How can I tell when I'm dreaming and when I'm awake - General

the only lucid dream i have ever had was me getting up in the morning then passing out on the floor then waking up again and the rest of my dreams were in third person :D

usually the only time I feel pain in a dream is when I there is actually something wrong with me like headache, cramp, and it carries over to the dream

[QUOTE=pognivet;22678841]I had a terrifying nightmare last night having to do with this: [sp]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoony_face.png[/sp] Everything would be normal and then people would disappear, doors would lock and weird stuff would start happening. Then I would find a loved one/friend/family member but they would be missing limbs or body parts or their skin. Then their face would morph into that except they had the teeth of Jaws from From Russia With Love or whatever and would bite into my jugular. That's scary enough. But the worst part is that I would wake up and feel relieved that I could feel and smell and think and pinch myself and go "I'm awake. Wow that was scarring." But I wasn't awake. I was still asleep. Then the nightmare would repeat itself in some other fashion, usually horrifying where I'd walk through a completely dark room and someone would call my name in a sweet girls voice and I'd turn towards the voice and suddenly the lights would turn back on. The girl would have no arms or legs and a face horribly maimed, burned or torn off like the guy from Johnny Got His Gun. Then the lights would turn off and I'd hear shuffling and suddenly they'd turn back on and the room would be filled with like twelve of these monsters. They'd lunge at me and I'd wake up. Or rather I thought I'd wake up. This cycle repeated itself roughly thirty or forty times. I can honestly remember each unique encounter. It was a lucid dream. I remembered praying to Jesus even though I'm an atheist. I woke up this morning (Or I think I did) and I'm here now, but I'm not sure I'm [I]really[/I] awake. I could be dreaming still. Maybe I'm in a coma in a hospital somewhere. Maybe I'm dead and I'm in hell. How can I make sure I'm awake? Should I take a big drink of 80 proof alcohol (I probably will after what I've just felt/seen)? I'm honestly afraid to leave my room because I don't know what I will find.[/QUOTE] Try plugging your nose, pinching yourself, counting your fingers, or flipping a light switch. Often the light switch won't work, you may have more/less than 5 fingers, you won't feel pain (Not guaranteed), and you can often still breathe even if you plug your nose. Depending on the dream, try making something appear, like imagine something in front of you. Certain dreams can be controlled by your thoughts (Lucid Dreams) and this is a dead giveaway. Looking in a mirror is almost always guaranteed to assure you it is a dream, but often it's a horrible distorted image of yourself and it can freak you out a lot, so it's not recommended. It's quite a horrifying experience, really. Protip: You can induce Sleepy Paralysis if you sleep on your back and don't move at all, but be careful. If you sleep on your back, you can have horrible leg cramps in the morning. Your calf muscle sinks into the bed and I'm not sure exactly what causes it, but you get EXTREMELY PAINFUL (You'll try lying still, shaking your leg, etc but nothing will make the pain go away) leg cramps.

No, I've read a couple stories of people who tried that and went insane.

Try looking at a digital clock, looking away, and seeing if the time changes. Or you can try the same thing with pretty much anything written. Also, you can try counting your fingers, the numbers may change.

[QUOTE=.Cheezy.;22679207]holy shit that sounds scary. I hope I experience a false awakening someday.[/QUOTE] Nonononono. That stuff is scary... usually it starts out as your normal day would and then stuff gets [highlight]MESSED UP[/highlight] [editline]04:42AM[/editline] Also ive seen that the way you have your hair when you sleep can effect your dream

If awesome stuff is happening, its probably a dream. Anyone ever have a dream where you realize your dreaming but can't control anything except yourself? Or when something happens that should make it obvious that your dreaming but react normally? "Zombies attacking on this street, better make a right here."

[QUOTE=FoxMeister;22678943]If someone texts me when I'm asleep I will hear my phone and text them back in my dream. Then they get annoyed at me because I didn't text them back when I am really convinced that I did.[/QUOTE] That happens to me, but instead of texting it's with waking up.

Shit's fucked up. I had several Armageddon-related dreams. Quite a relief when you wake up and realize that life isn't over just yet. Makes you appreciate your day that much more.

If you get laid.

I don't know what the fuck is wrong with people, also that "scary" image looked like goatse except for the face, I laughed so hard. I never had a lucid dream before, I don't remember any of my dreams. I only remember the dreams I had as a kid, and the reality in my dreams and prespective of things in my dreams are so fucked up I can't explain it with words, like sometimes I zoom into mailboxes as a giant bee flys out of it and chases me while im still small zooming into the mailbox. Or I fall into the earth kind of like no-clip and roll around in the rocks. Sometimes my friends turn against me, or sometimes I feel like I am in a videogame. Sometimes things are sort of close to reality and then all the sudden things get really fucked up. Sometimes I don't even think I am human. But you know these are things when I had a creative mind as a child, now I don't remember my dreams anymore.

[QUOTE=IAmNow;22680806]I remember times where I would be dreaming pretty normal and usual dreams, but then all of a sudden, it would fell like I was smacked, punched it the chest, kicked, etc, and awake suddenly. And this would happen through out the night.[/QUOTE] That was me, asshole. Stop shitting on my lawn.

