Ask Robert Anything: Why Does Lucidity Trigger Immediate Waking?
We had this recent question from an Academy member:
Hello everyone,
Here is the situation that has been happening for at least the 2 or 3 times I've become lucid and i really need some help.
What is happening is that as soon as I realise in a dream that I am dreaming, it automatically triggers me to be out of the dream.
I don't even have time to ground myself. I don't have time to do anything or to NOT do anything because the realisation of the dream state itself wakes me up from the dream.
It's not like my emotions are too high or too excited or anything at all. By the time I say in my head that I am in a dream, BOOM I am already out of it.
How can I stay inside my dream when the realisation of it wakes me up?
Here's Robert Waggoner's answer:
Dear Lucid dreamer,
Almost every lucid dreamer faces this issue of getting too excited (when they become lucidly aware) and then waking up. So, it helps to understand that others have faced this, and learned to overcome it.
As I write in my books, it helps to remind yourself to 'Stay calm' when you become lucid, because the expressed thought will get materialized (meaning, you will feel calmer, after telling yourself to 'Stay calm'). Also people have taught themselves to stay calm in a lucid dream by looking at something boring, like the floor or their hands. In this way, they can 'focus' on an action to help them stay calm.
In my workshops, I see that some people begin to create a 'belief' (or a habitual idea) about waking up immediately. They believe that the lucid dream will only last a second -- and then they will wake.
Also, they begin to 'hypnotize' themselves by constantly repeating while awake, some statement like 'lucid dreams immediately come to an end' -- which in turn reinforces and energizes this belief, and helps to make it happen!
The solution?
Change your beliefs. Change the habit. Create a new habit of thought, which allows you to have longer and more stable lucid dreams.
How do you do this? It's easy, if you follow this three step process:
1. Mindfully notice every time you find yourself thinking about this difficult aspect of lucid dreaming! So if you find yourself thinking, "Lucid dreaming is so hard" or "Lucid dreams are finished in a second" -- then you have to mindfully notice this!
2. Then stop the hypnotic suggestion, and tell yourself, "No, not any more." (meaning you accept that other people have long, stable lucid dreams, and you yourself have that ability too).
3. Then tell your unconscious mind your new belief, "I will now have long, stable lucid dreams because I feel so calm and relaxed." Imagine yourself becoming lucid, and then staying chill, and having a long, stable and fun lucid dream! Memorize this new belief, so you immediately go to it when you mindfully notice the old concept.
By doing this, you change the negative hypnotic suggestion to a positive suggestion of long, stable lucid dreams.
In a broad sense, lucid dreaming shows us 'how' the mind works (whether lucid dreaming, dreaming or waking). Lucid dreaming 'trains' the mind!
If you do the above, consistently and persistently, then you will find yourself in a lucid dream and feel amazed at how stable and long-lasting it seems. The lucid dream will reflect your thinking, especially your beliefs and expectations. When you change those, you then experience the new belief and expectation!
Best wishes,
Robert Waggoner
P.S. Check here for more tips on how to extend your lucid dreams.
P.P.S. Check out more of our Ask Robert Anything series on YouTube
About The Author
Past President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Robert Waggoner wrote the highly-acclaimed book, Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self, and more recently, Lucid Dreaming, Plain and Simple (co-authored with Caroline McCready). Robert frequently speaks at global conferences, universities and on radio talk shows about the subject of dreams and lucid dreaming. Robert successfully taught himself how to lucid dream in 1975, and since then, has logged more than one thousand lucid dreams.
About The Author
Rebecca Casale is a lucid dreamer and a science writer with a special interest in biology and the brain. She is the founder of World of Lucid Dreaming and Science Me.
