Frequent LDs w/ minimal control and I CAN'T WAKE UP

[Soup]

I wasnt sure where to post this, if a mod thinks its more fit for a different forum, please move it. I'll start by saying I've never attempted to lucid dream before. These nightmares are the only lucid dreams I've experienced. I sometimes realize I am dreaming and cannot wake myself up. I've had experiences like this before, but very rarley. They are not a new occurance. I have memories of knowing I'm dreaming and being unable to wake as a child. I would try to scream for my mother but could not open my mouth, could not produce sound. Now they are occuring more frequently, so i decided to seek advice. They seem to occur most often when I am VERY tired, when I awake after sleeping for awhile and go back to sleep soon after, or when I take a midday nap. This stuff is hard to describe so bear with me. I will start dreaming and be fully aware that I am dreaming. I get this strange sensation that I am warping. It feels like my body is going at super speeds, or I am falling. It is like being on a roller coaster or a free fall ride, except that it is extremly unpleasant. It feels like im going somewhere that I dont want to. With the warping I get threatening vibes and sometimes hear voices or sense angry/malicious presences. I also get images in my head sometimes, like a hand or a giant eye. I can "fight" the warping and somewhat stop it, but never entirely. I have also tried not fighting and letting the warping go, but it gets worse and worse. I get deeper and deeper into the warp and feelings of panic and fear overcome me. I am never able to let go of control and allow the warping to happen for very long, although I've tried. It is strange, I know that I know I'm dreaming, but I still get frightened and panicy. It is always the warping that keys me into the fact that im dreaming. Here's the scary part. I'm unable to wake myself up when this happens. I feel traped in my head, disconnected from my body. I will tell myself, scream to myself, "YOUR'RE DREAMING WAKE UP WAKE UP". I try to force my eyes up but they won't budge. I try to sit up or roll over, and sometimes I do, but in the dream, not reality. I've even started banging my head against my railing, or biting my finger very hard to try to wake myself up. It takes 10 times the effort to do these things, and I feel myself moving, but in reality I am laying in bed not moving at all. I am not just dreaming I'm doing these things, I'm doing them willfully, but in my dream. (make sense?) I must stress im not actually sleep walking, I'n reality I'm laying immoble on my bed, but moving around in a dream world. Sometimes I will fall out of my bed, crawl under it, crawl around on my floor, open my door, go into my bathroom, ect. I am aware I am dreaming as I crawl around. I cannot see well at these times. My eyes feel shut and will not open, but I still see, very vaugely. Everything is very dark. There are no details, no clothes on the ground, no clock on the wall, no empty cans of soda on my desk. Maybe I just don't notice them. Maybe if I were to concentrate on seeing the details I might wake up. It is almost like I sense the objects in my room/hall, not see them. I have not tried looking up to see if my sleeping body is there, as I never think of it at the time. I have to consciously fight to keep control of the dream, it takes much effort and is very hard. If I let go of my control I go back to warping, which I never want to do as it is a horrible experience. When I do wake up, it seems to randomly happen. I never seem able to force myself awake, it just happens on its own, but that doesnt keep me from trying, as the only alternative is to stop fighting and let the horrible warping take over. I always wake up in the same position I went to sleep in, on my side, with the pillow over my head, so I know Im not actually slamming my head against the rail, or biting myself. I am looking for ideas and thoughts about this dream state.. Any clue on what this all means? Any thoughts about the warping? What about waking up? Anyone else have experiences like this? Anyone know what this is or exactly whats going on when it happens? Is this common? Am I crazy? Any resources about this type of thing? My main problem right now is not being able to wake up, even though I know I'm dreaming. I am interested in figuring out how to wake myself up. Knowing you are dreaming but being unable to wake up and having to fight fight for control is a horrible experience. Once I get the peace of mind of being able to get out at will, I think I will be able to explore my dreamworld further. My other problem is control. I have very little control during these lucid dreams. I have to expend all my effort into remaining in control and avoiding the warping. The only way I've been able to do that is to try to gain control of my body. Its like I have to fight to stay in my body, otherwise I begin to warp. I cannot focus on trying to change the scene, or fly, or anything, I have to focus on regaining control of my body and waking up. I would like to be able to change these experiences from unpleasant lucid nightmares to lucid dreams I can explore and enjoy. How do I take more control, change settings, fly, experience my fantasies, ect. ? If anything I described doesn't make sense or is unclear, let me know, I will try to reword it. Thanks alot for your help guys, I appreciate any input you may have. I know it was a long read.

