Sometimes a dream can be so intense that you just want to wake up right away. The problem could be that the dream has become a nightmare, or you may have repeated dreams that are boring, confusing or uncomfortable. While it's normal to dream of something that makes you want to wake up every now and then, if these dreams occur too often you need to know how to wake up as soon as possible. Here are some methods that can help.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Awake from Your Dream
Step 1. Set an alarm
If you're worried about dreaming something unpleasant, set an alarm for about 90 minutes after you fall asleep. REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep) occurs 90 minutes after falling asleep, and it is during this sleep cycle that you dream. So setting an alarm to wake yourself up can help.
- Some alarm clocks have more than one alarm that you can set so you can wake up from separate REM sleep cycles. You can also use a cell phone, most of which can set as many alarms as you want.
- However, be careful doing this step too often because REM sleep is a beneficial sleep cycle that helps you process information, build memory and renew neurotransmitters, including chemicals that give you energy and help you feel good during the day.
Step 2. Let the light into your bedroom
Leaving the bedroom lights on or the curtains open can disrupt your sleep cycle, especially the deep sleep cycle, the stage in which you dream, which basically makes you a light sleeper and possibly helps you wake up from your dreams more easily. However, again, doing this too often can have other consequences on your usual ability to get the full benefits of undisturbed sleep.
Step 3. Seek help in the dream
If you are slightly aware that you are dreaming and can take action, try seeking help in the dream. You may experience situations where you scream for help in a dream, but in reality it is nothing more than a faint whisper. This happens because your mouth is not open in the real world. You don't actually activate your vocal cords or use air so no sound really comes out. However, if you concentrate, you may be able to talk in the real world, waking yourself up.
Tell yourself, "I'm going to really scream for help." Some people feel the sensation that their brain responds with rejection. Keep telling your brain that you are really going to ask for help until the sensation wears off. This may happen the second or third time. At this point, try to say something. This step may be a bit more difficult than usual, and that's because you're actually using your vocal cords. This time there is usually a sound coming out and you will wake up, realizing that it was all a dream
Step 4. Blink in the dream
If screaming for help in a dream can't wake you up, you can try winking. When you blink in a dream, your eyes will close. When you open them again, your eyes can really open in the real world too. Doing this step can wake you up. This technique takes practice, so try it often-especially during lucid dreams (see method 2)-so you can be ready to use it when you want to wake up from a dream. Assuming that the technique worked for you, you'll be ready to wake up quickly once you've mastered the technique.
Step 5. Joke yourself awake
This technique also works well in lucid dreaming, but even if you've never developed this ability, you can still jolt yourself awake. Just make an effort to move in your dream in the hope that doing so will move your body in the real world, and thus wake you up.
- Sleep in a position that will allow you to move freely.
- Try to kick your feet or move your hands in the dream.
Method 2 of 3: Learning to Dream Consciously (Lucid Dreaming)
Step 1. Make an effort to realize that you are dreaming
This is called "conscious dreaming" or the popular term "lucid dreaming". Basically, lucid dreaming is just a matter of being aware of the fact that you are dreaming while dreaming without waking up. Once you achieve this ability, you can control your dreams. Realistic dreaming provides endless possibilities for your dreams and minimizes the risk of having unpleasant dreams.
Make notes in your mind about your surroundings while you are awake. When you do this step regularly in a conscious state, your soul will also carry this habit into a dream state. Then, while dreaming, you can identify details about your surroundings that will be clues that you are dreaming. After attaining this ability, you may be able to become conscious in a dream state
Step 2. You can also wear something like a watch to focus your attention as you drift off to sleep
Wear it for as long as it feels comfortable, but not so comfortable that it feels like your normal sleeping clothes.
