I have a bit of experience with lucid dreaming. I was taught this in order to deal with nightmares, and it helped me.
From your description, self awareness and guiding action, it sounds like you have achieved lucid dreaming. If you can change the surroundings and/or events... not just what you are doing... then I think that would be a more credible sign.
I suppose one can ask if lucid dreaming is real anyway, or if it is just an illusion within the dream that your mind invents because you heard about lucid dreaming. I cannot answer that, but I would think not. There appears to be some degree of control and loss of control within that state, which at any rate creates a very real appearance that something along the lines of waking life is being experienced.
As far as waking up goes, I have rarely been able to do this. The times I have not and have been forced to wander around wondering if I had died (maybe there is an afterlife) or am in a coma... it can seem like an eternity.
My thought is that whether some level of consciousness is possible or not, our brain activity regarding sleep and so when we can actually awaken is beyond that control. If you are lucky you are in a lucid period where brain activity is changing such that you can wake yourself up. Otherwise you are stuck.
One thing I have gotten relatively good at is setting a mental alarm clock. I do that before I go to sleep, and do not need to be in a lucid state to awaken. I have no idea if lucid dreaming techniques helped.
If anyone knows any surefire way to wake oneself up by lucid dreaming, I am interested as well.
Edited by holmes, : general cleanup
holmes {in temp decloak from lurker mode}
"What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away." (D.Bros)
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