Need Help Staying Lucid

My first lucid dream was 10/01/07 (it lasted about 5 seconds) after i had that dream, i started researching about lucid dreams and i found out about this forum. Since then im remebering about 3-4 dreams per night. I've have 3 more lucid dreams since i joined. But i have one big problem, everytime i do the reality check in my dreams i wake up with no time to rub my hands at all. Yesterday night i even had a second chance after my lucid dream, because i woke up with sleep paralysis but i couldn't control myself from moving and ended up losing it before falling asleep again.

Can someone give me any advice as to how stay lucid for longer than 1-2 second or how to go back to a dream from sleep paralysis?

:welcome:
one thing is to focus on something else so you calm down...once you get worked up you wake up.if thats your problem and if its not..then do reality checks and all that....I hoped i helped you some. Im sure clarity will drop by eventually with some tutorials.
see ya around

Welcome to DV.
dreamscaper22 is right. You have to remain calm in a dream, which is my problem too. Aswell as this, if your dream begins to fade you can try a few things:
- Spin in a circle and expect a clearer, more vivid dream once you have stopped
- Shut your eyes and expect a clearer, more vivid dream once you have opened them again
- Rub your hands together
- Yell something like, "Increase lucidity now!!!!!"

Thanks for the welcome and the fast replies. I guess that my problem really is getting relaxed, because my first lucid dream before i knew about them was 5 seconds. This is because i didn't know about all the things you could do while lucid. Now that i know, i guess i get way more excited.The RC i use in my dreams is the breathing test but by the time i react to rub my hands, im awake and i do the RC again just to make sure its not a FA.

Yeah, you should always check for FAs. But on the note of relaxing, it is hard to do. I tend to use my excitment to fuel my insane yelling of "Boost lucidity" or whatever. I just let it all out in one big exclamation. Good luck.

once you become lucid focus on something in the scenary and it will calm you down...i had that problem once..I went into an FA<false awakening>. and then i went back into a lucid

Thanks of advice. It's my problem now... I'll be train :)