In addition to simply making notes about your surroundings in your mind, you can explicitly ask yourself whether you are dreaming or awake at different times of the day. Again, getting used to doing this step will most likely lead to a dream state, which is when you ask yourself questions while dreaming. This is called the reflection technique
Step 3. Try the MILD technique
Stephen LaBerge developed the Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD) technique as a way to help people achieve lucid dreams. This technique requires you to try to remember your dreams as completely and as soon as possible after awakening. Then, tell yourself that you will remember that you were dreaming as you go back to sleep, followed by imagining that you had a lucid dream and imagining the dream itself, and repeat these steps until you fall back asleep and dream.
If you follow these steps effectively, you may be able to realize a dream while in it, and thereby become aware of and gain control over the dream
Step 4. Prevent unpleasant dreams
With enough concentration, sometimes you can determine what you will dream about before going to bed. This is called intentionality and is another way of lucid dreaming. Intentionality is actually also part of another method of lucid dreaming. Therefore, it's a good idea to practice doing this technique while you're working towards lucid dreaming, even if it doesn't work for you in the end. It is important for you to know that no lucid dreaming technique works for everyone or that no single technique is the same for everyone. Therefore, it is a good idea to try different methods, and one of them is this intentionality.
- Intentionality basically just requires you to use your imagination to imagine the dream you want.
- Imagine where you want to be in the dream and especially how you will get there. This step can more or less help your plan for lucid dreaming.
Step 5. Try a light stimulus
There are a number of products on the market that can help you achieve a lucid dream state through light stimulation. These products are in the form of masks that have LED lights (light emitting diode lights) that light up near your eyes if you use them while sleeping. The goal is for you to be aware of the light while dreaming-especially if you sleep with the intentionality technique-and this tool can help you remember that you're dreaming, allowing you to become aware of the dream.
In addition to light stimuli, there are now even smartphone apps that aid intentionality and play sounds that can help the dreamer become aware during important parts of the sleep cycle
Step 6. Combine different lucid dreaming techniques
A combination of several techniques to help you dream lucidly will increase your chances of realizing the dream from within the dream. For successful lucid dreaming, try different combinations of techniques to find out what works for you.
- One technique of combining intentionality with mental notes mentioned above (called reality testing).
- Another technique combines journaling, namely waking up to jot down the dream memory in a journal and analyzing the journal entry to look for traits similar to intentionality. This technique is called the "wake back to bed" or WTBT (wake back to sleep) technique.
Method 3 of 3: Changing Your Dreams
Step 1. Try to manipulate the nightmare into disappearing
Once you are able to reach the stage of lucid dreaming, you may feel that you don't need to wake up again because it can turn the dream into something less disturbing. However, lucid dreaming is different for everyone and changing dreams may not be so easy for you, because this step takes practice. However, once you realize that you're in a dream, you can change things that happen there and get rid of anything that's terrifying and makes you want to wake up. This is better than waking yourself up completely.
Once you become aware that you are in a dream, you will usually be able to control the dream. You will have greater control if you are aware of the dream world, so pay attention to your surroundings
Step 2. Actively change dreams
One of the easiest ways to change your dreams is to simply do what you want to do. Of course the difference is that you are in a dream, so the limitations of the real world don't apply there. A common way to figure this out is to pop up a brick wall and then stick your hand through it. This is a great test of your ability to control your dreams, and the realization that you are in control can give you the power to change the dreams that make you feel uncomfortable.
Step 3. Voice your wishes in the dream
Another way to practice dream control if you are dreaming lucidly is to voice your desires. Try to say whatever you want to change from the dream and you will get results. For example, if you are being chased, try to say that no one is after you, and you will succeed in making anyone or anything chasing you disappear. In whatever situation happened to you in the dream, voicing the desire to change it may work for you.
Tips
- When you almost die in a dream, often just before dying in the dream, you wake up in the real world.
- Manipulating nightmares is the most difficult thing to do, but it's a great skill if you're tired of constantly being fully awake.
- The wink method is usually easier than the vocal method. So, if this is your first time trying to wake up from a dream, the winking method is the easiest.
