Why do we have false awakenings?

[Gbob]

I keep getting them in my lucid dreams. Most of the time I feel like my lucid dreams are about to end, and then I 'wake up' without actually waking up. And then I fall into another dream.

[Killa Rican]

I keep getting them in my lucid dreams. Most of the time I feel like my lucid dreams are about to end, and then I 'wake up' without actually waking up. And then I fall into another dream.

Im not really sure why, but in my experience i think its your mind/subconsious way of preserving your trance. Usually sometimes when im aware im dreaming and then i become lucid I think to myself "OK im not going to wake up and ruin this" But it wont last for long because next thing i know i go back to a normal dream or wake up almost instantly.  At times when i do have long periods of Lucidity i get false awakenings almost every time. Maybe because i refuse to wake up because the experience is so great my subconsious will transport me back to what i think would be waking reality. It's horrible to get stuck in chains of false awakenings though! =(

[zareste]

I noticed, once, when a psychic predator got into my dream, I became aware of its presence and, suddenly, I 'woke up', but then I tried to turn on a light and the switch didn't work so I realized I was still in the dream and something was still manipulating it, and then I had another false awakening, and this happened three or four times.

It could be a sign that someone is toying with your mind and doesn't want you to become lucid

[nickspry]

I think they usually happen when waking up suddenly becomes an issue in the lucid dream ie; You subconsciously want to wake up (disturbing dream) or you fear you may wake up (pleasant dream). Once it becomes an issue it gets incorporated into the dreamscape just like anything else we think about does. Well that's my theory anyway....

[Athymari]

I noticed, once, when a psychic predator got into my dream, I became aware of its presence and, suddenly, I 'woke up', but then I tried to turn on a light and the switch didn't work so I realized I was still in the dream and something was still manipulating it, and then I had another false awakening, and this happened three or four times.

It could be a sign that someone is toying with your mind and doesn't want you to become lucid

I have the exact same thing for years now, false awaking in bed, try to turn on a light, its doesnt turn on so I know i am asleep and i sense it in the room. I try to wake up, another false awakening and its still there. Rinse and repeat until either a) I manage to wake up properly or b) it attacks/pounces/pulls the quilt away/drags me out of bed on me.

Maybe we are still dreaming though as we are about to wake up, we have reached our body but not yet 'started' to wake up properly?

[Xanth]

Why do we have false awakenings?

... why do we dream? 

[WASD]

Maybe your mind is waking up but your body is still asleep so your subconscious puts you in a false awakening instead of a real one to avoid waking up in sleep paralysis.