Rapid heart beat during sleep paralysis attempt

**Xanhil** · 08-14-2013 07:59 AM

I haven't really succeded in accomplishing a intended sleep paralysis yet, but I've tried and gotten close a couple of times. During the relaxation process I start to feel the beating of my heart extremly well, like it's pretty much all I feel. Also the heart start to beat really fast. I wasn't really excitet or scared (however i got a bit worried, so i stoped doing it). Even my breathing felt choppy, like vibrating, however the breathing itself wasn't a problem.
I wasn't in the paralysis yet, at least I don't think I was, because I could move my hole body even though it felt heavy. Is this normal?

**Sierrala** · 08-24-2013 07:15 AM

I'm hardly an expert in sleep paralysis, but based on what I've felt during my experiences, you could have already been in sleep paralysis, just at the beginning stage. I also would feel my heartbeat and breathing go up, I could move, etc....but after falling into true sleep and then waking up again I realized that nothing actually changed the whole time. Sleep paralysis dreams are the only dreams of mine that mimic current, real-time reality best and I can't tell I'm dreaming. I can't really be sure, though. Everyone dreams differently.

**gab** · 08-24-2013 08:02 AM

Both of youy guys, welcome to Dreamviews.

Unfortunally, there is a scary amount of tales and misconception and downright misleading information floating around the interwebz.

I believe, that these two threads will clear it all up and get you well on your way to reach lucidity, or at least have a good understanding about falling asleep process.

http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...mystified.html
http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...explained.html

Xanhil, your post sounds like you are interested in Lucid dreaming.
Sierrala, your's sounds like you wre talking about normal, non-lucids.

If anybody wants me to move a post into lucid dreaming section, please let me know here. Good luck and happy dreams.

**Sierrala** · 08-25-2013 06:01 AM

Huh, I wonder if there are two different things the word "sleep paralysis" is used to talk about - a more broad term and then the more specific ones you were talking about. What I think of when I think of sleep paralysis is what I learned in my psychology course - your body has already released the chemical that paralyzes your body while asleep so that you don't sleepwalk, but your brain didn't reach the right level properly. I always assumed what I had experienced was "sleep paralysis" dreaming (which apparently refers to something other than I thought) because none of my other dreams, lucid or non-lucid felt like that. Maybe it's one of those things where the definitions are vague?