CT is right, you are supposed to wake up after 4-5 hours of sleep in order to be able to take advantage of the large REM periods. It takes considerably longer than 30 seconds, for most people, and you should try to focus on the HI and let go of the focus on your body and its sensations and such, in order to enter the dream world. When you focus on stuff that is in the waking life it is much harder to enter the dream world. this works both ways, as focusing on stuff in the dream world also prevents you from having the dream fade....