Weird experience...not sure what to make of it.

It's been a while since I posted on this site, first time in this section. I just had a rather...unsettling experience that i hope someone here can shed some light on. This seemed like the most appropriate place to post.

Basically, I was lying in bed on my left side, trying to get to sleep. I don't remember exactly what lead up to it, but I started experiencing a rushing sound in my ears (like I do when I WILD, it sounds like white noise coming from inside my head). So I thought, "I haven't slept at all, this probably won't be a dream, but I'll go with it and see."

My body felt very strange, almost distant. I was able to shift a foot a little, but it felt odd, like really 'muffled' i guess is the best way to describe it, like I was in a pool of some kind of jello. I started hearing a sound in my ears again, but not like before...this was like breathing, steady breathing like of someone asleep. This is where is gets weird. I felt myself breathing a little irregularly, but i heard a deep, steady breath in my ears.

Next, i felt my body rocking from side to side, but stiff as a board, like I was a statue. I think I could almost see my arms in front of me, but I can't recall for sure. Finally, I felt the sensation of sliding out of my body from the side. As this happened, there was a ringing in my ears that got progressively louder and more harsh, and it felt like my movement was speeding up. I was starting to mentally freak out at this point, and soon saw my room fade into view, I was awake in the same position i had been in before.

That's it. I guess my main question is could this have been the beginning of an OBE, or astral projection or whatever? I've only ever briefly looked into this sort of thing, and that was a while ago so I really don't know anything about it. Any similar experiences? Thanks in advance!

This is how most of my WILDs happen. There is a shift of awareness from the physical body, to the dream body. If this is the beginning of AP or an OBE, that is for you to decide. Personally, I leave an unknown playing card face down on my dresser to check whenever I WILD into my room or have a false awakening. There have been many interesting 'coincidences' :)

Yeah, I've heard of that card trick before. That's something I'll probably try next time this sort of thing happens (it's cool that you've gotten interesting results with it!). The thing is, I hadn't gotten any sleep prior to this episode. Maybe I was misinformed, but I was under the impression that you can't WILD into NREM sleep (either that, or it's very tough and uncommon, or maybe the situation needs to be just right). This is what made me think it was a possible OBE. I guess I'll just have to explore it further next time and not get so freaked out.

Speaking of which, how difficult can it be to get back into your body if/when this happens (assuming it can happen)? Is it usually as easy as willing yourself back? This is probably what I'm afraid of the most.

Ah, some how you were misinformed. You can WILD into an nREM dream, but the experience is different than averagee LDing, and often has poor visuals. I would think of what you describe as just standard HI or HH stuff. If you want to OBE it seems to just be a WILD variation, so you could get that experience this way.