Please Explain This To Me....it Scared Me Bad!

Ok I am new to the forums and this site but have been learning up on how to have a lucid dream. The technique I was using was to lay in bed, calm and clear my entire body and mind, focus on my breathing through my nose and wait. This is what happened the other night and I am looking for some insight......

I was laying there on my side in bed facing my bedroom wall with a large painting on it. Calm and clear and listening to my breathing for maybe 15-20 minutes. Everything else you are about to read happened in the span of maybe 30-45 seconds. I knew my eyes were shut(not slammed just comfortably closed) and I kept breathing deeply and in succession through my nose only. I felt my face vibrate for a mere second as well as feeling very warm and saw a quick flash of light. I also fellt my eyes shifting or fluttering for a second. Now right at the moment of the flash of light. I was looking straight at my bedroom wall with the painting on it. It was then that I realized that I could see the wall and painting but I knew that my eyes were closed. A small feeling of panic enveloped within me. I pretty much freaked out when, this is going to be hard to explain, I blinked my eyes from open to close but still had my eyes shut. This scared the hell out of me and I bolted straight up in bed and asked my wife if she was still awake and she said yes. I had the sudden to urge to get up out of bed and my feet were all tingly. It took me awhile to calm down and I was not able to sleep that rest of the night untill around 6am when I dozed off.

Has anyone experienced this and if so could anyone explain what this might have been?
I want to try this again but fear this original sensation. Please help.
Kyle :eek:

Don't worry ! What you've experienced is well known and totally harmless! I think it's HI (you can look in the tutorials if you want more information because I'm not a specialist)....Plenty of people have these type of sensations and seek them....

The vibration part sounds like your classic "sleep paralysis" (SP). That, too, is discussed in the tutorials section (I believe that's where it is). But yeah, it may be frightening at first but if you go with it you'll see that it's nothing to be afraid of. It's a perfectly normal aspect of the sleep stages.

Things like that are pretty common when you're right between waking and dreaming. If instead of panicking, you had just let the imagery continue, it probably would have quickly become a lucid dream.

Hey there kgray! Welcome to DV. :welcome:

First off, what you describe sounds very familiar to me, I've had it before. It falls under the same sorts of sensations experienced then falling asleep consciously - all are totally normal, and the more you actually go through the process, the more accustomed you'll get to them.

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Originally Posted by kgray0122

I felt my face vibrate for a mere second as well as feeling very warm and saw a quick flash of light. [/b]

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This is the onset of sleep paralysis and hypnogogic imagery, both normal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgray0122

I also fellt my eyes shifting or fluttering for a second. [/b]

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This is you feeling your eyes go into Slow Eye Movement phase. Also normal when falling sleep. This happens every time you go to sleep but the only exception in this case, is that you are conscious when it happens abnd you therefore feel it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgray0122

Now right at the moment of the flash of light. I was looking straight at my bedroom wall with the painting on it. It was then that I realized that I could see the wall and painting but I knew that my eyes were closed.[/b]

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This is hypnogogic imagery. It is VERY common, in the stages between wakew and dreaming, to "see" what is essentially yoiutr brain's replication of the room you fell asleep in, and it seems to be half-dream half-real. Nothing to worry about. I've felt the seeing through my eyelids feeling too. What you have to remember is that you're not actually seeing through your eyelids, you're just seeing a dream in your brain, or the beginnings of one.

You shouldn;t get scared next time - nothing you experienced is abnormal or unusual, and certainly not harmful. Also, feel free to PM me or another DG if you want any further advice or help.

welcome to the realm between the real and fantasy

Thank you everyone for helping me come to a better understanding of what happened. I have been trying now at night, when I do not have to wake up so early, to restart the calming process and clearing of my mind. I really no longer have the fear aspect and over the past few nights I had some close calls with just about to slip into the dreaming state but I either completely fall asleep or I just wake up then fall back to sleep. Last night I thought that I was flying in my dream and remember telling myself that I was really awake and aware that I was dreaming. At that point I think I got to excited and came out of the lucid dream. I am far from giving up and will keep on trying. Thanks
Kyle