Dying while inside a dream is something a lot of people worry about.
It can even stop them from wanting to become lucid in the first place. Just because some silly (but highly entertaining) Hollywood films try to scare you it doesn’t mean it’s true, or does it?
I’m just going to tell you now: You won’t die in real life if you die inside a lucid dream.
You just won’t. You might wake up in your bed, or you might wake up inside another dream.
I’ve died inside a dream before
I’ve actually died inside quite a lot of dreams and I’m still here, sort of.
Dying isn’t actually too bad. You’re going to die inside your dreams anyway, so it’s better to know it was just a dream rather than feel like crap all day without being able to explain it.
You won’t be scared when you die
As soon as you realize you’re going to die you suddenly become calm. There is definitely no fear. It’s more like acceptance. You just accept you’re going to die and your mind is at peace the whole time.
I’m positive this is what will happen when I die for real. We probably worry ourselves stupid thinking about death, but when it happens I think it will be painless.
Dream deaths I’ve experienced
I’ll give you an example of a few ways I’ve died over the last few years. None of them are really special, but you’ll see dying isn’t the end.
Getting hit by a car
This has actually happened to me a few times, so there must be something up at a deeper level. I’ve had a few close calls with car accidents, so maybe that’s why I dream about being killed by a car.
One time I lost my mind and waked out from behind a van onto the middle of the road and a car was inches away from smashing into me. Another time I was in a car that flipped multiple times and I had only put my seat belt on a few minutes before it happened. (those actually happened in real life)
I was semi-lucid in each death dream before I got hit. I knew it was a dream, but I wasn’t 100% there if you know what I mean. I was in the middle of the road, but I couldn’t get to the other side because my legs wouldn’t take me there fast enough. As the car approached me I slipped back into the dream.
I remember trying to cover my head with my arms because it would somehow save my life. While I was flying through the air I already felt very calm and at ease with what was happening then I suddenly remembered it was just a dream and I wasn’t going to die.
Drowning in water
Not much to say about this one. I wasn’t lucid, so it was just a very vivid dream. I was underneath the water and trying to find a way out.
I couldn’t find the surface and gave up when I knew it was too late. Suddenly I realized it was a dream and I wouldn’t die. Dreams like these are exciting because it’s nice knowing your life isn’t over and you’ll get to eat chocolate again.
Being shot in the stomach
I wasn’t lucid when I got shot. I didn’t have any shoes on and started to run after a car. I didn’t catch it, but someone pulled up on a motorbike and shot me in the stomach. It felt like an electronic pulse you’d feel if you wore one of those abs belts.
I did shoot him back. Nobody shoots me and gets away with it. It’s funny how you can magically pull something out of your pocket in a dream if you want it to be there. Afterwards I just lay down on a bench waiting to die before realizing it was a dream.
Falling from a great height
Everyone has probably experienced this before and some of you will remember it vividly. It’s happened to me all my life, so a lot more than a few years. Did you feel scared when you were falling to the ground?
You can’t die when you’re lucid
You’re probably wondering why I wasn’t fully lucid in any of my examples. I don’t think it’s possible to die when you’re lucid. How can you think you’re going to die if you know you are dreaming?
I have lost lucidity because my mind ran away with me, but I got it back again once my mind was completely calm.
Accepting death = pure awareness
Try to imagine the last time you thought you were going to die while inside a dream. As soon as you realized you were going to die did you just accept it? This might be the reason why you couldn’t feel pain and you weren’t scared.
It’s weird because as soon as you accept death you become fully aware then it’s easy to realize you’re dreaming. It’s like the shock of death switches on your conscious mind.
Becoming lucid before death
There is obviously a time-delay between accepting you’re going to die and actually dying.
You might think you’re going to die when you fall off a building, but you won’t die until you splat onto the ground below you. I reckon that’s about 5 seconds of waiting.
I think you become lucid some time during this waiting period. I only say this because every time I’ve ever died in a dream, I’ve always knew it was a dream right before I woke up.
