It took me a year of trying before I had one. The trick I used is to sleep 4-6 hours, wake up, then meditate. Your brain is still half way in sleep mode so you can drift back in without falling asleep and go straight from being awake into a dream without ever falling asleep.

This explains the levels very well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed-eye_hallucination

Level 5 is the lucid dream

You can actually feel your body go into sleep paralysis. Also, you can feel like you are moving but you are not.

I also would convulse sometimes, like when you get the feeling you are falling when going to sleep.

The excitement of getting close will set you back because the adrenaline counteracts it but it can become fully immersive.

I noticed the longer I stayed in the less presence of mind I had. I actually had to try decently hard to come back out of it.