Dream Awareness Help Options

Ok so i am not sure if there has been anything posted on this i am sure there has but i will ask again. I was wondering what are some good methods to realizing that i am dreaming and to be aware of it without being all the way unconscious throughout my dream. And how could i take control once i realize that i am dreaming? Also what is the best way to build up this control of essentially waking up in my dream? I would like to be able to do this i understand it will take lots of practice which i am wiling to devote myself to. What kinds of things do some here at the community do whenever lucid dreaming? This seems to be all of my questions for now i will appreciate any help given on the matter.

I use something very close to what Vagrant does. I only add breathing methods to it. Breathing as slow as I can, pausing at the max and min until my diaphragm relaxes into a neutral space then I begin again. It has any number of helpful effects but mostly keeps your mind active and alert while your body falls asleep. struggling against unconsciousness seems to pull your consciousness mind into your dreams. I find this starts with visuals -fragments of things I have seen of thought of- and at some point recognizing them as illusions forces them to coalesce into a more complex illusion - a proper dream - which my conscious mind has been pulled into. It sounds more complicated than it really is I assure you.

As a side note that spot on the back of your head is called the Jade Gate, it is a minor chakra that governs a state of mind associated with "open-nesn" and "joy-full discovery". A man by the name of Francois Lepine wrote about it as the chakra that "is a doorway to spiritual realities and the forces behind
all movements." Taoists use the point in dream practices (chigong while you sleep).

Imperial Arts has a very good method also. It reminds me of a similar idea in Tibet where it is said that to be enlightened you must know you are asleep. To this end, they advocate "realizing" that you are awake during the day, then doing something to prove it. Mostly it is on the order of picking something up or altering the environment in some way. It progresses from there, but the intent is to accustom the person to working in a reality that may not be anything like what they are used to. It might also be a good way to practice and build up control as you say. Go about picking things up whenever you realize your awake and when you can move something in your dreams, try then to imagine your surroundings changing when you realize your wake. In your dreams the environment is more malleable than what your used to so just imagining that something is changed will often make it so.

For myself, I find remembering what I did the hardest part of the whole affair. Journals are useful, but I had a very hard time remembering to write down what I dreamed. I found that before you lie down, focusing on you body then your chi and then you mind, with the intent that you will remember your dreams in the morning, helped a lot.