Advancing meditation and lucidness

[tomogaso]

So basically I recently came to be able to reach a "zone" during meditation, when my body is numb, I only feel my jaw and abdomen, and my mind wanders. I hear random faint sounds, yells, speech, etc. I was surprised achieving this was so easy, as I maybe meditated 10 times in my life, and today I could reach this "zone" consistently, within 5-10 minutes of starting to meditate. I have a few questions: 1.I use foam ear plugs. Yay or nay? 2.I drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day. Could this interfere? Sugar prevents me from sleeping for example, but I can drop unconscious like a brick in bed even if I drank a full cup of coffee just prior. 3.Like I said I feel my jaw. I have to consciously keep it shut, otherwise my mouth opens and I start getting saliva down my throat. Should I keep my teeth together, let them part with my lips sealed or keep my mouth wide open? 4.How do I go past the random thoughts and sounds in my current "zone"? I still try to focus on breathing , but I get distracted by passing thoughts randomly. I quickly retain my focus, but can't seem to push further. I tried for about 10-15 minutes, does reaching every new state take longer? 5.I tried SSILD while laying down and got hypnagogia and wild vibrations, but fell asleep. Should I rather try it sitting up during the night? Does it wake you up too much? 6.What state of meditation is used for self suggestion and thinking? 7.I'm an avid tank fan and World of tanks player. 16 000 matches Anyway this causes more than 50% of my remembered dreams to be about tanks, from a 3rd person vehicle perspective. How do I realize I'm lucid from this??? I mean they are even more true to the actual game than my RL dreams are true to RL Thanks in advance!