Thread: Any advice? My dream control suddenly completely gone to the point I can barely even move.

I never really had much trouble with dream control, except during my first LDs a very long time ago.

But it was fine a few months ago, I would LD and I would have no trouble flying, getting people to appear, going to places.

But on my last batch of LDs, every time I realized I was dreaming I appear on my bed (which is really normal for me, side question: is this normal for most people too?) but I have an extremely hard time standing up (when before I would just say to myself "stand up and start with the LD!" and on I went), here's a few examples from my journal:

"I realize I'm dreaming, I appear in bed, but when trying to get out of it I find my leg entangled with the bed sheets, I can barely move, like if I had this huge weight on me, slowly I'm able to untangle myself - but I wake up."


"I notice these weren't the pants I was wearing just before, I do a reality check and appear in bed, knowing I'm dreaming, I'm again having trouble moving, my legs, my arms, my head is all extremely stiff, I try to calm down and try to stabilize from this position, I start by rubbing my hands, but I wake up."


"I realize this is a FA, when trying to get up my left foot gets entangled by the bed sheets, this time I get frustrated to the point I yell for someone to help me (that night I was reading a book where it mentioned about interacting with DCs to ask for explanation to certain things or stuff like that) and explain to me what is going on, I see a shadow appear and it starts mumbling I try really hard to understand what he's saying, but it's too distorted, the shadow disappears and I find myself in bed again, my foot free. Slowly, moving like if I'm on my last breath of life, I manage to fall down my bed, and now I'm crawling beside it, I can't even move my neck to look around, everything is too dark to see anything, I can't even focus on something to stabilize with my sight, I rub my hands but it doesn't seem to help much, I try going out the bedroom through the door since I see light there, I move but I can barely see where I'm moving, my head is pointing up, and I can only move it very slowly by trying to focus on whatever I can see on the edge of my vision. When I get close to the door I wake up."


That last one felt really crazy, because it lasted quite a long time, but most of that time was spent crawling to my door very very slowly.

So! Any advice, or if anyone wants to share any similar experience would be appreciated!

The thing about cant move happened with me in my first LD but I keeped trying until I started moving again, but you are probably very stressed in waking life

Or could be someone intruding your dreams and controlling it. That shadow could've been what prevented you to move.

Either wake yourself, fall deeper asleep, or be in the galaxies in a few moments. Pressure mate pressure.

You are entering lucids that are not happening in REM. People can drean in nREM, but it is entirely different from REM dreams. You are probably experiencing a mix of fighting SP and that creates the teapped feeling. The very nature of nREM dreams is going to make the whole experience about 10% on clarity. Enjoy the dream for what it is worth. Use it as a time to stablize and work on visualization. If you stay aware you will get into REM eventually.

Originally Posted by sivason

You are entering lucids that are not happening in REM. People can drean in nREM, but it is entirely different from REM dreams. You are probably experiencing a mix of fighting SP and that creates the teapped feeling. The very nature of nREM dreams is going to make the whole experience about 10% on clarity. Enjoy the dream for what it is worth. Use it as a time to stablize and work on visualization. If you stay aware you will get into REM eventually.

I've experienced exactly this sort of thing and I find this interpretation really interesting. Is this from your experience, do you have any more information on this? How many of your lucid dreams do you think come from Non-REM?

@Bakuryu, try visualising a new scene entirely to enter into

Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

I've experienced exactly this sort of thing and I find this interpretation really interesting. Is this from your experience, do you have any more information on this? How many of your lucid dreams do you think come from Non-REM?

@Bakuryu, try visualising a new scene entirely to enter into

I do not know if anyone else talks about this. I did not read it anywhere. I am going off my own experience with staying aware during the phases of sleep. When you are doing your WILD attempt correctly, you will often go through levels of sleep and be fully aware, but not reach REM for a long time. I decided a long time back to experiment with the dream qualities of the various stages of sleep.
I have been able to force lucids from WILD attempts in nREM and realized that the dreams were exactly like the ones the OP talks about.
I have had the strange dream type mentioned many times, as have other members who asked about it. Well when I intentionally enter a nREM dream state and become lucid, it is almost entirly the same experience! I imagine some one would have to put electrodes on my head to varify my conclusion. However, the nREM LDs I do on purpose are so much like this crazy state the OP mentions, that I think it is a safe bet, it is the same thing.

How often do I dream this way? Left to DILD it only happens a few times a year. IN WILD it is now part of my standard routine. I never wait for REM. The first nREM dream state I reach I work in the dark poor resolution inner world and create a nREM LD. On the practicle side, I have learned that if you stablize the dream like normal and have what fun you can, it seems to eventuallt triggure a shift into REM, which takes about 5ish minutes. Now I am talking about maintaining a darkish poor resolution LD for 5 minutes. I know many people loose the LDs in less than a minute, so this is probably a really advanced skill for tose who can stablize well enough to stick it out. You can feel all sorts of things vividly in nREM LDs, so the experience can still be fun.

