Techniques For Retaining Lucidity Options

I havent had a lucid dream in about 4 months now but when I have one I keep having them. I started practiciing ways to maintain lucidity and hold the images I see in the dream.

One thing I know for sure is if I concentrate on a certain object for more than a few seconds the whole dream disintegrates or I fade back into unconscious dreaming. I heard of a technique in which you look at your hands and just as they start to disintegrate you shift your attention to another object and keep doing it. The more you do it the longer you can stare at a certain object before it starts to fade.

From just practicing this everytime I find myself in a lucid dream ive managed to hold my lucid dreams for what seems to be about 20 minutes sometimes. I havent attained the ability to manifest objects at will but when im lucid dreaming I can stop traffic, break walls with my fist, jump 50 feet into the air, and ive actually gained the ability to fly at will and sometimes move through solid objects such as walls (I find that the hardest to do, usually I get stuck inside the wall and wake up).

I could never fly up until one day I just started doing it by accident I found myself flying by holding onto a bin in the subway station. Now every time im in a lucid dream all I have to do is run and jump and I can fly.

Do any of you know any good techniques to maintain lucidity, prevent the scenery from fading, and increase your abilities while lucid dreaming?

Another technique i'm aware of is...

Try to be "aware" that you are in the physical whilst in the daily life, for example... Every now and then look at your hands and feet to make sure you are not in a dream, or try another way to convince yourself that you are not dreaming (knowing that you're not).

What this will do is become a habit, and eventually you will do this whilst dreaming, and once you see that its a dream you will become aware and thus a "lucid dreamer".

I just stumbled upon another thing that made me lucid last night. I had a dream that I had stolen a $2000 cellphone and I was excited thinking about selling it. I had it in my pocket and I kept thinking it was too good to be true then I realized f%*! it is too good to be true. Its a dream.

Thats when I noticed it started fading because I had realized it was a dream. I thought about what someone had said on this forum and convinced myself that it was real again. Still knowing I was dreaming but acting like it was real I dragged the dream on for another 20 minutes seemingly.

I decided to have a bit of fun with the cellphone and make some phonecalls seeing as it would do me no good to sell it. I scrolled through the address book and rang a name called Qu Qong. I figured it was a native. I decided to sing the song from Da Ali G show "Throw the Jew Down the Well".

The person on the other end of the line was laughing his ass off. The dream ended a little after that.