I have. And never successfully. I try to move my arms and legs but they are very sluggish. And when I get close to waking, I drift off into another dream.
Can anyone wake themselves up easily?
Side Thread…I wish I could train myself so that while dreaming I can have sex with anyone I want. Instead, my dreams reflect reality and I know I cant bang the receptionist in the lunchroom or whatever. Any suggestions?
Well … if you succeed in waking yourself up, your not really asleep anymore. For me, being conscious of feeling the need towake myself up means that I am already pretty much awake.
I don’t really understand your OP. Perhaps you sleep more shallowly than the average bear, and often have some semi-wakeful conciousness even when your body is totally out of it?
You might want to research lucid dreaming. The biggest problem for me was getting so excited when I realized I was lucid that I would wake up. I’m sure if you Googled around you could find all kinds of techniques for dreaming lucidly.
I can wake myself from dreams on occasion.
Usually when I become aware of the fact that I am dreaming, it is because I am having a recurring dream, and I remember having had it before. Less commonly, something in the dream will be “off,” like my car will be the wrong color, and I’ll figure out what’s going on. Sometimes a dream becomes a nightmare, and I’ll want out.
Usually when I realize I’m dreaming, I ride it out and perhaps try to influence the storyline. But when I’m having a nightmare, I force my eyes open, which can take up to a minute or so of effort.
I think the OP is referring to sleep paralysis.
One time I tryed, and it seemed to work as I woke up in my bed, got up just to find that I was still in the dream. This went on 3x.
I beg to differ. For one if the OP is still in the throws of sleep paralysis I’d say that indicates he is somewhere between sleeping and waking.
And if you’re dreaming you’re pretty much by definition asleep…according to your brainwaves which is how sleep is defined. And I have sucessfully woken myself up out of unpleasent dreams. (And that was kind of unpleasent itself, particulary trying to move, but sometimes it was better than the dream.)
So to answer the OP, yes, but it’s not easy.
Nightmares: Often, when I was young (don’t have them much nowadays). There would be situations where, somehow, I would realize that I was having a nightmare, and would blink my eyes several times in order to wake up. Worked like a charm.
When it comes to sleep paralysis: Not as much luck. I’ve had countless situations where I would dream that I woke up, when I really hadn’t–then I’d try to wake up again, would think I had … you get the picture. Sometimes I’ll dream of actually getting up, etc., sometimes I’m still in the classic lying-on-my-back sleep paralysis position. When I finally do break free and wake up, it’s usually through tremendous physical effort, and I have to roll over. If I stay on my back, I’ll usually drift off again. On my side/stomach/stnding up, etc., I’m usu. OK. (Rarely fall asleep on my feet 
Yes, I can wake myself up. And yes, I also have some degree of control over the content of my dreams. I am dreaming but am also aware of the fact that I am dreaming, a la lucid dreaming. It’s something I read about as a kid and just worked at developing in myself. It’s not a complete control, and there are plenty of times I wake up in the morning going “now what the heck was that all about?” but there is some control over the majority of my dreams.
Waking myself up is difficult, tho, and leaves me groggy for quite some time. I don’t think the brain enjoys going from the deep-alpha state to fully conscious like that; it feels like quite a jolt when I manage to wake myself up.
I take medication for anxiety. The medication has a side effect of vivid dreams.
Usually strange dreams, and I can go back to sleep (when I wake up in the middle of the night) after them.
I don’t see a General Question here, but rather looking for opinions or taking a poll. So, off to IMHO.
samclemGQ moderator
I can almost always wake myself up from nightmares. Handy little ability, really.
Wow, I had never heard of sleep paralysis before.
A few times per year, I find myself having a dream that I am being choked by something or that i suddenly stop brething, but I am unable to call for help or do anything about it.
Then, I start to wake up and discover, “I CAN"T BREATHE!” It’s as if my tongue blocks the airway, and I think I’m always on my back when this happens.
Now, I am awake, unable to breathe, and I discover that no matter how hard I try, “I CAN’T SPEAK OR MOVE AT ALL TO GET MY TONGUE OUTTA MY THROAT!”
Then I wonder if I’m gonna die choking on my own tongue.
Then, after an eternity, my ability to move is restored, I roll over, and I think about what a shitty way that is to start the day.
I hate that. I’m being serious. Hasn’t happened in a few years, but by god that is one of the worst sensations ever. Assuming that ‘sleep paralysis’ means:
the feeling that you are awake, and you are smothering/drowning, and you kick and squirm but your body doesn’t respond, and you feel that it is incredibly urgent, almost life-or-death, that you wake up RIGHT NOW, and yet you can’t, and you repeatedly tell your body to fucking move, just move please, and it doesn’t do anything, and the fear weighs down ever more…
until finally, in a groggy wakefulness, you come to, and slowly move your limbs.
And decide that going back to sleep is not a good idea.
I hate that feeling.
It sucks. When it happens to me (rarely) I cannot lift my head off the pillow. It is scary like your whole body is being held down. Sometimes with sheer willpower I get myself up.
I used to get sleep paralysis all the time when I was a kid. My mom described it at as, “The hag riding me.”
I’ve occassionally had it as an adult, and my understanding of what’s happening is the only thing that keeps it from being absolutely terrifying.
It seems like every time I want to wake up from a dream, I do wake up. It’s a very weird sensation. It’s as if one reality pops like a bubble and is replaced by another.
Well if it weren’t for sleep paralysis whenever you dreamt you were, say, running away from the monster you’d kick your partner out of bed. So it’s not a bad thing. But it’s pretty unpleasent when you’re aware of it.
I learned to wake myself when my dreams become violent because it means I’m sick and have to get up. Usually it’s because of a pending migraine. If I wake up in sleep paralysis I try moving my fingers and toes as they seem to be the first to “wake up”. Once I can wiggle something it’s a quick recovery.
I’ve also started to have claustrophobic nightmares which I think are because I’m not breathing right. Still haven’t identified them fast enough to avoid a rather unpleasant panic attack. I’ve had to get dressed and go outside to deal with the claustrophobia which isn’t fun in the winter. Each time it happens I’m getting closer to waking up in time. Head colds suck because I will try to breath through my nose when sleeping.
From personal experience I think anyone can learn to wake up if they want to. Haven’t had much success forcing a romantic dream but I’ve been able to jump back into the same one if I wake up.
When I was little my mom told me that if I say “Bad dream go away” during a nightmare, I’d be able to wake up. It wasn’t always effective, but if I became lucid enough during the nightmare to realize that it was a dream, I’d be able to say it and wake up. I remember one time in partiular during a nightmare I said “bad dream go away” and everyone in the dream looked at me funny, so I had to say it a couple more times.
I haven’t done it in about 10 years or so, I guess. I enjoy my dreams now, and waking up always bums me out because I usually forget them.