Hey, I have been experiencing lucid dreams since I was a small child, but I am new to the
concept of inducing and controlling them. My dreams have always been vivid, intense, and in
many cases I can remember them for days or months. As a kid, almost all my lucid dreams
were nightmares, and they scared the shit out of me, even when I was aware at some low
level that they were dreams. Like Invader_Tech posted, dream signs like unworkable
lightswitches were like the que to the start of something terrifying. Also being unable to
run from darkness, being trapping alone, being pursued by terror, and being unable to
awake from these seemingly real situations, made me terrified of falling asleep . Dreams
like that happened on a nightly basis. A deep fear of the dark didnt make it any easier.
Eventually I got better at "pulling out" (i.e. waking) from these dreams, and often I was
able to controll many details of the dreams, such as how I would react to scary things.
Really wierd note, all the nightmares were reacurring: I would get them most every night
the same dreams. Cool thing, I must have been aware on a low level that they were dreams
because I remember thinking "oh crap, here is comes again," like I knew it was a dream,
even though I coulnt wake up. Sometimes I tried different approaches to the nightmares to
see if there was some way to escape.

As I got older, my lucid dreams became less frequent, and I eventually stopped having bad
dreams altogether. I Believe that I may have suppressed my seemingly natural ability to
dream lucidly, perhaps on a subconscious level. Or that I suppressed my dream recall,
because I didnt want to remember all those bad dreams. I need to know if anyone else has
thought of this or has tried to reverse it through focusing mental excercises like yoga.
Ive also heard of hypnosis as a lucidity booster, but ive never tried this.

My dreams have been the inspiration for many of the things I love, like skydiving,
scuba diving, snowboarding, flying. Like I said when I have a lucid dream its intense,
and I usually remember everything. Sometimes the lucid dreams appear to
last for many hours or even several days, while staying in control much like
an RPG, able to control my actions but not always my surroundings. After the nightmares
subsided, I was still able to dream lucidly, but not as often, maybe a few times a month,
instead of nightly. I cant get enough of this dream-freedom, the limitless possibilities.
I no longer fear nightmares, so I want to reawaken my lucid dreaming even if it brings
them back to. Since im new to this id really appreciate any help you more experienced
dreamers could give me on dream induction and control.