I became interested in lucid dreaming after reading a newspaper article. I was recently diagnosed and started treatment for Sleep Apnea, and have REM sleep and dreams for the first time in years. I want to enhance those dreams.

I purchased a book and started studying. I already have good dream recall, remembering at least one dream each night. I also know my dream signs - I am in a place that should be recognizable in context (long term home or workplace) but is completely new to me. There is usually someone I recognize, but everyone else who should be, and I treat as, familiar (wife, boss, kids) is completely new as well. ("You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife. You may tell yourself, 'This is not my beautiful house!' You may tell yourself, 'This is not my beautiful wife!" You may ask yourself, 'How do I work this?'")

So after about a week I decide to try to acheive a lucid dream. I just tell myself before falling asleep and any time I wake during the night that I intend to have a lucid dream. Two nights ago I had my first. I am dreaming with the usual dream signs and suddenly find myself in a long hallway with a bookcase full of books. For some reason this prompts me to say, "This is a dream" and sudddenly I clearly see I'm in a whole room of bookcases filled with books. I want to be back in the room where I started, so I try spinning to return there. The excitement at controlling my actions is too great and I wake up. Later I regret not focusing on the books to see what they were.

The next night is muddled and I don't recall any dreams, let alone a lucid one. I figure it might be weeks until I can accomplish another.

The third night (last night) I decide to use a technique, but only when I wake from my first REM dream (which I invariably do) and I am already relaxed. I use a counting technique ("1, I am dreaming, 2, I am dreaming...) but I am distracted by a movement from one of the dogs who is lying next to me. I wonder if I could use the dog's movement a an external cue, and wish I could teach him to move when I re-enter REM sleep. I resume my counting, restarting each time I am distracted, and find myself dreaming. I am in my bed, but it is not my bed or bedroom, and I am standing not lying down. I notice the dog is still curled at my feet and I remember he is my cue and I become lucid. There is still some doubt if I am dreaming and I figure if I am lucid I can cause the dog to elevate. The effort proves to be too much and, again, I wake up.

Not willing to give up I again start the counting technique and find myself in a dream where I am next to my wife and wearing a mask (not my CPAP mask, but I understand the reference) and we are both counting to induce a lucid dream. I enter a dream that is brilliant in color and light, on a beach surrounded by beautiful blue water. The scene starts to fade but I increase my focus and it solidifies and becomes stable and I can see clearly into the distance all around me. I remove my mask and I turn to my wife, who is now there, and say, "You know we are dreaming, right?" She agrees, and then I turn to my children, who are both there and recognizable, and ask if we are in Figi or Bali. They answer, "No, we are in Santa Monica." I resolve to just maintain my focus and enjoy the scenery as long as possible until it fades, my longest lucid dream yet.

So my question: Is dreaming you are having a lucid dream still a lucid dream? If so, was it a dreaming induced WILD or a waking induced DILD?