who seems to become aware they are dreaming a few minutes before the alarm goes off

This has been happening a long time now, basically i go through my entire night sleeping and i geuss dreaming, without remembering any of it. But then before my alarm clock goes off i become aware I am dreaming or i geuss start ot have lucid dreams.

This is weird because of its consistency and accuracy, I mean why do I not remember the rest of my nights dreams or have control over them but before my alarm clock goes off in the morning it all becomes really clear.

It is almost as if my mind anticipates the alarm or knows its going to happen.

Is this just an illusion, or is it my internal clock (but problem here is that i set my alarm for different times).

interesting. Just did this yesterday morning (Sunday). I remember being aware of dreaming just before I woke up; but, can't remember anything previously.

Some dreams are so vivid that I can still remember them for years after...as if they happened yesterday. I was going to say it was your internal clock but, with waking up at different times...seems strange.

Originally posted by Desolate Cancer

This has been happening a long time now, basically i go through my entire night sleeping and i guess dreaming, without remembering any of it. But then before my alarm clock goes off i become aware I am dreaming or i guess start to have lucid dreams.

This is weird because of its consistency and accuracy, I mean why do I not remember the rest of my nights dreams or have control over them but before my alarm clock goes off in the morning it all becomes really clear.

It is almost as if my mind anticipates the alarm or knows its going to happen.

Is this just an illusion, or is it my internal clock (but problem here is that i set my alarm for different times).

It happens to me on a daily basis, I notice it the most when I wake up early sometime in the morning, then proceed to go back to sleep, I'll set my alarm for a few hours later, and lo and behold I start to become aware for what seems like moments before my alarm goes off.

They're usually dreams in which someone is trying to kill me

Its a form of lucid dreaming. As you wake from the deepest sleep when you don't dream up towards a more shallow sleep you begin to dream. As your sleep shallows towards waking you may become aware of dreaming.
Now, to your posted question. You may find yourself waking up right before your alarm goes off most mornings or "hearing" something in your dream along with an action that seemed to trigger the noise in your dream as well.
This just means you are a candidate for a very powerful Lucid dreamer. You should hone this ability. Practice remembering your dreams. Write them down if you have to. This will make your brain comfortable when dreaming and make it easier for your brain to rationalize a dream without waking you up entirely. Once you are able to do this consistantly, practice taking control of the dream. Don't bother trying to manipulate it entirely such as changing the situation and environment but try to change small things. Also practice becoming aware of how you feel in the dream. Are you scared? Happy? Many times you will feel an emotion in a dream that doesn't really go with what is happening. Once you are comfortable with making changes and being aware of your emotions then you can move on to the next level.
Next begin to go with your emotion and let things change in the dream as well as change them yourself to draw out why you are feeling the emotion. Why am I scared now? What is making me happy? This will help you figure out what is wrong and may even help you solve problems or overcome internal problems.
I say lucid dreaming is powerful because it is a sort of reverse engineering from imagination to reality and can even be used as a spiritual tool.

It happens alot to me too..and sometimes the dream is something interesting too! But I cant always remember the dream. I sometimes hear a noise which seems to bring me out of the dream and close to being awake and then I cant get back to that deep dream sleep..

reply to post by Discernment


After reading your post I have to agree with the dreams during that time being very very interesting!

Just a few nights ago I remember thinking in my dream about how proud I was of myself to not get scared and try to run away from whatever it was that was scaring me, or trying to harm me. I clearly remember even saying to my fiance (who was in the dream with me haha) that I'm glad I stuck around and also saying "Let's see what happens next"

It was a big step for me as my whole I've spent those moments running away from whatever it was, it was the first time I actually stopped and "experienced" what I was seeing and feeling

reply to post by bandaidctrl


This happens to me as well. I have been wondering about this for many years. I never remember my dreams, or I just dont dream, however when I do remember my dreams they occur right in the morning before my alarm goes off and they are of either me being killed or someone I know being killed. This has happened to me countless times in my life going all the way back to childhood. I vividly remember terrifing dream of my family dying, me dying, and one of the dreams my whole neighbor hood dies. I would like to know what these dreams means. Any clues?

I've had dreams before where I can remember towards the end of the dream saying to people "I'm dreaming aren't I?".

