Yeah your right, that does seem like the most reasonable explanation for it. I use spinning to change the environment I'm in, if I wanna wake up I just... do it
Actually going on that confidence Factor theory wouldn't it be possible to map dream actions to actions you make with your (dream)body? Say you wanted to instantly fly into the air (which I believe some people have a problem with) maybe they could map it to them tapping their right foot twice! Almost how you set your own configuration for the controls of a video game! I might give this a test, thanks for the inspiration Howtzer!