To force someone out of deep sleep is to awaken them. The purpose of this is to shake someone awake. Having a dream in which another person awakens you suggests you will find a way to avoid a difficult situation. That’s because it’s a symbol of independence.
Having an awakening dream is a good sign. Your waking life benefits as a result. This cannot be stated as a false awakening. In this dream scenario, you are being roused from sleep by an unseen presence. Yet, in reality, you do not wake.
In our guide, you can learn more about being told to wake up in a dream meaning, and also lucid dreams, and how these relate to your waking life. By the end, you’ll find many reasons for false awakening loops, and no matter if they are vivid dreams or strange dreams, you’ll better understand them without seeking professional help. (Read Dream Of Pulling Hair Out Of Throat Meaning)
What are false awakenings?
A false awakening is a type of dream in which a person believes they have awakened from sleep, but in reality, they are still dreaming. In a false awakening, a person may go through the motions of getting out of bed, getting dressed, and starting their day, but these actions occur within the dream world.
False awakenings can be disorienting and can lead to confusion about what is real and what is not. Dear reader, false awakenings can also signify anxiety or stress in a person’s waking life. Some people experience false awakenings frequently, while others only experience them occasionally.
False Awakening Loop or Nested Dreams
Before they finally wake up for real, some people go through multiple episodes. In a single night, false awakenings might happen repeatedly, or an individual can experience an occasional false awakening. The term “nested dream state” or “dreams inside dreams” is occasionally used to describe this prolonged version of many false awakenings.
This false awakening dream within dreams occur, and they can leave you feeling as though you’re trapped inside your dreams or you feel as if you suffer sleep paralysis. It might seem a little strange, yet sleep paralysis and this action in a false awakening dream does happen.
Even after eventually waking up, it may take some time before you are confident that you will eat breakfast this time around because false awakenings can seem so real, and can often be enough that some individuals don’t want to fall asleep.
What Causes A False Awakening Dream?
False awakenings are a type of dream in which a person believes they have awakened from a dream, but in reality, they are still dreaming. The causes of a false awakening dream are not fully understood. Still, they may be related to sleep disorders such as sleep-related eating disorders, sleep-related eating disorders, sleep-related hallucinations, and confused arousal.
Experiencing bad dreams during a false awakening can be attributed to certain medications or substances and certain medical conditions such as sleep paralysis or narcolepsy. Certain lifestyle factors such as sleep deprivation and stress can also contribute to the likelihood of experiencing a false awakening, and you feel trapped.
Here’s more detail on what can cause these dream states. Pro Tip: If you need help, try to keep a dream journal as this can help interpret the dream meaning in real life, and also help identify what strange thing causes this dream state. (Read Dream Of Seeing Someone Double)
1. Feeling Anxious
Your dreams may reflect your thoughts and feelings regarding waking life, especially if you keep having the same dream. For instance, the threat simulation theory of dreaming postulates that we frequently repeat experiences, especially dangerous ones, in our sleep.
This can cause you to dream more realistically about the dreams that could happen in your life, rather than dreaming about magical things. Rather than soaring through the air in a fantastic life, we may dream of waking up and going about our normal, mundane daily routine.
Some people also maintain that one of the most significant aspects of dreaming is the influence that one’s expectations play. Expect poor sleep and morning awakenings if anxiety is keeping you up, or plan on getting up extra early. This anxiety may impact your subconscious mind and lead to a false awakening.
2. Actual Events While Wide Awake
The theory of a dream state representing a preliminary state of consciousness is intriguing. Studies of false awakenings have been conducted with this theory in dream content, and the results imply our innate schemes and regular lives influence what we dreamt.
Since waking up is a regular part of our lives, it might become a recurring theme in our dreams. Recently, a study analyzed the REM dream state of over 500 participants. Just under half of these reported a dream about the sleep lab itself and as a lucid dream or a false awakening.
3. Mixed Brain States
Multiple levels of awareness, it is hypothesized, can coexist in a single state’s brain. The dreaming brain and the waking brain may both be working simultaneously. In addition, while we think we have one dream, we can have multiple dreams in one night.
Consciousness restoration and waking up in dreaming is a vivid outcomes. Environmental factors like unexpected noise might also play a state, as can sleep disorders. There is some overlap between this and sleep paralysis, in which we become partially awake when transitioning out of the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage. Simply defined, we are somewhere between fully awake and fully asleep. (Read Dream Of A Dead Cat)
Do I Have A False Awakening Or Sleep Paralysis?
