How do you wake up from a dream?

Ever been in such a horrible situation that you wondered (or wished) it was a dream? How can you tell if it is or isn’t? I watched “Inception” a few days ago, and that’s what got me to write about this.

Sometimes in order to wake up, I try to open my eyes as wide as possible. When nothing happens, I pinch myself and feel pain, but I still can’t get up. So I conclude it’s no dream, but reality.

But when I finally wake up, I realize it was a dream! So what could I have done inside it to make me realize its not real? Googling showed some ways to perform “Reality Testing” – techniques that will tell me if I’m in a dream or not. And I came up with three ways:

  1. Look at your watch, look away and then back again. If the time has changed, you’re in a dream. Apparently digital watches work best here. But in real life, I don’t wear a watch. What if there’s no watch in the dream?
  2. Second option would be to flip a light switch. If the light levels don’t change, it means you’re dreaming. But what if there’s no light switch (say you’re in a desert?)
  3. Third option would be to examine your hands very closely. If they look different, you’re not awake. But I don’t think this will work. I’ve tried this before by examining a spot on the wall very carefully in a dream, and I can see every little detail very closely. So this may not work.

This is important because as we know, nightmares can be horrifying. So horrifying that you wish you were dreaming. You’d like to end it as soon as you can – or maybe continue while knowing it’s not real…either way we need to be sure first.

Does anyone else have this problem? How do you solve it?

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23 thoughts on “How do you wake up from a dream?”

  1. I just went through the same exact things for about 3 days straight! I’ve found that my solution is to take a deep breath! Bizzare right?? So I’m trapped in my dream where I’m laying in my bed as if I’m not dreaming I’m trying to do everything to waske up but I noticed its very hard for me to take a deep breath so I waited a while more took one and woke right up! Hope this works for you!

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  2. Close your eyes tight and concentrate with all your strength on one thought. “When I open my eyes I’ll be awake”. It was exhausting the first few times but when I mastered it, it helped me greatly with all my nightmares. gl!

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  3. The first thing we have to keep in mind is when we’re dreaming/in a dream, we basically can not choose how to behave, dreams have their rules,and we can hardly ignore it,can we? Or we all will be film directors,then we’ll be able to watch countless vivid and exciting first hand self-directed movies—for Free! You wish! Haha O(∩_∩)O

    People do not tend to treat their feelings as some sort of a facade.An analogous and the fundamental attitude we persist to believe is the “real-world” is real,but it’s also possible as others wondered if one day you wake up in the morning and realize that all your life is merely a piece of dreams, then take it easy and have a nice dream,is the best choice.

    I recently find this book is great :The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality http://www.amazon.com/Holographic-Universe-Revolutionary-Theory-Reality/dp/0062014102 just have a look.

    Your friend from China. Best wishes.

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  4. try shaking/moving your fingers and toes. IT WORKS!

    My friend shared this to me last night and so I tried it today. I had a nap (which unfortunately brought me consquences LOL) and I was dreaming about browsing the internet on my laptop. The suddenly a weird tab appeared in my browser and it’s a video of a train, then suddenly the room was moving and it felt weird so I closed the tab and my laptop suddenly jumped from the table and found myself at the train station. So yeah..it was a whole level of weirdness so I decided I was in fact dreaming (lucid dreaming isn’t as often before back in high school than now, so it was pretty neat ..and yeah tip to know you’re dreaming is to just curiously ask yourself: “Are these events even possible in real life?”, y’know for really exaggerated dreams). So I MOVED MY FINGERS and TOES about and not a minute too soon I was in fact awake.

    My roommate said I was just sleeping like 5 minutes when it felt like an hour. Anyways, that’s a whole different thing. Anyways, I hope this helps!

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  5. first, items you own such as a certain chair will be in a different location or position. for example, I had a dream about a haunted doll. and my box freezer was In the kitchen but in reality it is in my hallway. next, you may have items you never bought or owned. such as having a basket near your bed that you don’t own in reality. also, songs that were stuck in your head in real life will not be thought of or in your head in a dream. next, if a nightmare, monsters or killers will often move or walk in a stupid or weird movement like looking like their flexing or constipated. and, if your view zooms in to something dramatically or looks third person or you cant see your nose, cheeks, or glasses, then your most likely dreaming. and see if you feel pain YOU CAN OFTEN FEEL PAIN IN DREAMS but it feels funny. scrape your fingernails across your arm feel that sting? or unpainful stingy burn? feels like that. those are my methods. try this.

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