I think I nearly became lucid

Hi all! Nice forum.

I've read about lucid dreaming extensively over the last few weeks but so far I haven't been had one.

But a week ago I got really close but I did not attain lucidity; I'm still confused as to why I didn't. So I'm just going to describe the entire process so you guys can help me out.

So I started by relaxing in bed, and looked at the patterns in front of my eyes. They weren't very vivid - Just splodges of light and a dark blue-ish background. To keep my concentration, I thought of the first tune that came into my head - The first section of Bach's Prelude in C Major. I listened to it over and over, and I think(?) the patterns may have become a little more vivid - Bright white lights streaked across my field of vision occasionally. Then, after about 20 minutes of listening to Bach, it suddenly started. There was no warning, it was just like a light in my head had suddenly switched on. I felt my bed starting to go up and down very quickly, rather like I was in an earthquake. My heart rate must have been something stupid like 180 BPM. I also felt my eyes going crazy, and it felt like electricity was passing through my head.

A few other symptoms that I didn't know would happen were a feeling that water was passing through my toes, and at one stage, if you imagine the blackness in front of your eyes to be a black piece of silk, it sort of... Wrapped itself around my face and became part of my head. This is very hard to put in words, of course.

Another 20 minutes or so passed and all of this started to stop, and after a few minutes of waiting for something else to start happening (in vain) I just drifted off. The next thing I remembered was being in a section of the library I always go to, wondering if I was dreaming or not. I tried to breathe through my nose when it was covered, and I was pretty sure it worked. I also picked up a book from the nearby shelf and examined the cover - it was blurry and nonsensical.

To my understanding the dreamer attains lucidity when (s)he starts to question the reality of their surroundings. I tried numerous reality checks and even remembered the sensation of each one working but still could not become lucid. This was the closest I have ever gotten to having a lucid dream, and this past week I haven't had a single night where I can recreate this experience.

So, what did I do wrong or what was I missing here? Thanks!

First of all I don't think you did anything 'wrong'. Experiences are just different every time and you cannot influence all of it. You just drifted off early I think, and weren't able to complete the procedure of going from waking life to the dream world while aware.
Also, from reading the part of your post about the actual dream you had, I get the impression you might have had a lucid dream, just don't recall it. How is your recall in general? If it is poor, chances are that you have just forgotten most of your lucid dream.

I see, thanks for clearing that up. I'm actually quite pleased I had gotten to that stage after only a few nights of attempting to lucid dream. My recall is average to poor because I still haven't gotten into it all but I am almost certain that I did not have a lucid dream. That was what I was confused with actually - how come I didn't become lucid in the end? Perhaps the dream felt so much like reality that I just didn't realize I was dreaming..

Could you please give me some advice on how I can become aware that I am in fact in a dream (like when I was looking at the book and the text was clearly gibberish but I still wasn't aware)?

Thanks again!

Nothing was wrong. Perseverance is the key.

I feel you are getting close to finally lucid dream :) Wait and see! Keep up the good work!

The only thing that I can think of, besides perseverence as PercyLucid said, is to imagine a positive ending to your reality checks in waking life. It seems as if, although you remember to do a reality check, your dreaming mind does not realize what the consequence of the reality check really is. Try to imagine what you would do if you were dreaming. If you can make that a habit it might work :)