Thread: Changing SP into LD?

I'm having really terrible sleep paralysis-- it seems effected by noise in the house or eating spicy food before bed. I'm trying to combat it, not sure how to prevent it. One thing I realized is that when I'm conscious in the paralyzed state, there is a person who is like the accumilation of my fears, it's a man which taunts me- like the Hag Attack Syndrom, but it's even more intense and happens a lot. When I'm asleep I end up trying to fight it off mentally, which is really strange. Because I'm completely conscious and can FEEL everything. The other thing is that it's always dark- like I'm in my room...I also usually experience several false awakenings. It seems to continue on for some time- then gradually fade. Sometimes, ive been able to make it stop through belief or mentally defeating whatever it is. I have a very active imagination, esp. when dreaming--and often it's so vivid and intense. But these sleep parlaysis dreams are the most real to me, and the most scary to me. Yet with the amount of willpower in the dream, like I am able to change anything--and how I am able to fight this imaginery person--it makes me wonder if I could somehow direct that conscious energy into a dream, or a more constructive sleep method? I thought it was a demon for awhile--because it's so realistic and I'm completely aware of something attacking me--in my head. But it only happens when I'm dreaming, and I don't really think it's demon possession. Any ideas on what to do? Or at least techniques to challenge it, or wake myself up instantly when it happens? I'm always trying- but the paralysis prevents me from being able to wake up.

The best thing to do is to remain calm and ignore the fear. If you relax and don't try to fight it, then you should drift into a full-blown dream. It can be difficult to ignore such a strong emotion, but with practice it is possible.

I know from experience that if you try to fight the sleep paralysis, then it only makes things worse. Struggling doesn't help you get out of it any faster. Unfortunately there's no way to wake up instantly, but if you overcome the fear then it will no longer be an issue.

I used to have terrible episodes like this a few years ago, so i know exactly how it feels. The worst part was, that I didnt know anything about sleep paralysis, so it was horrifying.

I think you should try and overcome it though. If you do sp will work for you instead of being an obstacle in the way of becoming lucid.

It will be tough but, It's possible, and probably not as bad as you think.

When I was trying to get over it I started going along with the sleep paralysis until I had to wake myself up. Then the next time I would let it go a little further, and when it got too intense, again wake myself up. now it rarely bothers me.

* This might be interesting but not really necessary:
When I was doing this, it was like I was standing up to my subconscious.
and when I tried to desensitize myself to it slowly, I noticed that for a while it seemed like it was increasing to catch up with my comfort level. I hope that makes sense. But eventually it finally stopped. So now I can endure sp pretty easily without having to wake up.

If you do need to wake up I developed a breathing technique that worked for me. (since breathing is one of the few functions you can still control in sp) If things started to get too uncomfortable I would just start inhaling/exhaling really sharply,(trying to get the biggest breath with each one) and after a couple of tries it would jolt me just enough to wake up. The only thing is that if I didnt physically get up and move I would be back in sp in a few seconds.

I dont know how well this will work for you (if at all) but it helped me.

I hope some of this helps you overcome sleep paralysis, so you can start using it to your advantage.