well i have been reading a lot of stuff the past few days about lucid dreaming and astral projection(more on the latter) and i had decided not to try anything until i have done some more research and exercises. anyways, the other night as i was going to bed i started to feel a numb sensation come over my body, and as this started i began to focus on my breathing more and after a while my head felt seperate from my body(body paralysis?) and i couldn't even tell you how my arms or legs were positioned at this point. as this went on i started to feel like i was spinning and my body was gently rocking side to side. i could tell my body wasn't actually rocking cause my mattress is old and the springs would creak loud if i even barely move, nonetheless it still felt like it.

So my question is this: is this normal, and if so what was going on?

and also a question on LD if you would be so kind as to answer both(and if you have read this far i thank you)in my dreams it always seems like im watching it from a distance and i am never actually in it, thus i cannot realize i am dreaming cause it is hard to do a reality check if you aren't really there. my dreams also seem extremely short(maybe this is just from lack of recall?) anything i can or need to do to help with this?

Thanks in advance