Naturally wake up multiple times a night: A blessing or a curse?

**JayTabes91** · 07-15-2016 06:54 PM

Hi everyone,

For my entire life, as far back as I can remember, I've had the unintentional habit of waking up multiple times (4 or 5 on average) a night. I believe I usually awake during each/most REM cycles. I believe this because a) these are the most probable times to wake up, and b) it makes sense temporally (first awakening is after 2 hours of sleep, then 4 hrs, then 5 hrs, then more frequently into the morning). It is a very rare occurrence for me to sleep through the entire night.

I call this a habit because I can't decide if it is a positive or negative occurrence. On the negative side, it disrupts my sleep and I always feel tired. On the positive side, it could help with various lucid dreaming induction techniques, such as Dream Journaling/Recall, WBTB, DEILD, MILD, etc. I am relatively inexperienced at lucid dreaming and am just returning to this topic after a several year long break, and I have yet to really exploit this occurrence beyond using it as an opportunity to log my dreams in a DJ.

What do you all think? Is this a good or bad thing? Could I use this to increase my chances of LDing, or is it just an annoying disturbance to my sleep?

Thanks in advance for any input!

**dolphin** · 07-15-2016 08:36 PM

You're a light sleeper like me! This is a good thing for the reasons you state and yes you could use these awakenings to increase your chances of LDing.

This is only a curse if you are getting enough sleep but are still tired throughout the entire the day. When this is the case, it's because you're not getting quality sleep, which can be caused by a number of things like stress, anxiety, depression, ect. But if you aren't anxious, stressed or depressed and get enough sleep yet consistently wake up frequently during the night and are still tired throughout the entire day, the cause of this could very well be sleep apnea (shortness of breathe or pausing of breathing during sleep). If this is the case then you should see a doctor. You're probably good, though.

**JayTabes91** · 07-15-2016 08:45 PM

dolphin, thanks for the reply. Since you're a light sleeper similar to me, what LD induction methods do use? The same methods might work for me.

**dolphin** · 07-15-2016 10:08 PM

Right now, I'm just recalling dreams when waking up before identifying the proof that I was dreaming during the dream and then reimagining the dream only with me identifying the proof I was dreaming and becoming lucid from it. Then I sleep with confidence that I'm teaching myself how to LD and therefore will have an LD soon. I don't do anything during the day but I might have to keep from using too much mental energy just before going to sleep.

I've only been trying this for a few days but the results have been encouraging. The first night I tried it, I had several LDs, the second night I became lucid several more times but was unable to stabilize the lucidity. Last night, I was too mentally tired to LD due to obsessively and unsuccessfully trying to find a positive correlation between self-control and self-awareness several hours past my usual bed time.

Also, I attempt a WILD by trying to stay on the brink of falling into unconscious sleep for as long as I can.