I started attempting lucid dreaming after a friend suggested a technique he found fairly successful. He has frequent SP though, something I have never experienced. I tried anyway, and found it worked, kind of - I lie completely still, headphones on and listening to an .mp3 track he gave me, and focus on a mix of breathing/counting.
So far, what happens is I get to a point where I start to feel like I'm falling (he described this to me, so I expected it), and I can feel my eyes flicking/twitching rapidly. My breathing doesn't change but my heart starts to pound. The problem is that as soon as the eye twitching starts, my eyes will gradually open, and trying to keep them shut brings me out of it, and whatever was happening is lost. The heart pounding is pretty distracting too.
Any advice? Should I switch techniques? I'm hesitant to since this happened the very first time I tried, but it's still the most I've ever gotten from trying lucid dreaming. I tried before but just basic DILD and nothing ever happened.

Thanks for any advice! Also yes, newbie here. Pleased to meet you