I’ve never actually been afraid to hit the ground, but I did crap myself (figuratively) within the first few seconds of slipping off something.
I could be wrong, or I could be right. It doesn’t really make any difference because I just want you to realize there is nothing to be scared of when you die inside a dream. You will always wake up.
Thanks for sharing your dreams with us. I think no one can die while lucid dreaming. Just because its just a dream , nobody has to take it seriously.
Keep sharing.
Thanks Mathew!
I’ve recently came to help my cousin who’s bf hanged himself. On one of the nights i stayed with her i was sleeping and had a dream i was camping with a female and in the dream i heard something approach us and got the feeling of evil, or maybe awareness and then i hear her scream as i try to get up from my tent. I’m attacked i can’t see what it is and I’m being ripped apart I’m calling to the girl but i don’t know her name and then i start calling for help, but not in the dream, I’m calling in real life my cousin wakes me. She then tells me i was calling girl girl. Now its been 4 months since this happened . I can’t forget the dream and I’ve never had a dream like it before or after in my 38 years of life. Any opinions on it
I would like to know, what would happen if you died while having a lucid dream?
I died and never woke up. I never knew I were dreaming and my entire life has been one practice after another in learning the difference between a dream and reality. I would wake up exhausted from an entire night of the same repeated dream with different props until I finally became a master at knowing almost immediately and then I learned to manipulate my dreams. That’s always fun.
Ok, first there was no dream that lead up to my death. My dream started with me on my back and darkness surrounded me, not in a fearful way, dark like the background of a painting.
I had this unspoken knowing that I am getting ready to die, I never questioned it, I trusted it. I felt fear and panic pulsate through my veins and into my chest, fear of the unknown is almost the worst kind. couple fear of the unknown with unplanned death and that’s the worst kind of fear. I truly felt the most fear in my life during a dream in a dream state. That’s how powerful my dream was.
I thought ok, you cannot, change fight or talk your way out of death, it is time and I thought of 2 people in my life I will not see again on earth and then it happened. I felt myself fall into the black nothingness. Looking back, it lasted over a minute, I had no thoughts, no being, no ego, no fear, I was actually experiencing brain death or a coma like state. Once the minute was up, I became present and realized, thank you god, there is more to life and there really is, and no death, just as I though.. I was relieved as if I was disappointed in the blackness and death state. (This tells me my dream gave me the closest to the real thing experience. I must have anticipated something that never came to my conscious or subconscious until it was over and I could go back and recap.
I understood I was still dead and was no longer in my body, I could see my heart or chest are filled with light and color and it was more powerful than 1000 independence days. I had accepted what I could not fight and then I was waking up thinking omg, eyes open and I am in my room. This is not possible, I died, I thought I was dead. I experienced all of the emotions and immediately tried to share my experience with my boyfriend sleeping beside me. It was 6am and he wanted to know what was wrong, I had no ability to formulate sentences or force even a grunt from my voice box. It was as if I were still experiencing life as a soul and without a mouth. It took me 6 min to be able to put my experience into words for him and I was afraid my memory would disappear so I wrote it in a journal. That has happened to me at the end of an OBE, I asked why were we really here? I received the answer and returned to my body, as I told my husband I knew why we were here, never even taking a breath between words and the words disappeared. I was ready to say it and it was erased from my head. I am sure I have that answer inside me, locked up. Life is a mystery for a reason, If I knew the answer was yes to the question will I get cancer, I would give up on life and never fight. I might never get out of bed if I knew half the things that already happened. I think this blog is wright, you cannot die in your dreams, lucid or otherwise. You c an have a dream like mine that is symbolic for the end of a karmic debt repaid, some of the most painful experiences can come from Debt numbers 13.14.16.19 I deserved the dream I just shared, I cannot wait for my journey repaying karmic debt 16 comes to an end. I know when messages come they can be very cryptic, this time I asked they be clear. Wow was this clear. I feel pretty good about my death being a powerful rebirth… Happy lucid dreaming.