[Matchbook]

When I was younger I remember many times when I would be partially asleep and paralyzed and I would scream for my mom but it would only come out as a silent breath. I always got panicked, because I did not know what was going on. Later on I realized it was sleep paralysis, and I've come to live with it, and even use it as a tool. What you seem to have is some type of sleep paralysis, where sometimes you are completely paralyzed, or you have moved into the next stage where you are in a dream environment and can sometimes move. Instead of fearing this, work with it. If you are paralyzed, close your eyes and don't try to move at all, and it will feel slightly more normal, and you will drift into a dream most likely, or wake up fully. If you are at a stage where you are in your bed and can move, close your eyes and visualize yourself somewhere nice, like a beach, the mountains, whatever. It should almost certainly appear after a few seconds. Even if anything appears under closed eyes, it is good, because that means a more normal dream is on its way. Like I said, you really can't do anything about it, so you must adapt to it, and avoid the frightening aspects of it. Just try those tips.

[Awhislyle]

When I was a kid I would have nightmares and I would realize I was dreaming so I would start blinking really fast adn as hard as I could and I would wake up, then once a bad guy in my dream put an anti wakeup machine on me lol

[Oneironaut Zero]

The most important thing is to Stay Calm. Your mind can be your own worst enemy when it comes to trying to wake up. Part of you could know how easy it would be to simply yank your eyes open and wake yourself up. (That is the method I adapted as a kid before realizing what lucid dreaming actually was.) but the other half of your mind will be so afraid of what could happen if you Don't wake up, and simply that knowledge of What If is enough to keep your subconscious mind trying to trick you into staying. Wanting to wake up from a dream can be an overwhelming experience, but if you ask me, the easiest thing to do is stay calm, close your eyes in the dream, and will yourself into yanking your real eyes open. Another problem you may or may not come into, is false awakenings, and if I somehow bring them open you, subconsciously, by explaining what they are, I appologize cause they suck. lol. Happens to me all the time when I'm practicing my LD's, but you feel like you wake up, in bed, as normal, and find out after the course of a few more moments that you are still dreaming. Now these can be plain, normal, repetitive experiences, or they can be quite frightening, as I've found out. But they also teach you the most important thing about becoming lucid, whether you're having a nightmare or peaceful dream... ..When you realize you are dreaming, Stay Calm, and think about what you want to do next.

[ravenqueen]

You are so NOT crazy lol. Welcome to the club of natural Ld's. I'm so glad you found this site. It has helped me so much. However only a handful of us are natural. I'm not much on helping people learn how to LD cause I have no clue, but you I can help. The LDs you are having now are the LDs alot like the ones I started with and that was about 21 years ago when I was 6. I had the same LD like the one you had until I was mature enough to deal with them. You have to evolve your gift though. When I first started I was terrified. Maybe if I told you want I did it will help you. The beginning of my LDing as you said screaming for my parents when I began to feel my body floating, and it use it feel so real. I would scream and no one heard me. I was convinced at the age of 7 my body really floated from my bed and if I opened my eyes I would fall and get hurt. So everytime I felt myself getting ready to float I would grab onto my bed and force my eyes open, so I got the feeling of falling but not far enough to get hurt. One night I got brave and let go of the bed and just enjoyed the floating feeling. Then I opened my eyes and sure enough I fell to the bed and thought I was awake but I had the same feeling you did. I tryed to get out of bed and all I could do was crawl along the floor to the bathroom or into the living room. Then I'd realize I was still dreaming and would try to wake up. I'd start panicing cause I didn't know how to wake up. Like I was stuck there forever. This panic stage is extremely scary to natural LDers cause we have no clue what the hell is happening to us. It is as real as reality lol. We actually see our dreams as most see everyday life. Unless you have someone to tell you what to do you can spend years in the same panic stage. Finally after about 6 months of this panic stage I decided I wanted to find my bed and lay back down in my LDs. So I would LD going to the bathroom and then go back to my bed. (as you become more advanced this doesn't seem to work as well). After I master that simple task I became brave again and would go to the living room and listen to my parents conversation. Then go back to bed. After I mastered that I don't remember any LDs until about 5 years ago. Not that I didn't have them just don't remember them. Maybe I didn't have them. Not sure. Natural LDers have to take it one step at a time. Learning is a long process for us. I'm no expert but I will be here for you.

[simone93]

The same thing used to happen to me. Most of my nightmares were knowing I was dreaming, being semi-lucid, and unable to wake up.

[simone93]

The same thing used to happen to me. Most of my nightmares were knowing I was dreaming, being semi-lucid, and unable to wake up.

[Nirvana Starseed]

Sounds like you have yourself in a real pickle there. Maybe I could learn from you. When I finally become lucid I am always trying to stop myself from waking up. Your fear of the outcomes is probally what is creating that which you do not want to happen. And you draw that to you. Your mind is creating this drama, for whatever reason. I do not know enough about you to even begin to know. I suggest just keep trying to work through it and don't give up. Eventually you will overcome it and find the answers (your the only one that can find them for yourself) with your determination. It always has been in your control.

[towenstark]

I'm hearing a lot of stuff I have experienced, but thought nobody else did. I've awakened to the feeling that I just fell from the ceiling into the bed, or woke up to feeling paralyzed as if someone were holding me down. Never wrote the dreams down prior to this, but I will now.