False awakenings...

Hey, I found out about this forum and website about three days ago and yesterday i managed to achieve a lucid dream. However, I have a few questions.

How I managed it was: I had a dream but did not notice/realise at all. So, kinda mission failed there. Then I had a false awakening, but obviously I felt a little weird so I thought, hey, why not do a reality check, based on what I've read in the tutorials and stuff.

So I turned to my dream-bedside table and took a look at my mobile phone. Fiddling around, this was the first time I was glad it wasn't working.I concluded that I was having a lucid dream and stayed my best to remain calm so as to not wake up.

Anyway, I woke up soon after. =(

But then, falling asleep again, I got into a dream but once again didn't realise it. Then I got another false awakening and performing a similar test, I had a subsequent lucid dream.

So now I'm thinking, maybe the key for me is getting a false awakening, at least to begin with while I'm still new to this. So I was wondering, is there anything to do that maybe increases the chances of it occuring?

hello and welcome!

I personally don't do this....but I hear it spoken of well. False awakenings might be common for you....so try this.
EVERYTIME you wake up.
-perform a reality check or two
-observe your surroundings for unusual things

(i remember a dream...where I woke up and there were pigeons on my floor...just walking around. So i decided to go back to sleep. Why did i not see that as unusual!!)

if you do this every time you awake....then it will become like a habit!

Hi and thanks for the welcome. :D

Thanks for responding but that was not really what I had in mind.

I was more of wondering what were the things you could do to increase the chances of false awakenings occuring in the first place. If that's possible? Hope I'm not asking a stupid question :?

First off, welcome to DV! :okbyenow: Congratulations on your first LD so soon after finding this place. Keep in mind, though, that a single LD might not be the best indicator of what may work the best for you. It would be good for you (and anyone) to be aware of the possibility of false awakenings, but success at LDing this way will only work if you continue to have FAs.

I don't know about actually increasing the possibility of you falling into a false awakening. It just depends on how often you dream of being in your bedroom. You can increase your chances of catching it, though, by doing what you're doing. When you first wake up and before you write in your dream journal, check to see if you're still dreaming.

You might also want to take a look at the Dream (Re-)Entry tutorial. Before I even knew about LDing, I could sometimes wake up and re-enter a dream through visualization, and I think that you might have some success with it. It's worth a shot :)

I was going to suggest the same thing as James. I know of one thing that makes me have more false awakenings, and that is if I have something I have to remember to do right after waking up. Other than that... I don't really have any suggestions about making you have more false awakenings.

And welcome to DV! :)

Hmm...that's new. Someone wanting to induce FAs...

Well, your best bet would be to do things that involve your room, or do like james said. I think what he's getting at is that if you do more RCs in your room, it's more likely to appear in your dreams, because you'll be so use to checking reality in that setting. It would even help a little more if you thought about your room during the day. That way you'll get it into your daily thoughts. Sometimes our dreams incorrperate things that happen during the day, including thoughts. This is mainly called "Day Residue".

And no, you're not asking a stupid question. :)

EDIT: Oh, and Welcome to DV!!

Thanks for all the advice and welcomings! :D

After reading what Amethyst said about it not neccessarily being the best method, I guess I need to change to/find a new strategy, because I actually hardly have FAs at all. :?

I hope my next one is not months away or something! After the first one, short as it was, I can hardly wait for the second! :D:D

Well once again thanks, and I'll go around finding out how I can improve my chances!

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Originally Posted by Cetyz

After reading what Amethyst said about it not neccessarily being the best method, I guess I need to change to/find a new strategy, because I actually hardly have FAs at all. :?

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Well, just keep your eyes open to see if they become more frequent ;) Just in case, it wouldn't hurt to practice RCing when you wake up. (I recently had two not long after stating that I never had them.)

You can try sleeping in an odd position. Maybe one or two days a week, sleep upside down on your bed, or sideways. Sleeping in a strange place, or a a strange orientation can make you sleep lighter. I've found, I get a lot of FAs when I sleep somewhere besides my normal bed.

Also, don't underestimate the power of autosuggestion. If you really focus on having FAs, and tell yourself before bed that you will watch for them, you may be able to increase their frequency.

Like Ame said, I wouldn't count on them too much. There are a lot of good reliable techniques to help you get lucid. Try some of those, and you should get more FAs and LDs.