Unwanted Experiences// Tips

[leah521]

Lucid dreaming has been effecting my sleep alot, because i have a fear of it and im not sure why.I havent been able to control my dreams at all, but yet i still know im dreaming and everything still feels very real. Recently i experienced the similar loud sounds while being half asleep that i read about in one of the forums, the forum said it was called WILD, but im really not sure what it was, i was half asleep and all of a sudden loud noises, like wind, it scared me so i quickly forced myself awake.Also in the same night, i experienced being half awake while still not being able to move, it lasted a couple minutes too, of being paralyzed. Everyone says im lucky to experience everything, I personally dont enjoy it and wish it didnt happen, since it scares me and i actually try and avoid falling asleep, its just a fear of not being able to control what my mind does, all my life ive been use to, close my eyes, sleep, wake up, and just in the last year sleeping hasnt been the same. ANYWAYS, these experiences always happen when I am in a VERY deep sleep and realize im lucid dreaming, then begin to try and force myself awake.I assume these different sleep "phenomina", sorry for the poor wording,occurs because my state of being half asleep and half awake,half my body fighting to sleep and half fighting to stay awake. So maybe it could help someone who actually wants to experience these things that i have experienced. While in a deep sleep try and force yourself awake, unfortunatly its always worked to make me experience different things...

[lucidspark64]

well i could try and relate with the fact that ive had lucid dreams when something happens that i don't want to. i was having a wonderful lucid dream. flying, sense of freedom, but as i float down, i see a dog laying there with flies hovering above it. it looked just like my dog. another one ive had recently, i was lucid and i was in this mansion but i got knocked out by someone/something. i woke up on this table and there was this lady that was going to inject me with something. they did not end there because in both situations. with the dog, i said "No! this is my dream, and he does not have to be dead"! and i just continued on with the dream like it never happened. with the situation on the examination table, again i said, "This is my dream!" and i grabbed her head about to smash it into a wall or something but i ended up waking up instead. i hope this helps.

[Advantageous Noodle]

Leah I know exactly where you are coming from. I feel the same way. Sleep used to just be an ordinary part of the day - wake up, do a bunch of stuff, then go back to sleep, rinse, and repeat. Suddenly I somehow took interest in lucid dreaming, and once I learned of the negative things that can happen, most of which are things you've already described, these things started happening to me, making sleep very difficult and me very fearful at night. A twenty-one year old college guy, afraid to go to sleep. Nice. Sometimes all it takes is just knowing something can go wrong, and then it does. I have had a few very terrifying experiences with paralysis and lucid dreams. I find lucid dreams that I can't control to be more frightening than non-lucid 'bad' dreams. Why? Don't know. But for me, screaming out 'I have control!!' does nothing but make the fire hotter and the demons more numerous or maybe lose my ability to speak. Those experiences have stopped for several months now, but I do have a lucid dream on occasion. I have to admit that even though nothing scary is going on, there is still something gratifying, exciting, and yet somehow dreadful and eerie about suddenly becoming lucid. As if you're taking a walk with your friends on a new trail and its going great but suddenly you find that you're all alone and there is just silence everywhere, with nothing moving. You're free to explore where and what you want, but will doing so stir up a ruckus and make something bad happen, like a stack of bad dominoes? That's how it is for me. Too me it's all so strange, and it is as creepy as being alone in another dimension. My safeguards for going to sleep at night are simply to imagine myself in any scenario that is not real life. For example, I really like the shows Heroes and Firefly, so I can imagine myself as a character in either one of those alternate universes. I just do this until I go to sleep. I never remember dreaming about them, but it does keep me calm and peaceful while falling asleep, which is something that I think is key. I think that if you're edgy and nervous you're not going to rest as soundly and that gets you into this half-awake half asleep territory and we both know that it isn't a fun place to be. I never imagine things such as being in my own house, or bedroom, or any other familiar place, as these things are all dreamsigns for me and cause me to become lucid, which is something I normally don't want unless I'm really up to it. PS. I had my wisdom teeth removed a week ago. After practically being carried to the recovery room, I remember my arms being uncontrollable like jello. I lost consciousness, and the next thing I remember I was walking out of the surgeon's office with my parents. My mom later told me that during that little span of time I don't remember that I was complaining that my legs could not move and that my face was very contorted. She said she thought I was doing my 'paralyze' thing. She likes to think of it as something I bring upon myself.

[bigCHEESE77]

ok. I've never had these problems, but I've read about them. For the waking up and not being able to move. Try blinking, or any abnormal movement of your eyes. Also, try to make your breathing irregular. While in sleep paralysis (which is what you're feeling), your body shuts down and doesn't take commands from your brain. Well, almost all of your body. You still have control of your breathing and your eyes. By messing with both of these or making them irregular, you are basically telling your body that your mind is awake and ready to take control again. As for the limited control of lucid dreams, I suggest taking control in ways that you normally could. Instead of trying to zap away scary demons, plant your fist in its face, all the while telling yourself, "this is a dream, so it cannot hurt me". I am assuming you at least have control of your body, because you talked about the option to yell out. Once you realize that you can use normal laws of physics to take control and get over your fear, you may be able to change your dream with just your mind. Also, really convince yourself that the things you want to change will change, and come up with a reason why. For example, you are locked in a scary room. The door is locked from the outside, and you cannot budge it. Now, convince yourself that your girlfriend or boyfriend is coming by to ask for sugar (she/he is trying a new cake recipe). She/he has the key to the room (because she/he is your girlfriend/boyfriend, and of course you are going to trust her/him with something like that). So, you hear someone outside the door, the lock clicks, the door opens, and viola, you are free of the scary room and alone with your girlfriend/boyfriend. Happy lucid!

[Shift]

The sounds seem to be hypnagogic hallucinations. Yes, these can occur before a successful WILD attempt. Also sounds like you are suffering from Isolated Sleep Paralysis. Inform yourself about it and learn both how to use it to wild, and how to 'escape' from it and to minimize fear during it.

[leah521]

yes when i experience sleep paralysis, i just wiggle my fingers until i eventually wake up. The problem is this is usually while coming out of a very deep sleep, because I've forced myself awake after becoming lucid. Since i wake up immediatly wanting to fall back asleep I fear its just going to happen all over again. I sometimes think that staying lucid would be easier and less scary then the fight to wake up from a dream, unfortunatly i never realize that until im awake.

[leah521]

oh and is there any good sites or articles you could recomment for isolated sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations?