Hey fellow Lucid Dreamers, i took a break from LDing a couple months back and doing so has brought me lots of Lucid Dreams without even trying these couple of weeks. all i do now is tell myself just before i go to bed that ill have a lucid dream and it happens. no chants, no reality checks, no meditation, nothing. the problem is whenever i realize i’m dreaming its always during a nightmare and its only when i tell myself ill have a LD is when i get nightmares. like the other night, i realized i was dreaming when i was running from Hitler (i know) and he shot me and i died for a minute (the pain felt so real and i have never been shot before) then i always have a false awakening. you see, i get so frightened that i cant focus enough to take control of the dream. why is it that i get these nightmares only when i tell myself ill be lucid and become lucid? i need help, i mean its cool that i can become lucid by just saying it but whats the point if i cant control it because im scared to death. any advice? i will surely appreciate it. 
Well, as a first guess i’d say you link the concept of nightmares with the LD one. It’s not too difficult, as increased awareness is often found in danger situation, and thus nightmares are indeed a good way to become lucid.
However, when you become lucid, you should know that it is YOUR dream, and as such you have control complete over it. You can ignore pain if you want to, or even make bullets bounce off your skin. Nex time, just stand still and face the enemy, strong of the fact that nothing can hurt you in a dream if you don’t want to. You’ll be fine 
i think there is definitely a connection between them. i have linked nightmares to lucidity without knowing, the problem is getting out of this “comfort zone.” i’ll take your advice and try to overcome this. thanks!
In most cases a single successful confrontation with the nightmare is enough for it to stop appearing. Good luck! And dream on.
I did it again. I decided to do the FILD technique last night and it worked but it put me into another nightmare. I tried to fight back but fear got the best of me again. Now it has come to the point where I’m afraid to lucid dream! I’ll try again tonight and try not to be a complete wuss. 
Hasta luego!
Be strong! Once you win a fear, it will stay submitted
You know what I think I did it last night. This time I was running from this huge dog and when I realized that I was dreaming and the dog won’t give up chasing me I got mad and fought back and actually broke it’s neck but then afterwards I felt so bad that I began crying, I got so emotional that I woke up. Maybe next time I should try a non violent way of resolving the problem.
Ouch! That didn’t go as expected. In most cases, all important DC’s are a representation of a part of yourself, so by fighting it you are only fighting yourself; force is not necessary, if you know you’re the boss.
Next time, just stand there, firm in your resolution; he can’t hurt you if you don’t fear him; after that, start asking question to solve the conflict, like “Who are you?”, “What is your problem?”, “Can I help you?”, “What do you want from me?”, etc.:
try to set up a dialogue, so you can peacefully work a way to the solution ;D
Yeah… The only way to STAY lucid is to stop going along with the dream, cut a rug…
Like, if your supposed to do something for your DC boss, don’t… Do what you want to do.
Same with nightmares:
If being chased, turn and ask why they are…
If relative dying, ask why they are dying…
I’m trying but everytime I become lucid it’s in this pitch black place with something lurking around the corner. I’ll try again tonight. Thanks for the advice again