Thread: Hi Everyone!

Hi Mike, nice to see you here. I'm Jonathan. Now to answer some of your questions. I have only heard of old hag syndrome a small number of times over the years, and have never met anyone who has experienced it. I really would worry about it. Sleep paralysis can be scary, but its an amazing tool for lucid dreaming. It is because your mind is on while your body is off. If you read the tutorials you will see how sleep paralysis can be beneficial. Lucid Dreams do indeed feel like real life. It takes a lot of practice and dedication to reach that level, and even then not all dreams are amazingly real. But a large number of them are. Its a world of pure imagination Also, if you ever need help or have a question, you can PM me and Ill be happy to help.

Originally posted by IceAgeMikey2
Hi, I've posted a couple of times around your forum and I've decided that I've never even introduced myself! How rude of me. Anyways, my name is Mike, I'm from Indiana. I've been interested in Lucid Dreaming for about half a year but never really thought about trying it . Now that I found this forum I've decided to start trying. I have a couple of questions though. I'm a bit scared of trying this after seeing some of the posts people have made here. For example, someone said you could get Old Hag Syndrome from this. Another one said something about Scary Sleep Paralysis. I also wanted to know what lucid dreams are like. Do you really feel like it's real life? Or is it just blurry? I hope to get a Lucid Dream soon so I'll know the answer to these questions. I just hope I have no scary problems.

First off, welcome! Since were're using names here... mine is George! (but I much prefer my screen name on the forums )

Congratulations deciding to try to Lucid Dream! It could take a while, but it's very much worth the wait. From my limited experience of Lucid Dreams, all mine have been hyper-realistic- even more clear than real life. Everything I could see was shown is super- sharp, high defintion realism. Not all are like this from what others say, but it is incredible to be lucid anytime!

I always thought Old Hag and SP were the same. I've experienced Sleep Paralyisis, and let me tell you, it's a riot. Once I was stuck in my bed, not being able to breathe, with the horrific sense that some dark animal was going up the stairs, coming towards me. Terrifying at the time but a great experience to look back on. Just try not to worry about it, and read up on it so when you do encounter it you know what is going on.

Anyway, enjoy your time at DV, and good luck!

That's weird, I've never even heard of Old Hag Syndrome...

Anyway, welcome to the forum! Hope you can learn a lot here and make some friends.

Originally posted by IceAgeMikey2
Hi, I've posted a couple of times around your forum and I've decided that I've never even introduced myself! How rude of me. Anyways, my name is Mike, I'm from Indiana. I've been interested in Lucid Dreaming for about half a year but never really thought about trying it . Now that I found this forum I've decided to start trying. I have a couple of questions though. I'm a bit scared of trying this after seeing some of the posts people have made here. For example, someone said you could get Old Hag Syndrome from this. Another one said something about Scary Sleep Paralysis. I also wanted to know what lucid dreams are like. Do you really feel like it's real life? Or is it just blurry? I hope to get a Lucid Dream soon so I'll know the answer to these questions. I just hope I have no scary problems.

Hey there and welcome to the forum!!

The best way to start is to keep a Dream Journal, and you also might want to check out the tutorials as well.

Old Hag is just a form of Sleep Paralysis (SP), and is nothing to be scared of. Some people just hallucinate during this time, because of the fact they cannot move (and they can supposedly see Dream Imagery). In fact, I use it to WILD all the time (Either following Dream Imagery into a LD, or getting up out of bed in a unique type of LD). Why, just this morning, I ended up having it in class, and had a LD that I got up out of my seat, and listened to the teacher talk, and even saw one of my friends talking. Then I went back to my seat, woke up, shook off the SP, and told them all about it (with surprisingly, 100% accuracy)!!
The answer to LDs differ from individuals. Some may have that, or maybe it is more cartoon-like, or even B&W.
Are you kidding?! SP and LDing are nothing to be scared of! In fact, I find them so fun I am always leaping when I know it is time to go to bed and LD!! Try it!!
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!!

Originally posted by Burns
That's weird, I've never even heard of Old Hag Syndrome...

It is a form of SP that people hallucinate, and think there is witch on their chest!

Originally posted by Burns
That's weird, I've never even heard of Old Hag Syndrome...

Victims of "Old Hag Syndrome" awake to find that they cannot move, even though they can see, hear, feel and smell. There is sometimes the feeling of a great weight on the chest and the sense that there is a sinister or evil presence in the room.The name of the phenomenon comes from the superstitious belief that a witch - or an old hag - sits or "rides" the chest of the victims, rendering them immobile.[/b]

Got it from this place : This Place

*Sigh* I'm a total wuss for these things. Last night, I thought to myself. Hey, I'll read some things up about WILD's and maybe I'll try one. Then I read about the seeing things and hearing things. I don't know how I'm supposed to just think, "It's not real. It can't hurt me." I'm having those problems now. Maybe, I'll do it in a couple of years when I'm not such a total wuss.

When you say you read about seeing and hearing things, you mean HH? If you don't know what i'm talking about HH is Hypnagogic Halucinations, and it happens just before you go to sleep- it's just the transition between being awake and falling into a dream.

These halucinations aren't always scary, in fact in my experience I've never had scary Hypnagogic Halucinations. Last night I was drifting off and I started to hear a wierd reggae song, and some wierd shapes came into my head.

I really shouldn't worry about all the wierd sensations you could (and probably will) experience when trying to Lucid Dream. If you really can't stand going through all the wierd stuff then try something that doesn't have such a high risk of inducing the wierd stuff (such as doing Reality Checks throughout the day. Perhaps after you experience an LD through this method you would want to move onto WILDs as they could be more effective).