I’ve had a dream like this more than once now, and they worry me. I’m not sure how to classify them, so anyone else who has experienced this, I’ll be happy for your thoughts on what this is or how best to get out of it.
What happens in each case is that the circumstances in the dream lead to an explanation from someone that there is a mental place I will be going to very shortly. I struggle to wake myself up in a panic, and generally don’t want to try going back to sleep. Each time, while I didn’t say to myself that I was dreaming, I was aware that I could wake up if I wanted to, and was able to do so.
The second time, today, a friend of mine told me about a dangerous plane (either mental or astral) that could be reached by reading a certain inscription. Everything was fine until she mentioned that the words to this inscription were part of a popular children’s program. I thought of the words and then felt the same sensations that I do when I’m nearing LD. I felt paralyzed and as if something were dragging me downward. I figured that I wouldn’t wake up if I went to this place, so I tried my hardest to wake up.
The first time I was talking with a deity whom I used to believe in, and she requested I go help her with a fight in some other realm. I didn’t want to, partly because I figured that if anything happened to me there I wouldn’t wake up, and partly because I didn’t think she was trustworthy. At this point I felt the same feelings I get when I’m near to falling asleep into an LD. I couldn’t move and everything became quiet. I can’t quite remember how I woke myself up, but I’m pretty sure I did it by trying to talk so I could hear myself. I also kept insisting to myself that I didn’t want to do this, and willed myself awake.