Am I making progress?

[Astralaegis]

Hi everyone,
I've been trying to AP/LD/Phase for years now, but finding this site has opened up a wealth of information that wasn't available to me before.  A few months back, I really started trying to AP again.  I ran across the 'deferred method' and have been trying that.  I feel the deferred method is more about discipline and training your mind to do the techniques and just being more aware of trying.  While I haven't consciously projected yet as I am trying to really ingrain the techniques and get a regimen going, my dreams have become much more vivid.  At times I feel more aware in my dreams and if I really want to can change aspects about my dreams I don't like or want.  While it's not full on lucidity or control, it is an increased amount.  One point in a dream, I saw the aurora borealis and suddenly I had the desire to fly so I started flying and then found myself in a room with ordinary people sitting around talking and playing chess.  Other dreams have involved visiting civilizations that were similar to our own but not of this world.  The physics and gravity of these other worlds were different and movement seemed based more on thoughtforms than normal movement.  I think I am actually projecting but only becoming partially aware of it at various points.  What do you guys think?

[spatialreason]

When you say your movement was based on thoughtforms, were you floating?

[Astralaegis]

I wasn't floating, I teleported.  Whenever I wanted to go somewhere in the dream, I merely translocated to that position.  Someone fired a missile (they were rides) and I wanted to ride it and I found myself on the missile riding it, and could steer it with my thoughts, so maybe I was floating in a sense.

[c0sm0nautt]

I think I am actually projecting but only becoming partially aware of it at various points.  What do you guys think?

I wouldn't get too caught up in the differentiation between projecting, lucid dreams and normal night dreams. From my experience they are overlapping. I've had normal night dreams where I found myself in alien words, which led to lucidity and interactions with the deceased and other beings. I think most of our spontaneous night dreams take place within a completely subjective sphere of experience, but some do take us to more objective locals such as those that can be consciously visited through what people called "projections," i.e, belief and afterlife locals, other planes of experience.