Thread: Overcomming SP

Hi,

i just saw a vid saying that if you expect bad things to happen during SP then they will. Unfortunately, i am scared to even try it so obviously i expect bad things to happen.
I just want to know how i can get rid of these expectations i have.

Thanks,

Hey goldguy.

I'll assume you're going down the WILD road? The first thing I wanna say is to ignore sleep paralysis. Obviously read into it and get to know everything about sleeping and dreaming (as having a broad knowledge is helpful in a lot of ways), but don't see it as the ''be all and end all''.

SP only serves to keep you still during your dreams, and quite a lot of people (me being one of them) never experience it when attempting to induce dreams straight from waking consciousness - this in itself shows that you don't need to focus on it to get somewhere. I do see where you're coming from, as I shared similar fears when I first started out, but all this is is the fear of the unknown. In actuality there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, because even if you do experience some form of hallucination (I know this word in itself seems daunting, but bare with me) it cannot have any power over you unless you let it. It's a figment of the imagination; something which isn't real in any way - just like a dream.

Performing WILDs and having LDs is totally safe. There is no danger involved.

Im just figuring out all my possibilities right now. I only heard of LDing about a week ago. Last night was my 4th attempt

I'd suggest surrounding your thoughts with the concept of lucid dreaming. Having it fresh in your mind before going to bed will aid you to a large extent, as what you think about before falling unconscious will carry over into your dreams.

If you're the type that likes to read and learn, how about looking into absolutely everything you can? I spent about a month solidly researching into sleeping and dreaming when I first started. I'd do it when I got home from college, before I went to bed, when I woke up in the morning, etc. Just all the time. Sure enough, within a few weeks I had my first lucid! It will be like nothing else you've ever experienced before when you get lucid for the first time. My main tip for when you do is to STAY CALM as you're going to be very excited, which will most likely prematurely end it for you.

thanks! last night i dreamed i was lucid. but i wasnt. like i told myself i was dreaming but it didnt process in my mind right or something. idk what happend. anyway... thanks 4 the advice!

Also, i cant seem to find the page on stabilizing. can somebody put a link or something. i cant find it

Welcome to DV, goldguy31!

Sleep paralysis is rather different from actual dreams in terms of expectations and control. SP doesn't really cater to your "expectations" that the hallucinations will get worse, or better; the experience just is what it is, and that's the end of it. I've had a few SP episodes where I mentally tried to control the imagery I was getting, but it didn't work (whether I wanted to force it, or just try doing it passively).

Dreams are different because you can control something simply by thinking about it, but not SP. I used to experience bouts of SP all the time, before even knowing what it was, and got scary hallucinations - while some people say you only hallucinate bad things because you've heard about them, that's not true. I've also had my share of relaxing hallucinations, too. So whether or not placebo plays a large role in SP is still up for answering.

Although it probably doesn't help to be scared, it will definitely help if you read up as much as you can about the different hallucinations and what they feel like. The more you know, the less afraid you will be. The first time I purposefully induced SP was after a week or so of straight-up research and browsing around the forum, and I was almost totally prepared for the feeling of being watched, along with vibrations. Of course, it's a new experience so you're not going to be completely relaxed, but just ignore the hallucinations and go along for the ride. You're not supposed to focus on them anyways; by this point you should be imagining a dream body and being in a dream scene.

I hope this helps; if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

(Also, please try to refrain from double-posting; that's what the "Edit Post" feature is for. You can find all the tutorials in the DV Wiki.)