You are right about him visualizing a new scene. It does not seem to work to just desire the dream to be fixed, so 'imagine a light switch' does not answer the problem. I just would add, visualize a new scene, but accept the low resolution and trouble moving. The stage of sleep has to shift first, which will happen, but it may take a little patients. With the ability to stabilize well you should almost always be able to recover this kind of dream and get into a normal one.

Originally Posted by sivason

I do not know if anyone else talks about this. I did not read it anywhere. I am going off my own experience with staying aware during the phases of sleep. When you are doing your WILD attempt correctly, you will often go through levels of sleep and be fully aware, but not reach REM for a long time. I decided a long time back to experiment with the dream qualities of the various stages of sleep.
I have been able to force lucids from WILD attempts in nREM and realized that the dreams were exactly like the ones the OP talks about.
I have had the strange dream type mentioned many times, as have other members who asked about it. Well when I intentionally enter a nREM dream state and become lucid, it is almost entirly the same experience! I imagine some one would have to put electrodes on my head to varify my conclusion. However, the nREM LDs I do on purpose are so much like this crazy state the OP mentions, that I think it is a safe bet, it is the same thing.

How often do I dream this way? Left to DILD it only happens a few times a year. IN WILD it is now part of my standard routine. I never wait for REM. The first nREM dream state I reach I work in the dark poor resolution inner world and create a nREM LD. On the practicle side, I have learned that if you stablize the dream like normal and have what fun you can, it seems to eventuallt triggure a shift into REM, which takes about 5ish minutes. Now I am talking about maintaining a darkish poor resolution LD for 5 minutes. I know many people loose the LDs in less than a minute, so this is probably a really advanced skill for tose who can stablize well enough to stick it out. You can feel all sorts of things vividly in nREM LDs, so the experience can still be fun.

You are right about him visualizing a new scene. It does not seem to work to just desire the dream to be fixed, so 'imagine a light switch' does not answer the problem. I just would add, visualize a new scene, but accept the low resolution and trouble moving. The stage of sleep has to shift first, which will happen, but it may take a little patients. With the ability to stabilize well you should almost always be able to recover this kind of dream and get into a normal one.

Is it a very noticeable shift into REM (clarity, awareness etc.)? Also, have you tried meditating in the dream through these Non-REM lucids (seems like a good way to abide through Non-REM until REM is reached).

Thanks for the replies


I been having similar problems on a few LDs the past few days, but stranger and stranger, but I'm slowly understanding/learning how to overcome them.

Three nights ago when I realized I was dreaming right on my bed (it was like a FA where I thought I was still trying to fall asleep after my WBTB, but something just didn't feel right so I did an RC) I was having trouble moving when suddenly some sort of shadow entered my room and grabbed me from my legs, I was scared shitless to be honest I tried to talk to it but failed and woke up.
That same night the exact same thing happened again, the shadow entered my room and grabbed me again, this time I touched the shadow's face and I felt like I recognized it, so I asked him if it was her (I said the name) but right after I raised my other hand and touched the other side of her face, and it felt like another person. That's when this shadow talks, it's like he's talking to someone else, about me, telling this other that I'm getting ready or something like that.
I wake up into a FA after that where I have a fine LD without any of these issues, after that is done I FA again, this time another shadow comes I want to ask "Who are you?" but my mouth wont move, fear and paralysis is all I can feel, I close my eyes and start relaxing with meditation techniques, and I try again, "Who are you?" I say, he replies "What have you done?", suddenly the shadow dissipates and I am free to move, I decide to wake up to write all of this down so I won't forget.

After waking up I started thinking what could all of this be? I guessed that it could be I'm feeling SP and this shadow grabbing me represents it. I also now know that if I relax, let the fear go away, I can talk to these things, and if I ever see them again, I'll try asking them more things.
It also gave me the idea that I should try meditating when I'm having trouble moving.

The night after that no shadows appeared, but I did experience again difficulty to move in two different LDs.
On both I tried meditating, two different things happened on each:
On the first one I closed my eyes, and started visualizing the shapes that I saw, when suddenly one of these shapes started making sense, it created a character and suddenly I saw myself in some sort of hotel, anyway, proceeded with a regular LD after that.
On the second one I started meditating again, this time I started to feel like I was levitating, but only the right side of my body was, so it was like if I kept doing it I would be with my head pointing to the ground, I keep meditating, and the levitation starts pushing me off the bed, where I now manage to crawl outside my room and then walk outside my house and manage to have an average LD after that.

