Is it normal to always feel like you might wake up during a lucid dream?

So I had another lucid dream last night, which is sweet.
However, just like most of my other dreams, I always had that feeling that I had to cling on tight to the dreamstate, or else I would wake up.
I did stop for a while and did some stabilization techniues, looked around for a while etc, and that seemed to help - but there was this weird feeling that I was always "almost" waking up, and I felt that if I got even remotely unconscious of myself, then I would definitely wake up.
I don't know how to describe it, but it's kind of like trying to keep your balance on a rope - you always have to stay super-focused, you always feel that you could fall off at any moment, and you might fall if you are unlucky anyway.
That's kind of how I feel during lucid dreams, my head feels strangely disoriented and I feel like "no, I'm not gonna lose this dream, I'm gonna stay in it" and then I try my best to stay calm and conscious.

Do you recognize this feeling?

I recognize the feeling, however I rarely get it.
Think about it, it's not that strange, your mind becomes more conscious and awake-like. At what time do you usually become lucid? A few hours after falling asleep, or late in the morning? I believe that that has something to do with the feeling that you have to hold on to the dream in order to not wake up. Maybe you become lucid at the end of a REM period, and you are about to wake naturally. When you become lucid, how long is the dream before you wake up?

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Originally Posted by Fris

I recognize the feeling, however I rarely get it.
Think about it, it's not that strange, your mind becomes more conscious and awake-like. At what time do you usually become lucid? A few hours after falling asleep, or late in the morning? I believe that that has something to do with the feeling that you have to hold on to the dream in order to not wake up. Maybe you become lucid at the end of a REM period, and you are about to wake naturally. When you become lucid, how long is the dream before you wake up?

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I seem to become lucid about 5-6 hours after I have fallen asleep, rarely any earlier than that.
Also, when I do beome lucid during a DILD then I will usually wake up in a couple minutes.
My longest lucid dream so far was probably something like 10 minutes, and that was a pretty awesome experience.

One thing I have also noticed is that lucid dreams tend to feel super-vivid while I am in them, but when I wake up I don't really have that vividness in my memory.
I remember that I looked around and was amazed by the vividness in this last night's lucid dream, but it's a very indirect memory - I pretty much just remember the fact that I found it really vivid, but I cannot really "relive" that vivid memory.

It is common, but it is something you need to get over with. Once you turn lucid, go ahead and just make your dream stable. They try to focus as much as you can on the dream itself and forget about your physical body :) If it fades, stablize it again and keep enjoying the lucid :)

And the reason you find it more vivid, is because our creative mind is much more powerful than the logic mind that dominates in waking state.

Yeah I'm having a similar problem right now, nothing as annoying as accidently opening your real eyes straight from an LD.

About that when you are in your lucid dream and it feels very vivid, but when you wake up you dont have that vividness in your memory. Do you remember things as vivid in your waking life? I don't. What you are living right now may feel vivid, but think back 10 minutes and try to get that vivid feeling you had at that moment. I can't. I just remember it, I don't have that vividness in my memory. I don't remember waking reality any better than dream reality, other than conversations, but as far as vividness goes it's pretty even between these two realities.

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Originally Posted by Fris

About that when you are in your lucid dream and it feels very vivid, but when you wake up you dont have that vividness in your memory. Do you remember things as vivid in your waking life? I don't. What you are living right now may feel vivid, but think back 10 minutes and try to get that vivid feeling you had at that moment. I can't. I just remember it, I don't have that vividness in my memory. I don't remember waking reality any better than dream reality, other than conversations, but as far as vividness goes it's pretty even between these two realities.

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Good point... unless I really take a mental photograph of my surroundings by focusing really hard on something, rarely will I recall that much. I could probably only use a few words just like as if I was remembering a dream. It's really not that much different. The same goes for other senses too... unless I am really focused on what I am feeling, smelling, hearing, etc, or something activates that intense focus (like the feeling of pain from being shot, or maybe the smell of something awful), it's all just kind of fuzzy. Of course in dreams too when you focus on certain things they become fuzzy (at least for me they do) and the fuzziness becomes what is remembered.

I have this feeling a lot in lds. To be honest none of the stabilisation techniques have really worked for me. What works for me is not doing anything. For example once I realised i was dreaming and then I was flung around my bedroom for a good minute with startling force. I tried to stabilise myself and take control and the more i did that the more i got flung about. Eventually i realised i just had to stop trying to do anything and i would come to rest like a bouncy ball losing it's momentum. It worked and as soon as i came to rest the dream was stable.

Yes, lucid dreaming in my memory (per one dream) is more like imagining things instead of actually physically feeling them if that's not exactly it. It's as though I'm just daydreaming but with my physical body being asleep. Back in 2008-2009 I tried lucid dreaming a bit too hard and when I attempted to lucidly walk in-dream I either fell over or woke up. However, I once managed to fly in-dream (I thought it would keep me aware that I was dreaming) and I also levitated through objects as though I was no-clipping in a computer game.

I get LDs like that from time to time and so far nothing helps. I usually feel very dizzy, and like I can not even look away the slightest bit from the current view / position of the scene or I will lose it, and it takes my full force of will to maintain it. Those LDs usually end in seconds. Luckily it doesn't happen all that much and most LDs come either stable already or a little bit dizzy but a quick hands rubbing usually takes care of that.