Immediate awakenings ! Um... help?

[BjStrife]

Ok, so tonight I realized I was in a dream. 4 times. I was in a dream, but I thought:"Hey, might this be a dr..." BAM! YOU'RE OUT! ... And I woke up. I didn't even have the time to do a RC. My subconsciousness must be laughing at me. This happened during every dream I had last night. Then I couldn't recall anything from the dream and I still remember nothing now. And even better? When I tried to do a RC like pinching my nose in my dream, I instantly woke up WITH MY HAND ON MY NOSE. Now... What the f**k? That shouldn't even be possible, due to sleep paralysis, right? It's kinda frustrating. So, is this an improvement over "I'm unable to recognize I'm dreaming" ? To me it seems more like a step back.

[sisyphus]

Yes, it is an improvement. Progress happens in steps. You are accomplishing one goal (to become lucid) and can now pursue the next goal (to stay lucid). It might seem like a step back because you are farther from your next goal (which you are just starting toward) than your previous goal (which you just passed). But really, you are moving forward and have raised your expectations. The fact that it happened 4 times in one night shouldn't discourage you. You can't expect to make huge progress in just a few hours. In fact, it is a good sign that you are frequently reaching the point of lucidity. You want to look at your progress over many days and weeks.

[paigeyemps]

Well, you have a point about not being able to move while sleeping due to REM atonia (sleep paralysis is the medical condition where REM atonia doesn't work right). However, it is also possible that you already started to wake up, hence you started to realize you were dreaming because you were starting to gain awareness. When you're in that state, the REM atonia could have already worn off, and you could easily move your body without remembering since it will all be hazy. Just an idea, though. I am not sure what caused you to wake up every single time you got lucid right away. Could be excitement. It doesnt have to be "OMG IM DREAMING OMG OMG" kind of excitement. For some people, just the mere realization that they are dreaming can cause them to wake up. I personally think this is a step forward in your lucid dreaming progress. It only means you're getting better at realizing you're dreaming and it means your overall awareness is getting better. I'm not sure how to remedy this, but try not to worry about it. Pay attention, and see if it happens again good luck!

[Scionox]

It's definitely an improvement and congrats on that! I had a number of supershort lucid dreams as well before, but i definitely got further than that now. Though your case might be simply the fact that you were getting lucid at the end of REM or something. And the fact that you have moved IWL means that you were indeed already waking up, i have had similar case when i was trying to stabilize dream when it was ending by shouting 'Stabilize'/'Clarity' and ended up shouting IWL. Either way, as paigeyemps says don't worry about it that much, eventually you will get lucid with good timing of REM & while being deep enough into a dream, good luck!

[AbelMagwitch]

When I started to have lucid dreams, I have a problem similar to yours. Immediately after I realized that I'm dreaming, I was kicking off my dream. I was laying on my bed with still closed eyes and I knew that my dream is over. And every LD was the same, it was realy frustrating but someday someone give me some idea. Maybe it's a false waking up and I check it and that was true. After this waking up if I open my eyes, yes I was true wake up. But after lying couple of minutes with my closed eyes i try to get up and move arround my room and I realized that this is still a dream. Maybe this also hapenes to you. Even if not try not to move and not to open your eyes for a while. It helps to go back to dream.

[BjStrife]

Maybe it's a false waking up and I check it and that was true. After this waking up if I open my eyes, yes I was true wake up. But after lying couple of minutes with my closed eyes i try to get up and move arround my room and I realized that this is still a dream. Maybe this also hapenes to you. Even if not try not to move and not to open your eyes for a while. It helps to go back to dream. I actually do RCs immediately after waking up each time, and it never is a false awakening. Looks like I really always become lucid at the end of REM. And as for going back into the dream.. that doesn't work for me, cos it's hard to go back to sleep for a while after waking up like this. I've never had a problem with it, but for some time I practiced my dream recall and got used to writing dreams down when waking up in the middle of the night and this is probably the outcome. I can't go back to sleep just like that, because my brain thinks I'm gonna be spending time writing down dreams before going back to sleep. Anyway, tonight I had a dream where at the beginning, I heard a voice telling me: "Well, this dream is usually in 2D but for the audience's sake (...me?), it is going to be 3D this time" That's like a slap in the face, but I didn't realize anything. Looks like I can't think a bit rationally until the end of REM :-/.

[Xanous]

Anyway, tonight I had a dream where at the beginning, I heard a voice telling me: "Well, this dream is usually in 2D but for the audience's sake (...me?), it is going to be 3D this time" That's like a slap in the face, but I didn't realize anything. Looks like I can't think a bit rationally until the end of REM :-/. That' a really good sign. It means you were close. I had a dream where I was telling my daughter, "This is a dream!" but didn't catch on. So, don't sweat it. I think it's normal.

[Xanous]

Hmm maybe its time to start thinking about DEILD? That has saved a lot of LDs for me. I know its not a fool proof method but it does help. BTW I would be freaking excited if I got lucid 4 times in one night regardless of how short it was. You are doing something right at least. I think with time it will get better.