Not sure if this dream was lucid...

[deikan]

So I have never really experienced a truly lucid experience where I was both aware of the fact that I was dreaming and able to mold my dream from being aware. However yesterday I read about lucid dreaming from Reader's Digests and it really got me thinking. Going to sleep that night it took me longer to fall asleep and when I did something strange happened. A disturbing image of a mask started gravitating towards me and after a while vibrated and kept flying towards me. The sound it made while doing that felt surreal and was very loud. I tried waking up and opening my eyes but they would not, then with my arms and hands to the same results. It then got to the point where I felt I was suffocating and now I was genuinely scared. Finally I managed to concentrate and move my feet and eventually my leg which led me to awake. This experience felt like it lasted 10-20 seconds but in actuality I don't know how long it was.

[Oreo]

I'm not sure if this was even a dream. It sounds more like sleep paralysis to me, which means you were about to enter a dream. If something like this happens again, you can use it to attempt a WILD.

[deikan]

Yeah I guess it's far too short to be one, what's a WILD though?

[Oreo]

WILD stands for Wake Initiated Lucid Dream. It's a technique where you make your body fall asleep while keeping your mind awake until you enter a lucid dream. Sleep paralysis is usually experienced in the middle of it. It is explained much better here: WILD Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

[gab]

Sounds like sleep paralysis. Read up about it and about WILD, so next time you know what you can expect and you not scared. You were very close to entering a lucid dream. You just keep watching the images behind your eyelids, until they turn into a movie/dream. Then you pick a spot in the movie and wish to be there. I usually say slowly and deliberately 'I ...am...there'. That transports me to the ground in a dream. And you are lucid. Good luck