What was this?

[Arkeon]

Okay, so I have been looking around the forums and researching about lucid dreams for a couple days now. The first two nights I didn't think anything about trying to become lucid, just to recall my dreams when I woke up because I haven't remembered my dreams for a couple of weeks usually I have way too many things on my mind to remember them. So last night I was just telling myself that I was going to remember my dreams and I was taking long deep breaths and relaxing to the point where my body kept feeling heavier. Out of nowhere as I was lying there, my head began to feel as though it was spinning in a way or that I was light headed. My body also started to become very hot, my heart started pounding, and breathing was becoming harder. I was having trouble falling to sleep because I kept thinking about swallowing, so as all this was happening the saliva kept on filling in my mouth to the point where I had to swallow, then it would just fill up again. I was starting to see some white blotches come over my vision because I was only focusing on the black of my eyes closed. When I swallowed though, it seemed as though everything slowed down and was reversed. So then after swallowing I just went back to normal, but my heart rate stayed accelerated. I am not sure what this was, was it sleep paralysis? Any help would be great. And after it happened that once I figured it might be something interesting and it happened two more times over the course of about 30 minutes, but failing to have anything happen after the 3rd attempt I went to bed because I had already almost lost an hour of time I could have been sleeping. This has never happened to me before I thought about lucid dreaming. Once again any help about this would be appreciated.

[Dannon Oneironaut]

I have experienced this many times. My feeling is that your heart accelerates because of adrenaline that you are excited. You are close. It isn't quite sleep paralysis, but you are in deep brainwaves and your body is trying to enter sleep paralysis. But your mind is too active. If you just stay relaxed and keep your mind focused on your breathing and not thinking about anything else, but keep it "bright" like a full moon (this is the metaphor I think of when I am doing it) it doesn't matter that you are missing sleep. You will still be rested. I spent the whole night going in and out of these states before and been completely rested in the morning. I think of the breath like waves crashing on the beach. Just letting them come and go with no effort on my part. Just observing. You can experiment with your breath. One effective method I do is to consciously slow the breathing down incredibly. I wait to inhale even past the point I think I need to. I inhale less than I think I need to. I slow my heart rate down very very much. I do this until I am barely breathing, just kind of taking little sips of air barely enough to stay alive. There is no danger, it just sounds like it how I describe it. Of course you cannot kill yourself by trying not to breathe. This makes the body extremely relaxed and at the same time relaxes your mind, yet it stays alert and focused on the breath. When you are so relaxed that your body feels like emptiness, then you can do the ocean waves breathing. Don't worry about sleep paralysis or seeing things yet. Just focus on the breathing. You may need to let your mind fall half-way asleep. But keep it half-way awake. It is tricky. You may realize that you are observing a dream from the outside or hearing things or people talking. As soon as you realize it though, you may find that it has ended. This can be frustrating but just enjoy observing this. It is as if you fall asleep for a second and start to dream and the dream wakes you enough to become lucid but then the dream is over. Just hover on this threshold. With practice, you can jump into a dream. Just try to keep the reins on your mind so you don't get too excited and have your adrenaline accelerate your heart rate. You are doing very good. Keep it up. Enjoy.

[Arkeon]

Thank you for the reply, and I have been researching sleep paralysis for a while now and based upon your description and other people's experiences it sounds very frightening. Hearing things like people talking, or odd sounds, and some say that they see figures or feel terrifying presences. I want to know if this would be enough to frighten me back awake and stop the process of falling asleep, since I would probably be terrified of an experience like that, or have a really tough time trying to stay calm. What do you suggest you do when in sleep paralysis in order to not become too scared.

[Dannon Oneironaut]

Well, for me it is not frightening at all, especially since I expect it. Don't you hear talking or see figures in dreams? terrifying presences appear if you are not expecting it and you are paranoid. This paranoia is projected outwards and takes shape as a terrifying presence. But sleep paralysis can be amazingly peaceful and beautiful. I actually don't know when I enter sleep paralysis because the only way to know is to try to move and see if you can. Since I don't even try to move, I don't know if I am paralyzed. I think to myself, as autohypnosis: "Even if I wanted to move right now , I couldn't." Because it is the most relaxing feeling there is that I wouldn't even WANT to move. The only times I have ever been terrified were when something unexpected happened. Like the first time I was in waking sleep paralysis as a child. Or the time I had a realistic false awakening after a nightmare and I got up to use the bathroom, splashed some water on my face and looked in the mirror and I had no reflection. Being scared of being scared is silly. It is exciting and peaceful.