 Originally Posted by Clauddius
Hello everyone! I signed up here because I stumbled across this site trying to find more information about my dreams and sleep paralysis. I'm 17 and basically my whole life I naturally became lucid while dreaming, not intentionally but rather in the middle of a dream I would become aware that it was a dream.
Lucid Dreaming was cool, but a few years ago it started fading away and now I get hit with something that I found out is called "Sleep Paralysis". It's terrifying when it happens. The worst was a few months ago when I was stuck for 5 minutes and it felt like there was a figure to the side of me breathing heavily and demonically. Another time, I left my body unexpectedly as I felt a jolt run through my chest that almost felt like someone thrusting my soul out, I saw my body for a split second then returned.
Sleep paralysis is scary and I need it to stop! This summer my sleep schedule's been really messed up so when I go to bed late (or rather, early in the morning) I'm too tired to feel anything, but many times (like tonight) if I go to bed at like 9pm, wake up, and fall back asleep, it happens again. Is there any way I can go to bed early without the fear of this happening to me? School's starting tommorow. Thanks!
Although you will see the term 'SP' thrown around this site, the 'SP' most users are talking about is an entrance to WILD, and not the same thing as what you are experiencing, which is the medical condition Isolated Sleep Paralysis. Check out this thread by Mzzk to clear up the difference between these two things.
I suffered from the same condition as you for most of my life. (And, I'm a natural lucid dreamer as well!) It began as far back as I can remember into my childhood, and my last attack was about four years ago. (I'm 28 now.) At its worst, attacks were happening about once a week. I understand that is a terrifying experience. Seeing a demonic figure is quite common across all cultures for these types of experiences. I saw a menacing shadow person made of smoke with glowing, red eyes during my attacks. I'm not entirely sure why this happens, but I've come to accept my shadow person as a shadow aspect of myself, so that if he ever appears, I take it as warning from my subconscious that I need to make some changes in my life.
Having a regular sleep schedule helps reduce the frequency of the attacks. I also found for me reducing stress and learning meditation techniques helped as well. If the attacks persist despite a regular sleep schedule and low-stress, I would recommend seeing a therapist. For me, the attacks were linked to a specific event in my childhood, and also manifest during psychologically turbulent times in my life.
As for using your Isolated Sleep Paralysis episodes to enter an LD, I've heard of other people doing this, but it sounds very strange to me. During the attacks, I am in my room and conscious of my body, not in a dreamscape. There was one occasion during the attack where I floated out of my body and explored my house, but it felt nothing like a dream to me.
I know what a truly strange and disturbing experience this can be, so feel free to PM me with any questions
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