Hey everyone, Has anyone else had an issue where they wake up immediately after they ask themselves if they're dreaming? Lately whenever I even think about doing a reality check, or if my awareness starts increasing and I start becoming critical of my surroundings I'll just wake up before I can finish going through with the thought. It's not like I'm getting lucid and getting excited, because I don't even get to the point where I am able to say that it's a dream. I'll just tell myself "this would be a good time to reality check," or "be observant of my surroundings in case I'm dreaming" and then I immediately wake up. And I don't think it's because REM is ending either, it seems to be happening during short REM periods where I feel like I was only dreaming for a few minutes. I'm worried that I'm going to be building a bad habit with it, and I'm wondering if there's something I could do during my day practice to help prevent that, though I'm not really sure what since it's not something I feel like I have much control over. Let me know if anyone else has experienced this or has ideas about what I could do to prevent it. I feel like I get so close but then the dream just ends abruptly.
Thanks!
Do you sleep on your back ? I've found it easier to linger in dream awareness even while waking when sleeping on my stomach or side. Realizing you're dreaming is kind of a signifier of how conscious you are and too much brain activity could wake you up. Its quite difficult to do but in these cases I try to not think but just ease into a kind of empty minded observing state. Try to play with your "eyes" and looking at the few things around you. The more you "try" to do stuff, the faster you might get ripped awake.