Lucid Dreaming: Was I close or not.

Hello dreamers :)
I registered several minutes ago and was hoping that you may help me if I post this.
I've learned about lucid dreaming last thursday, since them I've been trying to get one, but I still haven't mastered some of the tactics, althought yesterday I had a dream that I think was almost "lucid",but I am not sure. That's why I'm hoping that you will help.

Before I went to sleep last night, I was hoping to dream about a girl that I like. So here's the thing, since our families are close. I've somehow designed a dream about a family dinner, between our families in my yard at home. My dream begins as I remember the table and the guest having fun and all, before my apperance several minutes later. I remember seeing the back side of the girl that I like, along with her ponytail hair, that's when I was sure that I'm dreaming about her, but I never went to guest as they didn't seem to know that I am watching them. I made my way to the front door instead, where I talked with my father and grandmother and I asked them about the girl and I told them her name.

At the same moment, I realised that I'm dreaming, I instinctively did a few RC-s (I want to mark out, that I've been wearing a rubber bracelet, that I often use for RC-s, so in my dreaming I use it, along with looking at my hands and trying to put my fingers across my palms). Since i didn't feel anything, I was sure that I'm dreaming, so I tried to focuss on the girl and make her appear, next to me. Instead I was transported into a street, when i saw her mother, running away from me and getting older with each step, until my dream ended).

I don't know if I was close to lucid or not, but the dream was not as real as I though it will be. I was more like a "viewer, aware of the dream" ,but not like a "participant, like it is real".

I am not sure if I lost control or something else, so I will be waiting for a response.
I also want to use this moment and thank the administration for the wonderfull forum that they have :)

Thank you, also for the time that you spend reading this and I am sorry if there are "grammar" mistakes, after all English is my 2nd language :D

Any dream in which you know you are dreaming is a lucid dream, so yes you had one.

Not only was it a lucid dream, but you were able to visualise or sort of 'incubate' the dinner scene beforehand which is a useful skill as well.
Another reliable RC is the two-finger nose pinch where you try and breath through the nose. I find that works a lot of the time for me.
LD's can vary in quality and intensity as well.

Regards :)

Wow..thank you guys. I feel better knowing that it was a lucid one.
But still, I was thinking that if you are having a lucid dream, you should feel like in a 5D cinema or at least "living the dream with your own eyes" in a way. I am not sure if that makes any sence,
but what is strange is that i knew that it was a dream, but it was like an RPG game, where I was like a viewer seeing everything from distance instead of experiencing it myself. I didn't had much control at all as I think of it..i should check those tutorial lol.
But anyways, I was wondering if the "sleeping time" or it's "lack" has something to do with the duration of the dream and the control? (I have this bad habbit to get in bed late and not getting enough sleep almost everytime)

I think I know what you're talking about. Within some lucid seconds, for me, it happened to be a third person perspective where I was seeing myself in the dream scene, but at the same time feeling sensations like momentum of the dream body as if it was first person. I cannot really elaborate on this in lucid dreaming since I never had enough time to actually explore.

My theory (for non-lucid dreaming, to be safe) is that, since you are actually not "seeing" at all (your eyes are closed), the perception of having a first or third person perspective changes depending on the current situation and environment. If you somehow know more about what's happening in your environment than you usually could if you had only first person perspective, this could produce a third person visual impression. It also makes sense regarding proprioception. You can quite well imagine your visual appearance, yet I cannot really imagine how the sensation of movement, accelleration etc could be experienced in a third person kind of way. For hearing, I don't really know if you are distinguishing there, since what you can hear in third person you may probably hear in first person too, so this does not make that much difference. How about hearing yourself talk (internal or "recorded" voice?). Very interesting :)

Maybe this even applies to lucid dreaming to some extent and someone experienced can shed some light.

Congrats on experiencing lucidity. :goodjob2: