see anything so i had to imagine something was there, i imagined there was a red car or a blue car and then it slowly came into focus then the world came back. I managed to get back into it 3 times by imagining there was a red car or a blue car but on the 4th time i guess it was time to wake up. Just as well because i wasnt really having fun i was just experimenting on getting more control, what person gets into a lucid dream then spins around clapping then staring at things lol

[Tiklish]

For me, things don't go light when I'm waking up, they start to go dark. And flying is the easiest way for me to stay in a lucid dream. The main thing is to keep moving. Run, fly, jump, any kind of busy motion somehow focuses your awareness on what's happening and keeps your head there, so it doesn't wander to wakefulness. It's especially important if there'a reason you're waking up, maybe some kind of noise in your real sleeping surroundings. You have to focus on dream stuff and keep moving so the dream world stays more physically real to you than the waking world.