Thread: I want to learn this !!

Hey everyone im new here.

I found this site after doing a search about something that has been constantly happening to me all my life. Every now and then when im lying down trying to get to sleep i get this quick and very real sensation that im falling. Its like my bed just opens up and i fall through. This always jolts me awake. Does anyone here know what im talking about? It always takes me over an hour to get to sleep unless im real exhausted. Ive been told that its just a dream but i dont agree because im not really asleep when this happens (im close but not fully asleep).

I havent found out what exactly it is that causes this but i would like to know.

Ive read a little about this lucid dreaming and this seems really cool. I want to learn this because why waste the night on autopilot when i should be able to do whatever i want..

Any advice for a newbie like myself would be appreciated!!

It's either a hallucination, or an Out of body expierience.

I wonder if there is a way to control it... like not get surprised by it and just let myself keep falling or something

Are you familiar w/ Sleep Paralysis? Our brains cuts off the signal to our body (paralysis) every night as we enter the REM stage of sleep. People usually experience this "sudden rush" of falling through their bed after they've entered SP. I myself have done it a lot of times. This usually means that your body was asleep and completely paralyzed while you were still conscious.
This is also a popular way of Lucid Dreaming; its called Wake Induced Lucid Dream, or WILD. WILDing is the practice of remaining conscious until and while you're asleep; personally, its my favorite technique since I already have experience w/ SP. I used to experience SP a lot too when I was younger (11) before I began Lucid Dreaming, but now I do it intentionally in order to dream.
Next time you find yourself going through this, try to remember what is happening, remain calm and let it happen. If you do, then you will find yourself in a dream!

vertigo?

Originally Posted by WolfeDreamer531

Are you familiar w/ Sleep Paralysis? Our brains cuts off the signal to our body (paralysis) every night as we enter the REM stage of sleep. People usually experience this "sudden rush" of falling through their bed after they've entered SP. I myself have done it a lot of times. This usually means that your body was asleep and completely paralyzed while you were still conscious.
This is also a popular way of Lucid Dreaming; its called Wake Induced Lucid Dream, or WILD. WILDing is the practice of remaining conscious until and while you're asleep; personally, its my favorite technique since I already have experience w/ SP. I used to experience SP a lot too when I was younger (11) before I began Lucid Dreaming, but now I do it intentionally in order to dream.
Next time you find yourself going through this, try to remember what is happening, remain calm and let it happen. If you do, then you will find yourself in a dream!

He hit it right on the head.

You are SO lucky!

This is indeed a sensation associated with sleep paralysis (SP). SP basically keeps your sleeping body from acting out your dreams (which would be bad). That quick jerk you descirbed is known as a "hypnic jerk." Usually a hypnic jerk only happens when a person is really tired. You said you can only get past it if you are exhausted. Have you tried to get extra sleep and see if that helps it go away?

This happens to me on occasions as well, but it obviously doesn't disturb me as much as it does you because I pretty much just ignore it since I'm used to it.

Just try to remember that you cannot fall (unless you roll out of bed) and that the sensation is just your body messing around with you basically.

Some scientists think that its an evolutionary throwback to when we used to live in trees and that its a defence mechanism to make sure you have a firm grip on your tree but who knows?

Incidentally; because of this you should have a good natural ability to go straight into lucid dreams; if you find yourself lying in bed and then the next thing you know is your completely somewhere else congratulations you're lucid dreaming. (I literally just find my mind slipping and then im doing something else half a second later)
(just make sure you dont go "WOW IM DREAMING" and wake yourself up ok?)

Hey everyone, I'm a newbie too, just started reading the website yesterday about lucid dreams after a friend told me about them.
I actually feel this sensation occasionally, perhaps once a month. It's normally very late at night when I'm overtired and it takes me a long time to fall asleep, then i typically awake with a start. However, sometimes I have short dreams where I'm playing soccer, for example, and all of a sudden I see the ball coming straight for my face. I awake with a start upon feeling this falling sensation. Would anyone know if the two instances are related?

Originally Posted by Gelomatron

Hey everyone, I'm a newbie too, just started reading the website yesterday about lucid dreams after a friend told me about them.
I actually feel this sensation occasionally, perhaps once a month. It's normally very late at night when I'm overtired and it takes me a long time to fall asleep, then i typically awake with a start. However, sometimes I have short dreams where I'm playing soccer, for example, and all of a sudden I see the ball coming straight for my face. I awake with a start upon feeling this falling sensation. Would anyone know if the two instances are related?

They are, read up some more about sleep paralysis. And welcome!

I know many people know the "Trip and fall" mini dream, where one is tired but not quite asleep, and you are walking and you trip and fall, or fall of a cliff, or get hit by a train (yeah they've all happened to me) and as soon as you land (or w/e) your suddenly awoken by a rushed feeling... i had no idea this was connected to SP (Right?) In fact tonight i was planning on doing a WILD tonight (Tomorrow morning..) but when this happens i cant help but sit up or open my eyes... is there any mindset or... anything... that would help with this?

Originally Posted by Alexm309

I know many people know the "Trip and fall" mini dream, where one is tired but not quite asleep, and you are walking and you trip and fall, or fall of a cliff, or get hit by a train (yeah they've all happened to me) and as soon as you land (or w/e) your suddenly awoken by a rushed feeling... i had no idea this was connected to SP (Right?) In fact tonight i was planning on doing a WILD tonight (Tomorrow morning..) but when this happens i cant help but sit up or open my eyes... is there any mindset or... anything... that would help with this?

Well those sensations do sound like sleep paralysis, look up "hypnic jerks" in particular. If you think this will bother you during WILD, I'd try to view it as sort of the gateway into WILDing and a lucid dream, and say just get as much practice as possible. I can never WILD but I have read a lot about it on the forums, and I think if you just get enough experience to the point where you are comfortable with SP, you will be able to get through it without disturbing your WILD.

Originally Posted by The Prodigy

Hey everyone im new here.

I found this site after doing a search about something that has been constantly happening to me all my life. Every now and then when im lying down trying to get to sleep i get this quick and very real sensation that im falling. Its like my bed just opens up and i fall through. This always jolts me awake. Does anyone here know what im talking about? It always takes me over an hour to get to sleep unless im real exhausted. Ive been told that its just a dream but i dont agree because im not really asleep when this happens (im close but not fully asleep).

I'm also new to this site, although I've been attempting LD's for quite some time. more to the point, that same thing has happened to me many times before. It's at the moment when i'm about to dose off and then i feel a very fast falling sensation, or it feels like my bed is tilting forwards and i'm slipping off. I've been taking over an hour to get to sleep almost every night recently, perhaps that has something to do with it or it could be some type of OBE, although i had on of those before and it wasn't anything like that

Originally Posted by jedsmim

I'm also new to this site, although I've been attempting LD's for quite some time. more to the point, that same thing has happened to me many times before. It's at the moment when i'm about to dose off and then i feel a very fast falling sensation, or it feels like my bed is tilting forwards and i'm slipping off. I've been taking over an hour to get to sleep almost every night recently, perhaps that has something to do with it or it could be some type of OBE, although i had on of those before and it wasn't anything like that

^ It's a normal thing that happens to sleepers, not even necessarily lucid dreamers.