Hi there! I'm new here (obviously) and very much a newbie to lucid dreaming as well. I've known of the concept for a while, but I didn't know what it was called or many details about it until I heard a show lucid dreaming on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory not too long ago.

For weeks I'd been trying to induce lucidity in my dreams--I used the technique where you ask yourself, "Is this real? Am I dreaming?" while you're awake so that you get into the habit of asking. Finally, I had my first lucid dream a couple of days ago (or, at least, the first one I have a memory of) and I thought it was amazing! I was only lucid for so long--seconds, probably--because I did that newbie thing where one gets all excited and wakes themself up.

And when I did wake up, it was very strange. Right after I got up, I wrote it all down, trying to include lots of detail. Here's the entire dream, and here's the excerpt of me waking up:

"...So, after a moment of doubtful hesitation, the mall scene vanished into what almost felt like a portal—a portal of whirling, fizzing colors (of which I remember orange being the most distinct) and the sensation was like the vibrations of a plane taking off, lifting into the air. I felt like I was being lifted from some area far below my body, and ascending into it, flying through this ocean of color. In fact, the plane is a good analogy—the physical sensation of it was exactly like the turbulence of taking off. Then I arrived abruptly in my body, and the color was suddenly gone. Only black. And I waited for a couple of seconds, unable to do anything, when suddenly my eyes fluttered open. It was like forcing one’s way out of a cocoon almost, or what I’d imagine that would be like. Poking and prodding through until the eyes burst open and you’re back in reality. I knew I was going to open my eyes, but I had to force them—they didn’t open right away. There was no abrupt awakening. Actually, what it most felt like, more than anything else, was like being in the water. When you’re in a large pool, or the lake, and you’re under the water. You roll around so that you’re facing towards the sun. You look up from under the water, looking into the sky. That’s what it was like. The absence of sound, the numb feeling of cold water—you see land, but you’re not there yet. You have to swim upwards before you can take a breath. That’s what it was like. I was in my body, seeing only black, knowing that I’d have to wait a bit before my eyes would open to the waking world. They finally did. It only took about, what I’d estimate to be, literally two seconds. But it seems like so much longer when you feel helpless and don’t have control. I couldn’t have opened my eyes any sooner..."

So, my question is: what happened between my dream and waking up?

Did I have an OBE? Did I come out of some sort of sleep paralysis? Is that just how one normally wakes from a lucid dream?

I'm very interested in the paranormal--anything supernatural, out of the ordinary, or unusual...so I was quite fascinated by the experience. But if I weren't so into weird things, I think it might have really frightened me.

~Citizen Number 3 (aka Laura.)