Did I have a lucid dream?

Last night I had a dream about meeting the Janoskians (don't worry if you don't know them). In the dream, a member signed my pencil case for school and I hugged another. I am not sure if this was part of the same dream, I think it was different, but at some point during my sleep I said (in the dream) 'This is a dream. I can control what's happening' then I woke up (or I don't remember what happened after). I didn't do any reality checks in the dream because I couldn't control anything? I guess that as soon as a realised it was a dream I lost control and just woke up. Does anyone know what the hell happened and how can I lucid dream?
Thanks :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlacast

Last night I had a dream about meeting the Janoskians (don't worry if you don't know them). In the dream, a member signed my pencil case for school and I hugged another. I am not sure if this was part of the same dream, I think it was different, but at some point during my sleep I said (in the dream) 'This is a dream. I can control what's happening' then I woke up (or I don't remember what happened after). I didn't do any reality checks in the dream because I couldn't control anything? I guess that as soon as a realised it was a dream I lost control and just woke up. Does anyone know what the hell happened and how can I lucid dream?
Thanks :)

Yup, seems like a LD! It's common for beginners to wake up after becoming lucid, from the shere excitement. And I bet it seems like a vague distant memory to you, if so it's because your still in an early stage of developing your dream recall. That's why beginners also don't have much vivid LDs, they don't recall the 'richness' of it.
You should get used to being calm and reminding yourself you're inside a dream while having a LD. You can do that by practicing during the day :
First, imagine (or oretend) you're inside a dream. Second, imagine that you became lucid for some reason (dream sign for example). Third, KEEP CALM! Last, keep saying "I'm dreaming" over and over again.
Try it, makes wonders. This can be used for anything you want to practice being better at inside a LD, just pretend doing it during the day. I add it to my reflection intention.

As for how to LD, here's a list of the things you should do:
_Dream Journaling
_Reflection intention (also knows as Tholey's combined technique)
_Getting used to the idea that you might be dreaming at any time, no matter how real everything seems, even now! Trust me, when you get a few LDs, you'll know how true this is. In other words, have a critical state of mind about your current state (whether awake or dreaming).
_MILD (with prospective memory training)
_WBTB
_Mindfulness (YouTube has lots of nice lectures about mindfulness). Meditation is how you improve your mindfulness. You don't have to practice mindfulness, but it really helps.

These are DILDs. You might be interested in WILD too! It's just called WILD, no sub categories lol just little variations.

SSILD is great too, but I personally do it as an alternative when I don't feel like MILD or WILD.

I'd stay away from ADA. It does seem that it makes sense when you read it, but there are a lot of cognitive factors missing that are essential to it's success.

Also, if you don't have good dream signs, try intense emotions as dream signs. They are easy to detect, and studies show they happen in 70% of dreams!

Ask me anything you like! :D

I will leave a short post cause I don't have much time.

I've seen people post the question "Was this a lucid dream?" several times now and to be honest, if you doubt you were lucid you probably weren't fully lucid. If you wake up from a true lucid dream you will be able to say with 100% that you were lucid and were aware of yourself in the dreamworld.

All you need is to be aware that you are dreaming.