Thread: Hello! I didn't know about this

false awakenings are pretty tricky sometimes! i can't explain it. but i usually just "know" i'm dreaming. Usually in my false awakenings I "wake up" in the wrong place (usually the house I grew up in) so I realize that I don't live there anymore and that I must be dreaming. Also, when I have false awakenings that occur where I am sleeping, many times there will be things that are off... larger rooms. objects are just strange. whatever it may be... I am not sure what to tell you because I don't know what your dreams are like.. but start questioning reality more?
I'm starting to think that ALL dreams start as false awakenings... but really.. who knows? the beginnings of dreams are the hardest to remember! (for me at least)
I think that you are on the right track though! Asking yourself "How did I get here?" is a great method.

Originally Posted by Solar

Hello everyone, I'm new to all of this. Not to dreaming of course, I've always had amazingly vivid dreams and I've been keeping dream journals for years.
I just didn't realize I was lucid dreaming until I read on here about it. I always thought lucid dreaming was controlling everything in the dream, like the color of the sky and the whole dream world to what ever you want.

Now that I know a little bit I guess my only problem is false awakenings and not knowing if I'm still dreaming and just generally trying to figure out if I am dreaming or not. Sometimes I can't figure it out. I try to use all my senses but my brain is very good at tricking me. Usually I can tell I'm dreaming by the fact I can't remember anything before the start of the dream. Like how I got somewhere etc etc.

I love dreaming!
But anyway, I hope I can get some help here and hopefully become even better at dreaming.

Ah, that is the beauty in RCs. Like you said, your brain will trick you fairly easily in a dream and persuade you that it is reality. I would suggest reading up on reality checks (here is the link: reality check tutorial). My personal favorite is the nose pinch RC. You close of the air passage in your nose by pinching it closed. You then attempt to breathe through your nose. In reality, it is impossible, but you can still breathe in a dream. I also suggest browsing through the many other tutorials here on the site (there is a link in my signature). That way you can get a nice overview of the world of lucid dreaming. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask!