Question about LD

So I recently began the process to achieving Lucid Dreams and right now I'm just focusing on recall and reality checks before I progress to WILDs.

However, last night I sort of remember doing the pinch nose reality check, realised I was dreaming.

My question is, I don't think I was "conscious", I don't remember being conscious in the moment and never got excited or freaked out when I did the RC and realised. While I understand the definition of a lucid dream, I was expecting to actually be in the dream, like I've consciously woke up in a dream rather than waking up and realising, 'oh my god i realised I was dreaming'.

Have I got Lucid Dreaming completely wrong or is there levels of awareness and kind of conscious, kind of zombie like. What I had felt like it was just a normal dream of me going: 'oh I'm in a dream' rather than being awake in a dream.

It just feels like I recall going oh im in a dream, didnt freak out and just remember when I woke up it felt like a normal dream where I wasn't conscious. I'm also not sure if it ended there or whether the dream continued as I really dont recall anything after the RC.

While there are various levels of lucidity, it is also possible to dream about lucid dreaming. No matter what it was, it is certainly a positive sign that you are making progress. A similar thing happened to me shortly before I started having lucid dreams.

DanB, believe me when I say this is FAR from all there is to Lucid Dreaming!
What you experienced is either just a tiny bit of awareness, or as pdunc stated you had a normal dream which was simply about lucid dreaming.

Also, as a general advice. Since you're quite new to LDing, you might want to consider starting out with DILD, as most beginners tend to find more success in that direction (including myself).

What you experienced is NOT anywhere near the limits of lucid dreaming.
Most of your lucid dreams will most likely feel and seem exactly like the waking world does.
Also, I don't know if this is the same for everyone else, but LDs and normal dreams don't feel the same to me.
When I wake up and recall a normal dream, it feels more like a movie than an actual memory, if you get when I mean.
For LDs however, I clearly remember being there and actually knowing, not just the 'dream me' knowing, but me KNOWING that right here and now I am in a dream and my body is asleep in my bed.

I hope this makes sense to you somehow. It's a bit hard to convey the feeling of lucidity to someone who hasn't experienced it for themselves. There is so much more to it and you will get there very soon if you keep up your training. Good luck on your journey!;-)

Thanks for both your responses. I'm glad of what you had to say HansiElneff, that Lucid dreaming can be what I've been led to believe. I'm actually not trying to induce them, but focusing on just my recall and get into a habit of reality checks, so last night came as a bit of a shock as I don't have real intention of inducing them for the time being. I'd rather do this slow and proper than rush the whole thing, especially if I don't make much progress inducing them. I definitely will try the DILD and MILD as my initial methods, mix them in with WBTB before I try WILDs. WILDs would be my last goal, which I aiming to attempt after several LDs in the other methods as its clearly the most advanced method.

Sounds good! Also, when going about it like you are, focusing on recall and RCing before rushing into induction methods, most people tend to experience one or several LDs before they begin trying to induce them through methods such as DILD and WILD. So don't be surprised if you have more lucid experiences before you even start attempting to induce them!:goodjob2:

Focusing on dream recall and actually taking time to write down your dreams is a great way to get more familiar with your dreams and hence make them seem more real. It almost feels like you're somewhat strengthening your connecting to your dreaming mind.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you have any further question or would just like to share your findings as you progress.
You're always welcome to ask for help, from me or anyone else on this forum.

Hey DanB, as the others have said, there's different levels to lucidity, but I would add, there are different levels of lucid awareness and different levels of clarity or detail in what you dream, so you can see all variation of those - sometimes amazing vivid dreams but with only vague awareness, sometimes full awareness but with fuzzy or even black visuals. When you get full awareness and real life visuals it is amazing, in fact the visuals can be better than real life at times.
Full awareness can be quite startling as well, because unlike a typical dream where you are in like a stupour, you can have all your memories and awareness of "self", plus full knowledge that everything you are witnessing is a product of your own mind.
Amazing!