Repetitively waking up into a new lucid dream while finger counting (etc. etc.)

[monkeyking]

I kept waking up, counting my fingers while realizing I was in a dream just to wake up in bed counting my fingers again. Again, before I was even finished counting I would realize I was dreaming and wake again. This dream feedback loop lasted for quite some time before I really woke up thinking about counting my fingers. I know I'm dreaming if I'm actually concerned about the outcome of the count. Anybody else ever have this happen?

[horsey101]

It's a frequent issue, dreams about lucid dreaming that aren't lucid. Not much you can do.

[Clyde Machine]

It's a frequent issue, dreams about lucid dreaming that aren't lucid. Not much you can do. That's not what he was talking about, he's saying that he has lucid dreams but as soon as he realizes he's dreaming, he wakes up doing the same action that he was doing while in the dream. I say continue to work on staying with your lucid dreams, since you're having no problems getting into them. Keep doing it, and you'll eventually be able to realize you're in a dream without bringing yourself out of it by mistake.

[Hukif]

Hm, maybe try stabilization too? Like rubbing hands or focusing on a dream object or something alike?

[monkeyking]

Funny you should say that... I tried that for the first time that AND spinning the same night, a skeptic. Much to my surprise it works amazingly! Unfortunately this dream chain didn't allow any time to stabilize.

[Samael]

I fall into chains of FAs too, after a lucid dream. Like the posters before me said, work on stabilizing the dream. Don't try looking at your hands again, because WOW can you end up with some strange, trippy blurriness leading into more FAs.

[monkeyking]

I Know what you mean. Typically I count my fingers with my thumbs while trying to stabilize the dreamworld around me. It's less about having an accurate or inaccurate finger count for me as much as it is the ridiculousness that I'm actually concerned with counting my fingers. If I'm awake, I think about counting my fingers and immediately know it's a silly task. However, when I'm dreaming I actually go through with the count, which signals to me that I'm asleep. I go through spells where I have false awakenings almost consistently regardless of how often I am lucid pre-FA. It's great to have this forum to help focus my ability.

[Samael]

Ha, I can't count worth a damn when I'm dreaming. I'm serious - I don't think I could count to twenty if it was one of the Tasks of the Month. (Every once in a while a DC will come up to me and point out a mathematical pattern that has a startling basis in reality, but I digress.) I do hand RCs IRL, so my dream-self should know what my hands should look like. As soon as I start seeing half-invisible fingers, joints attached where they shouldn't be, or fingers that move on their own, I know that I'm dreaming. Do you have much luck stabilizing while looking at your hand? I find that everything goes all fuzzy and it's a lot harder to focus on the dream. I've been told that it's better to concentrate on your immediate surroundings while you're trying to ground yourself, touching stuff and bringing everything into sharper focus.

[monkeyking]

It just depends; Sometimes I find that starting closer to me helps to expand the dream manageably outward. Other times I can't look at anything, I just have to relax and let things settle. I think the more I attempt to focus on small details (hands, faces, etc.) the blurrier they, and consequently everything else, become. It's like I can see them just fine if I don't really try to look at them. This is only an issue when I'm feeling less stable within the LD. I also have issues counting and telling time, from time to time, in my dreams. The trick, if you can't count in your dreams and looking at your hand will ruin the LD, may be to use the fact that you can't count as an identifier. That way you can use the in-dream hand RC without getting the blurry hand that bleeds into the rest of things.