As a new addition to the world of lucid dreaming, I have been infatuated with the apparent possibilities that lucid dreaming has to offer. I started writing my Dream Journal a little less than a month ago, after having watched Waking Life and reading information about lucid dreaming. Last night I had my first actual LD experience since I started my quest, but it was not what I was expecting. In my dream I was lying down on a blanket with a girl beside me, and the background of the dream was grey and undefinable. The girl started telling me to get up and run away from something ( I don't know what it was), at which point I said to myself "This must be a dream". After this realisation, I tried to look at my hands, but they were very hazy, as if there was a mist surrounding me. Now is where my dream experience gets a little wierd. When I realised I was dreaming, I was already panicking from apparently being chased, and this coupled with the excitement of first time LDing, I awoke. Or then again, maybe I awoke into another dream. What I remember happening was when I 'awoke', I tried to call out loudly and also move my arms, with no success. At this point I was panicking, but I had read about sleep paralysis and so I told myself to relax. I then awakened with full mobility again.

Can someone please tell me if this is a normal occurance involved with LDing and how to react to such an event?

Note: I realise that this is a very long posting, but I'm really keen to find out about this if anyone can help.