Methods to wake up during distressing dreams.

[Timothy]

I have wild and vivid dreams almost every night.

They’re influenced by my personal life, work, the video games I play, and what I watch, mental state etc. 

Things I’m experiencing in real life will generally manifest in my dreams. 

If I’m trying to achieve something and I can’t; for whatever reason, generally I have dreams that I want to surf but won’t be able to enter the water, or won’t have my gear, or I’m in the water and can’t catch a wave. 

Basically anything I experience in real life will readily manifest in dreams, whether actual representations of real-life, or whether complete mental fabrications based on anything I’ve ever conceived, or that my subconscious can conjure. Faces I have seen and can recognise, family etc. Or completely unfamiliar and abstract things. 

It’s generally extremely enjoyable. 

But sometimes it’s hard to distinguish whether  it’s real. 

(I got swallowed by a giant pair of pants once, while trying to run past on the lawn. The rest of the family made it past, I was last and didn’t dodge well. Lol! I got eaten alive by a 6 foot tall pair of pants!)

Most dreams are satisfying and entertaining, even if on cataclysmic level, disaster level event stuff. Lol. Generally usually satisfying and vivid. I can generally run checks when they become too bizarre, so I run the checks and identify that it is a dream. Then  I have control or can wake up. 

So, a little bit of digression, but my method is this: 

My mind will identity that the dream is too bizarre, and getting out of the realm of reality. 

So then I will run checks in the dream to determine if it’s real or not, asking people if it’s a dream is one of the checks. (Some dreams I can’t work out until I wake up)

And then: I simply close my eyes tight within the dream, and I wake up in real life. That’s it.

Please post your methods! It will help people. 

[sarah_444]

I seem to just literally tell myself (while still dreaming) to "wake up" most often.  I guess a certain level of lucidity hits just as a dream becomes too much - because it's only when I tell myself to wake up that I'm aware I'm dreaming. 

Then, once awake, I'm usually disappointed that I didn't stay lucid longer.

 

[darkmoonlady]

I don't bother waking up I just change my dream. Last night I dreamt I was attacked by a zombie and stabbed it in the heart which basically did nothing..in my dream I stopped and said I have to stab the head or it's going to get me..so I grabbed a sharp stick and killed the zombie. Lucid dreaming means I hardly ever wake up in a bad dream I just alter what I don't like. 

[Habitat]

6 minutes ago, darkmoonlady said:

I don't bother waking up I just change my dream. Last night I dreamt I was attacked by a zombie and stabbed it in the heart which basically did nothing..in my dream I stopped and said I have to stab the head or it's going to get me..so I grabbed a sharp stick and killed the zombie. Lucid dreaming means I hardly ever wake up in a bad dream I just alter what I don't like. 

And you wake up feeling refreshed  ?

[openozy]

I used to have very frightening nightmares as a kid that seemed to go on forever.I learnt to run head first into a brick wall in my dreams and would wake up instantly.After I'd leant to do this I felt more in control in my real kid life.

[Sir Smoke aLot]

Good luck with that. Over the years i have learned to be calm after waking up from very stressful dreams. Often was i saying how i hate dreams but one gets used to all sorts of craziness.

Sometimes, when i relive some great moments in my dreams, well, that disturbs me more than having crazy horror like dream (which is often unfortunately).

All considered i think it is better to sleep it over without waking up because brain is resting even if having crazy dream. And i can not sleep again after i wake up, even if i slept only for like few hours. It's interesting to hear about those techniques like changing dream or waking up, reminds me of childhood dreams.

[Habitat]

1 hour ago, openozy said:

I used to have very frightening nightmares as a kid that seemed to go on forever.I learnt to run head first into a brick wall in my dreams and would wake up instantly.After I'd leant to do this I felt more in control in my real kid life.

hahahah…..lucky there were conveniently placed brick walls in your dreams. I think I may have to process this idea, though, it sounds like lucid dreaming of a kind.

[Timothy]

8 hours ago, .saraharas. said:

I seem to just literally tell myself (while still dreaming) to "wake up" most often.  I guess a certain level of lucidity hits just as a dream becomes too much - because it's only when I tell myself to wake up that I'm aware I'm dreaming. 

Then, once awake, I'm usually disappointed that I didn't stay lucid longer.

Try what works for me:

As soon as you realise you’re awake and want to get back in; focus on the most vivid part of the dream you can remember while also breathing deep and slow. 

For me, the scene will start to become more vivid again and then I can fall back into the same dream. 

I usually just have to remember one part vividly enough.

Doesn’t work all the time and depends on a few factors like how awake I am and how much I can focus on the dream again/my breathing. 

