Is this sleep paralysis?

[Girkip]

At night, as I lay down on my bed, as I start to fall asleep I get this weird feeling in my head. I don't know how to describe it, but it gets all tingly and sometimes feels a bit cold and I can also hear something like my head is being put against pressure. And I try to hold it in to see if it is sleep paralysis, but I'm kind of skeptical and don't want to screw something up and make matters worse. So, can anyone give insight on this?

[seeker28]

Welcome, BTW! This is probably the body and mind relaxing into sleep. Very few people are able to go from awake to laying in bed with SP when they first go to bed for the night.

[Girkip]

Thanks! So should I just go on with it and try not to interrupt it?

[Shift]

Were you paralyzed? If you were paralyzed, you were in SP. If you were not paralyzed, you were probably not in SP or you 'broke' it (if possible).

[Girkip]

No, I wasn't paralyzed. Can someone explain what this sensation is then?

[Placebo]

The sensation was hypnagogia It is often related to SP, but not strictly so. See wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia

[Girkip]

Alright, so if I go with it and not interrupt it, it leads to SP?

[Barbizzle]

Well, you SP every night, it is what keeps you from moving in your sleep. But, yes, if you keep going with it, it should lead to an LD. Try it out and see what happens.

[Shift]

Well, you SP every night, it is what keeps you from moving in your sleep. But, yes, if you keep going with it, it should lead to an LD. Try it out and see what happens. You don't SP every night, you have REM atonia every night. SP is paralysis outside of REM sleep.

[Barbizzle]

Oh, yes, forgot about that, its so late and I need sleep But regardless, try it out and you should have an LD if you can remain conscious through your sleep.

[Girkip]

Cool, nothing bad will happen, right?

[Barbizzle]

No, your fine, just keep experimenting with it. The worse that can happen is that you will not be able to move for a few minuets when you want to. Mabey you will have some visualizations with it that are uncomfortable. But thats not a bad worse case scenario I say.