Trouble staying asleep after becoming lucid.

OKay, so I could use a bit of help and encouragement. Now, it's been a little while since I've been to the site and, unsurprisingly, my initial success in inducing lucid dreams dropped off. However, recently I've made a concerted effort to do my RCs and generally get my mind back into the right mode.

My efforts were not in vain. Last night I induced a lucid dream through DILD (which is the only method I've tried so far, but I've had great success with it). The problem is this...the last two times I've attained lucidity, whenever I try to do any of the "cool stuff" I end up waking up.

As some of you may remember from my last post about it, in my frist "real" lucid dream (in which I didn't awaken immediately upon gaining lucidity) when I spoke in the dream, I thought I could hear myself physically speaking in the waking world. This disconcerted me and I woke up.

Last night, after counting my fingers and gaining lucidity, I immediately started rubbing my hands together, since someone here mentioned this is helpful, and told myself "I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming." Then I tried the spinning thing to change scenes. I close my eyes, spin a few times and when I opened my eyes.... Well that's just it. I actually OPENED MY EYES. Thus, I was awake. Not a false awakening, either. I checked.

So it seems that when I become lucid, I get extremely close to wakefulness. Will this change over time as I continue to become experienced as a lucid dreamer? Or is there anything I can do to further ensure I'll not wake up so easily? I'm glad that I'm able to become lucid, but it doesn't do me much good if I keep waking up!

This is very common for beginner LDers. Don't worry about it, and just remember that it will get better over time. I recommend "practicing" during the day. Randomly stop and pretend that you just became lucid. Analyze your surroundings. What do you do? Drill a routine into your head, and think about anything other than waking up. Do some reality checks, rub your hands together, and get a clear goal in mind. Do you fly? Run? Summon a dragon and wreak havoc?

You might get used to it over time. -Not that it won't still be awesome, but once it's happened a few times maybe you won't be so surprised and it won't wake you up. ...maybe

Well it's not exactly that I was surprised...not the second time anyway. It just...I don't know! I opened my eyes and....actually opened my eyes. I don't know why that happened. I guess I just get really close to consciousness after gaining lucidity. Hopefully that'll taper off as I get more experienced. I still haven't been able to do anything fun before waking!

What I've learned and, noticed in my own dreams, is that if you feel yourself thinking about your physical body, stop your thoughts and distract yourself with your dream environment - rub your hands together, look around, or just keep telling yourself that you are dreaming. Stay calm too. =3

One word, Practice.
I'm still trying to tackle lucid dreaming too.
Nice goals by the way Demara.

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess really I just need to be patient. I'm just eager to get this party started.

I think it'll help if I make an effort to calm myself and really stabilize before I eagerly jump into trying something crazy. So far that's done nothing but jolt me into wakefulness.

You're right, Demara. Calm, calm calm...

Also, be sure you don't get lost in your head. In my experience, the more you focus on your surroundings the longer you stay in the dream. So, in your case, try keeping your eyes open when you spin. See if that helps.

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Originally Posted by Small Town Wizard

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess really I just need to be patient. I'm just eager to get this party started.

I think it'll help if I make an effort to calm myself and really stabilize before I eagerly jump into trying something crazy. So far that's done nothing but jolt me into wakefulness.

You're right, Demara. Calm, calm calm...

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Yes, People from what I read and learned rush into sex their first time lucid. I have been told and read it's not a good idea.

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Originally Posted by deepsleep

Yes, People from what I read and learned rush into sex their first time lucid. I have been told and read it's not a good idea.

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Because the OP is obviously talking about sex.

Hah! That's probably good advice. While sex is a goal of mine, it wasn't on my mind in this particular case. I'm willing to take things slowly and gain some experience and control before I try that out.

As a reply to the first post...

you could try not actually closing your eyes? maybe you could just spin around really fast or cover them with your hand. That might work, since you wouldn't have to worry about opening them then.

i have been having that problem. two nights ago i saw a triple dream sign all rolled into one! and it woke me up (i was so impressed.)

but last night... or this morning... i saw one of my dream guides (a man) in the ladies' room. i left after saying hello and was actually going down the hall when i thought... hey, wait a minute...what was he doing in the ladies' room?

that was a really smooth, low drama way to go lucid, which i did.

i think our minds are trying to help us just as much as we are trying to go lucid. we just have to keep at it to figure out what works.

hence, the practice.

beachgirl

Good news! I had another lucid dream last night and I was able to stay calm and keep it going a little longer. It's kinda funny 'cause I almost failed my RC. I tend to use the finger counting trick, since that's worked every time for me so far, but I had to count several times to verify that, yes, I did in fact have six fingers.

I didn't have great control, but I was able to fight off wakefulness for a little while and extend my dreaming adventures a bit. Unfortunately this particular dream wasn't especially vivid, I think I was at the end of my REM cycle as it was about 8:00am when I woke up from it.

Not much to report, really, but I thought I'd share my progress with you guys.

Thanks for all your helpful advice and continuing support.