Thought and advice welcome, thanks.

[Nicho]

Enclosed in the spoiler is an paragraph from my dream journal, I was hoping someone might have shed some light on it, but I suppose there's loads of entries, so not all will be read. Any advice, ideas or similar related experience would be gratefully received, I feel I'm getting closer, but I don't understand why I didn't gain lucidity in this particular dream. Spoiler for Dream entry: Ok, so last night was a weird one, I fell asleep listening to binural beats, when I say fell asleep I was actually trying to WILD and I was experiencing hypnagogic imagery, I kept myself on the border of sleep and consciousness for quite some time until I found myself dreaming, but aware of the fact, however no matter what reality checks I performed I could not get lucid, I guess this may have been a false lucid, I was running through corridors with the feeling of being chased, no so much by people, more by hands in the dark and a feeling of dread. I tried the finger through the hand, trying to fly, holding my nose and breathing, even reading posters on the walls that appeared as soon as I thought I needed something to read and all the time I was aware it was a dream, but I knew I wasn't lucid, at one point I woke trying to push my finger through my hand IRL. I don't understand how it is that I knew I was dreaming, but didn't become lucid or if I was in fact lucid, it's nothing like what I expected. Many thanks in advance and good dreams to all. Nicho...! Note...Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

[Saizaphod]

Yeah iv been there too, when you really can't come up with the answer that are you really asleep or just dreaming. I'm pretty new to lucid dreaming aswell so ill keep my answer short because it's really not that good advice and I hope someone more experienced will reply to this thread to actually to help the both of us So whenever I don't know that if I'm dreaming or not, I take "the leap of faith" (Jump down from the window tough I live on the third floor) When you even SUSPECT that you're dreaming you probably are because you don't have that doubt at the moment right now right? You just know that you aren't. Also trying to remember how you get there where you are at the moment when dreaming will launch lucidity with high odds.

[sisyphus]

You knew you were dreaming. You just had difficulty accepting the fact and you didn't know what to do next. That's totally common and natural. So it's good progress. For next time, you should have a plan for what to do after becoming lucid. It's good to develop the habit to perform reality checks, but you also need a plan for what to do next. Otherwise, you will get stuck in this cycle of performing reality checks, being surprised by the result, and repeating. Instead, you want to develop the habit of expectation of the surprise of a failed reality check and then follow up that expectation with a plan. The plan could be to fly to the moon or talk to a DC or whatever. You may want to start with a stabilization routine. Now that you have experienced a taste of lucidity you can move to the next step. Choose a task every night and remind yourself of it before bed and if you wake during the night (such as during WBTB). You can try mantras or visualization. Create a strong association in your mind of performing reality checks and recalling your plan. This is called prospective memory. It also helps to write it down in your journal. Daydreaming about your plan at other times of the day can help too.

[JoannaB]

If you knew it was a dream, you were lucid. It's just that your awareness was not enough to realize that since it is a dream, you don't have to be afraid and you can stop those reality checks. Knowing it is a dream is enough to call it a lucid dream, but being able to reason correctly and having the control to do something about it, that's the issue here. I would personally call this being barely lucid: yes, it meets the definition of lucidity, but that's it.

[Scionox]

There's no false lucid dreams, either one is lucid or not. Being lucid means being aware that you were dreaming, and you were in fact aware, so congrats on being lucid! Being lucid also don't always means having high awareness or control, my first lucid dreams pretty much were lacking them, but don't worry, it will improve with time and practice. Sounds like you have problem recalling your goals in the dream and just ended up doing random things, i would suggest writing/typing goals somewhere right before going to sleep and/or using them as a mantra, worked for me when i had similar problem.

[gab]

Sometimes you can come very close to realizing that you are dreaming. That dream is vivid, you have some control, you have some lucid elements like RCs and flying, but it just doesn't click. Dreams like this happen, when you think about LDs a lot. It's also possible, that if that dream lasted longer, you would have become lucid. What you had, could have been that. Or a low awareness LD. Can't really tell. Usually when you become lucid through DILD, there is a change in the feel. You suddenly feel you are inside of a 3D environment, instead of just watching it from 3. person view. What helps me a lot to realize something is a dream is my preparation during day. You have to get your mind used to the idea of being lucid in a dream. That it is possible and you can do it, because you have done it before. You see, RCs don't get you lucid. Awareness does. You can practice awareness through this short awreness question "wow, is this a dream?", which is more of a statement than a question. Then this feeling "wow, this is a dream" will start happening in your regular dreams and urge you to RC. But by the time you finish RC, you will already know you are lucid. For DILD - Awareness question+RC+mantra. (you can replace the hand RC by any other RC, and then from the mantra leave out the "looking at hands" part. But, this "looking at hands" RC and mantra is very powerfull. It got me my first 30, if not more LDs. AWARENESS +RC TECHNIQUE: During day, pause what you doing and ask yourself a question "Wow, am I dreaming?" that jolts your attention and makes you stop doing whatever you doing. For a moment, entertain the idea, that you are sure this is a dream or false awakening and feel the excitement in the pit of your stomach. Just pretend, that you have had a lucid dream before that was indistinguishable from waking reality, so this moment could also be a dream and you don't know for sure until you RC. Really consider the answer. Don't just automatically answer "Of course I'm not". Look around and notice details. Look at your hands and count your fingers. Do you have the right amount? Do they look normal? Do a reality check. Try to gently push your thumb through your palm and expect it to go through. Is it going through? Pinch your nose and expect to be able to breathe. Can you? Can you levitate? If not, tell yourself "Next time I'm dreaming, I look at my hands and realize I'm dreaming". Repeat this mantra a few times while looking at your hands. Collection of techniques for DILD. For WILD (sageous) tutorial