This is just a simple guide to getting started lucid dreaming. It is not meant to be complete, but some of the stuff here is useful to know, and that is why I’m providing it. The techniques provided become more effective, as you continue in your practise of them. Some of the tricks also work as a way of improving the quality of ordinary dreams.
There are two main ways in which a lucid dream begins (though frequently they are broken into a significantly greater number of types – relating more to the technique which is used to enter it.)
Dream Induced Lucid Dream (DILD)
During a dream, you become aware that you are dreaming. This is usually the result of a trigger, sometimes an intense feeling of fear, pain or joy. The crucial step is to move from being aware that you are dreaming, to becoming more fully conscious and to use the power of being aware that you are dreaming to achieve what you wish. As you continue in your practise, the move from a normal dream, to lucid action in the dream becomes smoother and smoother. By this I mean that you will not have to pause and think about it, or carry out such reality checks to see that you are dreaming. You may instead gradually flow from a dreamed state of being, to a conscious state of being.
Wake Induced Lucid Dream (WILD)
You slip straight from waking, into the twighlight zone, caught between the state of waking and sleeping. You may find yourself in your room, or something very much like it, or merely aware of rather black space surrounding you. Usually, your mind is conscious, but you do not have full control of your body. Sometimes the powerful flow of sound acts as a gateway to assist you in your movement from waking to lucidity, and the trick here is to remain calm and just be at ease with it. You don’t wanna be too excited when this happens – cause you will just wake up. This is why meditation and absorption in the moment, is a key in lucid dreaming.
I should tell a little more about my way of achieving lucidity. My advice tends to vary – based on whatever thoughts come up at the time. I hope I don’t miss too much.
Intent
You need an intent, a goal you wish to achieve in lucid dreaming. Keep it simple. No more than a sentence, preferably. You remind yourself of this intent during the hours leading up to sleep. It’s helpful to reverse the format too, asking yourself what your intent is before you sleep, and making sure that you can answer the question, because you are likely to do the same once lucid. Now that you are sure of your intent.
Before Dreaming
I like to have ordinary (non-lucid) dreams for the first 4 hours, as this is likely to happen anyway, and then I tend to wake up. I sit up in my bed, being sure not to rush myself. With lights off, I look around me, getting my eyes adjusted to seeing the energy around me. This is the perfect time to do meditatation or visualisation exercises (for particular journeys). You may like to keep some music going in the background. Once I’ve been up for a little while, generally 20 minutes or so, I fold a pillowcase and wrap it round my eyes. This tends to blank out light and make it easier to stay in the lucid dream. Though you might look a bit silly, if anyone comes in 
Entering Dreaming
It is said that “the best way to enter into dreaming is to concentrate on the area just at the tip of the sternum, at the top of the belly. The attention needed for dreaming stems from that area.” So, while practising slow long breaths, I see energy flow up from this point, spreading through the upper body. I try and cut off all internal conversation in my mind. When entering a WILD, this often becomes replaced with the strange vibrations of sound or other strange visual and auditory phenomena, that may or may not make sense.
Moving in the Dreambody
The way described here isn’t the only way to move around in the dreambody. Normal movement rules do apply to, but it is an important tool. “The energy needed in order to move and to seek in dreaming stems from the area an inch or two below the belly button. That energy is the will, or the power to select, to assemble your perception.” As a result of WILD experiences, you often come across a state which is described as Sleep Paralysis (SP). Your body is paralysed, and often though you know you’re dreaming, you can’t do much about it. If you retain tight focus on this point for a few seconds, and gently state your intent to break free of the dreaming body in your inner mind, then you will often just pop out of the state of sleep paralysis and into full control of your dreaming environment. You can also use this as a trick, to ‘step’ between completely different environments.