My First Lucid - A few questions

[SR71]

So I think I had my first lucid dream last night. What's odd is that I had been planning to FILD that morning after going to to sleep for a few hours, but 10 minutes into my sleep I guess I started dreaming and realized I was dreaming. What's even weirder is that I wasn't having a dream prior to me becoming lucid, I was just immediately lucid when the dream started. It started in my living room and I don't remember anything striking me as odd (it wasn't very vivid at all, probably because it happened so early into my sleep), except for a glass table possible being missing (maybe this was what triggered my lucidity... then again, I don't even really remember if the glass table was there or not). Immediately once the dream started I tried the nose breathing reality check and I could breathe, so I knew I was lucid. After realizing that it really was a dream I looked out of the window of my living room and I don't remember seeing anything, so I looked away from the window and walked towards my door (a wall separates the window from the door) and as I walked to the door I told myself that it would be raining outside when I got to the door. Sure enough when I got to the door, it was raining. I then went outside and walked to my driveway, but as soon as I stepped outside the rain stopped. I also don't remember walking from the doorway of my house to driveway, further proving just how non-vivid this LD was. Anyways, shortly after stepping onto my driveway I went to my garage doors and entered the PIN code to open them. I then ventured inside my house and down to the basement while telling myself that my friend and brother would be down there, and they were. As I entered the room I decided it was too hot and so I took off my shirt. While taking off my shirt during the quick second when the shirt covers your eyes and everything goes black, my dream was over. I guess the blackness of the shirt made my mind forget about the entire dream and then I realized I was back in my bed. I tried another nose RC and it didn't work and I eventually fell back to sleep. My questions are: what/how did this even happen? Isn't it nearly impossible to have dreams after being awake the whole day and then going to bed? Doesn't your body go straight into a deep sleep? Also, how can I keep myself from ending the dream and how can I make it more vivid? While I was standing in my driveway the whole dream world started getting wavy and so I started spinning to stabilize the dream and that kind of made things weird, so I looked down at my hands and that made the wavyness stop. How can I prevent this from happening in the future? And how did I go straight into a LD in the first place? It was awesome, but let me very confused. I've been trying to WILD and FILD for the past 4-6 months with no luck and then all of a sudden it just worked last night. Any explanations and answers to my questions would be much appreciated! P.S. Sorry for any typos/confusing writing, I typed this out quickly and didn't read over it as I'm extremely tired and am itching to try FILD/WILDing again. Anyone have any answers to my questions?

[Tygar]

My questions are: what/how did this even happen? Isn't it nearly impossible to have dreams after being awake the whole day and then going to bed? Doesn't your body go straight into a deep sleep? Apparently it is possible. It probably varies depending on many different factors. Also, how can I keep myself from ending the dream and how can I make it more vivid? I suggest trying to involve as many of your senses as possible (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste), so that you create a greater connection with your dream world. You can also try rubbing your hands together or doing some jumping jacks to create a stronger connection with your dream body. Also, yell out "INCREASE CLARITY!!!" While I was standing in my driveway the whole dream world started getting wavy and so I started spinning to stabilize the dream and that kind of made things weird, so I looked down at my hands and that made the wavyness stop. How can I prevent this from happening in the future? I don't recommend spinning. It can make strange things happen. I can't explain how you went straight to the LD. But lucid dreaming isn't an exact science.

[SR71]

Apparently it is possible. It probably varies depending on many different factors. I suggest trying to involve as many of your senses as possible (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste), so that you create a greater connection with your dream world. You can also try rubbing your hands together or doing some jumping jacks to create a stronger connection with your dream body. Also, yell out "INCREASE CLARITY!!!" I don't recommend spinning. It can make strange things happen. I can't explain how you went straight to the LD. But lucid dreaming isn't an exact science. I really appreciate your answers. I didn't know about involving as many senses as possible nor did I know about yelling to increase clarity, but I always though that spinning was a common way to stabilize a dream. Did I misunderstand? Off-topic, but it's cool to see another person from Massachusetts on here. I'm near Salem and haven't seen anyone on these forums (or in real life) who's in the same state as me and practices LDing. Pretty cool.

[Tygar]

I really appreciate your answers. I didn't know about involving as many senses as possible nor did I know about yelling to increase clarity, but I always though that spinning was a common way to stabilize a dream. Did I misunderstand? Spinning is mention often by the LD community as a means of stabilizing a dream. But, I've read many posts where spinning has caused false awakening, loss of lucidity, and a complete change of dream location. In real life spinning causes dizziness and I feel that your mind expects that to happen which can lead to strange outcomes. Off-topic, but it's cool to see another person from Massachusetts on here. I'm near Salem and haven't seen anyone on these forums (or in real life) who's in the same state as me and practices LDing. Pretty cool. I've seen a couple of folks from MA who are currently active on the site. I'm from the Worcester (or as we pronounce it "Wistah") area. Oh....and congrats on your first LD.