Staying lucid can be a challenge once you achieve lucidity. Most beginners report that they knocked themselves out of their first lucid dream by becoming so excited that they wake up from the dream, cutting it short. This is very common, so don't fret if this happens to you. After the first couple lucid dreams or so, you will be able to contain your excitement and move to the next steps with the ability to dream lucidly. Below are a few pointers to help you learn how to stay in the lucid dream once you achieve one:

Have A Plan

Write a list of all the things you would like to do when you are in a lucid dream and read this list every day to yourself, especially right before bed.

Avoiding Immediate Awakening

Keep Cool, Calm & Collected

Restrain the impulse to jump and shout for joy. It's fine to be excited, but don't express your excitement outwardly in the dream, otherwise you will wake up from the dream and lose the opportunity.

Engage In The Dream

Immediately after realizing you are dreaming, turn your attention to what's happening in the dream. Look at, listen to, and feel the events and things around you in the dream world.

Move Around

Get your body's senses of movement involved in the dream, by moving through the dream scene. Run, fly, or dance—while continuing to observe and interact with the dream.

Look Away From The Cue

Turn your eyes (not your head) to the left or right, especially if you are using the Nova Dreamer. Moving your eyes effectively diminishes the brightness of the cue, making it less likely to awaken you.

Verbal Reminders

Starting once you become lucid, repeat to yourself "this is a dream" especially if you are beginning to be pulled into the dream emotionally. You will hear yourself saying "this is a dream" and be reminded to maintain your lucidity.

Impossible Actions

You can continue to convince yourself that you are dreaming by doing things in dreams that you don't in waking life, like flying, floating, being out of character, breaking social rules, treating a stranger like a best friend, etc.

Be Alert For False Awakenings (this happens a lot!)

You thought you woke up but you are actually still in the dream. Often the surroundings are exactly as your bedroom would be, but it is still a dream.

Prolonging Lucid Dreams With Spinning (practiced while awake)

1. while awake, relive a dream you have already had and spin in one place
2. relive the last part of the dream and when you reach the end, instead of waking up, picture yourself catching the moment when it is just starting to fade and spin even more.
3. repeat to yourself, "the next scene will be a dream."
4. imagine a new scene which is the room all around you
5. open your eyes and do something as if you are in a dream and are engaging in the scene, or imagine that you are doing something you would enjoy in a lucid dream

The next time you have a lucid dream, look for the first signs that it is about to end. Usually, the visual aspects change first by fading, losing color saturation, or becoming cartoon-like. As soon as it starts to happen, while you still feel your dream body, spin around rapidly, telling yourself repeatedly "the next scene will be a dream." When you stop spinning, your surroundings will be another dream.

An alternative to this exercise if you can't handle the physical sensations of spinning while awake, is to rotate your arms in large circles from the shoulders. This will also create the spinning, the sensation of velocity needed to propel yourself into the next dream.