Lots of questions but i'll start with 1

[Izzdan]

Hello, im new here ..I had an experience last night which caused me to google and find this site. Last night as I was laying down to go to sleep, I started seeing my dream before I was even asleep. I knew I was still awake but I started seeing images and things happening to me which caused me to be unfomfortable and I would keep waking myself up. But within' a minute or two laying down again it would happen again. What happened was I was seeing hands coming at me, one was pulling on my cheek and one was pushing on the back of leg where my knee is and the one on my cheek was pulling hard, I could've sworn my head was actually getting pulled to the right. Im pretty sure I was just about asleep at that time, but I was still able to force myself to wake up and when I did I still saw the hands for a brief second or two and they faded away. My cheek was pulsating where it was being pulled in my sleep. I have no dental problems so any idea what heck all this means? It kinda scared me and for the 1st time in many years I slept with my light on. Im 33, so i don't normally sleep with my light on. Thanks Tom

[yuriythebest]

hi! yup you did experience a lucid dream- and later what is called a "false awakening"- those can look 100% EXACTLY like real life. A good way to check if you are dreaming or having a false awakening is with reality checks http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=63648

[Shift]

Hey Tom, welcome to DV There are a number of things that this could have been, I'll try to address the possibilities, and in the end it's really up to determine what fits best Last night as I was laying down to go to sleep, I started seeing my dream before I was even asleep. I knew I was still awake but I started seeing images and things happening to me which caused me to be unfomfortable and I would keep waking myself up. But within' a minute or two laying down again it would happen again. Typically such experiences are just hypnagogic hallucinations, dreamlike little bit and blurbs you get during early sleep as you are dosing off, and which are very common. Simple HH are typically visual and auditory, but not always. What happened was I was seeing hands coming at me, one was pulling on my cheek and one was pushing on the back of leg where my knee is and the one on my cheek was pulling hard, I could've sworn my head was actually getting pulled to the right. Im pretty sure I was just about asleep at that time This is where it gets a little muddy. HH is usually not consistently stable in such a manner, and I'm not sure I've ever heard of HH actually involving the sleeper in this manner, instead it usually occurs as brief flashes of images or sounds and concepts that the sleeper has trouble focusing on. It sounds like you may have passed into a dream, or even fallen asleep and had a false awakening. Another possibility is that you were in sleep paralysis, and these were accompanying hallucinations. One bit of evidence in that direction would be, you said that you felt very uncomfortable and that these hands were consistently interacting with you... did you feel that there was a 'being' who possessed the hands? A 'sensed presence' is fairly typical of sleep paralysis, and can cause the sleeper to become very afraid even though it's all just hallucinations. I was still able to force myself to wake up and when I did I still saw the hands for a brief second or two and they faded away. My cheek was pulsating where it was being pulled in my sleep. I have no dental problems so any idea what heck all this means? It kinda scared me and for the 1st time in many years I slept with my light on. Im 33, so i don't normally sleep with my light on. In the case that it was all HH, it's entirely possible that the HH simply continued, or that if it was in fact an actual dream, that when you woke yourself up you experienced hypnopompic hallucinations.... hypnagogic hallucinations but after sleep, or that it was the sleep paralysis if that's what it was. Did you have any trouble moving your body at all? Did you feel any other sensations? One hallucination that is very common with sleep paralysis (though not always present) is the perception (though not actual presence) of vibrations, usually described as "it felt like I was being electrocuted" or "there were volts running through my body". Anyway like I said, it's hard for someone else to be sure when your body was not being monitored and when a self-report is all you've got to go on. If you've got any questions or if you think any of these sound more likely than the others, let us know and we'll try to see if we can explain a bit more about what may have been going on. Basically though, these are very simple, natural phenomena that are completely normal, so you have nothing at all to worry about. Most people just fall asleep (mentally) before such points, an exception being lucid dreamers who attempt to keep their minds awake as their body falls asleep so that they can consciously enter a dream. If it ever happens again, just remember that you can go that route, or if you just want it to end to remember that it is perfectly harmless and not to be afraid, but to just wait it out. If it is a dream, you can learn to do 'reality checks' which are tests to see if you are dreaming or still awake. Spoiler for Definitions of Some of Those Terms I Used: FA * False awakening. A false awakening is a dream in which you believe that you have woken up in your bedroom (etc.) but are really still in a dream. You may realize that you are still dreaming if something is different (thus becoming lucid) or you may go through your morning routine and then wake up for real, then realizing that all along you have been dreaming that you had awakened. HH These are images or sounds that come as impulses during the onset of a hallucinogenic state. Usually before or after sleep. Sometimes through meditation. These images & sounds are random.

