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It's a bit difficult to verbalise this stuff for me and I don't know if these will help but here I go...
I think that the more you lucid dream the more proficient you get at it (unless you are a dolt like me and get stuck ).At the very least the lucid environment becomes more stable and sort of legitimate -something tangible almost rather than something flighty and 'dreamy' y'know? So LDing regularly is a start.I think your intent is important here.  Before I sleep I just expect it to happen and its a semi-regular thing now.With this in mind here are my 'tips'
One useful thing I think is to familiarise yourself to the 'feel' of the LD in a physical way, from the perspective of your dream body I mean. some folk say rub your hands together but what I do (more as a LD 'trigger' though) is I stick my hand through a glass window   and it shows me I am dreaming and sort of solidifies my presence or something... But hand rubbing is probably a safer bet.Yeah so remember that feeling.I also usually have some variation of a head or neck ache or just lightheaded-ness in LD. Pay attention to these or any other sensations.
These things normalise the dreamworld or state and make it somewhere real. Rather than hoping or trying to get somewhere, the NPR becomes somewhere reachable cos you've been there and experienced it, felt it. So before you sleep make an intention to lucid dream and recall these details and you'll get into the habit.
I hope this helps (or is at least readable)!

When I lucid dream I usually dream in cycles i.e. from one dream into another, to another etc maybe half a dozen dreams, 2-3 times a week.Normally I'll have at least one where my sight is totally messed up. It tends to feel like my eyelids are glued to my head and I'm effectively staring at my nose,cross-eyed for the duration of the dream. The worst is when the pattern of my bedding is imprinted on my eyes -such a nuisance! Has anybody else ever got this? Demanding clarity never works for me either. So when this occurs , should i just aim to end the dream straight away? I think that non-physical experiences shouldn't be wasted but it gets kinda silly this way.This seems to be a common problem so any tips would be appreciated.

Just to add that I've never experienced sleep paralysis or OOBE to compare it to this and dreams usually just faded out. Its also the only 'physically' painful dream experience I've had - even dream deaths have been painless and its not something I've seen discussed. I'm wondering though if it could be used as a launchpad for AP or something.

I have a few ideas that most people here will disagree with, or tell you it's just belief constructs.  But I'll do it anyway.
When you have a lot of NP experiences, when they are new there is a lot to learn, and for a time, you do.  You learn to find out what the scapes represent, what you can create, how to navigate, you are sometimes taken to places that are either very scary or classical in the sense of schools scenarios.  This is because as a 'new' conscious explorer (and I'm using 'conscious' the old fashioned way) there are many characteristics of this new scape for you to absorb and learn to wrangle.  But like in life, when you learn about things in a physical and concrete way, eventually you run out of things to learn-because there is more to reality than form and function.  So you start getting more abstract lessons or experiences, and you end up having to solve more complicated 'puzzle-like' situations.  Since these are personal, I won't describe any- but some can be very stressful and frustrating.  But eventually, if you are involved in spirituality, you come to the 'understanding (or belief, or idea) that we create that which we experience, and that life is an 'illusion' (or some similar language) and then you begin to experience it in the NP.  Here landscapes turn into partitioned-out scenarios that look like theater stage, or one of those fake beach-pools- you begin to see the fakeness of the scenery.  I think this happens as a side effect of this understanding that you're coming to, and sometimes passes away if you can start to conceptualize more and rely less on form and function.  The ancients called this 'changing your projected body' from one 'plane' to the 'next'- and it's a sign of progress.  
Maybe if you come to realize that the things that used to be fun or interesting are things you've outgrown, (in the NP) and can ask (your Higher Self/Subconscious/Superconscious) to show you something that you can do, or to point you in the direction of what you're supposed to be able to do next.  If you get a different experience, analyze it to see what it has taught you.

Thats an intriguing concept and nicely expressed too. Lots of food for thought there.

[As soon as I gained lucidity, everyone stopped moving. Sometimes they stared at me, as if they expected to be told what to do. Environments lose all interest to them and become just like movie sets.]

I have experienced exactly the same thing you describe a couple of times. As soon as I gained lucidity, everyone stopped moving. Sometimes they stared at me, as if they expected to be told what to do. Environments lose all interest to them and become just like movie sets. I never felt the dread in this context though.

I always attributed this to the fact that the dream had become almost fully consciously controlled, and since I had to "make everything happen" consciously and I couldn't keep track of such a vivid thing a dream is, it just became too self-conscious. Like trying to dance while thinking how to dance and not letting go.