False awakenings are sometimes misdiagnosed as sleep paralysis, which can happen either when you wake up or go to sleep. When you have sleep paralysis, your body won’t move, but your mind will be fully awake and aware of what’s happening around it.
Some people have what amounts to a false awakening where they have nightmares about waking up and being paralyzed. This can be terrifying both during dreaming and upon recollection upon awakening.
In sleep paralysis, however, you become physically paralyzed to prevent you from hurting yourself if you act out your dreams while in bed. Paralysis during a false awakening, on the other hand, remains within the realm of the dream.
Once you regain consciousness, you’ll be able to get out of bed and wake on as usual.
Can You Get Stuck in a Dream?
Unfortunately, most people occasionally have dreams of being trapped, and these dreams may be very real and terrifying.
Your dream self may, for instance, feel disoriented, restrained, or confined.
- You could also experience a lucid dream, in which you are fully aware of your dream state but powerless to find it.
- False awakening loops, also known as dream loops, are not uncommon.
The layered effects of a recurring dream can make you feel like you’re trapped in an endless cycle.
What Is Lucid Dreaming?
The term “lucid dream” refers to a dream in which the dreamer realizes they are dreaming and that the events they are experiencing are not real. In the dream, you may also act autonomously, making choices and influencing events as you see fit.
However, lucid dreaming is frequently associated with repeated false awakenings or a sense of mental impasse. Even if you realize you’re dreaming, you might not snap out of it. While lucid dreaming can be a fun and exciting experience for some, somebody else can find it unsettling and even frightening, especially if it’s the first time they dreamt like this.
Why do you get stuck in a dream?
As was said before, stress and anxiety during waking hours can lead to dreams in which the dreamer is trapped or otherwise unable to move forward. However, the following situations, in addition to psychological anguish and major life upheavals, might also trigger the experience of being trapped in a dream.
Beyond the reasons are the scenarios of why you are trapped in lucid dreams or the other types. You can find you are trapped in a bed, or house, or sense you are in someone else’s body.
1. False Awakening Loop
Getting caught in a dream loop, also called a false awakening loop, is one way to imagine you are trapped in a dream. A dream loop is a dream within a dream. For those who have experienced a dream loop, they know it involves a recurring dream in which they “wake up” from yet another dream.
Your dream of getting up and going could very well wake a real self. If you’re stuck in a multi-level dream loop, you might worry that you’ll never wake up for real.
2. Sleep Paralysis
Paralysis during sleep is a real fear for many people. Sleep paralysis refers to dreams in which the dreamer is fully awake yet unable to move. Movement signals to the body will be delayed by a few seconds if your REM sleep cycle has not ended but your mind is awake. Along with sleep paralysis, you can be surprised or afraid by brief hallucinations if they occur.
3. Dream Claustrophobia
You can learn to control your dreams and have more vivid experiences by practicing lucid dreaming. This means you can consciously join your dreamscape, interact with the dream’s characters, and direct the dream’s plot.
If you experience claustrophobic dreams, it’s because your conscious mind and body are awake in the dream, yet you can’t break out of the dream’s confines. It’s easier said than done, but if you experience a dream like this, try visualizing a door to another dreamscape and stepping through it.
4. Sleep Deprivation
Traumatic dreams that can’t be trapped can occur when you don’t get enough sleep. If you suffer from insomnia, you may find it tough to fall asleep when you should; instead, you may sleep awake all night and give in to tiredness an hour or two before you have to be awake.
You may be in such a deep sleep that you won’t wake by the stirring of your loved one or woken by your alarm. For example, the sounds you heard while asleep might influence the content of your dreams and perhaps cause you to become “dream trapped.”
How to Wake From a Dream
Remember in mind that your dream world is in your subconscious, and you can gain control once you know how. It is your mind and your consciousness. While your waking life is full of things you can’t change, you get to be the boss in your dreams. (Read Dreaming Of Someone Sleeping Beside You)
By practicing lucid dreaming techniques, it is possible to awaken while dreaming. When you realize you’re dreaming, you can alter whatever aspect of your dream you like.
If you want to wake when in a dream, here’s a few ideas:
- Try to fall asleep in your dream
- Make yourself blink
- Find something to read while dreaming
- Try and talk to another person in your dream
- Taste or smell things in your dream