[slash112]

it might have been HH (hypogognic halucinations or something) one of the stages of sleep paralysis sometimes. so it could have been the start of a WILD

[Juritsu]

Odd, something similar happened to me last night. I was starting to fall asleep but got some very dream-like images. A hand came out of a screen and grabbed my head and I realized I was starting to fall asleep, not totally awake or asleep-then I got a very loud buzzing in my head and I felt like I was being pulled into a dream. Went with it but didn't make it. The second time something like that has happened to me. It might be a good way to get pulled into a lucid dream.

[Izzdan]

Odd, something similar happened to me last night. I was starting to fall asleep but got some very dream-like images. A hand came out of a screen and grabbed my head and I realized I was starting to fall asleep, not totally awake or asleep-then I got a very loud buzzing in my head and I felt like I was being pulled into a dream. Went with it but didn't make it. The second time something like that has happened to me. It might be a good way to get pulled into a lucid dream. I never added in my 1st message but I to had this loud noise in my ears, I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or awake hearing that noise ..odd that you mentioned that ..

[Izzdan]

Thanks all for the helpful info. I've had dreams like this in the past. I can probaly count on 1 hand though of times that i've woken up and still seen my dream. My most rememerable one was about 7 years ago. I fell asleep on the couch in my house and their were balloons in my dream and I woke up and saw about 4-5 balloons floating at the end of my hallway and I knew I was awake. They slowly drifted across the hallway and dissapated into thin air. But the one last night was just different. I've never felt like my dreams were interacting with me while I wasn't really asleep. I've never woken up from something that happened in my dream and felt the throbbing in my mouth after the finger was pulling my cheek. I know I was awake because I felt the throbbing for about 2-3 minutes. I actually got up and went into the garage to smoke a ciggarette. Because after that experience I was just ready to try and fall back asleep right away. But i'd have to say i've had about 4 maybe 5 occasions of where i've woken up from my dream and still saw an image of my dream. some of the times they're still images that just fade out but the time with the balloons they were moving. Just confused, I don't know to much about dreams. Before this past week I wasn't able to remember that I had a dream for about 2-3 months. But this past week i've had dreams every night that i've remembered. But thats usualy how it is for me I go a few months without remembering anything then I remember every dream for a week or 2. Thanks again all I appreciate the insightful feedback ..its allowing me to understand more and thanks for the links ..

[WolfeDreamer531]

Hey Tom, welcome to DV There are a number of things that this could have been, I'll try to address the possibilities, and in the end it's really up to determine what fits best Typically such experiences are just hypnagogic hallucinations, dreamlike little bit and blurbs you get during early sleep as you are dosing off, and which are very common. Simple HH are typically visual and auditory, but not always. This is where it gets a little muddy. HH is usually not consistently stable in such a manner, and I'm not sure I've ever heard of HH actually involving the sleeper in this manner, instead it usually occurs as brief flashes of images or sounds and concepts that the sleeper has trouble focusing on. It sounds like you may have passed into a dream, or even fallen asleep and had a false awakening. Another possibility is that you were in sleep paralysis, and these were accompanying hallucinations. One bit of evidence in that direction would be, you said that you felt very uncomfortable and that these hands were consistently interacting with you... did you feel that there was a 'being' who possessed the hands? A 'sensed presence' is fairly typical of sleep paralysis, and can cause the sleeper to become very afraid even though it's all just hallucinations. In the case that it was all HH, it's entirely possible that the HH simply continued, or that if it was in fact an actual dream, that when you woke yourself up you experienced hypnopompic hallucinations.... hypnagogic hallucinations but after sleep, or that it was the sleep paralysis if that's what it was. Did you have any trouble moving your body at all? Did you feel any other sensations? One hallucination that is very common with sleep paralysis (though not always present) is the perception (though not actual presence) of vibrations, usually described as "it felt like I was being electrocuted" or "there were volts running through my body". Anyway like I said, it's hard for someone else to be sure when your body was not being monitored and when a self-report is all you've got to go on. If you've got any questions or if you think any of these sound more likely than the others, let us know and we'll try to see if we can explain a bit more about what may have been going on. Basically though, these are very simple, natural phenomenon that are completely normal, so you have nothing at all to worry about. Most people just fall asleep (mentally) before such points, an exception being lucid dreamers who attempt to keep their minds awake as their body falls asleep so that they can consciously enter a dream. If it ever happens again, just remember that you can go that route, or if you just want it to end to remember that it is perfectly harmless and not to be afraid, but to just wait it out. If it is a dream, you can learn to do 'reality checks' which are tests to see if you are dreaming or still awake. This is it^^

[Wicked]

I had a somewhat similar experience to this, although not involving physical sensations, merely sight. Before fully awaking I would awake, then kind of pass back into a dream state, then awake again and so on all in a few seconds, with the image of several grey aliens standing over me around the bed. The transition between waking and sleep at those moments was very subtle. However I knew it wasn't real, and was even somewhat enjoying and excited by it in the same way people get excited while watching a horror movie or riding a roller coaster.