Through keeping a dream journal etc. and trying to become aware of the similarities between dreams and reality I am now managing around 3 lucid dreams a week. I am learning to control these better all the time.
The problem is that on losing lucidity in a dream I always end up in a state of sleep paralysis. Normally I find this pretty scary and fight it until I am able to wake up. A couple of times I have managed to go from this state into another lucid dream and literally leave my body and find myself in my room. However most of the time I just panic and force myself awake.
Does anyone have any ideas about how I can stop being so frightened of the paralysed state, and get myself into a lucid dream more easily? Would be appreciated!
-jake
May be just part of you wants to enter LD state but part of you (hidden one) is not willing that so they are just fighting with each other and this fight you call long paralyzed state? We all have inner conflicts and LD is not state free of those conflicts.... though we often prefer to play like there is no such think and we just don't have strong enough LD skills. Well, if we prefer that way we can just hide our head in the sand'
Hi Jake,
Welcome to the Forum! Your message and other recent inquiries received at TLI prompts the re-posting of the edited response below to address your concern about sleep paralysis.
Also, please refer to our website FAQ and the articles noted directly below -- especially, if you have the impression that you've actually left your body in some way during the experience as you've described.
http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html http://lucidity.com/nightmare.html http://www.lucidity.com/VOLDE.html http://www.lucidity.com/NL32.OBEandLD.html
Re-post from the Forum: Dear Onerionauts, ...Sleep paralysis is perfectly normal -- and necessary so that we don't act out our dreams! But the awareness of it, if misunderstood, can be truly terrifying. So to restate some basic and hopefully comforting facts:
The purpose of the brain is to create a mental model of the world in which we navigate. When we dream, the brain continues to do exactly what it is designed to do in the waking state -- but without the usual constraints of sensory input (due to the fact that, in general, our muscles are temporarily attenuated). If consciousness is maintained during the transition from waking to dreaming, our perception of what is going on can be distorted because there is no external sensory feedback to correct it. When this happens, it's not uncommon to experience the bizarre sensations often associated WILD (Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams) and with so-called out of body experiences.
If awareness of sleep paralysis is a frequent experience, this may in fact be of benefit, because once it is understand that this is simply a natural phase and no bodily harm can come from it, the sensations can then become recognizable as a welcomed doorway directly into lucid dreaming. If, however, episodes of sleep paralysis continue to be unnerving, it may help to practice (while in the waking state) a shift from fear and anxiety to curiosity, and to visualize the attainment of a pre-planned lucid dream goal. This can be done in two steps:
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While awake, imagine as vividly as possible, the sensations you've felt during episodes of sleep paralysis. Then re-program your response through sincere intention. Tell yourself that the next time you feel these sensations, you will recognize them for what they truly are -- the gateway to lucid dreaming!
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Have in mind a specific goal (an activity you want to pursue in your next lucid dream) and imagine fulfilling it. The goal will provide further incentive to move beyond the initial and habitual reaction of fear.
Now the next time sleep paralysis sneaks up on you, you will be prepared to realize that your physical body is perfectly safe, and that your dream body is perfectly free to go exploring, to your heart's content, in the wonder-filled Land of Odd.
Wishing you great dreaming adventures! Keelin
Hi Jake,
Sleep paralysis can be a terribly frightening experience. Up until the last three years I suffered from it all my life. If I was awoken after 3 PM all too frequently I would have sleep paralysis afterwards. The result would be nasty nightmares -- even nightmares within nightmares. This even happened in a sleep lab when I wasn't able to even fall asleep until 3:30 AM because of all the dang wires attached to my head. Why haven't I had any nightmares from sleep paralysis in three years? Because I read Stephen's book after learning about his being testing in a sleep lab that demonstrated his ability to lucidly dream.
