First Lucid Dream! and some questions...

Last night I had my first lucid dream. Very unexpectedly too. I was looking at this site about a month, month in a half ago. I tried for a while to remember dreams/ lucid dream but couldn't. I didn't think about dreaming for about a month or so. Then last night I had a very long lucid/semi-lucid dream.

Basically I woke up in the middle of the night. Still half asleep i decided to try to fall asleep while remaing conscious. Almost instanly I started seeing pictures and colors. Then very soon after that ( At least i think) my body instantly went numb and I couldn't move it. I dont know if i went into the dream from there or if it happened later. (WILD?) Anyway heres my dream.

Craig's Dream Journal
http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27983

I was just wanting to hear what some of your recommendations are for improving dream recall. When I started reading this a month or so ago I went to bed for weeks thinking "remember your dream", I did have sucess once and vividly remember a dream. Since then i haven't remebered much else except for small fragments. I have very bad dream recall. This was the first time i've fully remembered a dream in about a month. Usually i dont get much sleep because I'm up doing homework till 1-2 in the morning and get up at 7 or 8 for classes.
Also this dream was very vivid when i was in it, but as soon as i woke up and realised what happened everything I remember got hazy. I just remember thinking in the dream "This feels so real.."

Hey MacMan,

Well you're obviously keeping a journal and that's pretty much the first thing most people here on the site will tell you to do everyday.

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Usually i dont get much sleep because I'm up doing homework till 1-2 in the morning and get up at 7 or 8 for classes[/b]

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You can't dream much if you don't sleep much - plain and simple! Also, your dreaming periods become longer as the night progresses making your longest dream your last one (early in the morning). So, if you were to sleep for 10 hours your last dream would be really long compared to if you were only sleeping for 5 or six.

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Also this dream was very vivid when i was in it, but as soon as i woke up and realised what happened everything I remember got hazy. I just remember thinking in the dream "This feels so real.."[/b]

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How are you waking up - alarm clock? If so, that can fuck things up quite a bit. First, it's startling you out of your dream. Second, you have to draw your attention away from your dream to get up and turn your alarm off. I understand homework and school are important. I think to improve your chances you need to come up with some schedule that allows you more sleep time. Don't forget naps - they count to! If you can set aside an hour or so at some point during the day you may find yourself becoming lucid sincd you're already depriving yourself of some sleep. Your body remembers this and will try to "catch up" if you give it a chance.