I've recently considered that this belief is what actually causes that. I think conscious control is difficult and limiting, therefore the dream becomes limited and awkward. The thing is, the subconscious may be in control behind the scenes all along. I don't know, it's just a theory.

It's been a while since this has happened to me and I never got the chance to try to solve the problem more than a couple of times, so I really don't know what to tell you.

When this happens run for the nearest door and open it, then the next, and the next, and so on. Just keep rushing through doors until something unexpected happens. Kiss someone.

Thats it exactly! Its comforting to know that I'm not the only one who has experienced this.And the dread's just me being a scaredy-cat really!

Its funny cos I've read in a few places that finding a door is a good way to navigate the NPR but I never remember to. I've full consciousness and all my memories intact so I do all the other little tricks (being aware of my hands, spinning around to maintain lucidity etc) but never that one. I'll keep it in mind for next time.

Anyone experienced this? I haven't for a while but I've not really seen it brought up anywhere. Robert Bruce mentioned it briefly in 'Astral Dynamics' where I got the name. For me it was where out of nowhere mid-dream I'd get a heavy crushing pain on my chest and wouldn't be able to breathe or -'dream-breathe'  . RB said its the astral body getting a fright elsewhere while you're dreaming but I'd like to hear other interpretations.

Thanks for the tip.I searched rescripting and I'm getting the impression (totally feel free to correct me if I've got it wrong) that its where a dream is repeated or reexperienced regularly and how to remedy that.The issue for me isn't so much the content of the dreams as it is the lack of any.As soon as I gain lucidity the dream, the action kind of just stops dead.Its like watching and/or participating in a film to walking around the empty set.My dreams have turned into a succession of abandoned streets and buildings.I can't change the surroundings or even really explore them and its a bit of a hollow experience tbh. If you (or anyone) has any suggestions as to how I can best utilize the dream environment cos it feels like a wasted opportunity otherwise. I feel that maybe I'm going about things wrong attitude-wise or something and the answer is right in front of me and I'm missing it..

I too have dreams about projecting (which I haven't yet experienced to compare to the 'real' thing) wherein I start floating out of my bed.Basically its more like a false awakening. Usually I look down and see an empty bed and become lucid.I guess this isn't much help..

This is a bit of a sloppy post and I apologise in advance especially for the melodramatic title!
Okay so I've been lucid dreaming for a while now. So much so that I don't need to do any affirmations or exercises I just kind of expect it to happen and I LD around 2-3 times a week usually.It normally starts mid-dream with a kind of flickering of awareness or lucidity if you will and its up to me to sort of grab it. Once i'm lucid I find it takes a bit of effort to maintain that state.I don't know if I've read it somewhere or not but I feel like I have to keep moving and I instinctively start running around trying to keep the momentum going and here's where my problems start...
  Firstly I feel this intense sense of dread, almost choking the air. I attribute this to being a natural wimp(!) and nothing scary or dangerous has happened but I doubt that its the best frame of mind to go about this. I try talking to people and they become like blank ciphers even if they were actively engaged in the dream earlier. Also everywhere I go becomes like a stage set sort of flimsy and unreal not dreamlike but what was somewhat definite before lucidity loses this quality e.g. sometimes I find myself in a beautiful or interesting location but as soon as I try to explore I start shifting out of the dream. I find that as long as I keep my focus I can get back into a dream sometimes even the same one.I blackout for a second and I feel like I'm falling or sinking but I'm back and fully lucid. A variation of this happens maybe 5 or 6 times and I wake up with an achy head and neck. once I tried to stay still just it down for a change and I started slipping out again so that made little difference.
There's a few other things I wanna go into(OOBE-lke dreams, weird vision problems etc) but the above is what happens to me pretty much each time I LD and its quite unsatisfying and disappointing. Its not that I have any particular expectations of the NPR (and reading around suggests LD and AP are kind of the same state?) but yeah, I feel a bit trapped and restricted  in this cycle like I'm not progressing.I need some kind of breakthrough cos at the very least my sleeptime isn't really relaxing. Is a change of mindset required, something that simple? Should I set specific goals for myself? Should I attempt AP again (haven't for a while)?
Anyway thanks for reading this

Thanks for replying!!

Longtime lurker here and I've finally come out of the woodwork. I've been lucid dreaming regularly for a while now and I'm trying to make the transition into a full blown OOBE, AP or whatever you want to call it...