Elf Sternberg

I'm not sure how one would be able to verify this, but I've speculated, having gone through similar dreams (lucid enough to know I'm in a dream, hampered when I try to 'change' it, or to wake up) that it might be the following:

- some part of our brain recognizes that the 'signal' is a dream, and, accordingly, tries to gain 'control', so to speak, of our 'physical self'.

- sometimes we may wake, but usually, our 'physical self' stays asleep for a bit.

- our brain, recognizing the struggle, somehow interprets it into a 'struggle' scenario in the dream (your Matrix-like struggle to call out Omaha's name)... in my case, I've had times where I struggle to call out, where a door is locked between me and the 'conscious' people, and a favourite ...I dream I wake, and am so tired I'm too tired to call out, and then fall asleep again, and then 'wake' and can't stay awake long enough to call someone.

- about this time, some sort of 'signal' makes it to the brain that we really mean business, that it is essential to wake (sort of like how someone might wake to a baby's soft cry, or the smell of smoke...something triggers in the brain to say "WAKE UP NOW"

- we then awake fairly suddenly, as our brain has been trying to jog the 'physical self' awake for some time now.

...just thought I'd share my experiences and interpretation of them.