I read all, and you all said that you can wake yourself up, control over your dreams, be aware of what’s happening in your dream, but you all forgot to advise " how to do it " ? , any technique, exercise, method, rituals, recipe , . . . ?
If I could control my dreams, there would be a whole lot more follow through, IYKWIMAITYKWIM. 
But I have managed to pull myself out of bad dreams before, though I’m not how much of that was voluntary…
I’ve never been able to make myself dream about something specific, but I have been able to change my dreams. Usually it’s dreams where I’m being chased or in a fight or some other bad situation. I can usually make myself find a way out or make the bad guys go away. Failing that, I can always make myself wake up.
How or why I have this ability I can’t say. Maybe it’s like being able to wiggle your ears. I used to meditate a lot, so maybe that’s got something to do with it. When I want to change the outcome of a dream, I just think it and it happens. Another factor is I’ve always got a bunch of different thoughts running through my head at the same time. When I have trouble sleeping, it’s usually because I can’t stop thinking enough to drift off.
Bri2k
Couple of things:
[ul]
[li]Get in the habit, in your waking life, of periodically stopping and asking yourself, “is this a dream?” If it legitimately becomes an automatic habit, you’ll start doing it while you’re dreaming too.[/li][li]You can also remind yourself shortly before you go to sleep, “Oh yeah, I need to (for example) check the closet for the blue cape that lets me fly.” Do this the same way you’d remind yourself to stop by the store for milk on the way home from work.[/li][li]As the movie Inception reminds us, in dreams we’re usually catapulted into the middle of the dream’s plot. If you ask yourself how you got somewhere and can’t remember, you may be dreaming. This is another one you have to get in the habit of doing.[/li][li]I’ve seen a gizmo that you wear while sleeping that monitors your eyelids for signs of rapid eye movement, which is associated with the dream state. When you go into REM sleep, the gizmo gently beeps in your ear; you can theoretically train yourself to hear the beeps and realize you’re dreaming. (Never tried it, don’t know how well it works.)[/li][/ul]
I had a string of lucid dreams after seeing the movie “Waking Life”. Usually I’d realise I was dreaming after looking at a clock or trying to read something (and the time/words don’t stay consistent). I haven’t had one since then, though.
I often have the insomniac’s worst nightmare–I dream that I’m on my floormat trying to fall asleep. I’ve developed the ability to determine it’s just a dream and I am really asleep by making something totally violent ludicrous happen, like having someone come in, shoot me in the back of my head and seeing my teeth fly out.
Probably age, and the lighter sleep that comes with it. IMHO, IANAD, etc.
I’ve definitely had dreams in which I realize I’m dreaming and can control it… to an extent. I don’t seem to be able to sustain it for very long until some other aspect of the dream intrudes on my control. It’s like I’m fighting my sub-conscious for the upper hand.
Chipacabra’s description in post #17 is a perfect example.
i have had it several times. most successful are the times when i have woken up in the morning and then spent an hour or two dozing, going in and out of sleep your body and mind starts to recognise it. sometimes you can see things forming against the back of your eyelids and realise that it’s faces and things happening. you can follow it as if you were watching telly for a while and then you’re in it. it’s a great feeling. i can post a couple of my most memorable ones if you’re interested.
first time:
i was sitting on the floor next to a sofa where my dad and my sister were sitting. i suddenly realised i was dreaming, and i stood up. i remember raising my hand and looking at it. when you’re lucid dreaming all the colours seem extra vivid - almost more detailed than real life if that makes sense. i also find my adrenaline really kicks in - my heart is racing. it’s certainly not relaxing! i looked around the room, and at my dad and my sister and realised i was dreaming and that i could do anything. i decided to try and fly. i took off straight upwards. it was so exhilarating. i realised there would be a roof and thought i’ll just go straight through it. so i did, and then i was above rooftops in a town. i flew until i suddenly thought i hope i don’t fall, whereupon i did fall. i suddenly lost the ability to fly and began spiralling out of control. i made myself wake up before i hit the buildings below. scary end to a brilliant dream.
best time:
it started off as just a nightmare. i was walking along a narrow path, and water was rising on both sides, and went off into the distance as far as i could see. it kept rising and the path was getting narrower as the water covered it, and soon it was like walking along a narrow metal beam, surrounded by water. i knew i’d fall in, and i did. underwater, i looked up and saw a massive shark facing me. at that instant i knew it was a dream. i looked around and the shark stayed where it was, immobile. i decided i’d shoot it, and, breathing underwater, i felt for my gun. it was one of those old plastic toy guns that fires table tennis balls. i’d forgotten them since i was a child, but that was what came into my hand. it was empty but i knew that wasn’t a problem. i aimed and shot the shark and it exploded like the end of jaws - a proper explosion! i swam to the surface, and then decided to wake myself up. i did so, with a big smile on my face. i had been terrified in the middle of a nightmare, and then realised it was a nightmare and resolved it in my favour, vanquishing my foe. i walked around like clint eastwood that day 
Only once have I ever felt control over my dream!
When I was in high school (and still a virgin), I had a dream that I was in my boyfriend’s house. His mother told me he was waiting for me upstairs, and that I should head on up. I started walking up the stairs and then I suddenly realized, Hey! This is a dream! I can have sex with Mike if I want and still not lose my virginity in real life! So I started running up the stairs to GET IT ON when I suddenly woke up.
BOO!
So as soon as I realized I could control my dream, I got booted out of it. No fair, man.
I’ve been aware I’m dreaming before, but for some reason it never occurs to me to control things. I think my subconscious has a better imagination than my conscious.
I don’t know what can be done to cause it because I’ve done it all my life. I can count on one hand the dreams that I remember in which I wasn’t aware that I was dreaming. So being older isn’t necessary.
Most of the time, once I know I’m dreaming, I won’t be able to stay asleep much longer. I’ve never really tried to cultivate the skill of doing it all the time, though, because trying to control things when I’m awake is stressful enough. I want to rest when I’m asleep.
I dreamed about my mom a lot right after she died. The first time, I was talking to her, and then I sort of remembered that she had died. I thought I could remember her ashes in my hands. I was confused, so I tried a test: if I was wearing her ring, she was really gone, so it must be a dream. I squeezed my fingers together and felt the ring there. I knew it was a dream, so I woke up, still squeezing the ring.
I was so disappointed at having wasted the opportunity to “visit” with my mom that I kept reminding myself to take advantage of any more chances I might get. In later dreams, I would have a short window between becoming lucid and waking up. I was able to tell her I loved her. I told her “goodbye” for my sisters, who did not get to the hospital in time to see her while she was still conscious. I hugged her every chance I got. I haven’t dreamed about her in a while, but I haven’t needed it so much, either.