experiences and questions!!!

[aliveandhere]

Hi everyone, I am new to this website and to learning about lucid dreams but have experienced afew over the years without knowing what they were. I am a 31 year old male and had my first experience at about 17 years, one night at my fathers place while sleeping on the couch i awoke in darkness with the tv on and started to float around the room, i could not believe what was happening but i remembered it felt very euphoric but i was so scared or shocked that it didnt last long, i remained quiet about it and eventually read some info about astral travelling and thought this is what must have happened, i was still very young and naive at the time. Then over the years, i would awake in my sleep sometimes before my body seemed to, a total paralysis would occur and i would feel i was being sucked down somewhere, not a nice feeling like the obe but a scary feeling, i would have to moan and struggle and till i fought it off and the usually woke up quite flustered. These still happen from time to time. I never got lucid again untill the night of my fathers funeral, me and him never got to say goodbye even though i had the chance. It was eating me up a little and i was very confused, after a very long day and long wake i went to bed exausted and very drunk, normally i would have slept like a log but a brightness woke me, in my drunken sleepy state i was lunging for a left on bed lamp when i went lucid, we were driving in the car on the same road we were on afew weeks earlier when he was very ill, we talked and said we loved each other and i told him i was proud he was my dad, we were both weeping uncontrollably and we hugged,i remember his beard scratching my face, it was all clear as day and i woke up feeling a milllion bucks, i should have been violently hungover! Im not religious and eventually put this down to a deep wanting within me that came out in my dreams.I didnt think he came to visit or anything like that. That was about 4 years ago and in the last 6 months i have become lucid very often, it usually occurs after light drinking or when i feel sick, i will often wake up too early with the sun feeling sleep deprived but also slightly euphoric, once i have this feeling i know its coming, all i have to do is drift off and then suddenly " im here, ok lets go ", wherever this realm is? Now i have always been very logical and never thought too deeply about this, but the more frequent these dreams become i see that where i go is just as real as here and now, nothing like a dream. And i also read alot of spiritual teachings that have said u are not ur body and when u die the body dies but "u" dont. Wherever "i" go in these dreams im sure my body stays in the bed. Also i have been reading about Near Death Experiences and they sound very similar to these dreams, people leaving there bodies , euphoric feelings, seeing relatives etc....much more profound experiences than mine but, what is going on here? Are these realms we are travelling to similar to what these people who have NDE's say about the afterlife? I have always been quite atheist on afterlife thoughts . Whatever "we" are seem to go with us into these realms and the body stays behind. So when our bodies die, do we too?? sorry this is long, thanks for reading if u have got this far, any thoughts would be much appreciated, Cheers , Aliveandhere

[xyzzy]

Buy / borrow the following book: Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying by the Dalai Lama The Tibetans seem to have the most experience with the dream / death relationship. Dream Yoga is another key term to investigate. I wish you well on your path.

[aliveandhere]

Hey, Thanks so much for ur reply, i was beginning to think i was crazy! This topic must have been discussed before on here? I will get that book.... appreciate ur advice, aliveandhere

[Serenity]

