Thread: Sleep paralysis and afterwards?

Hey there,

Are you sure you weren't just experiencing the feeling of your body going to sleep (numbness, weightlessness, vibrations, general loss of feeling)? That's a good thing though. For me, its usually associated with the onset of hypnagogic images. If I can focus on these, the outside world tends to fade away and the hypnagogics eventually develop into full dreams (and a WILD, if I'm lucky enough not to lose consciousness). The difficulty for me though, is in not focusing on the bodily sensations I'm experiencing. They can be quite powerful. And they tend to drag me back to wakefulness if I don't manage to ignore them.

As for sleep paralysis, as far as I know its actual paralysis (or at least severe muscle weakness). People describe it as quite scary. Ofcourse, that's because they have no idea what's happening to them. Over the centuries, it has led to quite a few myths of intruders in the bedroom and/or sitting on one's chest (demons, incubi, cats stealing your breath, etc).

Sleep paralysis - NHS Choices


-Redrivertears-

Hm what is the difference from sleep paralysis to your body going to sleep? I've never researched about that so please explain. I didn't tell a lot of the details when I couldn't move. Thanks, rose

Hey there,

Did you check the link I added? It should tell you plenty about sleep paralysis.

But I just added that as extra info really. The step to lucid dreaming (and WILDs) for me lies in trying to focus on the hypnagogics and dream images that appear in such a state, and tune out the bodily and outside sensations that may keep me from falling asleep (though I admit for me that's easier said then done, but it may be cause I'm a really light sleeper ).

-Redrivertears-

Here are a couple of old but still accurate DV threads that might help you out, MsHowToMC; I highly recommend you check them out:

Sleep Paralysis Explained

Sleep Paralysis Demystified


As long as I'm here, here are a couple more thoughts I hope you'll consider:

First, you cannot wiggle your toes during actual SP, so you probably were simply in a state of deep relaxation or perhaps REM Atonia (the condition where your sleeping body "shuts off" your motor functions, just to keep you from acting out your dream movements with your sleeping body), both of which are easily left behind by a decision to, say, wiggle your toes.

Next, and far more importantly: Contrary to popular myth, SP has nothing whatsoever to do with successful LD'ing for most people (there is a very small minority of people who do suffer from actual SP, and it can work for them); Try not to make it too important in your quest to successfully LD, lest you spend more time getting to SP than you do getting to lucidity.

I read online that you are able to escape SP by wriggling your toes, and fingers because they are the only parts of your body that is not COMPLETELY paralyzed

How to Stop Sleep Paralysis - and Transform it into a Lucid Dream

9 Ways to Wake Up From Sleep Paralysis | dream studies portal

Ah. I did not know that. Good find

-Redrivertears-

Hmm...

Yes, even actual SP eventually subsides, so, with a bit of patience you will eventually be able to wiggle your toes. But did your toe-wiggling end the SP, or was it going to end anyway? Something to think about, I think.

But I for one am not here to argue about toe-wiggling. I think my point was more about not falling into a very common LD'ing trap of making "getting to SP" important enough that you miss out on actually getting to your LD. I hope you are able to take the time to follow the links I provided, MsHowToMC, and are also willing to consider that SP is not an important factor in LD'ing.

Aishh ahaha.. I've researched a lot about sleep paralysis since August because I wanted to lucid dream but was also terrified because some of my research said that it was scary. I've clicked on as many links as you could possibly imagine lol! I've researched a lot about WILD in general so I've got the gif about sleep paralysis. I hope I'm not sounding rude. I have clicked on your links of course! Thank you for the help. I actually wrote some stuff in my dream journal. I will paste it here.

I focused on my breathing and mantra and then I started to get involved into a scene. I didn't notice that much like I was dreaming regular. I was in a jeep can with a few other strangers and had an odd device. Almost like a really weird phone but it didn't work like a phone. So I used the back facing camera and saw red footsteps like in black ops 3 so the strangers were like "wow that's weird! Are they still following us?" So I used the front facing camera and the same one you would take using a selfie but I couldn't see on the screen idk what my subconscious was think..? So I changed it and turned it around and the moment I did that, I could feel my physical body and not the one in the dream. I could feel it getting paralised and it was awesome! I also heard a wewewewewe type of noise that sounded strange like something you would find in Doctor who and a close sound that the tart us sounded like when it was leaving but not the exact same sound. I got a little scared what was going to happen and I wiggled my toes. It felt like the feeling when your feet falls asleep and hard to move.