CAMELOT FANTASIES

Too bad I forgot to mention no wake-up alarms at either steps, but I think it's clearly understood that any sudden waking up would cause the forgetting of a part of or all of a dream.

Your brother as a symbol could be great if you can overcome your emotions, but unless you do that, you need to focus on a symbol that helps you concentrate, that is able to remind you of things.

The trance state used to happen to me many times, but you must realize that it conflicts with 4. Once in a trance state, your awareness cannot possibly exist. You must try to focus as much as possible during the day (without tiring yourself). Anything you see can become part of the dream world, and anything in real life can have been seen in a dream before, causing a deja vu. It's a chain, and it's important to keep your brain in focus, so that information can run while you dream enough so that it produces variety in your dreams when you become lucid.

In sleep paralysis you are actually half awake, and in some cases, able to really open your eyes. Sometimes there is a sound yes. Trying to wake up will increase the scare, trying to go back to sleep is the key here, because you can leave a thought inside your head which will provoke your mind to remember this event. Obviously, this is not easy, the sleep paralysis scenario is often a gateway to a nightmare as well. I remember moments in which I imagined something coming at me from the edge of the bed. The most famous sleep paralysis cases have lead to unreal images of alien abductions, you know. So careful here.

Try to focus on false awakenings, this is how I first had my lucid dreams. So, have I really woken up? Let me turn on the lights. Ooops, it doesn't work, so, no, I am dreaming. At that instant, all was bright in the room, and everything suddenly had more detail. My mind could not cope with so much detail, and I instantly woken up with a beautiful happiness. What was that? That was incredible. I must do that again sometime. Obviously, doing it for the second time was not that easy, but once it happens once, that is motivation.

Tell me more about your experience, maybe I can help.