Weird HI

[MrFantasy]

Every once in a while as I'm falling asleep (not attempting to WILD) I get this very strange kind of HI that is much different from the usual kind. I'm going to try and describe it, but I'm not sure if anyone will understand me. As I'm sinking down into unconsciousness, my thoughts begin to take on this very strange "tactile" quality, almost as if I can "feel" them in my body. Then, I begin to feel as if all the images and thoughts I am experiencing are flying at me at and rushing through me at a super fast speed, almost as if I was being assaulted by these mental images. As it's happening I can feel my physical face twitching violently, and other parts of my body will occasionally jerk. This will continue on for up to 10 or 15 minutes unless I stand up and walk around for a few minutes to shake it off. The weirdest thing about this though is something I've noticed more recently. If instead of resisting the experience as I usually do (it's rather unpleasant) and instead go right into it, the "bottom drops out" of my entire being. The only thing I can relate this to is the "ego death" some of you may have heard of or experienced at some point in your life, possibly while under the influence of psychedelics. It's a very brief flash into a completely different kind of existence where Consciousness is still functioning but there's somehow no one there experiencing the consciousness. This only lasts for a moment or two, and when it happens I usually get excited and try to make it happen again, which of course only causes the entire experience to stop happening. Does anyone else have any kind of similar experiences or am I a weirdo?

[nina]

How experienced are you with WILDs? I know you said this happens when not attempting WILD, but to me this sounds like what happens to me every time I WILD. The physical sensations of sleep paralysis. Entering the HI stage where your get that feeling you describe. It sounds like you are experiencing the states of WILD unintentionally, or naturally. I have unintentional WILDs quite often, and this all sounds very familiar to me. Could this be what you're experiencing?

[MrFantasy]

It's definitely possible but this feels different than a regular WILD. Maybe it's just that I've never noticed the sensations of sleep paralysis so vividly before, but this somehow seems more "violent" than the usually sensations. I don't know

[Robot_Butler]

You're lucky to be able to experience these feelings spontaneously. Many people work for years to reach this state of mind. Keep exploring the feeling, and try to learn how to induce it willingly. This is the end goal of many forms of meditation and the starting point for lucid dreaming.

[nina]

It's definitely possible but this feels different than a regular WILD. Maybe it's just that I've never noticed the sensations of sleep paralysis so vividly before, but this somehow seems more "violent" than the usually sensations. I don't know It's possible that it merely feels different from WILDing, because your state of mind is very different. During a WILD attempt, you know exactly what you are trying to do. With unintentional WILDs (or spontaneous WILDs), sometimes these stages of WILD occur without warning, you are not expecting them...so they can be frightening. For example, experiencing sleep paralysis when attempting to WILD is usually very pleasant because it informs you that you are heading in the right direction. You are expecting SP to occur. But when you wake up in the middle of the night and experience SP it can be very frightening. Why? Most likely, because you weren't expecting it, and the sensations are relatively foreign and will often manifest as being negative or violent. I've had many, many experiences with SP during WILDs and am very familiar with the feeling...yet when I randomly wake into SP in the middle of the night I still will experience some pretty frightening (sometimes downright terrifying) sensations/hallucinations. The important thing I've learned is to be able to tell yourself, it's all in your head. It's just SP. It's just HI. Then I'm able to relax and go with it or fall back to sleep.

[MrFantasy]

Thanks I think you're probably right. Next time it happens I'll treat it like a WILD attempt and see if I can go along with it and where it takes me

[nina]

Good luck!