Ok, so I am new to the board, have been having mildly lucid dreams for about a year, just didn't know it. Saw Inception,(yeah big surprise) decided to do some research and here I am. So I learned some techniques from reading the site yesterday and was really excited about going to bed last night.

So does this sound familiar: When I was finally able to drift off to sleep, it was the weirdest thing, really more lucid or aware than I have ever been. For example, it was like my brain was telling me, ok it's time, but I still felt like I was awake, which I wasn't. Anyway, I decided ok I'm almost there, ready to start dreaming. For some reason in my mind I thought to myself all I have to do know is relax and let the dream begin. This is weird for me because my dreaming is so lucid that I really think I am awake and I don't realize I'm really not until I am really awake (and twice last night I woke up on my stomach or side, but I thought I was on my back because in my dream I was on my back, until I woke up and realized I was on my side)

So I start to relax, (except its more like issuing a command to relax)then I can feel my entire body begin to get very relaxed and I can feel my mind beginning to "drift off". Then all of a sudden I am having to breathe deep to get air, as if I just ran around the room and laid back down. Not suffocating, not choking, just heavy breaths, then I wake up. This happened at least 4 times last night.