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I just woke up from a dream, in which I experienced, probably, a similar kind of uneasy eeriness as RisingSon described. Having my memory refreshed on what that part of the astral can be like, I now remember clearly just how uncomfortable that can be.

I was in an abandoned-feeling school with a few people, I wasn't focusing too much on them so they were quite static. The lighting was dim, and someone was screaming in the background, about being hurt by someone. I wanted to leave, so I anxiously went down some stairs towards a door that leads outside, but as I feared would happen, I attracted the attention of the one who the screaming person was screaming about. I looked up, and a ghost-like person floated in through a closed window, and started to taunt and threaten me. Then I woke up.  

It was an F2 level experience (I don't like thinking in terms of this system really, but since people are familiar with it around here...).

I feel that dream-situations like this are brought about by the unskillful thoughts/behavior of the dreamer. In this case, before the dream took a turn for the worse, I remember acting quite frivolously. One of the people I was in the school with, was telling me about some academic achievement of theirs, and my response was along the lines of: Oh, I just flunked out of that class, it doesn't matter *laughing flippantly*. That's when the scenario darkened.

Back to what you were asking.

One element of dreaming is "dream magnitude" (I'll call it). We can project dreams weakly or strongly, depending on the energy we have. When the projection becomes strong enough, the experience becomes well articulated, and stable. Instead of a garble of ideas, images and feelings, everything goes into place, and can be perceived as an environment, in which you are located. The interesting point there is, when it is projected as such, you can distinguish yourself from the environment.

There's also the whole issue of other entities and impressions made by others in the astral, but that is complicated, and I can't really explain it, though it seems to be an important part of the astral.

One aspect of dreams, that I think a lot of people understand is: the issues in a persons life determine the content of the dream. Sometimes, the issues are obvious, sometimes they seem more abstract. The more lucidity, the more control over the experience. (which I can see as being a good thing, or a bad thing)

Awareness is the element you are interested in. I think that being aware in dreams has to do with desire and aversion habits. If a person is used to bending their perspective of reality, to suit their wants, or to quell things they are adverse to (which pretty much everyone does, to some extent, in the physical world), they won't be able to maintain awareness on the astral level. If a person strongly represses their thoughts and feelings, as a habit, they will rarely remember their dreams.

For AP, both awareness, and sufficient energy, are needed. These two things are actually connected. A person with healthy energy, doesn't need to fear or repress what he/she sees. Meditation is a tool for developing both concentration (which creates energy), and awareness. In the types of meditation that I think are intended for the best purposes, both concentration, and awareness, are cultivated in balance with each other. Awareness gives us a fulfilling perspective of reality, and helps prevent us from misusing our energy, and concentration/energy empowers awareness.

Perhaps, in the evening, before you attempt to project, just give yourself some nice relaxation time. Make some tea, listen to some relaxing music, and don't worry about anything in particular, not even AP. Then, when you lie down and try to go to sleep, keep that relaxation with you. Don't try to force it. Just be willing to go with it, if it happens.

I personally don't think people should strain too hard to get an OBE. If your conscious mind was willing, it would happen naturally. I hope you don't get too discouraged by me saying that. You might get there faster, though, if you take a more indirect approach. This might sound very strange, but I'll bet if you took up swimming, it would improve your chances. Meditation may help too. I would recommend vipassana, or zen. If you don't want to go as far as formal, sitting, meditation, just practice being observant and objective, during the day.

One last suggestion would be to let yourself just enjoy your dreams, without stressing too much over them. You might find that to be a more rewarding experience, even if you aren't completely lucid in them.

Anger, fear, sadness, greed, lust, and the list goes on. All of those things are mental contaminants that rob us of a more fulfilling view of reality. We, as humans, can't overcome those unskillful mental qualities by repressing them, so we must face them and learn to understand them. During the day, in the physical world, we have certain opportunities, and dreaming can also be an excellent interface for dealing with issues in our lives.

Humans are physical beings, as well as emotional, mental, and spiritual. We must take care of ourselves on all those levels. My intuition is that our astral body is interconnected with our physical body (and all our other bodies). A being in the astral, who is not manifest in the physical, will probably notice a difference in the astral body of a human.

But, I'm kinda getting away from the point.

For me, personally; I can only consciously experience the astral, by slowly adapting to that feel of consciousness, by dreaming for an extended period of time. I've only had one experience that was a full blown astral projection (though, from a young age, I've had lots of vivid, and-or lucid dreams).

When I experienced AP; first it was a dream. Then, as my mind settled in, the dream started to become more fully defined, and I started to gain awareness. It was a quite strongly projected dream at that point, but then there was a quantum shift in my experience as I attained unison with my astral body. I felt fully present, and as aware as I do while awake. The world became more vast and completely defined.

It was very intense. I was looking over an seemingly-endless ocean, and sky, with eyes that could see 360 degrees around. My body became weightless, and I rocketed into the sky. I was flying so fast, beyond my control, so after holding it for a short while, I shifted back to my physical body, and woke up.

Anyways, maybe you are trying too hard? Sometimes, our efforts get in the way of achieving the thing that we are making an effort to achieve. One of the best things we can do to encourage lucid dreams, is to work on developing a healthy, daytime, lifestyle. The way we live, during the day, can determine how much, and what type of energy we have for dreaming, and whether or not we are willing to be conscious of it. Things like developing confidence, or good relationships with people, will give you advantages in the dream, such as ease of concentration.

[constantly]

I think sex can be a beautiful thing, but, the kind of sex that populates the internet is some of the unhealthiest, and lowest forms of it you can find. Absolutely degrading to the spirit. However, it is normal for young people to struggle with lust and sexuality. Luckily, at the age where lust is running rampant and free (teen years), it is common for people to have energy to spare, so it's not as damaging to be constantly throwing it away. As you get older, that energy is harder to come by and must be cared for.

There are few things in the world, more spiritually destructive than constantly spending your energy on physical gratification, which is expressed through our lowest chakra, muladhara. Our energy wants to flow downwards, as water flows downwards, simply because it is easier. What I mean by that is, we get urges, because our energy tends towards the easiest way to attain satisfaction. Only through our effort and will to progress spiritually, can we bring our energy to serve higher purposes. When you bring your sexuality under control, naturally, your energy rises, and can be channeled into higher forms of expression.

All that being said, I do think that the physical sensations of sex that we lust for are not wrong in themselves. If we have a healthy approach to sex, we can enjoy the physical pleasure, without falling victim to lust.

This is my experience and opinions on this matter, and I know it may be aggravating to read, as many people (myself included) are attached to having sexual gratification more often than is healthy. We're human afterall.

I suggest you read up on some Taoist material. Taoists have a very comprehensive look on sexuality as it relates to spirituality.

For many of those who lucid dream, their conscious mind first goes to rest when they fall asleep, and they start dreaming (non-lucidly). Because the conscious mind is at rest, it does not disturb the contents of the dream. This peaceful mental state can lead to the nicer dream environments that you mentioned. If the conscious mind is resting stably, the dream will probably become well structured, and organized, and the dreamer may distinguish him/herself from the dream environment, which, in turn, may lead to lucidity.

If you enter the astral plane, consciously, but you aren't comfortable with the various things you might experience there, I imagine you would naturally experience a level, that is close to the waking world. For those who, mainly, can only enter conscious experience of the astral by the first method, they are likely to lose lucidity when they encounter something that bothers them.

That's my theory, but, I'm not an expert.