oh so this is how being lucid feels

[ADEzor]

I used to have occasional lucid dreams as a kid. I didn't use any techniques, nor any dream recall stuff like the diary... most of the times I was haunted by the reoccurring bear nightmares, which made me realize I was dreaming. most often I tightly closed my eyes and reopened them to see myself waking up (probably false awakenings), but it worked and they always took me away from tight spots. Or I could fly off, usually ending up changing the dream scenery along with it. Those lucid dream experiences sort of faded away as I grew older, becoming more rare. I eventually forgot about LD... Well, I didn't even know that phenomenon had a name. twelve days ago I stumbled upon the topic of lucid dreaming at 9gag and wanted to give it a shot. I wanted to know how it felt before, and if it felt like a regular dream in general. after 12 days of keeping a diary, and trying to practice both WILDing and DILDing. I finally managed to obtain a short lucid dream with the help of "REM dreamer" sleep mask (worked on the first night of use). The mask signaled me that I was dreaming, and I noticed it... I found myself having my eyes closed inside a dream. I got cheerful about my first lucid dream, but retained my joy because I was afraid it would collapse the dream (it already happened three times before when I was about to enter a dream via WILD, got excited and woke up every time). I slowly opened my eyes and found myself standing in my dads living room... It was dark... WAY dark, but I still managed to notice some small details around the room. I felt sort if dizzy, but did my best to ignore it... LD felt just as I hoped/expected.. It's like being awake, but in a dream... It was nothing like a regular dream, I felt awake and clear minded. I looked around as I pleased.. and the mere fact that I was no longer "the observer" of my dream felt absolutely rewarding.. I tried to move forward by lifting my right leg forwards... WOW! It's difficult. I feel like I don't know how much force I use on my muscles to move around (I must've looked like a newborn deer calf). Suddenly I lifted my leg too much and fell down, woke up before hitting the floor. (now that I think of it, the reason behind moving with great difficulty could have occurred, because I have always been sort of guided/observer in my dreams. I don't even know how I have moved before.... Uhh... Levitated smoothly I guess?) I heard some of you guys have experienced this same type of phenomena. Does this sound familiar to you, and How did you train yourself to "outmaneuver" this thing?

[Myke Gregory]

...the mere fact that I was no longer "the observer" of my dream felt absolutely rewarding... Well said. Thats the exact reason i want to back into LDing. Unfortunatly i have not had this problem so i cant help you i'm afraid.

[ADEzor]

Yeah, for some reason lucid dreams when I was a child felt less real than the one I had yesterday, maybe it was due to more life experience, or that I'm consciously trying to achieve a lucid dream.