Introduction and question about SP to lucid...

Hi,
I've become interested in lucid dreaming a week ago, when I finally found on the internet that the scary moments I had once a week before falling asleep (and fighting hard to wake up every time it occurred), is called 'sleep paralysis'. (pfew, what a relief that this was normal and didn't mean I was going to die if I couldn't wake myself from it) Since that day, I've gotten a bit obsessed with reading all about lucid dreams. Every evening I read articles about it, started a dream-diary (I've allways been remembering a lot of my dreams, but never wrote them down) do reality checks/tests all day (mainly watching my hand).

The past 3 nights I've tried to induce my sleep paralysis to see if it gets me anywhere near lucid dreaming. I've read this was possible and since I already have 'suffered' from this, I thought it could better be usefull...
Well, the first 3 times I fell unconsious before getting to full SP. Felt heavy in my body, could feel my head turning sideways without being able to control it, but no sign of dreaming.

Well, tonight I made a 'scary' progress...
After reading some tutorials here, I knew some of what I could expect (electricity through the body, heavy feeling etc.) but then my eyes began 'vibrating' very rapidly! It was hard to keep my eyes closed, but I managed.
Then some kind of blackness started approaching me from above, but stopped just in front of my face. I kept repeating in myself 'stay relaxt, i'm going to dream, this is what I want'. But still, my heartrate went up, I became a little scared and then woke up with sweaty palms...

Pfff, what a feeling! I didn't know falling asleep could feel like a workout ;)

So, what's next? Is it that I'm not knowing 'how' to enter a dream, that keeps this 'black blanket' floating just above me? Is this too hard to start with?

Will it just take some practice?

Or is it not a good idea to start WILD before going to sleep and should I try again after 6 hours of sleep?


PS: maybe there are some funny expressions in my writing, I'm dutch so I might translate some common dutch sayings, that are not common in english ;)

welcome to dream views,

what you experienced was your mind testing to see if you were awake, if you responded, it knew that your body was not asleep, so you will awaken completely. You were probably closer to getting to the dream than many people here, so next time that happens dont get up.

Your heart rate is also supposed to go up when you are about to enter a dream, so just dont be afraid of Sp, just go thought it.

you may also want to check out the tutorials section and the quick start tutorial for extra help.

Thanks Sugarglider11 :)
I'll try not to be afraid next time.

I tried again after posting and also watched some pictures of a white palm beach, to help me see a dreamscenario, but this time instead of blackness, there were so much images that I could not focus on my beach and fell asleep before SP.

Woke up 5+ hours later (which is now), read a tutorial and try again.

It's really exciting to read all kinds of experiences here on the forum, I want that too! :)

Hello, :welcome: to Dreamviews. I dont really have anything to add to sugar glidar but if u have any questions, feel free to ask. :)

YEAAHHHH I did it :D

SOOOO cool :-)

Just when I gave up staying focussed while falling asleep, I became lucid while having a dream, I'll make a new post about it :-)