Lena Castronova
Thank you for writing this article!! I have died many times in my dreams, sometimes semi-lucid but mostly just normal dreaming.
Every time I die in my dreams (sometimes from suffocating, being hit by a car once, falling, being literally shot in the head with a gun), like you said, the second i realize that i’m going to die I get a wave of calmness and acceptance. This gives me great comfort because I don’t have to worry about when that time comes.
I just wish I could figure out why I have these dreams. I have depression and have thought about suicide in the past so that’s probably why…I just find the dreams really fascinating.
Anyway, thank you.
Hey Molly,
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad your not disturbed by those dreams. It’s great you feel a little more comfort knowing you’ll find peace when the time comes. I hope you can overcome your depression soon. I’ve had it in the past and you WILL get better. I think we all might dream about death sometimes since we all know we’re going to die.
My question for those that said they have died in the dream is: But does your environment change or do you wake up just before the moment of death? Some have said they suddenly become aware they are dreaming just before death and quietly accept what’s coming but do you actually experience dream death or do you awaken or begin having another dream?
Another thing that I wonder about dream death is what if some one has the ability to invade your dream and they kill you in your dream will you die in the real world? This is hypothetical of course, unless someone has empirical evidence. 🙂
–Ian
Ok, id love to have these dreams to experience death to not fear it. I want to be at peace when I go because death shouldn’t be fearful it should be excepted and calm when you go because everyone must at one point. Any tip on how I can become a lucid dreamer to experience the calmness’s and excepting of death.
Hey Reese,
There are plenty of articles on the site that will teach you how to become a lucid dreamer.
Can you die in real life from a lucid dream? I wanted to try it, but I’m worried that I will die in real life… 0_O
No way, you’re completely safe. 🙂
Thanks for your comment and reading the article, Jordan.
I am curious about a few things:
Have you ever completely died during a dream?
I have had several near death lucid dreams and one real life experience. All have been calm, even though I don’t feel total acceptance. Last night I had a dream I was drowning and was in a pseudo lucid state. I realized I didn’t have the strength to break through the waters surface. Then, someone else appeared in my dream to tell me something, ask a question(one that’s been on my mind), then told me if I wanted the answer I needed to wake up and breathe. Has anyone had a near death dream during which someone else appeared in it to tell you it’s a dream and/or to tell you to wake up?
I have commited suicide in a lucid dream, bizarrely I felt I had no option other than to do so at the time. I also experienced a sense of quiet calm after the decision had been made. I did not wake until after the act was completed, but when I did I felt an incredible sense of awe and energy which I still remember the feeling of years later.
I’ve experienced several vivid dreams where I die. Once I was shot in the head at point blank range. I woke up and sat straight up in bed, but it was the first one. I’ve had several others and I agree that there is a complete sense of calm. Once I drove over a cliff (completely out of my control) and just said to myself “Well crap.”, very calmly. I’ve only had a few lucid dreams and I’m still working on maintaining control. I highly suggested it to anyone. Nothing more amazing than flying anywhere you want like Superman, or landing on the moon. You mind feels in any missing detail and it’s absolutely amazing.
I have had the same dream 4 times now; about 2 years ago, 10 years ago, 19 years ago and 30 years ago. Each time the lucid nightmare has me being chased by something so horrible that I am about to die. I am going through doors, trapped in small rooms, frantic for an escape. I try to wake myself. When awake I jump up and turn on lights, grab my phone and try to catch my breath. I try to write it down. but later can’t make it out. Mostly I am sure I just escaped death and next time maybe NOT. Someone PLEASE respond…
I too have doubts as to whether you completely died within your dreams. My reasoning behind my doubt is that dream states have different laws of physics. One can fly, one can float, one can breathe under water, etc….. So gravity is different and teleportation is a normal occurrence in a dream state. There are times one is in one place but then completely shifted to another place instantly. So when one experiences the concept that they are about to die; at the point of impact, or landing, or anything…. the person always seems to be doing something else in the dream or just waking up. However, you can still experience pain from a lucid dream in a waking state.