Lucid dreaming as a replacement for Astral projection

Is it better if I start to practice lucid dreaming to be comfortable controlling my non conscious mind if I'm a unstable person who tends to let fearfull thinking scare me. I want to Astral project but I'm so scared of the experience and the things I might see as I'm not used to other levels of consciousness and am not sure if I'm spirituality ready and pure of heart for the Astral realm compared to the dream realm where I know it's not really as real and serious as Astral projection because I know it's a very fun and powerful tool if you know what you are looking for and how to use it but the way I know myself and how I react to new and uncomfortable situations to test me I always let fear take a hold of my thinking so I think it's better I build myself up for as I don't want to psych myself out and leave with a bad taste in my mouth about Astral projection and it's powerful uses. If anything of my viewpoints are misguided please correct my thinking and give me a little more insights on how my thinking has so scared of Astral projection