I've had a few short lucid dreams, and dreams where I have questioned my reality and done a successful reality check. In all of those dreams, I woke up almost instantly.
In April I had a dream where I did a reality check and was able to breathe my nose. I thought at this point I could be dreaming but wasn't fully convinced. I did the reality check twice, both times able to breathe, and then woke up straight away. I had another dream where I noticed something strange and began to reality check but I woke up before I could finish.
In my lucid dreams prior to that, I have the realisation and then a few seconds later I'm awake.
Is it normal for a reality check or a heightened level of awareness to just wake me up before I can even think about the fact I could be in a dream?
When you're lucid you're becoming conscious in an unconscious and subconscious world so you are literally.. becoming conscious 😂 too much brain activity is waking you up faster than you need to. Most likely you'll wake up soon but you can try to stabilize and hang in the lucid state a little longer if you try not to "think" too much. Once you recognize you're lucid try to just be an observer and keep in mind that feelings and subconscious suggestion narrorate the dream. Instead of "thinking" or attempting to manipulate with thought from that point, try to "feel" things manifesting.