Cracked it! my first lucid dream

[dreamhax]

I'm a total newbie to lucid dreaming - it's a concept I've been aware of for a long time and something I wanted to try out but I had never previously got the hang of it in the slightest. I didn't really know any techniques beforehand and I guess I was really just attempting WILD with no success. After reading this forum I started to actively try and incorporate reality checks in my day-to-day life. I decided to stick with the two that I see many people using successfully; attempting to push my right thumb through the palm of my left hand, and trying to breathe through closed nostrils. I probably do this 5-10 times per day and have been for the last month or so. My dream recall is still pretty poor (the joys of being woken up most mornings by my 2 + 4 yr olds!) but I planned to tackle this once the reality checks were firmly ingrained. But last night, it happened totally unexpectedly. I was standing in an art gallery observing a large portrait in front of me and I started to sense abnormalities in the situation. Firstly, I couldn't remember why I was there and secondly I have never set foot inside an art gallery in my entire life. I immediately tried to push my thumb through my palm and lo' and behold it popped out the other side! It's hard to describe that first moment of lucidity but I was so taken back that it was actually happening that I started to float up from the floor and almost jolted myself awake I managed to contain my excitement for long enough to get my feet back on the ground and when I turned around I was now inside a large casino (vegas style) with lots of people milling around. I decided to try and find a pool table to see if I could control a game. For some reason people kept bumping into me everywhere I stepped and I remember i starting to really annoy me! In hindsight I should have just vaporised them with laser beams from my eyes or something equally awesome, but this was my first time at this stuff I got to a pool table and there were a bunch of guys playing that I went to school with, some of whom I haven't seen for 10-15 years (outside of facebook of course). It was a weird scenario as if they were waiting for me - the table was broke and they couldn't fix it. I'm not sure what happened after that - whether my recall was just lacking or I was woken up but I don't remember any more. Interestingly, I didn't remember any of this when I woke up initially (it was about 5am and my little girl was awake and crying) but after getting her settled into our bed and dozing again it all came flooding back. I'm excited for the next time now! I want to do something a bit more structured as the dream itself kinda ran away from me I think. Any tips for keeping control of surroundings/characters etc?

[VagalTone]

Congrats ! your LD seems pretty long for your first time.

[Scionox]

Yo and congrats on first lucid dream! For dream control, check out this tutorial: Dream Control Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views there are some nice tips, and if you have any particular questions, post on the dream control forum.

[Saizaphod]

I wish my first LD was that long, mine lasted hardly 5 seconds because i got too exited: " Yes finally! Lets go to fly an-" then i woke up. Congrats!