Lucid dreaming has always fascinated me since I found out it was real. I tried weakly probably a year ago and gave up. recently Ive stopped smoking weed for a while and have been having dreams every night when i usually only had 5 per year that i actually remember. So im hoping to learn this skill in the meantime.

Since Ive actually been dreaming, I set an alarm for 430 every morning and the snooze to 30 min and keep waking every 30 so i remember my dream and have a chance to think about lucidity. I have tried just visualizing different scenarios, watching my eyelid patterns etc, but always end up in a random dream anyway not knowing how i got there, ie i dont notice any transition it just happens. during the dream, there always seems to be some plot that i am playing out and am too busy focusing on the objectives to really notice that i am dreaming. I know that i have gained control of a dream at least once during elementary school, if that means anything really.

So what is the most helpful thing to do as soon as I wake up in the middle of the night? I have also been trying to tell myself i will have a lucid dream and chanting "dream" in my head but I am not sure if that helps or just awakens me more. Ive always had trouble getting to sleep unless I already have sleep debt, but in the middle of the night I can usually get back to sleep.