It did take some time to overcome the fear and unpleasant, often hallucinagenic, experiences that were occuring during the sleep paralysis. The experience is like part of the semi-conscious brain fears the disconnected and unusual signals are a sign that it is dying and it leads, at least in my case, to nightmares. Once I realized that I wasn't going to die, and that it was conducive to lucid dreaming, I gave in. Instead of fighting the weird pulsating waves, or odd auditory music and voices, or strange images that flashed around me I tried to either enhance or control them. Invariably, this created an "out-of-body" experience. Now when I feel the onset of paralysis I simply give in and attempt to put my arm through the bed or roll over and push off the bed and see if I can float. Usually I do. All the usual tips for lucid dreams still apply; such as, spinning to stablize the dream or to end up in a different location. After all, ones own bedroom is hardly the most interesting place to "haunt."
About 60 to 70% of my lucid dreams are OOBE in nature. In the last three years I've had over 60 of them. After much experimenting I am 99.99% certain they are merely another form of lucid dream and are in no way the "soul" leaving the body as many religious traditions assert. This is a great pity as I always wanted one. Oh well.
I wish you luck in your lucid dream pursuit and hope that you will overcome the fear and have many more fascinating experiences.
John
Hi John!
Good to see you on the Forum again -- and thanks for adding personal reflections on your experiences with sleep paralysis and "obe" type dreams. Excellent advice!
Wishing brilliant dreams to all, Keelin
Concidering the many diferent degrees of [OBEs ] Im not sure I could say that they were [all due to dreams] alone..I think some human beings have the ability to experiance things beyond the boundrys of dreams..But I think lucid dreams can be stepping stones towards some [OB] like experiances..Im not sure I could call it seperation of soul from body because That is suposed to happen at death..But posably a temporary [seperation of consciousness] from body makes more sense to me. These are just some opinions..happy dreams..Tom
Thank's for the advice everyone. Will try those ideas out. Yeah I think I need to see SP as more of a positive thing. Its just hard to not be afraid when you are unable to move and are hearing/seeing all sorts of strange things.
I think my main fear is that I'm never going to be able to wake up - being forever stuck in SP or a dream. So perhaps that's why I dont want to enter another LD state after just coming out of one.
Still, i'm getting there. Recently I actually managed to 'leave' my paralised body, turn round and watch myself sleeping. That's progress!
Hi, all. Just back from a bout of pleurisy, feeling much better.
I've learned to welcome sleep paralysis as a sign of impending dream time. I can recall experiences of it prior to my interest in what I first believed were OBEEs, now know to be dreams, and they were sometimes frightening, for sure. These days I consider myself fortunate to find myself in that half-asleep/half awake state, completely paralysed, because I know that a full-blown LD is just moments away, if I don't blow it.
If I struggle to move, I wake up. I have learned to relax, and to "feel the vibrations", which I usually experience as part of entering REM. I let the vibrations just roll around me, staying relaxed (I will from time to time test my paralysis by trying to raise an arm. If I can't, then I know I'm still trying to raise my real paralysed arm, but if I can, I'm even nearer the full dream state, and will go on to try to stand up, usually successfully. This is my "dream body" of course). The next experience is either a direct appearance of a dream scene, or a feeling of lifting or floating up. The latter usually results in an LD where I'm in my own (dream) bedroom, sort of the classic OBE. Either way, I'm in an LD, and off I go to whatever I choose.
Next time you feel this paralysis, know it's temporary, harmless, and a sure sign that an LD is just moments away. Relax.
Paul
Hi Keelin, it's always nice to read your posts. Paul, glad to hear that you are feeling better.
After last night's experience of multiple rounds of sleep paralysis I should note that while I may not have nightmares from them, they still can be unnerving at times. The vibrations last night seemed focused in my chest, so my sleepy brain couldn't decide if the paralysis was causing a cardiac arrythmia or not. I'm sure my heart was fine, and I did have several OBEs. The "world" in a couple of the OBEs was pretty dark and not well defined. I seemed too aware of my body in bed. One of them put me near something that seemed like a wormhole in space, but I veered away from it from an unusually absurd fear that I wouldn't come back. I think I'd have to rank the degree of my self-awareness and thinking last night right up there with the snail in my fish tank. Hopefully I will be more adventurous next time. I want to know what I would have experienced if I flew into the other dimension! Surely I've read enough sci-fi to create something cool.
