Hello,
I'm new to lucid dreaming and also to this forum so if this post is on the wrong board I apologize, I just want some tips because I'm really freaked out. Having said that I just experienced my first lucid dream where I actually exercised some amount of control. I've been aware that I've been dreaming before but for the first time I changed the plot - by waking myself up. This was the kind of dream where you wake up several times in it, but I was having a nightmare and every time I woke up a man hunted me down and twice succeeded in raping me.

I came to a point where I woke up again and I was not only aware that I was dreaming but knew the man was going to try to find me. I panicked, I knew I was in control but haven't had enough practice to change the scene or remove the man completely, so I woke myself up. (I did this by summoning a friend for help.) It was a really scary experience and I woke up shaking. I didn't know lucid dreaming existed so I googled it and ended up here.

I'm just hoping some people with experience in lucid dreaming can share some tips with me on how to gain better control of my dreams or at least how to calm down. Has anyone else ever woken themselves up from nightmares? I tend to have a lot of bad dreams but this one was extremely realistic and vivid and really has me bent out of shape. Any comments/tips are appreciated.