Problems awaking or opening eyes
I just woke up from a pretty freaky dream and I wonder if anyone else typically has the same problems when they begin to obtain lucidity. Basically, there are two problems that I typically experience when I begin to control a dream:
1) If I do not like the way the dream is going, or it is just freaking me out, I try to wake up; however, I usually end up "waking" into another dream.
2) Sometimes when I gain lucidity, I think that I begin to wake up; however, I get "stuck" somewhere between the sleeping and waking state. This usually enters my body in a form of sleep paralysis in which, in the dream, I cannot open my eyes (or if I do, I still cannot see anything). It is like I know that in the waking world my eyes are closed, but I cannot control that from within the dream.
Here is the dream that I had last night that combined both of these for a quite disturbing experience:
http://www.sypher7.com/?p=133
Re: Problems awaking or opening eyes
Sypher7,
Both experiences you mentioned are fairly common and will be experienced by anyone learning to lucid dream at one time or another. The first is call a False Awakening, it is one of the main reasons you need to get into the habit of performing reality chechs often.
The second as you stated is sleep paralysis, which is very useful as you have a foot in both world, waking and dreaming. In this state, it is usually simple to enter a lucid dream.