Pinching yourself in a dream.

[HelloBro123]

Is it really true that if you pinch yourself in a dream, you will wake up? The thing is i always experienced horrific dreams. An example, i dreamed that i was in a toilet alone and there was this ghost wearing a shawl with hollow black face stalking me at the side of the other toilet door. Another example is that i dreamed about nemesis from resident evil 3. It was chasing after me but i managed to kill him. Many days later, i dreamed about him again but this time there were 4 to 5 nemesis lurking around and one of them managed to kill me. So my question is, how am i suppose to realize i was dreaming during those moments so that i can pinch myself to wake up? It's lunatic handling with horrific dreams almost every day.

[proctree]

Is it really true that if you pinch yourself in a dream, you will wake up? The thing is i always experienced horrific dreams. An example, i dreamed that i was in a toilet alone and there was this ghost wearing a shawl with hollow black face stalking me at the side of the other toilet door. Another example is that i dreamed about nemesis from resident evil 3. It was chasing after me but i managed to kill him. Many days later, i dreamed about him again but this time there were 4 to 5 nemesis lurking around and one of them managed to kill me. So my question is, how am i suppose to realize i was dreaming during those moments so that i can pinch myself to wake up? It's lunatic handling with horrific dreams almost every day. Pinching yourself in a dream doesn't necessarily wake you up. For some, it might, but it's not guaranteed to. What I do when I want to wake up is close my eyes and start 'feeling' my real body in my bed again. It's hard to explain, it's a bit like redirecting your attention but not quite. I've always been able to do this so I can't really advise you on any methods to wake up. You realize you are dreaming while in a nightmare the same way you do it in a normal dream, through practicing RCing, ADA and MILDing. Honestly though, why would you want to wake up if you're lucid in a nightmare? If you've already killed the nemesis once, do it again. Remember, in a LD you are invincible. Someone could cut off your head then blow you up and you'd still be absolutely fine. If you realize you are dreaming next time this happens, just kill whatever monster is chasing you. Or simply pretend he doesn't exist. This will literally write him out of your dream.

[spellbee2]

^ Pretty much nailed it right on the head. One technique I've heard to wake up from a dream is to clear your eyes, and then repeatedly open them quickly and forcefully. Eventually you'll open your real eyes and wake up in your bed (or into an FA, so be sure to RC). But the main way is to try to focus your attention on your body lying in bed. But seriously though, like proctree said, if you're lucid enough to know you need to wake up, you're lucid enough to know that you can fight back. Some of my favorite dreams were nightmares turned lucid.

[HelloBro123]

Actually, there was some misunderstanding here. I am not lucid during this horrific dreams actually. They were just my plain nightmares. If i am not lucid during this situations, what do i do? Sorry for the confusion. I always experienced nightmare a lot more than LDing. Sometimes, i feel scared to sleep.

[proctree]

If you are not lucid during these scenarios, become lucid. That is why I mentioned RCing, ADA and all that stuff. There is no separate method for becoming lucid in nightmares. If you are not lucid in nightmares, then there is nothing you can do. You have absolutely no dream control in a non-lucid, so by definition, unless you become lucid, you cannot do anything while in a nightmare. In waking life, however, you may be able to help out your non-lucid self. Firstly, do the lucidity exercises I described above. Look at King Yoshi's ADA guide and general RCing tips. Besides that, try MILDing before bed using a mantra like "I will not have a nightmare tonight.", or "I will have a lucid dream tonight". Also, perhaps try the actor's technique: pretend you do not have nightmares. Ever. If you learn to do it powerfully enough, the part of your mind the creates your dreams will eventually believe it. This will cause you to stop having nightmares.

[HelloBro123]

If you are not lucid during these scenarios, become lucid. That is why I mentioned RCing, ADA and all that stuff. There is no separate method for becoming lucid in nightmares. If you are not lucid in nightmares, then there is nothing you can do. You have absolutely no dream control in a non-lucid, so by definition, unless you become lucid, you cannot do anything while in a nightmare. In waking life, however, you may be able to help out your non-lucid self. Firstly, do the lucidity exercises I described above. Look at King Yoshi's ADA guide and general RCing tips. Besides that, try MILDing before bed using a mantra like "I will not have a nightmare tonight.", or "I will have a lucid dream tonight". Also, perhaps try the actor's technique: pretend you do not have nightmares. Ever. If you learn to do it powerfully enough, the part of your mind the creates your dreams will eventually believe it. This will cause you to stop having nightmares. Wow. That was a big help seriously. Thanks. That sure requires a lot of efforts to escape nightmare and gain lucidity but i'll do it. You must be a pro on LDing right now, am i correct? Thanks again.