There is a simple explanation for this. Dreams are not stored in the conscious memory, so while you are sleeping your brain wont store your dreams in the long term memory, however, if you wake up while dreaming (during REM sleep) you will remember the current dream because it is stored in your short term memory. If you think about the dream right after waking up and remind yourself of it again and again it gets stored in the long term memory.

Lucid dreamers have access to their consciousness while dreaming and therefore remember their dreams better and can learn to have full control of the environment and even storyline of the dream.

The more you practice memorizing your dreams, the more conscious you become while dreaming. Practice but be patient, it can take years of daily exercise but lucid dreaming is well worth it.

for years now i wake up before my alarm goes off. I've grown so used to this that i don't even set my alarm anymore. And yes i have to wake up at different time in the morning/night aswell.
Usually i wake up an hour or so before i have to wake up and when i go back to sleep i dream that i'm running but with every step i take i jump a little higher, ending up with flying through the air and having complete control over how long i want to stay in the air.
Every night it's the same and i never remember what i was dreaming before i woke up and went back for that last hour of sleep....
Funny thing is it doesn't matter how short my nightrest is, if i go to bed at 03:00 and i have to get up at 06:00 ,i wake up at 05:00....like clockwork!!

I have experienced this quite few times myself, as well as full lucid dreaming.

The only problem is that it seems that the more lucid you are the closer you are to waking up, but I guess that this can get better with excercise.
I'll definitely be trying some of the tips offered ib this thread so far


the thing I find most fascinating is that, like the OP, I seem to have some sort of internal clock that always wakes me up before my alarm goes off.

I'm a university student so I never get up at the same time, but I consistently wake between 5-15 minutes before the time I have set.
Strange...

Discernment,

I say lucid dreaming is powerful because it is a sort of reverse engineering from imagination to reality and can even be used as a spiritual tool.

This is an interesting theory. Can you explain more about this?

I say lucid dreaming is powerful because it is a sort of reverse engineering from imagination to reality and can even be used as a spiritual tool.

Lucid dreaming is exactly your own imagined reality. The experiences can be just as powerful as real life experiences.

Lucid dreaming has been used as spiritual tool since the beginning of mankind. It is even said that Buddah achieved enlightenment because he spent so much time in lucid meditation. Somehow time perception changes during sleeping and you can experience a full day during 10 minute dream.

Why do you think those monks are so hooked on their meditation? They are just enjoying themselves in their imagined reality.

Since most of the interrest in this thread has been positive, let's take it further.
Waking up without an alarm is a sign I would place one step below having your dreams predict or react/change in realtime to an alarm. This is controlled by the Pineal (Pie-Knee-ohl) Gland. Interrestingly enough, it is called this because it looks like a tiny pine cone. Don't think its important? Look up The Courtyard of the Pine. Or check out the Popes staff, or crown, or throne. But that is another topic for metaphysicists and religion conspiracies. The point is this gland is known to be important in dreaming and has been for a really long time.
Once you get passed the "training" I talked about in the post above then your ready to start using this ability. The training won't take as long as you imagine if you really think about dreaming and lucid dreaming alot.
**extra training tip - Think about it all the time. When day dreaming, when doing redundant tasks. Get your brain used to thinking about your conciousness and about dreaming. When you sleep your brain will have more connections to "dreaming and waking dream" type thoughts.
Once you can change little things and your able to question yourself in your dream just like you question yourself with your inner voice when awake, now you can start really doing fun, cool, and useful stuff.
First start moving backward (rewinding) and changing how something went down. This way you are not trying to change the environment entirely (which is likely to jar you awake until you are really good) but you can get used to "replaying" a dream with minor changes. Different clothes, or a different item in your hands, or using different words in a conversation. Once you've got this you'll start noticing you are aware of peoples response to you before they actually do it (in the dream). Now your accessing the deeper bits, where you can create entire scenarios. This is when you can start bringing up fears and manifesting them and learning to deal with them in a safe place. All the darker emotions you feel can be dealt with in a scenario created by yourself so you are in control and not the emotion.
I wouldn't try flight to much until you are able to start making bigger and bigger changes to your environment. Flight has a tendancy to wake you up or bend the awareness that can make you lose control.
the areas beyond these types of things get you into the spritual realms and things like that. Maybe we will get into that kind of stuff later, I don't take it that far very much, but I know a little.