Hi all! Sorry in advance for the long post.

Glad to find this forum. So I've always been a very vivid dreamer, and I've always been able to achieve a certain degree of lucidity... e.g., being able to change a landscape slightly, switch locale, change minor aspects of plot, or do things over again until I like the outcome (specifically in nightmares, that one). Not always, or with any real pattern, but regularly.

I'm not sure the terminology, but I would describe those dreams as semi-lucid... I'm aware enough that I'm dreaming to understand that I have a measure of control, but I still believe the general parameters of what I'm experiencing to be true. As in, OK, I have the ability to put a wall there and be sure the door is locked while I figure out how to fly, but those dudes chasing me are totally real!

Recently I've been having what I think of as fully lucid dreams (although may not be?). The first one was a few weeks ago and I've been having them a couple of times a week since. In these dreams, I am 100% aware that I am dreaming and I am able to decide what I'd like to do and where I'd like to go. I'm not fully in control of all the details, but it's like I get to throw things out there and most of them stick, if that makes sense?

Anyway, so my question! It's like as soon as I become lucid, things become highly unstable. Not only do I need to concentrate really hard on staying lucid, but I also need to concentrate on keeping the environment normal. For example, a few weeks ago I decided to visit my childhood home and walk around. I did, and had a nice time looking at things, but I gravity wouldn't stay constant. My feet kept floating up behind my head. (this was one of the first lucid dreams I had) and I had to mentally force them and other things to adhere to normal physics. A couple of nights ago, I was in a nice park surrounded by what I could tell were meant to be pretty granite buildings, but they kept turning yellow and I had to keep forcing them back to grey.

It's very distracting and I think helps contribute to me losing lucidity... I get so caught up in the details that I forget to check in with the lucidity (which I find I have to do very regularly to keep it up), lose the bigger picture, and slide back into semi-lucid and then ultimately non-lucid dreaming.

I guess just wondering if this sounds familiar to anyone, and if it gets easier, or if I should be studying up on some techniques or something to make the most of this.

Thanks for reading! Sorry it's so long, I haven't read any books yet so I haven't learned any shorthand descriptions.