Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but not new to Lucid dreaming.

I've had one or two lucid dreams before (realising I'm dreaming) but waking up almost instantly.

I started sleep paralysis these past few days and I was amazed when I started feeling my hands going numb. Now, this might seem like a stupid question to some but if you open your eyes during sleep paralysis does it stop working? Also, does it stop if I swallow? and once my entire body is numb how do I switch to dreaming without just falling asleep? and how do I know when REM is occuring?