During one test of the extent of my paralysis I ended up actually flinging my arm over and waking myself up. Good thing I wasn't sleeping with a girlfriend or I would have knocked her in the head!
John
When I escape my paralised body the world is always dark - sometimes I am completely blind.
Sometimes I manage to somehow turn the lights on by waving my dream hands in front of my face, but often the frustration of not being able to see causes me to either wake up or go back into a state of SP.
Something really odd happened last night, I was experiencing SP and I managed to shift my dream body away from my sleeping body and sit at the end of the bed. I couldnt see anything so I figured my dream eyes were closed. I opened them and my real eyes opened giving me the view of my room from lying down. I felt that I was sat at the end of my bed but seeing my room from my sleeping body - sort of like being in two places at once!
Jake, I've experienced everything you describe at one time or another. It's all manifestations of the same thing, the onset of REM. I've actually gone through long dreams in that semi-blind or totally blind state you describe. Somehow I have seemed to sense in nonvisual ways the presence of objects. Anyway, I've never tripped over anything. Sometimes, once I've gotten up and began moving, my vision has cleared. Sometimes I've just shouted "Clear vision, please!" with success. I've also had the split locale experience you describe.
I'd like to suggest something. MindSync has produced some interesting CD's using both dialog and binaural mind entrainment technology, one of which is called "The Vibration State". It's designed to help those of us who can't get where you get to so easily, namely the state of SP with vibrations. It talks one into and right through the vibration state. You might find it helpful in experiencing this phenomenon. I think they're available at Amazon.com. Just a thought.
Paul
Paul,
I enjoy experimenting with light-sound/entrainment technologies, and would like to try this CD out. Do you have any more info available on it? An Amazon.com search for mindsync did not return any matching results (although I did get some interesting ones for producing my own subliminal/entrainment systems), and a Google search for mindsync "vibration state" returned zero results.
Thank you.
Joshua
Hi everyone,
I'm brand spanking new to this forum so I've been bouncing around the threads absorbing it all..I look forward to being a part of it.
So I had something odd happen the other day and I'm not sure if it was a false awakening or something else? I did the "napping" technique, slept 6-7 hours, got up for about an hour and went back to sleep..I had several ND's and one was a dream about my work, where towards the end I was talking to one of my coworkers, when I woke up-or thought I woke up, I had the NovaDreamer on and as I woke I could still hear my coworker talking, everything was dark "blind" and I had my eyes closed. I then thought to myself, If I open my eyes he would surely stop talking, because I knew of course that he wasn't in my room, so I didn't because I was so baffled by it. As I contemplated what was really going on, I heard a woman's voice call out my name and then suddenly I was truly awake. ?????? So was that a false awakening or a partial SP (which I've had since childhood) or what, but it was nothing like the SP's I'm used to. Definitely a weird one....
-Stefan
Joshua, the name has been changed. Try http://www.brainwave-entrainment.com/ , and look for astral vibrations. I also recommend the LD disc and the OBE disc.
Cool. Thanks, Paul.
As an aside, if you wish to create your own binaural beats and music check out:
http://www.bwgen.com/
John
John, thanks.
Paul
John and Paul,
Hi, I ordered a few of those CD's, mainly the LD series. A friend of mine swears by them but I haven't put them to use yet..but I'll definitely try them out this weekend and see what happens, I'll be sure to let you guys know if they help me in any way.
-Stefan
ps you might want to go through this link http://www.consciousdreaming.com as the other site you mentioned has had a lot of problems with the online links ...this site is stable and lets you order online without a hitch. It by the same person, just an updated version of their site...lots more info too!!!
this is the direct link to those cd's-
http://www.brainwave-entrainment.com/brainwave-entrainment-home.htm
I think it's just their Flash site that's messed up.