controlling R.E.M.

ok, i dont know where to start but, ive known about lucid dreaming for a long time, i even visited this site a while ago trying to find out how to trigger it, and it seems i found out my accident.

so today i was in a pretty messed up sleep cycle, i go to sleep, i wake up from have a normal dream, nothing special about it. Then i try to go to sleep and i feel this wierd twitching in my eyes, then it spreads to my face, then the rest of my body. I'm fully concious and im like "WHOA this is wierd!" then everything is blacked out for about 10 seconds and i am all the sudden laying in the same position i went to bed in, in a green field and this lizard runs by my face. That instant i knew this is how to have lucid dreams, so i move my arms while laying down and it actually feels like i was moving my arm in real life, and since i was naked and my parents room is right accross from me, i didnt want to sleep walk outside my door LOL. So i wake up, put some clothes on and try it again, and it works, i get that feeling you get right before R.E.M. where everything is black, and your eyes start to twitch.

ONLY problem was, i couldnt get the twitching to spread from my eyes, to my face, to the rest of my body like i did before. So i keep trying and at this point the muscles in my eyes and cheeks feel worn out since i have been trying to enter a lucid dream for about 2 hours
i think to myself "maybe its just because i am not tired" and that was probably it

I also notice at the stage before your eyes twitch, that your whole body is paralyzed, and for example if you try to move your fingertips, it feels like your are moving them, but only in your mind, and if you try hard enough to actually move your finger in real life, you get this feeling that your entire hand has been frozen (like when your hand falls asleep) and you get this crackling feeling when you do move it)

^^^^ i was pretty much it in stage the entire time i was trying to do R.E.M.. Hopefully, i can try it again tonight and i can actually fall alseep this time.

but my main question is anybody else able to controll REM like this? and if so what are some tips?

Well, it's not "controlling REM", because REM is an automatic action, like breathing. The experience you've described, however, closely mimics that experienced during WILDs (Wake Induced Lucid Dreams) where you are falling alseep, but still remaining aware so that you go straight into a dream. I'd recommend highly checking out the tutorials.

At any rate, you've described several of the stages, such as sleep paralysis and vibrations that are often associated with WILD. Other people also experience "hypnogogic imagery" which is when they start seeing shapes or colors that eventually materialize into the dream. I've never managed a WILD yet, but from everyone I've talked to the best thing to try and do when you feel your body starting to fall asleep is just go along for the ride. Don't try to control anything until you're actually in the dream, then go have fun.

Anyway, thanks for joining us. I know I already sent you a welcome note so I'll dispense with the chit-chat. See you 'round!

-Amé