I am new to this site as of today and was wondering if someone could answer some questions..

First a little background,
I first became interested in lucid dreaming a few years ago, when I discovered a guide on instructables(.com) teaching people to make a device like the nova dreamer.
No I didn't build it, but I instead googled lucid dreaming.
Oddly enough I did not find this forum, but instead found a website advertising a lucid dreaming kit.
So I bought it.
It came with two cds, one with audio (Are you dreaming.. blah blah...),
and one with software and a ebook guide.
Now, I didn't like the audio for a couple reasons.
I am partially deaf in one ear and I believe the whole synchronizing brainwaves music weirdness wont work for me. (Plus its irritating)
That and I cannot fall asleep with audio or headphones on.
So longer story short I read the ebook. (The software was pc only...)

My first lucid dream was not really lucid at all.
I was being chased by, yes you named it, some weird form of brown bear with a weird wormy hole parasitic head.
I was in some weird green sewer area, with big pipes, and this weird creature began chasing me, with a metal pipe, down a street that I used to live on.
Here is the weird part.
I realized that such a creature did not exist.
However, my mind wasn't fully functioning nor entirely lucid.
So when I turned around, and the thing was still running at me, I began screaming "YOU ARE NOT REAL!! You are not real!!"
But the thing kept coming and when it got real close POOF!
Dream shift or something. I can't remember what happened next...

Another lucid dream I had that also lasted really short had a funny trigger.
I knew I was dreaming because as I was walking through some tunnely pipeage
I saw my legs upside down on the ceiling walking in the same direction as me!!
I think I got too excited and tried to fly... but since there was a ceiling...
Well... I don't know what happened but it ended my lucidity..

Another time I realized that I was dreaming and got really excited. I remembered that I was supposed to do something, I think physical or involving senses, to stay lucid and in a moment of panic I closed my eyes. And when I opened them I was no longer lucid...


One more story...
Once I realized that I was dreaming. I was out somewhere, like near a school outside somewhere, and decided to fly. But, peculiarly, I flew really really slow and out of the corner of my eye I saw my sister flying in my way!! And my brain said OH MY! She must be having a lucid dream too!!
And when she flew right in front of me something happened, but whatever the case,
I became unlucid..

I have a couple more stories, but suffice it to say, they are all basically the same as these.

NOW on to the questions!!

My interest in lucid dreaming was rekindled by Inception.
I would love to know a few things related to (lucid) dreaming...

Firstly, I always thought time in a dream is the same as outside if not slower.
-Can time actually occur faster in dreams, or whatever speed it would be called?
-Is it possible to use sheer willpower to enable yourself to continue dreaming?
(And if so, would that cause a coma like state?)
-If you have psychic powers, I don't think I do, could you do networked dreaming?
(Shared dreaming in which both people are in the dream conscously?)
-Is it possible that, while lucid, if you chose to do something like working out, or mentally choosing to increase production of testosterone, that if you (had already in real life) work out it could potentially effect you in reality?
-While lucid, if you remember where you fell asleep, is it possible to purposely bypass the sleep paralysis to try to sleepwalk( *and grab a sandwich from the fridge)?
(Well maybe not a sandwich, but like an extra pillow or something.)
-Is it feasible to have a goal of lucidly dreaming every night?
-The manipulation of the dream world is possible such that one could transform, generate things, do lotsa cool things, and maybe even go to the theater?
(Has anyone tried watching a movie or reading a specific book in a lucid dream on purpose successfully? Oh and can you make paradoxical structures/buildings?)
-Is it possible to remain conscious when transitioning from REM to NREM back to REM??
-Is it actually possible to gain a skill, practice it anyway, while dreaming?
-Is it possible to use your dream to access things in your mind that you otherwise can not remember?
-Is it possible to project real things form memory, like a book or string of numbers?
-If you could bypass the sleep paralysis mechanism, could you dial a phone?
More specifically, would you be able to incorporate sensory stimuli into your dream?
(Such that if you were listening to a tutorial on audio perhaps you could learn it while dreaming? Maybe listen to a guide on painting and paint the sky in the dream?)


I could come up with more questions, but this post is already waaay too long.
Thank you for your time and your help!
Good luck with your lucid dreaming!

~Drew956