Hi there.

I've been lurking here for quite a while, reading tutorials, info about lucid dreaming, techniques - anything I think might help in other words.

I'm currently experiencing what I consider a problem, and I thought I'd ask to see if you guys had any bright ideas.

My Lucid dreaming experience is rather limited. When I was very young I had one and flew in it. I was only 8-9 if I remember correctly, and have long since forgotten the actual dream, just the flying part really.

My second was when I was about thirteen and I remember it much more clearly. At that age I read a lot of fantasy related books, which I think must have triggered the original dream. It started with me in a medieval church. I'm standing on a balconyabove the main door, looking along the aisle towards a huge stain glass window. I think they're called a rose window or some such - the huge round ones, like those you find in any large cathedral.

Anyway, looking at this window, I see a huge dragon rear up infront of me. It pauses and a looks at me, shortly before breathing fire, causing me to die. As soon as the flame hits me, the dream kind of reset, and I'm walking through a door and onto this balcony again. Just as the dragon rears up, I remember it happened before, but its too late and I die again.

I emerge through the door for the third time, and as soon as I am on the balcony I regonise the church. This time I shouted 'enough!' or something like that, and the dream changed into a different one. I did not control it well, I did not choose the new dream I ended up in and was not lucid in it after a few seconds. It was another nightmare and this distracted me from what I had just done. I then woke up.

To cut a long story short, I've been trying for months to do it again with absolutely no luck at all. Perhaps a month ago, I sort of just gave up and stopped trying - it really didn't seem to be working for me.

However, without any intent at all, I've now had two in the last five days.

The dream always begins in a dank sort of corridor you'd find in a very cheap hotel or somesuch. I'm lucid almost immediatly because in the dream I can hear myself breathing that very slow and deep rhythm of sleep. The weird part is, in the dream I'm breathing separately from that. I can hear me breathing as I sleep, but my dream self is not breathing in time with it. No idea how I know its me breathing, but in dreams you just know this stuff don't you? I digress.

Having become quite sure that I'm dreaming, I look around the corridor until I see a mirror. I look into the mirror and see my reflection. I blink, and I'm looking at someone elses reflection, yet I'm still standing infront of the mirror. I try to control the dream, will my face to appear infront of me. The first time (five days ago now) it did, for a second. Then it reverted back to the strangers face. The second time, friday night, it didn't seem to work at all. I kept trying it again and again and again, but then the strangers face smiled at me (but I wasn't smiling) and said something like 'Are you going to keep trying to do that all day? I'm not sure it'll work you know' and then the stranger disappears and I'm standing infront of a mirror thats reflecting nobody at all, just an empty corridor.

Both of them have frightened me, and I wake up with a very fast heart rate and gasping for breath (standard nightmare tackle). I just wanted to know; has anyone experienced similar and overcome it?

I could do with some answers if anyone has them. When I wake up, I'm awake and thats that. They're costing me a bit of sleep really - I'm worried they'll persist.

Thanks,
Philos