Quote Originally Posted by punch145 View Post
Thanks for the info. I dunno, I know that there are times where you don't have control over everything. Ad I read a thread where someone was strapped to a chair and they were unable to come up with anything to get out, so I might want to wake up at a point like that, where things get out of control, just like an emergency shut-off type-thing.
That's extremely rare. There are a lot of regular lucid dreamers gathered on this site, but I bet that if you asked them all if that's ever happened to them, over 99% will say no. And you can't not wake up. That's physically impossible. REM cycles only last like an hour at most, so you're never gonna have to wait longer than that. But this whole question is a little absurd because if you actually try lucid dreaming, you will very quickly realize that being able to wake up isn't the problem; the problem is being able to stay in the dream.

Lucid dreaming isn't like the Matrix either, if that's the impression you've gotten. You can be injured or even die in dreams and absolutely no harm will ever come to your real body or mind. I've died a few times in dreams, and I'm still here.

Now, if you do try lucid dreaming and you find yourself in a 'strapped to chair' scenario, take the advice I gave the other guy. Just ask or demand that you be released, and it will work. But again I must stress that that situation is so rare that it isn't even worth considering, especially when you consider that your first few lucid dreams will probably last a few seconds.