A very weighty problem...

I wasn't really sure if this would be better suited in the "Obtaining Lucidity" forum, or the "Dream Control" forum.. I finally just decided to try my luck here.

So, I have admittedly fallen out of the practice of lucid dreaming. Bad sleeping habits combined with stress just sort of killed it for me for several months. Things have smoothed out though and I've decided to have another go at it, but I'm running into a rather odd complication along the way.

Almost all my lucid dreams happen with me "waking up in bed" and realizing it's a dream. But, something has started to happen every single time that's killing it for me as soon as it begins.. I'd be laying there, realize I'm dreaming, and immediately this massive fantasmal weight settles on me and my eyes snap shut. It's hard to even move, and I can NOT open my eyes. With great effort I'm usually able to get out of bed at least, but I still can't open my eyes. They're closed so tightly, and they feel so heavy. It takes a massive amount of concentration and exertion on my part to open them... So much so that it usually wakes me up in the process.

Even worse, today I was having a dream where I noticed a really odd expiration date on a box I was holding (it said 2007) and I thought that it couldn't be right, so out of habit when I see something I deem strange I did a reality check. Check failed, I realize I'm dreaming, and suddenly BAM... I'm in bed, head on the pillows, and the weight is on me. When I finally get up and open my eyes, I "wake up"... But it was a trick. My mind wanted me to think that the effort had woken me up, but within a minute or two I realized I was actually still dreaming. No weight hit this time. That's probably the first time in 10 attempts that I've actually beaten the weight.

So what's happening? What is this? I thought at first that it might be sleep paralysis bleed through into the dreams or something, but that doesn't make sense 'cause with effort I am able to move. It's my eyes.. I can't open my danged eyes.

When you feel your eyes are closed just relax for a bit. After a bit the paralysis will wear off. You can also try and imagine something appearing in front of you. You can see through different perspectives in a dream so it does not need to be in first person. You can even think of it as seeing through your eye lids or x ray vision.