Thread: First post on Dreamviews! I have a quesiton...

About sleep paralysis:
I'm not 100% sure how you can free yourself from a paralysis (sorry!), but from my experience, the more you focus, the scarier it becomes. So, when this happens to you next time, i suggest you to relax as much as you can, and the paralysis will naturally fade away.

There are heaps of videos about stopping sleep paralysis on YouTube; they will certainly help!

Sleep Paralysis is natural and you can actually pass directly into an Ld from it. Just relax, know that you are safe and nothing can hurt you, and visualize the dreamscape that you want to be in. Before you know it, you're in an LD.

Well, I'm almost completely sure it was "dream paralysis" which happens in to me a lot. I'm almost completely sure it was in a dream because I nose pinched in the false awakening, then suddenly became paralyzed, so I could move for a second. Also, I tried to get up, I managed to move myself a bit by struggling, and then I suddenly got pulled back to my bed.

Well, I was already in a dream, as I was in a false awakening, except paralyzed. This happens to me a lot and it's annoying. I could tell it wasn't SP because I managed to nose pinch and confirm I was in a dream while in the false awakening, and I suddenly was pushed back into my bed, and I couldn't move.

I am jealous. LDs every night? :O

I think the reason why I've been getting so many LDs lately is because I've been on summer vacation. The extra sleep allows me to wake up naturally at about 7 am. I then stay up for a bit, then go back to bed, (WBTB) and almost always have a DILD. Unfortunately, once I go back to school, I feel as if I won't have close to half as many LDs as i'm having now due to having less sleep You should try WBTB, even without WILD, it does wonders!

Hey there,

Like you already mentioned, I think you may be experiencing dream paralysis. Even though you're still dreaming, your sleep is likely so light and you're so close to waking up that your mind is already processing external stimuli, in this case the sensation of lying in your bed. This bleeds over into your dream. I've often had lucid dreams like that in which I would be able to move a bit, and then find myself back in my bed, again and again.

The trick, for me, seems to be not to focus on it too much, ground myself, and focus on other dream elements. That tends to draw me deeper into sleep (and dream) again and thus breaks the paralysis.

-Redrivertears-

Thanks for the advice! What exactly do you mean by "grounding"? Also, you mean that by other dream elements, I should just look around/pay attention to the dream and ignore the paralysis?

Hey,

That's what I mean, yes. Dreams will draw you in the more you pay attention to them. Giving attention to certain elements in your dream makes them stronger. Ignoring them makes them fade way. By trying to 'break' the paralysis, you are essentially feeding it by giving it attention. The dream will become more and more 'about the paralysis'. Ignore it as much as you can, and the paralysis might fade away in favor of other, more pleasant, dream elements.

Well, at least that works for me

As for grounding is. Its a technique often mentioned by lucid dreamers as the first thing they do when they become lucid. They 'ground' themselves by focusing on dream elements (some like to focus on their hands, others pay attention to their surroundings. Personally, I like to touch things and feel them). Because lucid dreaming often happens in a state of light sleep and getting conscious might wake you up, putting your focus on these dream elements will pull you back deeper into sleeping/dreaming and ensure the lucid dream can begin properly.

-Redrivertears-

Okay, thanks for the explanation and help! I'll have to try that next time