Not Able To Refrain From Waking Up

I have a possibly difficult situation to try and get out of.

I do tend to be lucid quite often. But I can usually go through multiple different problems when I do become lucid, and these problems normally result in me waking up in a matter of seconds, or me becoming non-lucid, due to me forgetting that I am actually dreaming, because I am focusing so hard on remaining awake.

So here's the situation. I become lucid (whoopee). I can try a number of different methods in order to keep myself awake.

1. Spinning
I have tried this once before, and I have to say that it is probably the worst method out of all of them. It seems to promote me to wake up instead of keeping me in a lucid state. Not going near this plan again.

2. Rubbing Hands
I have tried this twice, but two totally different things happened. The first time i tried this, I ended up not being able to control my hands, and I constantly got an urge to rub them again and again in the dream. The second time I tried this (in a different dream) I ended up being non-lucid.

3. Focusing on something
This method i have only done once. It worked well, but I managed to forget that I was actually dreaming...

So I tried all them, and it seems like I get too excited for my own good and end up waking up anyway. Either that, or I am getting very strong false awakenings, which I haven't checked yet to be honest. If you have any suggestions, or any ideas, I'd be happy to hear.

I had a similar problem. I was so worried about how long my dreams would last, I'd get over-excited and just wake myself up. Try not to worry about it, and go with whatever happens. If you wake up, you wake up. No big deal. If that does happen, don't try to move too much, stay in the "mindset" of sleep, and you should fall asleep again. The main thing is to keep your cool at all times.

I would suggest RCing every time you awake from bed, because some of those awakenings (especially abrupt/instant awakenings) are usually false awakenings. False awakenings can be as close to reality as anything you will ever experience in the dream world. I actually like them pretty good, because it is truly amazing how real your room can look compared to waking life. Also, upon becoming lucid I would suggest taking a few deep breathes and trying to relax. Just act as if you are a lucid dreaming pro and this is just another adventure about to begin. Go with a "been there, done that" attitude (especially at the start of a dream). I would suggest performing RCs, like the nose pinch, for stabilization purposes. I use RCs to stabilize more than for realizing I am dreaming. It seems to work pretty well for me. You can also try feeling some textures around you and use your five sense right off the bat. Smell the air, feel objects around you, focus attention on your surroundings and imagine them slowly becoming clearer and clearer. Once you have went through some of these initial processes, go ahead and engage in some dream activity.

If this doesn't seem to work then maybe you are trying too hard. If you are thinking about/trying to hard not to wake up, it can cause you to wake up. Engaging in dream activity early on can keep your mind off of waking up and more on the dream itself. For a while I would worry about waking up in my dream and it would cause me to wake up. Its a difficult problem with an easy solution....just don't think about it. The easiest way to do that is to "get lost" in your dream and you will forget about it.

Hope I helped out a bit and good luck with your future attempts!