The Art of Dreaming

Alright since I was the one to propose this thread I will start with a new topic. I've always been fascinated with the "mechanics" of dreaming, since forever. What I understand through that is what my mind and body consciously perceive when I am near, or in, the dreaming state. We can only speak about "mechanics" when we are able to draw a line between the actual "dreaming" and the activity of the conscious mind. An example is when we have that sudden "realization" in the dream that it IS a dream. I would say that is a point where you draw a line between the dream and the act of dreaming and therefore we can speak there is a "mechanics" of dreaming involved that you can actually perceive. Either it's a short moment, or long, it is there. Of course, the longer it lasts the more interesting stuff you are able to observe in your dream that otherwise you would not.
For the easiness and benefit of using short words for longer concepts I will call this "dreaming".

So I'll start by sharing my "dreaming" experience, and hopefully you will join me in sharing your own experience, since this subject is barely ever treated in any sources, at least seriously, though it definitely belongs to the vast human experience. At an early age I was having these episodes of "discomfort" when about to fall asleep. The only thing I was able to perceive in the beginning was just a feeling of "fear", a sensation of imminent doom. I looked into it then and I think I might have found the term of "night terror" (or something like that) related to it. However, I was not pleased with the explanation and wanted to understand why, or at lease what is happening. Curiosity won over fear and I started pushing myself to be "aware" and calm myself down while the whole episodes were happening. You have to understand that this took me years, but I can say that by the end of it I had some success. Namely, one night I was able to stay calm enough to realize what really was happening to me was that a part of me was "separating" from the body, for its own purposes. And I am able to say that because I was able to see myself from above. I know that someone who never experienced this will think it impossible and in the fantasy domain. I think it's normal. I'd say the same if it didn't happen to me. But someone who did experience something alike, will know this is not only possible, but true.
Being able to tell when I was "falling asleep" or "waking up", whatever you wanna call it, did not become a regular routine, however. It vastly depended on how tired I was, the state of mind I was into, the level of stress, etc. But since my curiosity was awaken, I had other "experiences" at least as interesting and fulfilling. I was able to control my dreams for a while. Then decided it's too boring and felt I was "missing something important" by not letting the "random" forces manifest. Since I decided I like "dreaming", I started using dreams as a "training ground" for pleasant activities: such as learning how to fly, moving objects with the mind, controlling the wind, any fun stuff that I couldn't do in real life. I'm pretty sure at a moment or other in our lives most people fly in their dreams. I would love to learn how it happens to people. If you "learn", or just know how to fly, the background, the destination... or the significant feeling you have about it. Anything about Dreaming, for that instance, like if you were ever aware of "falling asleep", how did it happen to you. When you "woke up" in the dream, were you just so astonished about the fact that you got "pulled out", or did you stay inside to see where it takes you? Did you ever wake up hearing the same sounds from the dreams but into real life? I'd like to learn about every and any experience that is out of the common. I hope more people share my fascination with these not-so-mysteries.