Hello all, I am a newcomer to this forum and have recently started experimenting with lucid dreaming. Brief history: I've always had really vivid dreams ever since i was a child (I still remember a lot of them), and for a long while, the majority of my dreams were nightmares. I somehow was able to force myself awake from most nightmares after a point (an ability I am thankful for), but was never able to actually control one. I am also a major insomniac and have a very irregular sleeping schedule.

I am usually pretty good with recalling my dreams, although some dreams are obviously more detailed and I can remember longer portions of it. My problem is having trouble becoming aware of the dream or sometimes I feel like I'm not even in the dream, I'm just watching it, and therefore unable to become aware. Is there anything I can do to help this?