Sleep Paralysis?

So, this is what happened:

After going to bed really late the previous night, I woke up at about 1pm on Friday, so I thought I would fall asleep really hard. I was wrong - I got into bed at about 9:30pm, read a while and then turned off the lights, shortly after that beeping a friend (call and hang up before he/she answers, I don't know if "beep" is the English word). That was at 10:02pm. The next thing I remember was this dream. I was in the front of this building I lived in during summer-camp last summer with a friend. It was dark and we saw a man coming towards the building. I could also hear his footsteps. My friend and I started giggling because we joked that mybe he is going to harm us (very dumb...). It started to turn darker and darker. The man's steps suddenly ceased and I got scared, I called for my friend but she wouldn't answer. Meanwhile, it had turned pitch-black. I realised that I was in bed.

Then, I believe I fell asleep again (maybe those firts phases of a sleep cycle...), until I fel someone sitting on my bed. I was sure it was my mother, though I had no idea why she would come to me in the middle of the night. I was sitting on my front and I felt "my mom" leaning over me. I felt pressure on my body and then I felt as if two arms were trying to wrap around y neck and I thought my mon wanted to hug me. Suddenly, I got scared and thought that someone wanted to srangle me and I tried to speak to reassure myself it was my mother but I realised I couldn't speak or even moan. That lasted one or two seconds. Then everything turned back to normal and I could get out of bed. I wasn't even too scared...The first thing I did was look at my phone, it was 10:38. I told my mom about my dream and when I returned form her room I saw that I had recieved a beep back from my friend, at 10:40 - not that this is important but it's a funny coincidence :) .

So, what do you think it was? Sleep paralysis or the early phases of a sleep cycle? And why did I dream? I thought one only dreams in REM period but I had fallen asleep after at least 35 minutes (even less, I rememeber thinking of a lot of random stuff and getting upset when I realised cause I would fall asleep harder if I did that).

Thanks if you can help and sorry if this post is confusing, please ask if you don't undersatnd something.

Yeah, it's actually kind of common. My mother has experienced this, I think it's called hypnagogia I remember reading some threads about it before so you can use the search option for those. But read this article and see if that's it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogic_hallucination

Quote:

---

Common

* Sensing a "presence" (often malevolent)
* Pressure/weight on body (especially the chest).
* A sensation of not being able to breathe
* Impending sense of doom/death
[/b]

---

Sounds like you've experienced a false awakening joined with SP. You know it's pretty cool because you were actually dreaming the entire time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ne

Sounds like you've experienced a false awakening joined with SP. You know it's pretty cool because you were actually dreaming the entire time.
[/b]

---

I don't think that was a false awakening because I'm almost sure I wasn't dreaming when I felt that pressure...It was probably sleep paralysis as DyerMaker said, thanks :) !

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lyla

I don't think that was a false awakening because I'm almost sure I wasn't dreaming when I felt that pressure...It was probably sleep paralysis as DyerMaker said, thanks :) !
[/b]

---

:hrm: hmmm Lets see, I would've sworn I said something like that also. Oh look there wouldn't you know I sure did! I think I called it SP = Sleep Paralysis...LOL :rolllaugh:

Hypnagogia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Hypnagogic hallucination)
Jump to: navigation, search

Hypnagogia (also spelled hypnogogia) are the experiences a person can go through in the hypnagogic (or hypnogogic) state, the period of falling asleep. Hypnopompia are the experiences a person can go through in the hypnopompic state, the period of waking up. The term hypnagogia often encompasses hypnopompia as well. Hypnagogic sensations collectively describe the vivid dream-like auditory, visual, or tactile sensations that can be experienced in a hypnagogic or hypnopompic state. These sensations can be accompanied by sleep paralysis, the sensation that the body is temporarily paralyzed after waking or before falling asleep.

The term hypnagogic is derived from the French word hypnagogique, coined by the 19th century French psychologist Louis Ferdinand Alfred Maury from the Greek words hupnos, meaning sleep, and agogos, meaning leading. Frederic William Henry Myers coined the complementary term hypnopompic, from hupnos and pompe, meaning sending away.
[edit]

Hypnagogic sensations

Hypnagogic sensations are vivid dream-like experiences that occur as one is falling asleep or waking up. Accompanying sleep paralysis can cause the sensations to be more frightening. The features of these sensations generally vary by individual, but some are more common to the experience than others:

Most common

* Vividness
* Fear
* Falling sensation

Common

* Sensing a "presence" (often malevolent)
* Pressure/weight on body (especially the chest).
* A sensation of not being able to breathe
* Impending sense of doom/death

Fairly common

* Auditory sensations (often footsteps or indistinct voices, or pulsing noises). Auditory sensations which are described as noise instead of sensations of legible sounds, are often described to be similar to auditory sensations caused by Nitrous Oxide by persons who have experienced both.
* Visual sensations such as lights, people or shadows walking around the room

Less common

* Floating sensations (sometimes associated with out-of-body experiences)
* Seamless transition into fully immersive lucid dreaming, also associated with out-of-body experiences
* Tactile sensations (such as a hand touching or grabbing)

Rare

* Vibration
* Involuntary movements (sometimes the feeling of sliding off of the bed or even up walls).
* The feeling of being pulled in different directions
That is the info from Wikipedia which sounds right