So, now I have learnt that trying to fight it, and trying to force myself to move when this happens is a bad idea which will just make me wake up, meditation seems to work great, it seems to do some weird stuff and ends up helping me.

Maybe it is nREM like you mention Sivason, and by meditating I'm able to let my mind start shifting into REM, instead of disturbing it by forcing myself to move.

Originally Posted by Bakuryu

So, now I have learnt that trying to fight it, and trying to force myself to move when this happens is a bad idea which will just make me wake up, meditation seems to work great, it seems to do some weird stuff and ends up helping me.

Maybe it is nREM like you mention Sivason, and by meditating I'm able to let my mind start shifting into REM, instead of disturbing it by forcing myself to move.

Great! Sounds like you have got it now. You will transition to REM if you stay calm and don't fight. The only way to get a normal LD out of this kind of dream is to be patient and not rush it. Good job, and happy dreaming.


Ctharlhie, The transition is pretty sudden. It is like everything is vague and dark and moving is difficult, but you relax and stablize the dream, and occuppy yourself, then suddenly everything gets bright and you are in REM. The transition is very quick if not almost instant. I do meditate sometimes, but what I normally do is work on stablizing a good dream body. I bend my joints and take a stroll through the darken vaque scenes. It is hard to move correctly, but you can learn how. Then I may dance or feel myself flying. I may work on transforming into an animal or whatever keeps me from boredom. The switch can take 5 to 10 minutes like I said (then is sudden), so you need to stay aware and interested that long.

Last night I had again one of these experiences, except I was able to transform it into the most amazing feeling I ever had in an LD, it felt too amazing to not share:

"
I find myself lying in bed, aware that it is a FA. I can't move like usually, immediately I stop trying and switch into a meditative state, I can cross my legs, set up a mudra and start meditating, suddenly I get the idea of trying to "WILD" (while it wouldn't technically be a WILD, it's just how I referenced it), so I started reciting in the back of my head the mantra "aware", while in a complete relaxed state. Suddenly images start appearing, like the likes I never saw before, I was in some sort of space with no ending, it was all black around me, but an image of a human being, where I can see the skeleton of it like if I was looking with x-ray vision, once the whole skeleton rotates, I find myself in bed thinking "Uh, guess it didn't work." but then I RC like I always do after waking up, and think "Woah! I guess it did work!". As soon as I lay my feet on the ground when getting off bed, I feel this SOMETHING, like power and control that I have never felt before, I feel like I can do anything, I go out and see the tree that's infront of my house, with this feeling of immense power I try to lift it (like some superhero would), and without trouble at all I pick it up, the roots leave the earth and I trow it at the street like it was a toy. I see some motorcycles coming from the street, and again, with the desire to try this power, I use psychic power to mess with the people driving them like if they were puppets. I felt this surge of energy and immense power, and I woke up.
"
The whole process of trying WILD during the paralysis state (which I'm calling "nWILD" on my journal :p) felt like WILD, there was buzzing I usually feel when WILDing, imagery (except this one felt different), and then the LD that came after was like nothing I ever experienced before.

Originally Posted by Bakuryu

Last night I had again one of these experiences, except I was able to transform it into the most amazing feeling I ever had in an LD, it felt too amazing to not share:

"
I find myself lying in bed, aware that it is a FA. I can't move like usually, immediately I stop trying and switch into a meditative state, I can cross my legs, set up a mudra and start meditating, suddenly I get the idea of trying to "WILD" (while it wouldn't technically be a WILD, it's just how I referenced it), so I started reciting in the back of my head the mantra "aware", while in a complete relaxed state. Suddenly images start appearing, like the likes I never saw before, I was in some sort of space with no ending, it was all black around me, but an image of a human being, where I can see the skeleton of it like if I was looking with x-ray vision, once the whole skeleton rotates, I find myself in bed thinking "Uh, guess it didn't work." but then I RC like I always do after waking up, and think "Woah! I guess it did work!". As soon as I lay my feet on the ground when getting off bed, I feel this SOMETHING, like power and control that I have never felt before, I feel like I can do anything, I go out and see the tree that's infront of my house, with this feeling of immense power I try to lift it (like some superhero would), and without trouble at all I pick it up, the roots leave the earth and I trow it at the street like it was a toy. I see some motorcycles coming from the street, and again, with the desire to try this power, I use psychic power to mess with the people driving them like if they were puppets. I felt this surge of energy and immense power, and I woke up.
"
The whole process of trying WILD during the paralysis state (which I'm calling "nWILD" on my journal :p) felt like WILD, there was buzzing I usually feel when WILDing, imagery (except this one felt different), and then the LD that came after was like nothing I ever experienced before.

That's great
definitely meditating any time this comes up again.