Interested in LD, iffy about SP.

[lucidrhythms]

Hi everyone. It is so awesome that this forum exists. Just today, while at work, i learned more about lucid dreaming. after reading some of the methods of attaining an LD, i realized that I may have been on the verge of having an LD my whole freaking life! :p Thing is, every since I could remember, I would have sleep paralysis. I always thought (and still do actually) that this was a very scary experience for me. I would lie there, feel a pressure around my head, my body would go numb, and I would feel like I was falling backwards. This frightened me, so I would start breathing rapidy, since i felt that that was the only thing that I could control, and force my body to move. I eventually my body would jerk at the direction I was trying to move, and I'd wake up. Am I experiencing SP? or something else? Am i close to WILD? I really REALLY want to experience an LD but I afraid something may happen to me if I continue to "fall" all the way during SP. It feels very foreboding and I panic. Do you guys have any tips? Also, occasionally, I feel like after trying to snap out of SP, I get up out of my bed, but I feel like everything is really slow and heavy. My vision is sometimes fuzzy, as well as my hearing. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to someone. Just yesterday, I had episodes of sleep paralysis when I came home from work and took a nap since I was so exhausted. I was lying beside my girlfriend, and when I felt I was starting to go into SP, I remember looking over to my girlfriend, and panicked because I couldnt say anything. I forced myself out of SP, and I aked my gf if she saw me look at her, and she said she did. So im guessing its not all in my head? I had several more encounters of heading into SP that afternoon, but as usual, i forced myself to snap out of it. Sorry for such a long post, Im just really excited to learn about this phenomenon thats been happening to me nearly my whole life, and its good to know that it may actually not be a bad thing.

[Wavefunction]

Hi everyone. It is so awesome that this forum exists. Just today, while at work, i learned more about lucid dreaming. after reading some of the methods of attaining an LD, i realized that I may have been on the verge of having an LD my whole freaking life! :p Thing is, every since I could remember, I would have sleep paralysis. I always thought (and still do actually) that this was a very scary experience for me. I would lie there, feel a pressure around my head, my body would go numb, and I would feel like I was falling backwards. This frightened me, so I would start breathing rapidy, since i felt that that was the only thing that I could control, and force my body to move. I eventually my body would jerk at the direction I was trying to move, and I'd wake up. Am I experiencing SP? or something else? Am i close to WILD? I really REALLY want to experience an LD but I afraid something may happen to me if I continue to "fall" all the way during SP. It feels very foreboding and I panic. Do you guys have any tips? Also, occasionally, I feel like after trying to snap out of SP, I get up out of my bed, but I feel like everything is really slow and heavy. My vision is sometimes fuzzy, as well as my hearing. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to someone. Just yesterday, I had episodes of sleep paralysis when I came home from work and took a nap since I was so exhausted. I was lying beside my girlfriend, and when I felt I was starting to go into SP, I remember looking over to my girlfriend, and panicked because I couldnt say anything. I forced myself out of SP, and I aked my gf if she saw me look at her, and she said she did. So im guessing its not all in my head? I had several more encounters of heading into SP that afternoon, but as usual, i forced myself to snap out of it. Sorry for such a long post, Im just really excited to learn about this phenomenon thats been happening to me nearly my whole life, and its good to know that it may actually not be a bad thing. Welcome to Dream Views! You're lucky, yeah, that's SP... the essential part of WILD. I have a hard time getting there. Next time, just relax. I know, it's hard. But just think of the LD you're going towards! After the paralysis, you should notice streaks of color flying around. These should progress into images, and sometimes sounds. After these images become pretty realistic, you have to "step into" the image, pull it towards you. You're probably a natural WILDer. I envy you...

[lucidrhythms]

thanks! i will try relaxing the next time. it may take me time getting used to though. the whole sleep paralysis thing is just so scary feeling. i've heard stories of people dying from sleep paralysis. is that true?

[Wavefunction]

thanks! i will try relaxing the next time. it may take me time getting used to though. the whole sleep paralysis thing is just so scary feeling. i've heard stories of people dying from sleep paralysis. is that true? Where'd you hear that?! SP happens every night! You're just not normally aware of it. Sometimes you can hallucinate a choking sensation during SP, but you can't actually die from it!

[lucidrhythms]

Where'd you hear that?! SP happens every night! You're just not normally aware of it. Sometimes you can hallucinate a choking sensation during SP, but you can't actually die from it! that's what freaks me out the most! sometimes I feel like I can't breathe right, and that I'm gonna suffocate. its even worse if it happens when im sick, and my nose is stuffed up and cant breath through it. as far as the stories I've heard, they manifested from a cultural belief. im filipino, and my dad used to tell me stories of death while sleeping, called bangungot in tagalog. heres a link to it. http://www.answers.com/topic/bangungot apparently its related to a sudden unexpected death syndrome? the way they describe the feeling of falling is unbelievably accurate to my experiences that its way too eerie! that there is the source of my fear.

[Zotoaster]

I believe SP is essential so you dont fall out of your bed... if you dont have experience of falling out of your bed, then it's normal I tried a WILD recently and I got SP, and I just said to myself "Hey, this must be SP". You just have to accept that it's normal and go with it, heh.

[Wavefunction]

that's what freaks me out the most! sometimes I feel like I can't breathe right, and that I'm gonna suffocate. its even worse if it happens when im sick, and my nose is stuffed up and cant breath through it. as far as the stories I've heard, they manifested from a cultural belief. im filipino, and my dad used to tell me stories of death while sleeping, called bangungot in tagalog. heres a link to it. http://www.answers.com/topic/bangungot apparently its related to a sudden unexpected death syndrome? the way they describe the feeling of falling is unbelievably accurate to my experiences that its way too eerie! that there is the source of my fear. If this happens to you, it doesn't really matter if you're trying to WILD or not. Either way you'd enter SP, and this could happen to you. So I wouldn't stop trying to WILD because of that.