I Have Weird Dreams Forum & Chat Board | Can you wake yourself up from dreams/nightmares?

I lucid dream a lot. Most times I might not like where the dream is headed, so the me version in my dream, will close her eyes and force my real self awake. So basically I think I can wake myself up from dreams or at least stop them. Is it just me, or am I crazy? And does anyone else think they can do this?

 

I've been able to do this since I was young.  If I'm having a bad dream, I'll blink repeatedly in my dream, and I'll wake up blinking.

 

I had to work at it, but I have learned to do what you are talking about.  I can "rescue" myself from horrible dream scenarios or just refuse to go on with something that I know is going to turn out badly.

I used to wake up screaming from nightmares, which is embarassing if you're a husband and father.  that hasn't happened in a long time now.

 

I can wake myself up from dreams. Normally when something bad is about to happen, I realize(in my dream) that I am dreaming. Then I just tell myself to wake up. So normally in my dreams, nothing bad happens to me because when it is about to happen, I just wake myself up. 

But I have sooo many dreams(that I remember) a night. Some times it can be up to five or six. It's crazy. And they are real strange too.

Occasionally I die. But mostly it is other people. I had this dream like a month ago that these people and I were trying to escape from this building and these creatures with chainsaws were trying to trap us. And one of the creatures actually chainsawed me in half. It was a strange sensation because I usually don't die. But my body felt numb. god it was weird. 

(Yeah, I realize you posted the question like 3 years ago. But ehh.)

 

I will say this: when I tell people that A. The majority of my dreams are lucid, i.e. I am aware that I am dreaming, and B. that I have not had a nightmare since I was a kid in the 80's, no one believes me.

Everyone has had a lucid dream at one time or another, but it is rare that the majority of one's dreams are lucid.  Whether they are the result of unconcious conditioning, genetics or a self-taught curriculum is up for debate.  However, I believe my own ability to have these lucid dreams came as a result of my self-taught ability to wake up from nightmares.  When I was younger I read a passage in a book on (otherwise worthless) dreaming theory.  What the author proposed was that one must form a plan while awake, and then, essentially, wait for a dream that was both lucid and frightening.  Once you are aware that you are dreaming, and that something awful is about to happen, you remember exactly what you taught yourself to do.

I have read about the various methods of waking one's self up.  It seems the most effective are:

1. Shaking your head from side to side in the dream.  Even if it only happens in the dream it distracts you from a visual.
2. Kicking your legs or flailing your limbs.  Perhaps look elsewhere if you have a partner in bed ;)
3. Closing your eyes very tightly in your dream, then giving yourself a brief, one second review of how you are going to wake up from this ridiculous dream.  Open your eyes.

Personally, number three has always worked for me.  It took time, but after "practice" I was able to identify scary, pleasant and benign dreams as dreams.  If I was lucky enough to realize that I was actually asleep I would spring into action.  Squeeze your eyes tight, remember your real-life "training," and when you open them you may wake up. 

As a side note, I'm not entirely sure that waking one's self up from a dream is healthy.  Dreams, in my opinion, are the mind's way of clashing or confronting conflicting thoughts that weigh on our unconcious mind.  By not allowing your mind to deal with itself you might be cutting off half its ability to work out its own indescrepancies, or prevent it from resolving a conflict you cannot (or will not) confront while awake.

Food for concious thought.

 

just got up from afternoon nap all or most of my dreams end the same i fall asleep or my eyes close can t open them and i know it so i walk around blind for a bit use my hands to open my eyes just can t do it.at this point i know im up in my head but can t get up,realy feels like im in the middle some were not dreaming and not up,my heads awake but i can t move.i hate that whats happening to me??? i am lucid when this goes on

 

Well, I used to be able to. Sometimes, there would be something within the dream that would cause me to realize that it was all fake. I would then end it by either causing myself pain or simply killing everyone in the dream and somehow destroying the world.

Nowadays though, my dreams are so realistic that I can't wake myself up, and when (I think) I am awake, I keep forgetting what's real and what was a dream. It's rather irritating.

 

I can't do that.the only time I can wake from a nightmare or a weird dream is if I need to pee or when it is morning. I need help.