[Timothy]

5 hours ago, darkmoonlady said:

I don't bother waking up I just change my dream. Last night I dreamt I was attacked by a zombie and stabbed it in the heart which basically did nothing..in my dream I stopped and said I have to stab the head or it's going to get me..so I grabbed a sharp stick and killed the zombie. Lucid dreaming means I hardly ever wake up in a bad dream I just alter what I don't like. 

That’s cool. It works on and off for me, but if it’s realistic enough that I can’t tell it’s a dream, I’ll generally still be able to wake up and reset.

Having dreams where I wake up within the dream and it’s my room etc. are often some which play out quite ‘normally’ and take me a while to work out. 

But I still have some super bizarre ones where I don’t realise I’m dreaming at all too. 

[Timothy]

2 hours ago, Sir Smoke aLot said:

Good luck with that. Over the years i have learned to be calm after waking up from very stressful dreams. Often was i saying how i hate dreams but one gets used to all sorts of craziness.

Sometimes, when i relive some great moments in my dreams, well, that disturbs me more than having crazy horror like dream (which is often unfortunately).

All considered i think it is better to sleep it over without waking up because brain is resting even if having crazy dream. And i can not sleep again after i wake up, even if i slept only for like few hours. It's interesting to hear about those techniques like changing dream or waking up, reminds me of childhood dreams.

I was speaking to a friend about it the other day, experiencing emotions in dreams seemingly greater that that in real life.

Eg. I had a dream where I had a falling out with this friend, and it was so realistic and horrible. But in the dream it got resolved so now I feel that if a similar thing were to happen in real life, I’d be more prepared and resilient. Whether that is true or not is a different story.

And oh boy: The sheer sense of dread I felt in a dream the other night looking down a grate-covered hole in the ground below a shopping centre (mall) which went down to some underworld. Lol. I have never felt that feeling in real life as far as I know. 

[Phaeton80]

My favourite one is to try and turn on the lights.. Ofcourse, it wont work with ´full daylight´ dreams.

[Sir Smoke aLot]

2 hours ago, Timothy said:

I was speaking to a friend about it the other day, experiencing emotions in dreams seemingly greater that that in real life.

Eg. I had a dream where I had a falling out with this friend, and it was so realistic and horrible. But in the dream it got resolved so now I feel that if a similar thing were to happen in real life, I’d be more prepared and resilient. Whether that is true or not is a different story.

And oh boy: The sheer sense of dread I felt in a dream the other night looking down a grate-covered hole in the ground below a shopping centre (mall) which went down to some underworld. Lol. I have never felt that feeling in real life as far as I know. 

Some dream experiences are really hard to, hmm, evaluate properly. Can't think them over and give it good thought. Maybe dreams are more than dreams, sometimes 

 

[darkmoonlady]

10 hours ago, Habitat said:

And you wake up feeling refreshed  ?

Yes. I don't have nightmares unless I'm recovering from hospital drugs, I think it lowers my lucid dreaming control. Other than that whatever I dream that I don't like I just change. Most of my dreams just flow and they play out as is, it's only when they get scary or stupid or repetitive that I change them.

[Habitat]

6 hours ago, darkmoonlady said:

Yes. I don't have nightmares unless I'm recovering from hospital drugs, I think it lowers my lucid dreaming control. Other than that whatever I dream that I don't like I just change. Most of my dreams just flow and they play out as is, it's only when they get scary or stupid or repetitive that I change them.

Most have probably had the experience of lucid dreaming, but to regularly have them, may be unusual.

[openozy]

I feel the worst dreams are that someone in your family dies,the ones that have actually passed in real life.You wake up crying for them then realise you have already dealt with it years ago and you feel a great sense of relief in a strange way.

[Timothy]

4 hours ago, openozy said:

I feel the worst dreams are that someone in your family dies,the ones that have actually passed in real life.You wake up crying for them then realise you have already dealt with it years ago and you feel a great sense of relief in a strange way.

Have you had those dreams mate?

[openozy]

10 hours ago, Timothy said:

Have you had those dreams mate?

Yeah had 3 or 4 of these with different family members that have passed. I found these upsetting at the time.My dear mother has had the same type of dreams.

[Timothy]

2 hours ago, openozy said:

Yeah had 3 or 4 of these with different family members that have passed. I found these upsetting at the time.My dear mother has had the same type of dreams.

Yeah that sucks! 

You should try to cement something in your awake conscious thinking/change a habit so that it may subconsciously(or consciously) come into affect during those dreams. Or stop them altogether. 

I don’t know what will work for you, but it’s worth a try! 

———————

My best example (but relatively trivial):

I worked a corporate job <10km away which would take me on average ~55 minutes to drive in peak traffic. So I’d leave my house, hit the freeway, then nose-to-tail all the way to work. 

