I’ve been reading a lot of journals complaining about this problem, so I thought I would put in my two cents. Hopefully this will help some of you.
We’re all familiar with the technique of rubbing our hands together to keep a dream stable or from fading away. A good chunk of us are also familiar with the total annoyance when we feel ourselves back in our real beds with our real hands rubbing together. At least, that’s what we think we feel.
One night, as it was happening to me, I opened my eyes to look at them as they rubbed together. I was laying on my back and my hands were under my sheets as they rubbed together. I sighed, disappointed that my LD had ended. Suddenly, my alarm went off and I woke up… on my stomach with my hands no where near each other or in a position to be able to rub together.
After several more nights of experimenting, I’ve realized that 93% of these occasions are actually very vivid FA’s. What I’ve found is to just keep rubbing, no matter how real it feels. I will guaranty that you will probably pull yourself back into the dream. The trick is to simply not care. So what if your RL hands are rubbing together? Does it really matter? Just weigh this: look like an idiot (though no one can see you) vs. continue dreaming. I think the choice is obvious.
Best of luck!
This was very helpful. While it hasn’t happened to me in particular (I haven’t had a chance to test it out), I think if I do decide to use it it will keep me from losing the LD.