self-harm to wake?

[Lucid1972]

Hi, new here, i just had a lucid nightmare and self-harmed ( i do not do this in real life) in order to get myself out of a nightmare, is this an acceptable practise?

[paigeyemps]

Hi, I just read your other post about your nightmare. Inflicting pain in order to wake up is something I read about a lot. And though it may work well for many people, I would recommend trying something else a bit more pleasant. I hear some people have had successes in waking themselves up by closing their eyes, and convincing themselves that they will wake up once they open them. Another similar way is blinking in your dream repeatedly (Have you ever noticed yourself blinking in the dream? Not really, right? The theory is if you try to consciously do it many times, the sensation might crossover to waking life and wake you up for real.) I personally think that instead of waking yourself up, you should face the nightmare. I know it might not be as easy as it sounds, I've been there. But take it one step at a time. Try to manipulate the scene, make your nightmare vanish, move away to somewhere else, or you can face it and ask what it wants and try to understand it. Hopefully if you can do this many times (like I did), the nightmares come less frequently, and if they do, you're not as scared anymore. Cheers!

[Matte87]

Like paige said, the length is completely normal, that's one of tha amazing things about lucid dreaming, seconds can feel like minutes. I used to commit suicide in dreams to escape them, I mean, you're dreaming and nothing can hurt you anyways so it's not that bad. But try to turn the dream around instead. Or if you really want to wake up, go with closing your eyes next time, it's the easiest way of waking up

[Lucid1972]

Thanks for your replies, i ended my nightmare by deliberately throwing myself off my mountain bike against a lamp-post at high speed while being chased by an unknown entity (yes this sounds weird), i knew i was in a nightmare otherwise i wouldn't have 'committed suicide', i am genuinely intrigued by the experience and hope to research this further. thanks again.

[thebigm]

If you can't face up to your nightmare, try closing your eyes and making the dreamscape change. If you are on a bike, get as far away as you can and then close your eyes and visualise being somewhere else and count to 3. Almost always works for me. Failing that, I usually wake myself up by just taking a deep quick breath and throwing my head back.

[Lucid1972]

Thanks for the advice, if I can get myself in a position to try the techniques suggested I will let you know how it goes

[Sensei]

I feel harm very well in dreams. Just today I slammed against a ceiling and felt some bones break right before I woke up. It hurt, but I don't really worry about pain in dreams because I have a high pain tolerance. I would say face the nightmare head on, but I haven't been lucid during a nightmare since I was young, and back then I always woke myself up, so I don't really have any room to talk about that since I've never done it.

[Lucid1972]

You feel pain in your dreams? I didn't think that was possible, I read an article that suggested that the brain doesn't send signals to the spinal cord during sleep, your post is a bit scary.

[paigeyemps]

You feel pain in your dreams? I didn't think that was possible, I read an article that suggested that the brain doesn't send signals to the spinal cord during sleep, your post is a bit scary. Yep, you can feel pain in dreams, though not physically. Basically your mind simulates how you would expect pain to feel like, and reenact the emotions mentally. Same goes with any other physical sensation. That is why it feels so realistic even if it is a dream – all your experiences are being reenacted and combined in different ways and all your senses work just the same, though it's all in your mind. http://www.dreamviews.com/f11/feelin...dreams-128845/

[ThisWitheredMan]

When in doubt, dive straight into the ground in front of you.

[Lucid1972]

At last, someone giving me advice that i can take, i perfect the face down dive most Saturday nights

[Sensei]

You feel pain in your dreams? I didn't think that was possible, I read an article that suggested that the brain doesn't send signals to the spinal cord during sleep, your post is a bit scary. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Yeah, once lucid it is pretty obvious that there isn't anything missing from that world. You have all your senses, including touch being sent back to your brain. touch = pain. Anytime you touch something it sends the signal to the brain that something is touching you. Try putting your hand on a hard rough surface. Set your hand on it, and you can feel the surface, but then slowly push more and more on it with your hand, and eventually your mind will tell you to stop because it hurts. It is a lot like Inception, with the whole pain thing. It is pretty scary, but being able to sense in dreams is a big awesome. You can eat anything or smoke anything, and you will taste it, and feel it. There are obviously, cough cough, other things people like to "feel" in their dreams. So you just have to take the bad with the good. If you are afraid of pain then learn how to control fire! It shall protect you.

[Mancon]

Hi, lucid! A lot of people actually use pain to get out of a dream. This if fine, but there are a few other things you can do that might work other than inflicting pain. Try blinking really fast in the dream, yelling WAKE UP, or just holding your eyes closed.

[Lucid1972]

Thanks again for the advice, I am still trying to achieve a 2nd lucid dream (I have had dreams since but not of a lucid nature), fingers crossed.