Sleep paralysis after waking up?

**VastAwakening** · 03-01-2011 10:27 AM

Hey all, I just had a pretty intense experience and thought I would share it with you, and ask some questions

About an hour ago I was falling asleep, repeating to myself "I will have a lucid dream" over and over. New thoughts and ideas would come into my head, and I would simply quiet them down with my mantra.

Then I was in a dream. I was at my job looking through shelves and noticed that they were completely empty and I could see to the other side of the warehouse. I thought to myself "Finally!" I did a reality check, and instantly my balance and depth perception went insane! I had crazy spins and it almost gave me a headache. I then had a huge surge of relaxation waves rush over me. At this time I felt like I was in a chair, and the chair started to move quite quickly to the right.

Basically unable to move I faded out of the dream. Then I noticed that my eyes were still closed. Its almost as if I exited a dream, and entered right into sleep paralysis. I felt like a lead blanket was laying across me. Then I heard this frightening evil laugh. I got really nervous and decided to overcome my fear with confidence. I took that noise and said to myself "Fuck yeah!" and acted like I was on a roller coaster, because at the time of hearing the noise that was the sensation I felt.

I then tried to enter back into a dream, by visualizing a dream scape. "A beach" I thought to myself. But as soon as I started to think of the beach, the sleep paralysis went away.

My Questions

1. Did I enter sleep paralysis after exiting my dream? or was I experiencing some hypnagogic imagery and sounds

2. (This has happened a few times) Why did my senses go insane after I realized I was dreaming? I literally had no balance at all, and had really intense spins, to the point where I was unable to stand up or move.

Thanks so much for your help!

**sisyphus** · 03-01-2011 11:52 AM

RE 1: I'd guess you were experiencing both sleep paralysis and HI. When we are in REM sleep, our bodies always enter sleep paralysis. In the case when you are asleep, it's called "hypotonia". If the feeling of paralysis remains after you wake up, then it's called sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis can happen before or after sleep. HI can also happen both before or after sleep. If it happens as you wake up, it's called "hypnopompic" instead of "hypnogogic" but it's mostly the same thing. If you google those terms, you can find more detailed descriptions on wikipedia.

RE 2: I'm not so sure, but I'll offer one theory. It could be that you unintentionally expect your senses to change when you become lucid. So your subconscious manifests your expectations, without any real reason or cause besides the idea that you think it will happen.