Staying asleep without "moving"

[Moonlit_Jade]

Hello there dreamers. I have a lot of trouble staying in my dreams if my dream body isn't moving around, since then I become aware of my real body, and the feeling of my bed. Once I notice that, I wake up. Spinning and rubbing my hands work most of the time, but sometimes my physical body twitches instead, and the dream is over. So, are there any good ways to prolong dreams that won't accidentally wake me?

[gameover]

You're on the right track. Touching things always helps. The more involved with the dream you are the harder it is to wake up. The problem some people face in a lucid dream is they detach themselves from the dream because they know it's not real. Upon realizing it's a dream the whole dream world can fade because,"oh hey, I'm imagining this". So it is kinda hard to keep everything stable without moving or doing something, but It's not impossible. Trial and error. You'll figure it out.

[spockman]

Gameover has some good advice. And I have had this exact same problem lots of times. (Occasionally I still do.) One thing that I do if I feel so far gone from the dream that I feel as if I'll wake up is I'll allow myself to 'awaken' but try to initiate a false awakening rather than a real one. (That is, I will 'wake up' in the dream- but will have only woken up into another dream.) This generally gives me an LD restart and I can begin fresh again. Just make sure that you don't lose lucidity! (BTW Gameover, you can request a teal name from a mod. It's fancy.)

[gameover]

Creating false awakenings used to be a favorite of mine. Great way to go somewhere new as well. Teal name? I'm sorry I don't follow.

[spockman]

Creating false awakenings used to be a favorite of mine. Great way to go somewhere new as well. Teal name? I'm sorry I don't follow. DV vets, (older members,) get teal names. All you've got to do is ask a mod, man.

[Robot_Butler]

I always get distracted by feeling my real body, too. It is my biggest problem. Normally, I can remain relaxed and reenter the dream. I find I don't fully wake up. I just get into a half-dreaming-half-asleep limbo where my body feels all distorted and weird. It is similar to the transition right as you are entering a dream during WILD. I normally just remain calm, don't move, and imagine a dream scene. I will pop back in after a few seconds of sleep paralysis/ hypnagogia weirdness. As Spockman said, it is a good chance to reset the dream and create something new.

[Andywarski]

What I do once I'm lucid is just interct with everything I see or start flying. Also a good test is to run into rooms without thinking about what they are going to be and just look at the room, then run into another room and check that out and keep doing that until your in a room you want to explore.

[spockman]

What I do once I'm lucid is just interct with everything I see or start flying. Also a good test is to run into rooms without thinking about what they are going to be and just look at the room, then run into another room and check that out and keep doing that until your in a room you want to explore. Yeah, staying active and keeping moving is a great way to stay involved in the dream. Being stagnate is one of the biggest LD killers to lots of people. Whoa! I just got a fun idea. Do a d&d style dungeon crawler where you go from dungeon door to door. What's behind the next door? A room full of crossbow wielding kobolds? A Chaos beast? A black dragon on his nest of gold? A stealth scene in a magical underground forest? Definitely keep one on their toes!

[Andywarski]

Yeah, staying active and keeping moving is a great way to stay involved in the dream. Being stagnate is one of the biggest LD killers to lots of people. Whoa! I just got a fun idea. Do a d&d style dungeon crawler where you go from dungeon door to door. What's behind the next door? A room full of crossbow wielding kobolds? A Chaos beast? A black dragon on his nest of gold? A stealth scene in a magical underground forest? Definitely keep one on their toes! Yo that's a sick idea. Fighting is a big theme in my dream to. I'll make a thread about that in the lucid experiences tab if it ever happens.

[Moonlit_Jade]

Thanks for all the tips. I'll try entering a new dream next time my body starts distracting me, and just go with that. I just realized that freaking out when I start feeling myself wake up probably doesn't help matters any, it just makes me wake up more quickly. Instead, I need to learn how to chill.

[Robot_Butler]

Whoa! I just got a fun idea. Do a d&d style dungeon crawler where you go from dungeon door to door. What's behind the next door? A room full of crossbow wielding kobolds? A Chaos beast? A black dragon on his nest of gold? A stealth scene in a magical underground forest? Definitely keep one on their toes! That would be a neat meditation. Get into a trance state, then imagine running through door after door, with god knows what behind them. Try to get a rhythm with the doors, and let yourself be surprised. I might try something like this tonight.

[sheogorath]

when i had my first long ld last night, i focused on the wall and thought "This wall is real" while i rubbed my hands together, and it worked, i know it seems counter productive to think of it as real life, but you have to, while still knowing you are dreaming.