Hi everyone, my name is Dan. I just have a couple of questions about my experiences with dreaming. A little while back, maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, I think I experienced the beginnings of what seemed to be a lucid dream (accidentally). I was reading a book and I slowly became very fatigued and sleepy. I guess I must have become unconscious for second because there is a part of that dream that I don't remember. Anyways, the next thing i experienced was a feeling of paralysis. I opened my eyes (in the dream?) and saw my room, I was still in my bed but I could not move. Next thing I know I jolted awake, this time I really did wake up. Is this an example of a lucid dream (WILD), or no? It seems that everytime I try to repeat my experience I had that night, I get extremely excited and I cannot become relaxed enough. Do you have any suggestions for controlling my excitement? If so replies would be greatly appreciated.

Another quick question. A long while back when I was young around 6 or 7 (I'm 16 now) I could remember my dreams very well. I also had a lot of nightmares then too. While experiencing one, if I got too scared, I could think really hard, liking squinting my eyes, and I could wake up. Is this an example of dream recognition? And from this point could I have controlled my dream? Any comments are greatly appreciated.

-Dan