[header] How to wake up from a bad dream [title] Do a " reality check. [step] " the key to forcing yourself to wake up during a troubled dream is, in the first place, to realize that it is not real-that it is a dream. This is called becoming " lucid. 
" lucid dreaming requires two things: dreaming and recognizing the fact that you are dreaming. [substeps] The best technique to achieve this is to look, listen, and pay attention to details.