False Awakenings and Lucid Dreaming

[gyarados35]

I had a false awakening once. I had a false awakening of waking up, the sunlight on the wall was brighter, the breakfast was warm and in the kitchen, and I could see my arms even, I woke up to discover the day was cloudy, breakfast wasn't made, and my brain lied to me(something which has me disturbed up to this day).

Of lucid dreaming, I do not remember if I had any.

How about you?

 

[Linkachu]

I've experienced both. I've been having lucid dreams on a regular basis since I was about four or five years old, but my false awakenings have been few and far between.

I recall having many false awakenings when I was a young child and quite a few when I was attending university. They always seem to occur in clusters, ie. I'll experience them maybe once or twice a week for several months in a row but then not experience them again until years later. I've experienced sleep paralysis a few times as well, which may or may not have been connected (I can't remember fully now).

Recently I had a dream within a dream that involved me waking up three times over in my own bed, but I'm not sure if it could be classified as a false awakening. It was so lucid and vivid by the end that I literally felt myself wake up out of it.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

I have had both lucid dreams and false awakenings, though I seem to have more of the latter than the former.

Sometimes when I'm dreaming I will realize I'm dreaming, and when that first came about I usually woke up right away. When I next had a lucid dream, I had more control over if I woke up or not. It's gotten to the point where if I'm having a lucid dream, I can choose what path to take or whether or not I want to wake up.

More likely than not my 'false awakenings' are like nightmares, because when I really wake up I wonder if it's just another dream for a few moments. I have since realized that my dreams are often crazy or don't have enough detail in them to even compare to reality. There was only one nightmare that I had trouble waking up from totally, where I kept having false awakenings and my arm was missing or I couldn't move it, because when I did wake up for real finally I realized it was numb.

 

[Dark Soul]

I'm sorry to say that I haven't really experienced either. From time to time, I have dreams that are so graphically or mentally intense and/or realistic that I feel they might be lucid, but I never actually get to choose what I do. False awakenings I've never had.

 

[Shiny Motley]

I've never experienced false awakenings. Even when I dream of a regular schoolday (more often than not of me forgetting a major project at home or something), I always seem to skip over the actual waking up part and ven breakfast, with the dream usually starting at the bus stop.

I've had many lucid dreams, usually of an alternate universe that I somehow traveled to or of me saving my friends from evil badguys, RPG style. I always wake up feeling how real it was, and sometimes I wish that it really had happened. The forgetting a project dream could also be considered lucid, though nowadays I know just to expect them every time I have something important due the next day.

 

[Magpie]

Oh, false awakenings - how I hate them so. I was once stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of my usual morning routine. It was back when I was at college, and pretty much entailed waking, having a shower, getting dressed, eating breakfast etc and then walking down to the bus stop, where I'd wake up still in bed. So I'd do it all again, before waking up... again. It happened about five times or so, and by the time I actually woke up for real I was like OMGISTHISREAL? HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!

Thankfully I've never had it that bad since, but every now and then my brain throws of of those my way. As for lucid dreaming, I get that too. There's nothing more satisfying than dreaming about being chased by zombies and suddenly turning the tables with the multitude of weapons you've just 'discovered' in your pocket

I've also had those dreams where you're holding something, and wake up convinced you've still got it. It was a pencil last time, and I spent ages looking for it before realising I never had it in the first place.

 

[Doctor Oak]

The closest I've come to either is that confused feeling when you wake up and aren't sure whether or not the dream you just had was real.

Once I dreamt I had lots of money and it took a few minutes after waking up to come back to reality that I was broke. Lame.