 

How can u change a different part of a dream can someone help me

 

Has anyone ever had a dream that u are awake but it's a dream. I hate those dreams

 

I don't think you're crazy- When i was a kid i could lucid dream & wake myself up from dreams - sounds crazy but if I got frightened in a dream I would cross my eyes really hard (I can do this when awake) & I would get ringing in my ears & wake up. I seemed to be able to do this when I was about 6 to about 10, I must have subconsciously taught myself after suffering years of terrible nightmares but  I can't seem to do this is adult life - though I have experienced sleep paralysis about 5 or 6 times in teens & 20's...would love to be able to lucid dream again

 

For me it depends on the type of dream Im haveing! But last night for instance Kinda like an onchore of my zekiel poast I was haveing a bad dream and I began to ingage in it.. there was danger and I felt I wasnt going to like the ending & refused to pertisipate,,, I said No and let go of my sons foot whoum was drawn up to the air.. I wasnt giveing up the fight for my son I just wasnt going to have this dream and was going to wake up!.. and instantly I did!

 

It's okay, you're not crazy, personally, its only on very rare occasions that i DONT lucid dream.  For me, i don't always close my eyes, but i think of my body back on earth and i immediately wake up.  Sometimes, when the dream is too stressful for me to focus, i just get myself killed and i wake up.  But mostly, since I always lucid dream, i don't have to wake myself up.  I just change my dream so it's not as scary or uncomfortable.

 

It's okay, you're not crazy, personally, its only on very rare occasions that i DONT lucid dream.  For me, i don't always close my eyes, but i think of my body back on earth and i immediately wake up.  Sometimes, when the dream is too stressful for me to focus, i just get myself killed and i wake up.  But mostly, since I always lucid dream, i don't have to wake myself up.  I just change my dream so it's not as scary or uncomfortable.

 

I can, but I don't get nightmares anymore. I also used to be able to control myself in the dream, but not the situation if that makes sense? and yeah I would do the exact same thing with my eyes excertera :) 

 

When I was very young, I developed a technique - not available in every bad dream - of 'spinning' myself out of a horrible situation. In those days my bad dreams often involved malevolent goblins, and somehow I 'learned' to get away from their clutches by 'spinning'.  This started at a moderate rate (like I used to do to music to make myself dizzy) and then I would spin up to a tremendous speed - quite incredible - where nothing could get at me. This 'skill' lasted, I suppose, a couple of years - then died away as my bad dreams changed away from goblins and other childhood terrors.

When I was older (including adult) I had lucid dreams - and I wish I could have more!  So far, every lucid dream has been a good one, and I suppose about 90% have involved flying, or incredibly intense visual detail, or both. When I have a lucid dream, its as if the bizarreness of the event jolts me into the realisation that I'm dreaming ('normal' dreams never lead to lucidity). Often I think the thought "this is too bizarre to be real - I must be dreaming!" Then I get an incredible sense of 'triumph' or exultation - as if the realisation of my dreaming is an incredible event. I know anything can happen - and its totally free of the constraints of the waking world. Often the richness of the vision is amazing - I get a distinct impression that its like a psychedelic trip (I've never taken psychedelic drugs). I am in awe. Sadly, my lucidity inevitably fades away - I cannot sustain it - and I either drift into a non-lucid dream or stop dreaming altogether.  I would love to have more control over my lucid dreams, so I can savour the incredible richness of the experience.  These are dreams I definitely not NOT want to get away from!

 

Just found this, and yeah I dont have nightmares at all any more, but i used to when i was younger, and i would squeeze my eyes shut the open them wide really fast and think 'wake up' repeatedly untll i did :)

 

same as betellier, i havent had a nightmare since i was about 11, i have dreams that others might find scary, such as zombies or people trying to kill me but i never really find them scary! Might have something to do with the... seven dream catchers around my bed. and i used to use the 3rd technique to wake up . 

 

If I am having a horrible dream, I always look for a door.  If I can find a door, I go through the door and then I wake up.  I know this sounds silly but... since I was a little girl, if I had a nightmare and woke up, I would turn my pillow over to "trap" the bad dreams.   Then I could go back to sleep and no more night mares and I still do it to this day.  LOL  Worked for my kids too and they tell me that they still do that too.