I’m pretty new to trying to get myself to have LD’s. I have always been very interested in dreams, and I have had some very, very bizarre ones, and I remember a lot of my dreams. Last night was the first time I tried to make myself have a lucid dream. I did the counting method (one. I’m dreaming. Two. I’m dreaming.). Well I had this dream where I was driving my moms car, and I was about to get pulled over and all of a sudden the car was a lawn mower and I was coasting down the hill on the mower (haha). Yeah, I know this should have made me realize I was dreaming but it didnt. Anyway, I hid behind this big wooden fence and the cop was looking around for a bit, then finally we both saw each other, and at that moment I knew I was in a dream, and I snapped awake. I’ve had a couple other dreams where this has happened, but I always snap awake after realizing - also before I have time to spin around or anything. Anybody have any tips on how to not wake up? I am very interested in Lucid Dreaming. I think I only had one dream where I knew it was a dream and haven’t waken up, but it was when I was like 5 or 6. There was a huge dog chasing me and some friends, and all of a sudden I knew it was a dream so I came out of hiding and just yelled “come and get me!” Anyway sorry for the long post, if anyone can help out it would be great. If not I’ll just keep trying. 
Thanks guys, peace.
Common problem, I’ve done that three times. when you realize your dreaming, take it as waking life for a second. Then once your dream stabilizes, let your excitment out in phases =P.
There are plenty of things you can do to retain lucidity when it seems that the dream is fading, but it doesn’t sound like you have a lot of time to apply any of them before you’re back awake. Are you sure you’re waking up due to becoming lucid, and not the other way around? I’ve noticed that sometimes when some RL distraction wakes me up, I actually snap lucid for a short moment before waking up. In this case, there isn’t really anything you can do to stay asleep.
If this isn’t the case, maybe you’re letting yourself get a little too excited when you realize that you’re dreaming? As most of us have discovered, you really have to remain calm at least until you can build up your level of lucidity. It used to be that the first thing I did upon becoming lucid was run around yelling things like an idiot – which quickly diminished my chances of staying lucid.
Do you notice anything at all between becoming lucid, and waking up? A strong feeling of excitement, or something?
WEll it was more of a gasp- I’m lucid kind of thing. But now that I think of it it could have been something else waking me up, because I thought I had a false awakening last night too, and I was talking to my dad about it. I told him the false awakening I had was of him dumping some pants on my bed, but he told me it wasn’t a dream, he really did. So maybe he woke me up. Maybe I quickly become lucid RIGHT before I wake up or something similar?
Hmmm… are there any other methods besides doing a WILD or something like that to have lucid dreams? I’ll just practice more. I can’t seem to imagine myself in a dream remembering to do a Reality Check or anything. Who knows though, maybe tonight will be my night 
The entire process of learning to lucid dream involves teaching your mind to behave differently in REM sleep to what it’s used to. We do this by performing RCs during the day, affirming our intention before going to sleep, and each time we wake up during the night. It’s not a quick process, but it’s ultimately rewarding. Sure enough, in time your mind will automatically adjust to allow conscious thought and control over your dreams, and you’ll be a happy chappy.
Now that the formalities are out of the way, let me introduce you to the wonders of external induction. As I mentioned above, teaching yourself to lucid dream requires that you prepare your mind during the day, and hope it pays off later that night while you’re asleep. Naturally, you don’t have a conscious hand in what happens after you fall asleep, so we’re just kinda hoping that your mind remembers everything you’ve been teaching it to do. That’s all good and well if you’re a ‘step-by-step’ man, but there is an alternative.
External Induction implies that something from the real world interferes with your dream, and provides you with an opportunity to become lucid. Thousands of years ago, monks discovered that by whispering into someone’s ear while they’re asleep, you could actually influence their dreams significantly. With the right trigger, such as “You are dreaming”, the sleeping monk would suddenly find that phrase in his dream, and it would wake his conscious mind. Anyway, history lesson aside, we can take advantage of the same technique without the need for another person to wait while you slept.
All you need is a device to play back recordings. You can use a CD player, a cassette recorder, or even your computer if it’s close enough to your bed. Just find a recording of someone saying things like “Is this a dream?” (or record your own), and find a way to play the sound continuously throughout the night. If you find it hard to sleep with the sound playing, set an alarm for a few hours after you go to bed, wake up, and start it playing before returning to sleep. Most of your dreaming is done in the last few hours of sleep anyway, so you won’t be missing much of an opportunity.
I found a few useful MP3s containing suitable triggers during a brief search for lucid dreaming induction sounds. If you can find something called “Brainwave Voyages”, I consider those to be some of the most useful. A few of them actually contain subliminal messages as well as readily identifiable cues. However, it has been said that creating your own is generally more effective, as your subconscious recognizes your own voice and reacts more potently to it. If you can, give it a go. Don’t think of it as cheating – every minute you spend lucid helps your mind adapt to the unfamiliar state, and makes it easier to achieve on your own without the induction device later.
NHansen what also can play a role is the fact that many ppl get lucid at the end of their rem sleeptime!
If you recognize sooner your dreaming more rem sleeptime is left.
You can accomplish this by practising Mild!
Good luck…also dont think to much or be to excited just stay very calm in your ld!
Jeff
Hey, thanks for the tips guys.
I’ll try out WILD on the weekend when I dont have school in the morning, or on the days when I dont have class till later. I will also try to have me telling myself I am dreaming. My computer is right next to my bed, so I’ll just loop it playing softly.
I’m also going to try out this thing before I go to bed.
I’ll let you guys know how it turns out
Ok well I’m making progress.
I had this dream and I found out I was lucid, so I started rubbing my hands together. But the thing is, I’m not sure if I was just dreaming I was having a lucid dream, or if I was actually part lucid. I didn’t think of doing anything crazy or anything, I just went along with my dream. But still, it’s progress nonetheless!
THanks for all your help folks. Hopefully I will be flying around soon 
The key to defending against instant awakenings is remembering to stay calm once you realize you are dreaming. After that, continually rub your hands while you explore, and don’t get too excited! I always keep one hand on my arm to prevent awakening if I’m too lazy to rub, and it usually works. Nice to see if you’re making progress, and yah, that’s probably a real lucid dream. You can’t dream that you know that you’re dreaming unless you fall asleep in your ND.
When you become lucid, don’t haste! Take your time. Rub your hands. Observe the sky. And stay CALM 
and you’ll stay asleep.
A similar thing happened to me the other night. It was my first lucid dream, but it only lasted about 15 seconds. I did manage to levitate briefly, but that was about all. I tried rubbing my hands together and spinning, but the whole experience was a bit wierd, because I’ve never experienced it before. It sounds to me that it just takes a lot of practice to regularly have stable lucid dreams. I can’t wait til my next one!
I think the snapping awake thing he’s talking about refers to instant awakenings… so to add to my previous post, you WILL be excited once you get lucid, and the only way I stopped it is I waited through a bunch of those instant awakenings. You will be more likely to stay in your dream with each sucessive lucid dream. Don’t fret if it happens a few times in the beginning. It becomes easier. If you can help it, immeditately calm yourself down and don’t delve into your mind, instead you have to keep your senses stimulated. When I have instant awakenings, it’s usually because I forget about my surroundings and become engulfed in excitement. Then everything fades to black before I know it. So concentrate on what’s happening outside of your dream body.