Thread: "Almost" had a lucid dream again

What is it that you are really afraid of in dreams? It really is true that nothing can hurt you, and the only thing to fear in them is the fear itself, which you often have to face in order to overcome it. In other words, running away is the only option if it's something stronger than you, but if what you're afraid of is actually something that you can beat (as is always ultimately the case in dreams if you can find the way, if not in real life) then facing it and letting it pass right through you might be the only way to allow it to dissipate. That said, I realise this can be a lot easier said than done. It's really worth it, though.

Off the top of my head, there are a few different techniques I can think of for waking yourself up, but I think that more than anything it's the intention and expectation to wake up that will get you there. How easy it is to wake up appears to depend on where you are in your sleep cycle. Many people (especially when beginning) tend to get lucid towards the very end of their sleep cycles, hence so many people having extremely short lucid dreams and waking up before they get a chance to do much of anything (that, and excitement.) So if you are only beginning with lucid dreaming and becoming lucid within the dream itself, it's likely that you'll wake up soon anyway.

That said anything is possible, and I have had some dreams in which I was "trapped" and found it difficult to wake up. It's important to stay as calm as possible and hold onto the confidence that you can wake up (you always can.) If there's something threatening, try stopping running from it and closing your eyes. If it's touching you, realise that it's insubstantial, as is your dream body, unable or not in need of feeling any pain. Closing your eyes, thinking about your body in bed and willing yourself to wake up or "pushing" yourself up towards wakefulness can be helpful. Focus on your breath -- your body's "real" breath and bring yourself back into rhythm and presence with it. The following I don't particularly recommend as a very good technique, but honestly, I used to scream to wake myself up the few times I had early lucid dreams I didn't want to be in. Usually the screaming would remain in the dream, yet it always startled me right awake. So if all else fails there's that.

A word of advice, though -- watch out for false awakenings. If you're not doing so already, try doing reality checks straight away each time you wake up, or at least observing everything around you closely, its overall nature and any signs of anything unusual. If you "wake" from something scary in such a way, though, and find yourself peacefully in your dream-room, you might find that you want to stay in the dream for a while longer after all.

I won't lie -- if you become lucid and then instantly afraid, you're probably a lot more likely to see something scary than someone who becomes instantly excited or calm. If you send your fear out into the dream it will, at one point or another, reflect it right back at you. But it truly is only a mirage, and if you can bear it, it will pass and the fear will become gentler. Try to see it as a challenge if you can. The fear is really unpleasant, but if you can face it in what is in truth about the safest environment possible, overcoming it can be exhilirating. Like falling from the top of a tall building and landing gently and unbroken, like it's really true that nothing can hurt you now.

You will always wake up. Really, apart from in the case that you start to convince yourself that you are unable to wake up just because it's a lucid dream or because something scary is going on, waking up shouldn't be too different from a regular dream, if you do the latter somewhat consciously also.

Sorry if this is rambling somewhat; I hope some of it may help. Best of luck. It may take a few attempts but you'll soon get to the point where you can allow yourself to stay dreaming and aware, from which point the calm will, overall, only deepen.

Originally Posted by theAqua

I was meditating or at least listening to binaural beats again, then I fell asleep when I saw this hallway with beige colored walls. It had a bunch of dark rooms (I tend to have non-lucid dreams where I can't turn on the light) and there was sunlight at the end of the hallway coming from another room.
My body went numb again and it was so vivid but I was like "oh crap I'm dreaming" and was aware of that but got scared!

In waking life, I tend to have anxiety problems or be fearful sometimes. I was thinking lucid dreams would help me resolve some of those issues (probably not all). I have been doing reality checks but I hate the fact that I'm too afraid to stay lucid!

I can wake myself up from a regular dream but since I've never had a full-blown lucid dream, how can I wake myself up if I see something too scary in my dreams?

If you see something too scary you would probably wake up by that, I did when I saw something scary one time. I think if you want to wake up from an lucid dream on purpose you should try to kill yourself in the dream. But, this may lead to an False Awakening so don't forget to do an reality check after killing yourself

In my experience, even in a lucid dream you are in a state kinda like being drunk. Most things don't bother me as they would in RL. So i can just go with the flow. Fear and pain are less intense. If someone attacks me i just naturally fight and destroy him. But this is just my experience...others may have different LD experiences.