Am I lucid dreaming? need help please!!

[noobcake]

hi everyone Heres my story: I'm 20 year old and a couple years back i started having what i think is called sleep paralysis. When I woke up and was conscious but the rest of body seemed to still be asleep - I couldnt move. It was kinda scary at first but it tuned out when i relaxed myself i would gradually regain control. This then progressed last year to brief erotic dreams featuring my long term girlfriend. I would only be able to keep these 'lucid' dreams going for a few seconds or a minute or so before it was lost and i regained consciousness. In these dreams however I could control her every action and I can feel everything as if it were reality. a lot of fun :p I then found that by relaxing into these dreams I could make them last longer. My girlfriend in these dreams was never vivid, my room was always dark anyway but i just knew it was her. And she seemed to be the only thing i could control, though i have never tried to change my environment (which is always my bedroom or a very familiar place). The one time i was scared in one of these dreams the figure suddenly morphed from being my girlfriend into several dark shadowy figures which made me feel very threatened and one grabbed my arm (again it hurt and felt exactly like real life) and was on top of me. I had to relax myself for it to turn back into my girlfriend and wake up. Is this lucid dreaming or something else? :s PS. I'm completely new to this site so sorry if this is a stupid question but i've been searching all over the net and nothing matches my experiences. I realise everyone will have different experiences but I just wondered if anyone here could help me shed some light on things

[noobcake]

Just a quick edit: in all of these dreams i was completely aware i was dreaming, or in this state, and it's become very familiar to me and i can even feel it's approach as drift off. TL;DR :: I have short dreams, i know im dreaming, i can control every action of the person in my dream and i can feel every sensation do vividly i cant tell it from real life. lucid dream?

[no-Name]

it's a common question, but don't worry about it. Just a quick edit: in all of these dreams i was completely aware i was dreaming, hey, there it is. this is the only definition of being lucid. having control, clarity, or lengthy dreams have nothing to do with being lucid. all it is, is being aware that you're dreaming. sounds like you're pretty much already got this aced. hang around, ask any questions if you have them, and write everything down in your dream journal.