Was this a low level Lucid dream?

I'm pretty new to this, I had two spontaneous LDs a few years ago and one WILD since I joined this forum. I had a dream like the one I'm about to tell you now a few weeks ago but thought I just dreamed of LD'ng but when it happened again last night, I thought i'd ask the forum. Here's the dream:

I dreamed I had a lucid dream in a dream(hopefully that makes sense.( I don't remember a "Ah ha! i'm dreaming" moment) I was outside in this town where I saw a medical cannabis store owned by some celebrity. I went inside and looked around. They had boxes of joints displayed and at the front they had the bud which didn’t look that great, some of it was brown, others were fluffy and not dense like i'm used too. I reminded myself periodically that I'm dreaming. The bud tender was busy helping people so I didn’t get a chance to try anything.(even though I could have just taken it, maybe not so lucid here) As I left the store to look for another place the dream started to collapse. I remembered if I interacted with my surroundings I could stabilize but it was too late and the dream faded.

Instead of opening my eyes I kept them closed. The vague imagery around me was spinning and I along with it. I rode it till it stopped in the next dream. I looked to my left and saw I was in this black family's house, there was the mother, father and a kid in a wheelchair sitting at the dining table. I didn't speak to them, I wanted to leave the house to explore. I walked straight into the second part of this tiny apartment. There were these small windows with frosted glass and a door that was blocked off, no other way out. I then remembered this was a dream and I closed my eyes and pressed against the wall while repeating "this is a dream, I can walk through it" and I did. It felt weird, some resistance but I was then outside. There were these wooden building/store like places on the left and there was people walking, I looked ahead and the dream began to collapse again. I heard someone yell out "try spinning" so I did. As I was spinning it kinda felt like I was beginning to float but it was too late.

I continued to keep my eyes closed and it started spinning but there was no scenery just darkness and numbers which you can vaguely see. Then I thought about a sunny day. The darkness began to fade to light but I woke up.

Sounds like a lucid to me, especially since you lucidly experienced the transitions between dreaming and waking :) And you said yourself:

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Originally Posted by BehindTheDream

I then remembered this was a dream and I closed my eyes and pressed against the wall while repeating "this is a dream, I can walk through it" and I did.

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Why do you question your lucidity when you have thoughts like that in a dream? Wasn't it as vivid as your previous experiences or were you not as aware? There are both levels to vividness and lucidity (and control of course, too), so you're probably right with your assumption that it was a low-level LD. But maybe the more experienced members on here will say otherwise ;-)

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Originally Posted by CarpeNoctem144

Sounds like a lucid to me, especially since you lucidly experienced the transitions between dreaming and waking :) And you said yourself:

Why do you question your lucidity when you have thoughts like that in a dream? Wasn't it as vivid as your previous experiences or were you not as aware? There are both levels to vividness and lucidity (and control of course, too), so you're probably right with your assumption that it was a low-level LD. But maybe the more experienced members on here will say otherwise ;-)

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I think you're right, it just didn't seem as vivid and lucid as my first experience so I wasn't sure if I was just dreaming being lucid. Last night I don't remember saying "I'm dreaming or this is a dream". So now I'm wondering if I entered the dream already conscious. The best things from these dreams were the transitions, I thought that was pretty interesting. Thanks for your reply!

I like to view "lucidity" as being a multi-spectrum mosaic... Trying to reach lucidity while dreaming is often synonymous with trying to have awake-like awareness during a dream... But you are sleeping so not one but many mental faculties are inhibited.

During a dream, you might have an increased faculty (or multiple) to different degrees. Any of those are successes.

Ex.
Knowing that you are dreaming (Here, you know the context, but not much else, you might believe some aspects of the dream)
Knowing you are sleeping and who you are (Here, you know what's true about yourself and your life and you know this is a dream more completely)
Stimulus Awareness (You are paying attention to your senses, the dream might be more vivid or not)
Self Awareness (focused attention on sense of self)
Clearness of thoughts (Your thoughts are coherent)
Memory (You remember previous events and remember your dreams better when waking)
Understanding the dream (The dream meaningfully communicates with you. You might have good insight on why you are afraid or seeking something)

I don't think it's realistic to focus on all of these at the same moment: It's hard to focus on remembering, simultaneously while focusing on your senses and your sense of self.... plus understanding what the dream is telling you and remembering you are asleep... meanwhile your mind is dazed.

So I suggest noting in which ways and to what degree you were more lucid (instead of wondering whether you were lucid or not).

I wish you many different types of lucid dreams!

Agreed. I heard the only requirement for lucidity is knowing you're dreaming. However I've stated 'I'm dreaming' multiple times yet instantaneously slipped back into la la land. I suppose sustaining that heightened state of awareness (I guess we can't measure time in dreams..appearing focused for a couple moments?) is more appropriate. Or he/she was struggling to remain coherent.

Thanks everyone, I wasn't sure if this was like a false awakening type of phenomena, but as PrisonPlanet said, I think I was struggling with being coherent. My lucidity was blinking on and off. I just didn't want to count these as lucids if they weren't.

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Originally Posted by BehindTheDream

Thanks everyone, I wasn't sure if this was like a false awakening type of phenomena, but as PrisonPlanet said, I think I was struggling with being coherent. My lucidity was blinking on and off. I just didn't want to count these as lucids if they weren't.

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You can for sure count this as a lucid dream.

(I just think we have a bad habit of asking this question)

I didn't know why I didn't put two and two together, but the mantra I use before bed since I wake up naturally several times through out the night is "After every dream, keep my eyes closed and remember my dreams". Which I think has been causing unintended DEILDs (not complaining). I was wondering why there wasn't that "A HA! I'm dreaming!" moment.

Yes, it was a lucid dream,you realised it afterall,because you knew it was a dream at some moment even without the "Ahah!" moment. You also assumed right,you had a low lucidity level,so you couldnt do more even if you tried.
You still managed to stay despite the dream collapsing,it's quite great!