My first LD & sleep paralysis. \\ Warning: long and boring

Hi everyone, especially to non-members lurking. btw Im new here!! but i guess not so new because I've been lurking dreamviews before I joined the site. Anyway, I'm thrilled to share my experiences these past few days in my quest for lucidity.

I have not experienced a lucid dream before, not that I know of, and I'm completely new to it. I remember few years ago questioning myself: "What if I were aware in my dreams and if I can do whatever I want in those dreams??" and I did not know what "lucid dreaming" was at that time and I just say to myself that it's quite a silly and clever thought of mine. I asked that question for the reason that I remember quite a lot of very vivid dreams, some lingers in my head for a couple of years. I find them very exciting and weird and when I try remember them, I always analyze them and regret some of the things Ive done (I should have done this, that, blah, blah etc.)

Almost a month ago I found out about lucid dreaming and was very excited to experience one. I've been reading tons of resources about it and now I got my first LD!! it is 23 days after the day I first knew about LD! I have tried a couple of techniques in span of 3 weeks; WBTB, WILD, FILD, DILD, DEILD, MILD. The best thing that worked for me is the MILD; autosuggestion before bed is effective for me. I started MILDing in my 3rd week of attempting LDs and a week later, I got my first LD.

First LD
Since I started my quest for lucidity, I have remembered over 30+ dreams. The best record I had along the way was to remember 10 different dreams in one night, 4 of them really vivid. (btw, i keep a handwritten dream journal and a software journal for short summaries when i got no time to write in the morning) Just last sunday(day before 1st LD) it was the mark of my 3rd week after 1st attempt, I was disappointed why the hell I cant lucid dream..even if I can remember my dreams well and analyze most of them. I told myself that I'll have one last chance to lucid dream or else I will post my problem in DreamViews. It was amazing that I had My first LD happened last Monday, Apr26, The night after giving myself a chance. I used MILD together with WBTB that night. I kept repeating: "I will realize that Im dreaming in the midst of a dream" before I went to bed. I slept 12:30midnight and has set my alarm 3:30am. (not the usual alarm, i usually set 4hrs WBTB after sleep but i forgot this time). It was the first dream of the night actually, and I remember walking in some place outside I don't know. It looked like an open park in a suburban town full of houses. Then suddenly, there was a very very RANDOM thought that popped in my head: "Ok man, I don't have to worry because my body is sleeping in my bed". That thought triggered a snap! like a light switch just turned on and everything became vivid. The next thought was: "OH! I'm lucid! this is awesome!" Then I just noticed how beautiful everything were, it looked like everything is lit but actually the sky is really dark yet colorful (like the sky during sunset). The next thing I realized was how to stay lucid, I paused for some time and remembered about screaming in a lucid dream. I shouted "LUCIDITY!" loudly but I felt my throat struggled. I did not do a RC for some reason but I just know that Im dreaming and Im aware! I walked by a street and saw a couple in front of their house. I asked the man if I was lucid, He said "Yes, you are lucid dreaming" then I asked the woman beside him if I was dreaming, she said "You are dreaming" Then suddenly my lucidity went away and the dream scene changed..(I shouldnt have asked the last question)...then I woke up. I felt "WoW! my first lucid dream" I was amazed to see that the time is 3:29am. Seconds later, the alarm i set up just went off! It was kind of bizarre, I thought either the subconcious picked up the alarm time as i set it up hours earlier or the alarm was set up in a very lucky spot in my sleep cycle. I went to work that day and found myself quite relaxed. No change in mood but just relaxed than ever before. I was AWARE the whole day and night. Like everything had more colors and details but not too much. The effect of my first LD is actually good.

First Sleep Paralysis
3 days later, I experienced SP and it was awful. I hate to admit it but yes, I was freaking scared of the hallucination that I had!! I've read a couple of threads about having a dreadful SP and I thought the ones complaining are just plain coward little girls.
[I actually had a semi-SP on the first time I tried WILD! I felt my body was getting numb, starting from my toes until it reached my chest. Then I started breathing heavily and decided to break out of it and go back to normal sleep.]
This first real Sleep Paralysis was a product of my mp3 induction experiment. I made a playlist in my ipod with - 4 hour silent mp3 - then 30 second beep - then 10 minute silence - 30 second beep - 1 hour silence - then the OBE inducing mp3 from lucidology. I found myself waking up in my bed in the middle of the night, unable to move my body except for my head and saw this creepy black shadow hovering on top of my feet, going closer and closer to my head. I was really scared and didnt know what to do. It lasted for about 30secs or so.. I dont know how I got out of it but I just remembered the experience as soon as I woke up in the morning. I thought that the "SP is scary" threads are just some exaggeration but now I realize that what I experienced was not I expected SP to be.

Some questions in my head:
Now I want to ask what should I do when in the hallucination part of Sleep paralysis?? do I just wait for the imagery to vanish?
And also, how long was the gap between your 1st LD and 2nd LD?? Is it true that if you get your 1st lucid dream that it will happen more often?

I'm terribly sorry for the very long boring post, but anyway .. thanks for reading.

First, congratulations!! :shadewink:

Then suddenly my lucidity went away and the dream scene changed..(I shouldnt have asked the last question)
Actually, there wasn't anything you did wrong there with asking the question. What likely made you lose lucidity was the loss of focus you had on the fact that you were in a dream. Instead of paying attention to your dream and keeping yourself aware that you were dreaming, you became a little too absorbed in everything around you. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but if you are to prolong your lucid dreams, watch out for the simple pitfall of losing your awareness by getting too involved with the characters or the dream's plot, etc.

Now I want to ask what should I do when in the hallucination part of Sleep paralysis?? do I just wait for the imagery to vanish?
Somewhat correct: passively watch them. Don't linger on any one hallucination, but don't go out of your way to avoid looking at them. Let them happen, then let them go.

And also, how long was the gap between your 1st LD and 2nd LD?? Is it true that if you get your 1st lucid dream that it will happen more often?
It varies for everyone, and for that reason I won't go look to see how long that gap was for me. It matters only how well you are keeping yourself dedicated to LDing and for what you will use those LDs for, not how long it'll be until your next one. Good luck!