Thread: Lucid Dreaming and Dying

I have been having fully lucid dreams for about 15 years now. Every time I realize I'm having one, I panic because I fear I will not wake up, and I force myself awake. Is this something anyone else has experienced and is it a valid fear? Any suggestions?

I'd just keep reminding yourself that it's like any other dream, except that you're aware this time around... It's impossible not to wake up from a dream, no matter how long-winded it seems.

Try forcing yourself to stay in the dream and see what happens. Eventually, you'll find the dream 'fading' and you know you're soon going to end up in your bed again. =)

Originally Posted by Dyothelite

I have been having fully lucid dreams for about 15 years now. Every time I realize I'm having one, I panic because I fear I will not wake up, and I force myself awake. Is this something anyone else has experienced and is it a valid fear? Any suggestions?

The fear of dying in a dream is an irrational one. There's no reason for you to not be able to wake up from a dream, lucid or not. I remember as a kid I would wake myself up from reoccurring nightmares, I recognized that it was a dream so I would tear at my arm or hold my breath so that I'd wake up. Next time you're lucid, take a second to just relax and examine the landscape instead of waking yourself up. You can still wake yourself up later on if you still feel uncomfortable, but try to spend a bit more time in the dream world. The more that you do this, the easier it should become for you to fully enjoy your dreams.

Yeah I'd like to explore those states because they seem to be a big part of my life, but I guess it just feels like I'm going to get stuck there if I don't wake up. I've actually gotten really good at waking myself up.

Some people report spending large amounts of time in a Lucid Dream. Usually about a week or two.

In reality, you're only asleep a some hours. There is no way possible that you won't wake up. No matter how long the dream seems to last...You will wake up.

Don't feel bad a lot of people feel like that, its fairly common. That said, its totally illogical and irrational to fear it.

There is no chance at all, of you not waking up. When you sleep your body is pretty much on autoploit, and will wake itself up with no action from you. How do you think people wake up from nonlucid dreams?

You just need to tell yourself it is a dream. Nothing can happen to you in a dream. People dream every night. People have 5 or 6 dreams every single night(even if they dont remeber them). In other words, there are about 35 billion dreams taking place in the world every night, and no one ever gets stuck in them.

You have probably had thousands of dreams within your life, and none of them have ever harmed you. So why worry?

I sometimes "practice" my emotional response to finding out I'm in a dream- just as astronauts require training prior to space and spend time practicing each and every motion in large swimming pools, so should oneironaughts practice before dreams- Stand in a room, try to imagine realizing you are in a dream- what goes on through your head? is it "LOLZ ZOMG i'm dreaming!" or is it "oh cool I'm dreaming, ok dream goals...", try walking around and getting used to the feeling of being in a dream- this might be tricky though if you have never actually been in one- you might want to imagine you've just discovered you are "the one" in the matrix. Walk around, think of stuff to do- simple stuff, and get used to your emotions. The overall process can last anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes.

Originally Posted by Dyothelite

I have been having fully lucid dreams for about 15 years now. Every time I realize I'm having one, I panic because I fear I will not wake up, and I force myself awake. Is this something anyone else has experienced and is it a valid fear? Any suggestions?

Yes this happened with my first lasting lucid dream the first lucid i had without waking. I thought I was in this futuristic world where everyone lives in there dreams and i thought i was all alone lol.

I think if I had a dream that seemed to last forever i'd be STOKED. I could care less if I didn't wake up, to be honest.

not in lucid dreams anyway. It's not like you're the first person to be afraid, but you have to learn to believe (not just say, believe) that nothing in the dream can hurt you. You will always wake up in your bed afterward. This may be easier said then done, but if you could think of something else in the lucid dream besides your own fear. Think about doing something fun.