I had my first Lucid dream when I was a teenager, I am now in my 40's.
I got into the occult in my early 20's and started working with some of the Golden Dawn rituals. Specifically one called the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP).
The ritual itself isn't really relevant, however in it, one 'draws' a pentacle in the air in front of themselves in each of the four cardinal directions. I made it a point to do this ritual 2-3 times a day and specifically right before going to sleep at night, I did not skip a day. After about a year of doing this I read about the use of the 'drawing of the pentacle' as a method to force outside influences to show themselves for what they really were in meditations.
I had experienced waking to realize I was dreaming a couple of times before all of this though I was more of a passenger in them, no control over it just aware that it was going on.
However, after all this time of drawing the pentacles in my waking life I began to do it in my dreams. When I did this, things got weird. I would immediately 'wake up' to the fact I was dreaming but the dream itself became malleable. I started like everyone else I am sure with flying, though it was more like jumping and 'holding' the air to stay aloft.
I practiced and eventually learned how to float up from a sitting position and just move about at will.
As time went on my control grew and grew, today when I dream I am completely aware that it is a dream, and have complete control over it, if I want to.
I can rewind dreams and change the dialogue of the player, or the players themselves. I can alter dreams like changing channels on a television, fast forward or just choose to wake up.
You could easily explain the level of control as if a waking person were to just imagine things, anything they want.
I have never really tried to use the skill in any material meaningful way.

Typing this all out I find myself with so much I want to try to convey, that I am at a loss for where to start ot how to get it all out.

I once lived, in my dreams, as a sailor on a ship in the 1700's. I would go to sleep each night and pick up where I left off the night before. This went on for about 6 weeks straight. I lived a whole life in that dream sequence...

Reading back over this, I feel like what I am writing is fantastical and bullshit to anyone reading this.
I am happey to go into any details if anyone wants to ask me about my experiences or more importantly the deeper stranger things I have run into in these dream adventure.

What I am here for, and hope to find is if there is any researchers or proffessionals on this site that I could talk to and maybe work with.

Nothing I am writing is bullshit and I am extermely serrious about studing this as deeply as I can and getting the most out of it.

-James