If you have ever had dreams that woke you up, you may have wondered what it means for a dream to wake you up.
Before figuring that out, pay attention to the dreams that wake you up. There might have been something significant that your subconscious wanted your waking self to know.
Note your dreams on your journal and be as detailed as possible. Since dreams are personal, the symbols that appear in your dream can make a significant difference in how you will interpret your dream.
Being woken up from your dream or while in your dream can mean a variety of things, depending on whether you got woken up from your dream in the waking world or simply jolted out of your dream from within another dream.
Having A Dream That Wakes You Up vs. Dreaming of Waking Up
Waking up because a dream rouses you may mean that you particularly have a strong opinion about the subject of your dream.
Do check around you, too, though, because you may just have been woken up by an external force. Before deciphering what it means to have a dream wake you, make sure that the environment you slept in did not cause you to stir.
It could be that your room had been too hot or too cold, you fell asleep with the heater or air conditioner turned high, you were scratched by your cat or your dog barked by your ear, the neighbors made a loud noise, and many other things.
Once sure that no external factor woke you from the dream, proceed with interpreting the dream accordingly.
Having a dream that wakes you up means there is something your subconscious wishes to embed in your mind as soon as you awaken.
It could be a solution to a problem, a tip about the future, an advice that you need to keep in mind, a plea to take care of yourself, or an instance to show you your current path and habits. Sometimes the dream is easy to remember, but other times it may be so fleeting that you worry about what it might have meant if you could only recall it.
It is fine either way and focusing on the details that you do remember is more important than worrying over the things you cannot recall.
Dreaming of Waking Up
Dreaming of waking up, where you believe you are awake and go on about your life normally, may either be a symbol of your anxiety or a sign of rebirth.
It may mean that you are set on a path where your transformation is absolute and this is a mark or an acknowledgment of that. It may also merely signify your anxiety over an event or a confrontation, where even in your dreams you have to face it.
What It Means When A Dream Wakes You Up
You may wake up from that dream into another dream, or you may wake up into the waking world. That, alongside the other symbols that appear in your dream, will help you understand what it meant.
You have been supplied a solution to an issue
When you sleep, all kinds of knowledge is within your reach. If you have been trying to deal with a problem in your waking life, then being jolted out of sleep by a dream may just mean you have been given a solution to that issue.
Whether you remember the full dream or not, write down whatever comes into your mind. Do not worry about it not making sense and simply keep writing. You have time to review it later and make sense of it after you have written every detail down.
Remember, sleeping on a problem is a piece of advice that had been around for a long time. This is because dreams can provide you solutions, or at least bring you back into the waking world with a different perspective or on a fresher state.
If you feel like it, you may also focus on your intention of resolving an issue before sleeping to increase your chances of coming up with an answer to that problem.
You have been given a tip about the future
Sometimes you may even dream of the future. Since the dream world is vast and you get access to both the astral plane and more of your subconscious, having a dream that wakes you up may be that you have been given a tip about the future.
It could be a bit of simple advice about what you should do next, or it could be a preview of the future itself.
Take note of the details of your dream so you can interpret it with ease.
Your subconscious is asking you to care for yourself
You may also have been sent a message asking you to take care of your body or mind. Maybe you have been taking on a lot of things lately and have been forgetting to rest. Your body will be restless in this case, even while dreaming.
You have been shown a mirror into your self
Dreams show us things we may know of deep down but not be entirely aware of in our waking lives. Having a dream wake you up allows you to recall just what you have been shown. From there, you can elect what to do about it based on how you interpret the dream that woke you.
What It Means To Dream of Waking Up
Rebirth
Dreaming of waking up only to really awaken later on may be taken as a symbol of rebirth. As you have a dream of being awake before you actually stir from your sleep, it signifies growth. You may also see it as a do-over, another chance to take things differently.
Anxiety
If you have a pressing task that you are tense about, you may also dream of doing that task and even believe you were in the waking world even though you were not. This is because you are stressed to the point that your subconscious is trying to help you by doing a mental rehearsal for you.
Avoidance
There are times when you may dream of being in a dream within a dream, where you believed you were awake only to “wake up,” and yet wake up again, and again, before you finally really wake up. This recurrent dream may be because you are avoiding an event.
Confusion
You may also be in a state where you are dreaming and yet at the same time some parts of your brain are awake. This can cause vivid dreams of being awake even though you are actually dreaming.
Sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis may be similar, but it is different in the sense that fear is present and you cannot move no matter how much you try despite being awake. This happens when you have been deprived of sleep.
What To Do When You Keep Having Dreams of Being Awake
If you keep having dreams of being awake, you can wake yourself up, or you can dream lucidly.
Realizing you have been dreaming does not automatically wake you up, so you can do the following if you want to wake yourself up:
- Ask yourself to wake up. This is not guaranteed to work all the time, but it would be a good start.
- Try moving a finger or a toe if you are aware of your physical body.
- Blink rapidly in the dream world, or focus on one item on the dream.
Turning your dream about waking up into a lucid dream is as it may sound. If you have been practicing lucid dreaming before, you can be aware of being inside a dream with ease.
Then, you can try moving around and interacting with the objects in your dream world. If you are not sure whether you are dreaming or not, try to keep these in mind before you sleep:
- Look for clocks, calendars, mirrors, or writings. They are usually morphed in dreams.
- Try to recall facts such as your birthday, phone number, or address.
- Inspect your surroundings for any odd objects or for odd placements of things.
To prevent having this kind of dream again, you may also want to:
- Avoid stimulants like caffeine and alcohol.
- Relax into sleep.
- Adopt a regular sleeping pattern.
Summary
The meaning of dreams that wake you up vary based on the circumstances you are in in your waking life and the dream itself.
You may have a dream wake you up because it contains information that will help you in your daily life, and your subconscious wishes you could take note of the knowledge you received quickly.
You may have been provided with a solution to your problem, given advice for the future, shown a warning about your health, or provided with a mirror to your self about matters you need to see or focus on.
You may also have instead dreamt of being awake, and that could symbolize rebirth, denote a warning, or simply show you that you are avoiding something.
Whatever your dream may have been, it is crucial to keep a journal so you can easily interpret and understand the messages your subconscious has for you.
References:
https://www.tuck.com/dream-guide/
https://checkmydream.com/dream-meaning/waking–up
https://www.auntyflo.com/dream-dictionary/waking-you-dream
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/false-awakening-dream-meaning