I'm 16 years old, and have absolutely no prior experience with lucid dreaming. As I said in one of the stickies above, I was directed here by the StumbleUpon add-on for Mozilla Firefox. The title caught my attention, and as I read the introduction, I couldn't believe it. I had always tried to imagine what it would be like to have control of a dream, and what all one could do with it. I didn't know such a thing could be taught.

So yesterday I read all of the articles on the front page, a few of the induction techniques and tutorials, and some of the forum threads on the experiences during lucid dreaming some people here have had. I was still in amazement over the whole concept, and decided to start learning myself. I've already noticed a difference.

I got up, grabbed a notebook and pen, and set them next to my bed. While lying in bed, I started counting and alternating breaths, as in the HILD Technique. I would trail away every few seconds, but I remember getting to around 55 before finally dozing off; I never had to move on to step 2 of the technique. I had decided earlier not to attempt lucidity at all yet, so I fell asleep easily after counting.

I woke up after every dream that night, which happened around 2 to 3 times; I had never done this before. I remembered one dream, but never wrote it down in my journal. The rest were forgotten.

I will attempt the same thing tonight, except this time I plan on using the journal when I can remember to.

One problem I have is with the reality checks. I will double-take at my watch, flip a switch, or touch my left index finger to my right palm every once in a while, but I don't feel it developing into a habit that will continue into dreaming. I think I read about someone writing "RC" on their hand; I may end up doing this, while at the same time avoiding freaking out any of my school friends, because I haven't really told anyone about what I'm trying to learn here, and I don't think I will until I'm sure I can do it. Encouragements and words of advice are greatly appreciated!

I'm intrigued and extremely eager about the possibilities of lucid dreaming, so I'll continue working on dream recall tonight.

Wish me luck!