Then over the years, i would awake in my sleep sometimes before my body seemed to, a total paralysis would occur and i would feel i was being sucked down somewhere, not a nice feeling like the obe but a scary feeling, i would have to moan and struggle and till i fought it off and the usually woke up quite flustered. These still happen from time to time. This is something that happens to many people, known as sleep paralysis. It happens because when we are in REM sleep (deep sleep) and dreaming, our bodies become paralysed so that we don't act out our dreams. I've never woke up during 'SP,' but many have, and they report being as scared as you were of it. It's natural, and it happens to every one of us, whether we know it or not. I never got lucid again untill the night of my fathers funeral, me and him never got to say goodbye even though i had the chance. It was eating me up a little and i was very confused, after a very long day and long wake i went to bed exausted and very drunk, normally i would have slept like a log but a brightness woke me, in my drunken sleepy state i was lunging for a left on bed lamp when i went lucid, we were driving in the car on the same road we were on afew weeks earlier when he was very ill, we talked and said we loved each other and i told him i was proud he was my dad, we were both weeping uncontrollably and we hugged,i remember his beard scratching my face, it was all clear as day and i woke up feeling a milllion bucks, i should have been violently hungover! Im not religious and eventually put this down to a deep wanting within me that came out in my dreams.I didnt think he came to visit or anything like that. Oh... that's the first thing I thought, was he came for a visit. But... there are many, many theraputic uses for lucid dreaming. Like for me, it's the opportunity to hash things out with an ex, because I can't talk to him in waking life. I'm not entirely sure about the affects lucid dreaming has physically, but I do know that lucid dreaming can often feel more real than real life (if that makes any sense). Emotions are higher, textures feel... stronger? Like your dad's beard, or the sensation of cool glass under-hand. That was about 4 years ago and in the last 6 months i have become lucid very often, it usually occurs after light drinking or when i feel sick, i will often wake up too early with the sun feeling sleep deprived but also slightly euphoric, once i have this feeling i know its coming, all i have to do is drift off and then suddenly " im here, ok lets go ", wherever this realm is? That's sounds like a combo of Wake Back To Bed/Wake-Induced Lucid Dream which you, my friend are a natural of. And by the way, it's also the hardest technique to learn! Now i have always been very logical and never thought too deeply about this, but the more frequent these dreams become i see that where i go is just as real as here and now, nothing like a dream. And i also read alot of spiritual teachings that have said u are not ur body and when u die the body dies but "u" dont. Wherever "i" go in these dreams im sure my body stays in the bed. Also i have been reading about Near Death Experiences and they sound very similar to these dreams, people leaving there bodies , euphoric feelings, seeing relatives etc....much more profound experiences than mine but, what is going on here? Are these realms we are travelling to similar to what these people who have NDE's say about the afterlife? I have always been quite atheist on afterlife thoughts . Whatever "we" are seem to go with us into these realms and the body stays behind. So when our bodies die, do we too?? This is all my own theories and beliefs on this part, so bear with me. All I can say as a disclaimer is you may or may not agree with me (I'm sure many don't), which is perfectly fine. Truth is, I don't have anything I can say for 100% certainty that this is the way things are, but I'll share my beliefs because they may match with yours. Alright then... 1) We are all energy. And energy cannot be created or destroyed. So with that, when our bodies die, our energy/consciousness/souls, whatever your want to call it, rejoins the astral plane. Our energy is indeed us, our collective conscious from past lives. I think the bodies we inhabit now are a means to an end (end being the lessons we are trying to learn while we walk this earth). 2) Lucid dream vs. Near Death Experience. I can't really comment on how/if they are related. I've never had a NDE. But while lucid, it can feel very euphoric. Imagine flying over a field, or flying by jumping off a mountain. Or even reliving a moment in your past, but doing it all "right" so that you win the race, or get the girl (or guy, depending on how you swing ). They all feel intensely euphoric for most people 3) Dream plane vs. astral plane Are they the same? I don't think anyone really knows. I think they are. There are a few on this forum that can share dreams... the possibility of this even happening makes sense to me, because they would be meeting on the astral plane. I had a recurring dream character (normally my dream characters don't recur... I don't even remember what they look like, but this one, I do), who didn't show up for a while. He came back a while ago and said to me, "I remember you." I wonder... is he a dream character, or am I sharing a dream with someone I met on the astral plane? Sorry for the equally long post, I hope I helped at least some. And to DV

[aliveandhere]

Eternalstar, Thanks so much for taking the time out to give me all that info and ur thoughts. Its really interesting learning about all this stuff and hearing ur opinions which seem similar to mine at the moment. Reading about these NDE's is really messing with my thoughts about what we are and what we are doing here on earth. I wouldnt have even entertained the thought that these people's stories may have some truth if had not had the experience of leaving the body myself. Still lots more to learn about though, have u done any reading of peoples NDE's? thanks

[Serenity]

Still lots more to learn about though, have u done any reading of peoples NDE's? To be honest, I haven't read into other peoples' experiences too much. A friend of mine had an NDE and my father-in-law had one which they've related to me, but that's about all I've got