safety triggers and flying but not lucid

Hello everyone. I used to post on here a little bit to improve my dream recall/attaining lucidity, but then life happened and I was busy but now I'm looking to get back into it.

So a brief history on me... I'm 25 years old, I've had pretty good dream recall my entire life, with about 95% of my dreams having a scary or negative feeling vibe. I would say, I pretty much remember my dreams at least every other night if not more, and occasionally I'll have a streak of 2-3 days where I can't remember anything, but for the most part, I'll say I remember 5 out of 7 days of the week. And probably 1 out of 8 dreams, I will become lucid, as in I am aware that I am dreaming and be able to control it to some extent.The lucidity in my dreams is often short and disappear after I consciously attempt to do two or three things (look at my hands, attempt to conjure an item, ask a question to a DC)

I often remember my dreams and maybe to some degree realize whats happening isn't real, but like I said, I only 1 out of 8 times actually become aware enough to attempt to control my dream. But another thing.. this only happens when I am having a really scary nightmare or something really bad/stressful is happening or about to happen to me.

This is what happens: In an example scenario, I would be chased in my dream or backed into a very uncomfortable situation and when there is no other way to escape and there is no way out. The only thing that can happen next is that I die or experience something very traumatic/upsetting. Just as this is going to happen, I would find myself starting to float. I would feel enveloped in a almost ticklish uplifting feeling that flies me away from the situation. At this point, I realize I am dreaming, but I am not lucid enough to feel compelled to control the dream. The only thing I can control is what direction I fly and how far up I fly. This feeling feels very real and I can see the landscape of what I'm flying over, but after this flighty, I seem to wake up. This happens 80% of the times my dreams are about to end badly. Other times, it continues forward like the dream would have if the 'safety trigger' didn't happen. I realize this may be a subconscious way my brain has developed to prevent nightmares from continuing or finishing, but how can I improve my ability to control my dream other than the flying feeling after a nightmare? There is definitely a level of awareness in my dreams that I wish to harness better.