Thread: Trapped in a lucid dream

After discovering the best absolutely incredible LD technique that I've ever tried (a combination of CAT and just relaxing so that the dream doesn't fade out and the WILD can succeed, something funny happened to me, I got trapped.

It's not like it was nightmarish of course, it was just... like... boring, really freaking boring, all the time. I tried all the tricks I knew but none of them would wake me up, only false awakenings, reality just looked too damn real but my watch would just keep doing crazy things so it was obvious that I was still asleep.

So, how do you exactly escape from a lucid dream? Also, if I had experienced sleep paralysis, would it had been so nightmarish?

There's more than one way to awaken. Sometimes a strong desire to awaken is enough. This has saved me many times from nightmares, despite not even being lucid. Sometimes shock (like suicide) will awaken you, too. I think it's partly because you have a very strong expectation you'll wake up from doing so. Or you could yell, "Wake up," to your dream, similar to how people yell, "Increase lucidity." Heck, if you want to be creative, you could open a door to your room and you sleeping on the bed, you step through, and you're back in the real world.

There's no limit to the methods you can use when trying to accomplish anything in a lucid dream. The only question is which method works for you. You'll find out through a little experimentation.

Did you try going to sleep in the dream? I've heard that's a sure fire way to wake up.

Originally Posted by Nailler

Did you try going to sleep in the dream? I've heard that's a sure fire way to wake up.

Doesn't that sound like the best way to have a false awakening?

Originally Posted by Miguelinileugim

Doesn't that sound like the best way to have a false awakening?

Could be. I don't have any personal experience with it, but I've read it in a couple of places.

Maybe somebody who's tried it could jump in here?

I had a lucid dream where I had to wake up but i literally could not. I shoot myself, still did not work, so I found a high building and jumped off it. I woke up immediately after I hit the ground. It always works

Originally Posted by megaman

I had a lucid dream where I had to wake up but i literally could not. I shoot myself, still did not work, so I found a high building and jumped off it. I woke up immediately after I hit the ground. It always works

When I was a wee lad I suffered from a recurring nightmare in which I was being attacked by an evil phantom creature. My method for waking up was to run to the bathroom and jump out the 2nd story window. It concerned me that maybe I just thought I was dreaming, and would end up breaking my legs.

Originally Posted by Miguelinileugim

After discovering the best absolutely incredible LD technique that I've ever tried (a combination of CAT and just relaxing so that the dream doesn't fade out and the WILD can succeed, something funny happened to me, I got trapped.

It's not like it was nightmarish of course, it was just... like... boring, really freaking boring, all the time. I tried all the tricks I knew but none of them would wake me up, only false awakenings, reality just looked too damn real but my watch would just keep doing crazy things so it was obvious that I was still asleep.

So, how do you exactly escape from a lucid dream? Also, if I had experienced sleep paralysis, would it had been so nightmarish?

Dang, I wish I could get more super long LDs. Don't you have something you want to do?

Originally Posted by Jacob46719

Dang, I wish I could get more super long LDs. Don't you have something you want to do?

Tip: Try CAT and WILD, is the only thing that has ever worked for me.
Pro-tip: If your dream fades out, relax and let go, it should become clearer in no time and you'll last more before waking up or losing consciousness.

Originally Posted by Miguelinileugim

Tip: Try CAT and WILD, is the only thing that has ever worked for me.
Pro-tip: If your dream fades out, relax and let go, it should become clearer in no time and you'll last more before waking up or losing consciousness.

Can you go into more detail on exactly what you do? What sort of CAT do you do? What sort of WILD anchor/approach? How long did it take to get it to work?

I can't WAIT for the "problem" of LDs that won't end. Right now my problem is quite the opposite, they end just when things start to get good...

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Can you go into more detail on exactly what you do? What sort of CAT do you do? What sort of WILD anchor/approach? How long did it take to get it to work?

I can't WAIT for the "problem" of LDs that won't end. Right now my problem is quite the opposite, they end just when things start to get good...

My problem with LDs has always been yours, that they faded out when thinks got great. The reason this happens is simple, when things get good, you get excited, you get too conscious and your surroundings black out. If you want to keep dreaming you need to relax, to lose a bit of consciousness and to let the dream unfold itself, then it should stop fading out, it helps too if you try to touch something while it fades, but above all, relax.

My CAT is hyper-complicated, but a 26-minutes nap 4 hours after waking up has proven to be awesome, though I'm not sure if that counts as CAT. My WILD technique is as simple as not moving, I don't need to make any effort, this is mainly because my sleep schedule is great, just take a 26-minutes nap 4 hours after waking up and you should be able to have amazing LDs.

Here is an entry from my dream journal which is quite relevant to this -

"Last time I was on this site I was reading an entry from someone who was saying they were afraid to Lucid Dream in case they couldn't wake themselves up. To me that's not a problem as even before I knew about LDing I could force myself awake when something bad was happening - so I thought id experiment a little.

The other night I was in the middle of a non-lucid dream, and things where getting bad, (This nowadays is where I usually become Lucid and change it.) But on this occasion I wanted to wake myself up differently from normal, no forcing myself awake. Normally I force my eyes open from within the dream and kinda feels like i'm sucking myself out of the dream.

So when shit started going down I tried to find a different way to leave the dream. Now lucid of course, I walked through an alleyway and into a little corner shop style thing. It was dark and dingy and like a little old sweet shop. I spoke to the lady at the counter, a tiny little, very old Chinese lady, looked almost like a witch sort of character. I said to her whilst looking at all the different sweets and stuff lined up on the counter and in jars -

"I need you to give me something that will wake me up."

She took a moment to think and pottered around, and come back with a dark blue sphere shaped sweet. I was well aware that outside the shop was still very hostile and coming closer. The DC handed it over and nodded assertive and reassuringly to me. I popped it into my mouth and swallowed it whole. Instantly my vision went funny, bright colours in a spiralling black tunnel, It felt like I was being pulled backwards through the tunnel head first. Only about three seconds later I was awake on my pillow, slightly shocked, but it worked! How amazing was that!"

I had my first actively brought about LD following Castaneda and his instructions about 20 years ago.
The fact, that I stood "in another world" - knowing my body lies in bed somewhere - brought to mind a bunch of superstitions from the books as well. So I got into a panic - everything was 100% and more real - all my senses - and I was afraid, I wouldn't be able "to find my body back".
So I made a huge mental effort to "find" it - to wake up.
It wasn't easy - and my dream turned nightmarish - but finally I managed by fiercely imagining myself in my bed.
Waking up like that was the only time I ever encountered SP/REM-Atonia - luckily without any hallucinations and special effects - but it was horrible.
Coming from all the bullshit - I now figured, I wouldn't be able to "reconnect" my spirit or whatever to my body - as evidenced by me not being able to move it - and that such I actually could be dying.
I had never before heard about the phenomenon - otherwise, I don't think, it would have been so bad - or even bothering at all.
The whole experience lead me to drop all LDing activities, and I came back to it shortly only 10 years later - meanwhile thoroughly on the sceptic path and thank myself for that!

Makes sense, that a forced awakening has a good chance to have you arrive consciously in your still paralysed body.
I guess, that's why this tends to happen at the end of nightmares, from which people might not be aware, they have woken themselves up forcefully, and then they enter the next stage of horror - helplessness.

Once you know, what it all is and isn't - there's no need for such negative experiences - this forum does a good job with that!
Of course back then I told people about my "adventure" - and several said, that they would keep their fingers well off it because of that.
Shame.