Quote Originally Posted by DreamRealEyes View Post
Are you familiar with the hypnagogia or hpynagogic state? It is the intermediate state between waking and sleeping. If you're experiencing hypnagogia it means your body has entered sleep but your conscious mind is still awake. In this state you can be half aware of dream states and half aware of your physical body and physical environment. There is a switch in your brain that when sleeping turns off your mind's ability to move your body (except your eyes) and for this reason you may feel paralyzed. It's not unusual to feel alot of other sensations too and vivid visual and auditory "hallucinations".

Sometimes I seem to be able to see the room I'm in through my closed eyes in this state, and sometimes I have seen beings in the room or felt the physical touch of something next to me. I don't necessarily consider these things to be "unreal" but also I see them as harmless enough if you can keep your wits about you.

I think like Queen Zukin said it's a great opportunity to move into a lucid dream from this state. You're halfway there at this point, mind awake, body asleep. You don't seem to have a lot of fear around it except as you said when it takes a dark turn. I think that is the key for you to move beyond this. My suggestion would be to try something different. You seem to have a fair amount of awareness during these experiences. Perhaps you could turn the tides on this thing if instead of fighting it you relaxed into it. I don't mean to submit to it, but to be aloof to it, knowing it can not harm you. See it as energy and watch it with interest but detachment. Focus on it as energy, with no labels. Perhaps then instead of waking up you can move past this and further into sleep (while still conscious) and enter a lucid dream. If you're not familiar with it read up on the WILD technique. Here http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...cid-dream.html
Great post. Very good advice. I agree that the best approach would be to not fight against it. Perhaps when you feel a push you could imagine this like a wind and you a like a sail, and let it push you in a good way, towards a lucid dream.