How do you lucid dream?

So this is my first post and I wanted to know more about lucid dreaming. First of all I have had dreams where I can control what I do and who I am in a dream. It is just once and a while and i don't get to choose when I can control ad it is at total random.

Does anyone know how I can choose when I want to be able to control my dreams and not just have it at random?

If you know please let me know!

Whenever you realize you are dreaming, you are pretty much Lucid from that point forward. You have controlled your dreams before so... If you can find a trick that lets you know you are dreaming, and you are good at remembering your dreams, you can make yourself be Lucid more.

Some tricks:
-read things such as road signs, look away, and look again. During a dream if you read something and look away, then look back it changes.
- Turn the light switch on and off during the day and ask yourself if you are dreaming. If you turn the light switch on in a dream, and you aren't lucid, the lights don't come on. But this will let you know you are dreaming which is step 1.
- Look at your watch, then look back. In a dream the hands on your watch will change places (just like the first trick I listed).

The 2nd thing is to be sure you remember the dream, this can be helped by keeping a dream journal. As you keep the journal, you remember your dreams better, because you are excersizing that ability of dream recall.

There is more, but that should be a good start, plenty of threads here and info on the web, you can go as far with this as you want..

I had a little success with it when I worked at it, never really got that great at it.

Also take note of one thing in particular that often happens in your dreams but never in real life (for example you might have the ability to fly) and use that as a signal that you should do a reality check.

There's only one way I've found to do it deliberately, and that's to go straight into a lucid dream while falling asleep. In other words, relax physically but try to remain mentally alert so that you observe yourself falling asleep. This is a really bizarre experience. You actually feel your brain switching into a different "gear", and at the same time you lose awareness of your body and surroundings. If you've succeeded in maintaining your awareness, you'll actually think to yourself "Hey, what the heck...? I just fell asleep!" - and if the surprise of that doesn't wake you up then you can pretty much take it from there and do what you want.

"Hey, what the heck...? I just fell asleep!"

Hahah that one made me laugh out loud only because WHENEVER I think that I have usually (not always) snapped right awake right after the realization. I know there is a way to side step that but its been a pain for me lately! Are there any techniques anyone knows to help out during the realization part or Lucid dreaming?

By far, I'm no expert. But, I've lucid dreamt for as long as I can remember. I even come up with jokes that I tell the guys at work, while dreaming ; albiet, lame they are.
I'm able to allow a dream to progress as it wants, or step in and take control.
The above are useful...look at something that can change irl, or, as I often do,
find a mirror and look in it. If you can see your reflection ( mine is never reversed ), say " Ok, here we go".
Works for me.

Lex

Any1 have any tips on the best ways 2 lucid dream(reality checks?). also what do u do in a lucid dream? can u imagen somethin and it will happen? i wanna have a lucid dream!!!!wahhh