I would generally arrive to work a little early (10 mins or so), but if there was an accident on the road, or if I got bad lights after the freeway, I’d arrive just on time and be anxious for the majority of the drive. Sometimes a little late, but not often. 

I started to have dreams where I was late to work, like dreams of the whole drive and then late and the repercussions. So I would wake up anxious before even leaving the house. 

Then in real life, I started to leave an extra 15 minutes earlier than I did perviously.

The bad anxious dreams stopped. I actually started to enjoy the drive listening to the radio/music/sunroof open/nothing playing at all etc. 

Sure it sucked being stuck in traffic going on-average a little over 10km/h for a 9-5. But it was much more positive. And just took that one change, getting up and leaving 15 minutes earlier.

———————

Again; a kind of trivial example, but it made my life better. 

Any idea of something that might help with your bad dreams? 

[Timothy]

On 8/27/2019 at 12:01 AM, Sir Smoke aLot said:

Some dream experiences are really hard to, hmm, evaluate properly. Can't think them over and give it good thought. Maybe dreams are more than dreams, sometimes 

Yep, give a couple of attempts to analyze if meaningful/important or not, then move on!

[Timothy]

On 8/27/2019 at 2:11 AM, darkmoonlady said:

Yes. I don't have nightmares unless I'm recovering from hospital drugs, I think it lowers my lucid dreaming control. Other than that whatever I dream that I don't like I just change. Most of my dreams just flow and they play out as is, it's only when they get scary or stupid or repetitive that I change them.

That makes sense and is interesting. 

After a night out drinking, my dreams become more autonomous. Like I’m just along for the ride.

Still vivid if I wake up during/soon after. But generally less often lucid than when sleeping sober. 

Just like drugs in real life cause you to lose control to whatever extent, it reflects in dreams too. 

Have any studies been done on this that you know of?

[darkmoonlady]

4 minutes ago, Timothy said:

That makes sense and is interesting. 

After a night out drinking, my dreams become more autonomous. Like I’m just along for the ride.

Still vivid if I wake up during/soon after. But generally less often lucid than when sleeping sober. 

Just like drugs in real life cause you to lose control to whatever extent, it reflects in dreams too. 

Have any studies been done on this that you know of?

Not that I know of only personal experience. I have health issues so I've been under general anesthesia more than the average person. The worst was the stuff they gave me for a colonoscopy, I think propofol. I came home fell asleep and had the worst nightmare of robed women kneeling in a circle in my apartment and then the room started spinning and they slowly opened their mouths as they tilted back their heads which became this piercing scream and they had little sharp needle like teeth. I couldn't get out of it but finally "woke up" to a waking hallucination of what could best be described as an animated scribble (kind of like the old Nickelodeon logo) and that took what seemed like forever to go away and I'm laying there freaking out. My lucid brain was telling me whoa ok hospital drugs this will go away but I was freaked out. Next night slept fine no nightmares, didn't have another for years. I think I save up all my scary imagery and when I'm under drugs it just all comes out. I don't recommend it..lol

[Timothy]

8 minutes ago, darkmoonlady said:

*snip*

My lucid brain was telling me whoa ok hospital drugs this will go away but I was freaked out. Next night slept fine no nightmares, didn't have another for years. I think I save up all my scary imagery and when I'm under drugs it just all comes out. I don't recommend it..lol

Sounds horrible yet interesting! 

Reminds me of the statue from the 5th Element movie. Do you mind if I post an image?

And robed women in a circle and the sharp needle teeth too! That has the makings of a great horror movie if done right. 

[openozy]

1 hour ago, Timothy said:

Any idea of something that might help with your bad dreams?

I don't know,I've come to terms years ago with the deaths.Maybe a bottle of rum before bed lol.I have had really nice dreams,different to all others,much more vivid and realistic where these family members past have appeared as their young selves, happy and joyous.I know you will probably doubt this but I'm certain it was them coming back to reassure me they were ok where they are now.I like your idea about how you deal with your worrying dreams.

[Timothy]

19 minutes ago, openozy said:

I don't know,I've come to terms years ago with the deaths.Maybe a bottle of rum before bed lol.I have had really nice dreams,different to all others,much more vivid and realistic where these family members past have appeared as their young selves, happy and joyous.I know you will probably doubt this but I'm certain it was them coming back to reassure me they were ok where they are now.I like your idea about how you deal with your worrying dreams.

Want to go camping/fishing some time mate? Drop the rum and we'll work it out.

[openozy]

46 minutes ago, Timothy said:

Want to go camping/fishing some time mate? Drop the rum and we'll work it out.

Not a big drinker,only joking there.I used to do a bit of fishing when I lived near the coast,Sydney and Taree.If you like catching some rabbits with ferrets and whippet dogs your welcome.The only water catchment around here for fishing is at 5% capacity atm.Dry as.