Last night I had a dream that inspired me to a fucken awesome L4D2 map.

Please wake up

Last night I had a dream a pygmy bear bit my dick, then this repeated itself 40 or so times. Then I fell ackwards into sand, almost drowned, woke up and realized [i]I had actually been asphyxiated[/i] When I stop breathing in dreams, I stop breathing in real life. If I fall over in dreams, like many people, I feel like I'm falling in real life.

I almost never remember my dreams unless something sticks out as especially unusual to me in them. Like those times when I feel like I've accomplished something huge, something that will make a difference. Then I wake up. Or the ones where I'm wearing long-sleeved shirts. Sometimes they're completely ordinary dreams, but other times...not so much. But like I said, I haven't remembered a dream in months now.

I've drawn while sleeping before. It was scary shit, so, naturally, I hung it over my bed. If I can I'll scan the paper

Strange enough, looking at the clock is a reality check for me.

[QUOTE=Averice;22704101]Nobody notices that lightswitches don't turn on in dreams, but once you tell them it doesn't turn on whilst dreaming, it won't.[/QUOTE] I don't get why people say lightswitches don't work. Lightswitches worked for me in my dreams, all my life. Sometimes a nightmare occurred if I switched a light on in the darkness of my room, and I had one lucid dream where I tested it out myself and worked.

Dreams seem real while we are in them, it's only when we wake up that we realise something was actually strange.

I heard that if you take some cinnamon (can be by cereal I think) you can remember your dreams. Haven't had the chance to actually eat some cinnamon so someone has to do a test :v:

Look at the 'Generally just fucking creepy stuff thread.' (it has puppies.)

sounds like inception. and i've had that to (waking up and then realise you're still in a dream) my worst dream would be when i was little i was watching tv and i fell asleep, suddenly i was watching some horror movie in my dream and got dragged into it. picture a shop with kids and lots of people in it, suddendly a masked guy comes in with one of those big things you use for trimming your bushes, chases people and kills them. thats what happend in the dream and all i could do was to watch it, i even knew it was a dream and i was scared shitless cause i couldnt wake up, it was horrifying i tried blinking hard cause that usually helps, but it didnt, i just sat in that aisle and waited for my independing doom.

[QUOTE=lemoncurry;26223190]Dreams seem real while we are in them, it's only when we wake up that we realise something was actually strange.[/QUOTE] Nice bump.

I got my dick cut off in a dream once

[QUOTE=pognivet;22678841]I had a terrifying nightmare last night having to do with this: [sp]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoony_face.png[/sp] Everything would be normal and then people would disappear, doors would lock and weird stuff would start happening. Then I would find a loved one/friend/family member but they would be missing limbs or body parts or their skin. Then their face would morph into that except they had the teeth of Jaws from From Russia With Love or whatever and would bite into my jugular. That's scary enough. But the worst part is that I would wake up and feel relieved that I could feel and smell and think and pinch myself and go "I'm awake. Wow that was scarring." But I wasn't awake. I was still asleep. Then the nightmare would repeat itself in some other fashion, usually horrifying where I'd walk through a completely dark room and someone would call my name in a sweet girls voice and I'd turn towards the voice and suddenly the lights would turn back on. The girl would have no arms or legs and a face horribly maimed, burned or torn off like the guy from Johnny Got His Gun. Then the lights would turn off and I'd hear shuffling and suddenly they'd turn back on and the room would be filled with like twelve of these monsters. They'd lunge at me and I'd wake up. Or rather I thought I'd wake up. This cycle repeated itself roughly thirty or forty times. I can honestly remember each unique encounter. It was a lucid dream. I remembered praying to Jesus even though I'm an atheist. I woke up this morning (Or I think I did) and I'm here now, but I'm not sure I'm [I]really[/I] awake. I could be dreaming still. Maybe I'm in a coma in a hospital somewhere. Maybe I'm dead and I'm in hell. How can I make sure I'm awake? Should I take a big drink of 80 proof alcohol (I probably will after what I've just felt/seen)? I'm honestly afraid to leave my room because I don't know what I will find.[/QUOTE] Quickly run to the bathroom (if it's not downstairs) and throw loads of water over yourself, if that doesn't work, pinch your arm 5times.

go jump off something. like not necessarily a building but yea like i couldn't wake up from one dream but i was aware that i was trying to wake myself up so i jumped off something(around a 5 foot drop) and my body jolted from tensing up to the point of waking myself up. Ive done this twice to my recollection(I dont normally recall every dream) and so far am always successful.

Yeah I've had this recurring nightmare since I was like, 6. I'm in this Aztec temple and a panther chases me. I dive into a tunnel but the panther grabs my legs and eats me slowly. Now I'm so used to it that I don't even run. I call the panther Gary.

I thought i was the only one who has seen johnny got his gun :buddy:

I'm trying to get another lucid dream. Last night I was having so much freaking fun... Then a dumb thought of mine got me to turn everything into a total nightmare. Had to fly and jump off a building to wake up. Man, I'm not thinking of haunted houses anymore.