Worked myself up to being afraid of SP.

First off, hello! I'm new. :3

I believe I've been close to WILD several times in the past before I had even read anything about lucid dreaming. The things I experienced tally up; sometimes when extremely exhausted physically, but not actually tired, I would lie on my bed to rest. What followed scared the hell out of me as I didn't understand it at the time. My whole body would begin to vibrate or shake, then it felt like I was falling through my matress whilst entering a backwards flip.. best way I can explain it I guess :/

Anyway, I figured perhaps my best plan of action if I want to get into lucid dreaming is to try the WILD method since I seem to experience this occasionally without trying.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong. Sleep paralysis in itself does not scare me. I've also read that if stressed over the fact your mind may conjure up images of demons or apparitions then it is more likely to happen. To be honest I think I could handle this. What I could NOT handle, is if the apparition takes the shape of what you are stressing about. Let me elaborate; my dumb imagination decided to think of the worst possible outcome for me, which is Samara (The Ring) appearing on my bed. Now I can't get that thought out of my head, and it's really putting me off trying this method. That movie scared the hell out of me, and real or not, it would give me a heart attack if I saw her.

But yes, I just wanted to ask if this is the case; is your mind most likely to conjure up an image of whatever is most prominent in your thoughts during sleep paralysis?

And yes i'm aware this is a very odd first post :p

Well, good luck with that, im sorry i cant help you, im new too. Just wanted to wish you a warm welcome to DV. Personally i dont find Samara scary, the movie was kinda dull for me :( . I hope you enjoy your stay. :D

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Originally Posted by Asystole

First off, hello! I'm new. :3

I believe I've been close to WILD several times in the past before I had even read anything about lucid dreaming. The things I experienced tally up; sometimes when extremely exhausted physically, but not actually tired, I would lie on my bed to rest. What followed scared the hell out of me as I didn't understand it at the time. My whole body would begin to vibrate or shake, then it felt like I was falling through my matress whilst entering a backwards flip.. best way I can explain it I guess :/

Anyway, I figured perhaps my best plan of action if I want to get into lucid dreaming is to try the WILD method since I seem to experience this occasionally without trying.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong. Sleep paralysis in itself does not scare me. I've also read that if stressed over the fact your mind may conjure up images of demons or apparitions then it is more likely to happen. To be honest I think I could handle this. What I could NOT handle, is if the apparition takes the shape of what you are stressing about. Let me elaborate; my dumb imagination decided to think of the worst possible outcome for me, which is Samara (The Ring) appearing on my bed. Now I can't get that thought out of my head, and it's really putting me off trying this method. That movie scared the hell out of me, and real or not, it would give me a heart attack if I saw her.

But yes, I just wanted to ask if this is the case; is your mind most likely to conjure up an image of whatever is most prominent in your thoughts during sleep paralysis?

And yes i'm aware this is a very odd first post :p

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Welcome to DV, asystole.

To jump straight into your question, let me be the first to say that you have nothing to be afraid of.

As far as LDing goes, you seem like you would be particularly apt at WILDing and I would hate to see that go to waste. I understand your fears, and the idea of SP scared me at first, too. Until I decided to approach it with a curious, scientific mindset. I wanted to understand myself more, as well as what my body goes through. Plus, I really wanted a WILD!

But here's the thing- it is highly unlikely I should think that any Samara creature/ghost, (sorry, haven't seen the film!) would appear on your bed. Or, for that matter, any monster. HI, hypnagogic imagry, is what most people seem to experience before WILDing. It usually consists of vibrant colors or beautiful patterns and shapes. (Not unlike what you may see when you put pressure on your closed eyelids.)

It is true that some people see more advanced hallucinations, but usually they are all very vague and ambigous. Like shadow people and such. There are exceptions, like with almost anything, but in all likelihood your HI should be similar to everyone elses. Aren't you curious to find out? ;) [Scientific mindset kicking in, there!]

And if you confront your fear during the advanced stages of a WILD, where the more advanced images appear, you may as well be seeing this Samora thing in any old dream! Except.. you are lucid and should have more control than you would if Samora had shown up in a non-lucid.

So you have nothing to loose!

You don't have to enter SP for lucid dreaming, only the WILD technique. There is also the DILD and EILD techniques, which work when you are already asleep (you sleep through the sleep paralysis like you do every night.)

And your mind doesn't necessarily create what's most prominant on your mind, it will conjure what it thinks is most important on your mind. There is a subtle, but major difference, what you think is important, might not be what your brain considers most important. During dreams, it's storing memories, and no one understands how memories are sorted and stored, the hypnogogic imagery that you spoke of is your brain starting to sort them out.

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Originally Posted by ninja9578

You don't have to enter SP for lucid dreaming, only the WILD technique.

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You do not need sleep paralysis to WILD. :?

That movie scared the hell out of me, too.

My hypnagogia seems to be pretty unrelated to my fears. It is often something surprising that I've never really even thought about. Try not to get yourself too worked up. There really isn't even a guarantee you will have these types of hallucinations. From your description of your typical experience, it doesn't seem like you get vivid or scary hallucinations. Just focus on what you normally experience, and try to push it further into a dream.

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Originally Posted by no-name

You do not need sleep paralysis to WILD. :?

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Yes you do. Some people just don't feel it. Otherwise you would act out your lucid dream :P

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Originally Posted by ninja9578

Yes you do. Some people just don't feel it. Otherwise you would act out your lucid dream :P

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If I remember correctly, Sleep paralysis is what it's called when you're experiencing the paralysis while awake. When you experience it while sleeping (or, you know, during REM), it's actually called REM something. I think.

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Originally Posted by khh

If I remember correctly, Sleep paralysis is what it's called when you're experiencing the paralysis while awake. When you experience it while sleeping (or, you know, during REM), it's actually called REM something. I think.

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REM atonia, is correct.

Bingo.
You don't need SP to WILD. You can use it to WILD, but there are WILD methods that don't involve SP (HIT, VILD, blah blah, anything that keeps you conscious while your body falls asleep that doesn't involve muscle paralysis).

REM atonia keeps you from acting out your dreams.

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HIT, VILD, blah blah, anything that keeps you conscious while your body falls asleep that doesn't involve muscle paralysis

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I love VILD, and have never had SP during one. In fact, I've had VILDs where I never became conciously aware of the tranisition between fantasy and dream. Only problem is, sometimes I get so caught up in my daydream, that when it turns into a real dream I have completely lost lucidity. :D

I don't know, but I do know that the more you are afraid of it, the scarier it gets. Try projecting warm, happy feelings to her, if she does appear.

Oh, and another thought, the Hypnagogic Hallucinations may not be scary at all. For instance, I heard beautiful piano notes when I came close to WILDing. I also have fallen through my bed, only to fall back onto it again, which was AWESOME, believe me!