It was natural at the beginning. Of course once you realize how awesome it is, you try to do it as much as possible. For me this was mostly learning how to reco

It was natural at the beginning. Of course once you realize how awesome it is, you try to do it as much as possible. For me this was mostly learning how to recognize the dream state and how to manipulate it without waking myself up. I'm not sure how universal this is, but in my lucid dreams exercising too much control from the concious part of my brain would eventually wake me. It was a balance of manipulating the dream and riding the wave of what was playing out. Make a change then wait a few minutes. Don't try to fight it. No side effects of note, except for awesome memories of experiences that are quite difficult to explain. No idea why I lost it with age. Probably declining sleep quality, less REM sleep. I doubt there's any studies on it but it's a sentiment echoed by many lucid dreamers I've talked to. It's quite unfortunate, a solid lucid dream could lift my mood for days.