Careful, you're distributing hopefuel...
Alright, say you're right and it can effectively be done, for instance through the incorporation of 'reality checks' and other techniques, I'll now venture to ask for some of your expertise, commentary and insight. Care to indulge me?
1) I've actually had false awakenings (waking up in the dream, thinking it was just a dream) only to find myself in another normal dream with no realization AT ALL I could change and alter the environment to my desires. Happened just a few days ago. Wtf is up with that?
2) Not too long ago, during a period when I was into meditation for the express purpose of LD/AP'ing, I did once achieve lucid consciousness when I dreamt I was squeezing through a narrow spiral staircase passage into a weird underground public restroom, that was located under some club or bar (don't ask!). I was thinking, "Hell, this passage is too narrow to be real, this must be a dream", and VOILÀ, I realized I was in a dream!
Thrilled over the opportunity, I took to reshaping my exterior into a preferred form in one of the antique mirrors in the heavily arched, dome-like restroom, and then I ascended back up the staircase to take part in the goings on. Unfortunately, the dream began to fade soon after I re-entered and observed a strange parade of brass band Staceys marching down the nightly street outside the club (and I'm not even into cheerleaders). The signal blurred, I lost it, woke up, and I was like "Damn!"
Now here's the rub: although I was lucid and the dream resolution quality was better than most, it was still much too grainy and 'dreamy' and a far cry from the ultra crisp, realer than real feel that ought to accompany an experience like this. Would you say this was A) because this was not a lucid dream, and I'm imagining things, or B) that it was on the way to become a true lucid dream, sort of like halfway there? More practice needed?
3) When I was in my 20's, I repeatedly became, I guess, aware in dreams. When this happened I immediately began examining close details in the dreamscape, like the texture of the grass for example, to see whether the fine details of the dreamscape was as good or better than in reality. I concluded it was better and you actually could see smaller and finer detail than in the real world. Then I usually woke up, and thus I never took it any further than that. Typically, the environment was also more drenched in light than in reality. Would you say such experiences would qualify as (wasted) lucid dreams? Or maybe some kind of stepping stone?
Hope I didn't put too much up there right now. It's not like I want to force you to write an essay or something...
You have the basics alright, this should be easy. The document I linked earlier has most of the basics covered, it is a good read:
http://www.angelmessenger.net/wp-content/uploads/luciddreaming.pdf
1) I've had false awakenings before, it really all comes down to coincidence, most dreams happen in places we've been a lot in, like school / work, or in this case your room. Reality checks still work though, checking when in doubt is never a bad idea.
2 / 3) In my experience how lucid you are is not a 0 or 100% thing, dreams can be somewhat blurry (like your 2) or hyper realistic (like your 3), 100% lucid dreams will mostly be hyper realistic because the signals for touch / smell / etc are simulated / generated directly within your brain by the cortices that handle them so there is no signal degradation as they don't travel through the spine, plus there is no delay in timing. The level of lucidity / clarity depends on multiple factors (in no specific order):
- which stage of sleep are you on? (maximum would be during REM)
-how comfortable are you in your sleep
-temperature in the real world
-what you ate last day (make sure you are getting enough vitamins / minerals)
-how tired were you when you went to sleep
-it does get better with more experience
-I once had a lucid dream while having high fever, it was complete overdrive, the textures and smells were incredible. This remains my upper limit for lucidity until today.
-etc...
Light perception is special within dreams compared to other perceptible things, it has to do with how the eyes and visual cortex work, because light gets filtered mechanically through the iris, global light intensity doesn't need to be processed at the cortex level so the cortex can't simulate those changes, most people claim that the light intensity of general illumination (no point light sources) can't change rapidly within a dream which is why flipping a light switch works as a reality check. However closing your eyes and "teleporting" to a room with different illumination is possible.
In the early stages of learning almost all lucid dreams will be super short, you'll get excited an wake up, it takes some time to learn how to stabilize the dreams.
It is worth noticing, (if not obvious already) that your real body will react to sensations as if they had been real, hormone production isn't simulated, it actually happens. If you get really stressed or do run a lot your heart-rate actually goes up, the adrenaline and sweat is real (I'm sure you've had nightmares where you wake up with your heart pumping and drenched in sweat), of course also positive hormone production is real, so doing something you really like and makes you happy or eating something really good will get you in a good mood, and that good mood will remain after you wake up. Orgasms are also real, and you need to clean after you wake up (they are called wet dreams for a reason), prepare accordingly.
