accidental wild

im new to this forum so im not completely sure how this works. i did some research and wild is what i found that made most sense i think, but heres my experience, hope some of you have any answers. keep in mind that english is not my first language but i'll do my best.

i was taking a nap, but woke up because a friend of mine called, i was still really tired so i decided to sleep a little more. i remember laying on my side trying to sleep again when after a while my body started to feel really heavy . suddenly it was like i was seeing a blurry ish image in front of me (my eyes were closed) it felt as the image was starting to cover my "vision" and then all of the sudden it was like i was pulled into the image, and i was standing in a completely different place, realizing i was dreaming i started to panic and it felt as if i was pulled back, i opened my eyes but i was still feeling very drowsy and closed my eyes again, and the same thing happened. this happened many times in a row, a image appearing and pulling me in. but then it started to get a little more scarier. i could somehow only open my one eye and my vision was very blurry, i could see my arm and i tried to move it, (it felt as if i was moving it) but my arm was just laying there, and i couldnt move any other part of my body except my one eye lid lol. and i closed my eye and was pulled back. i remember that if you are conscious in a dream you are supposed to be able to control things, but for me stuff just happened and i tried to make stuff appear and fly and all that stuff but i could only move my body and talk, but i knew i was dreaming. i kept asking my friend in my dream (she appeared in several of the times i fell back into a dream) if she was real, but she wouldn't answer me.

does anybody have an experience like this or similar, or does anyone know what all this was? was this a wild? i have never experiences anything like this except an accidental lucid dream when i was asleep a long time ago, but this happened when i was awake or half asleep would maybe be a better term.

Heyo yourself! :lol:

It sounds like you experienced what's known as sleep paralysis, as well as WILD. WILD means you remain aware enough as you fall asleep to witness a dreamlet form and grow and start to take on more clarity until it becomes a full-fledged dream with you in it. The other part, about being unable to move, is called sleep paralysis (for reasons you can understand I think). It does sometimes cause panic, but there's really nothing to fear as long as you know what it is and that it can't hurt you.

Normally each time you fall asleep you experience what's called REM Atonia. You may already know REM means rapid eye movement, and it's the part of sleep when the eyes are flicking from side to side rapidly while we're dreaming (the normal movie-ish kinds of dreams - we also dream in other parts of sleep). Atonia means slackness, it refers to the fact that your muscles are super weak when in REM so you can't act out your dreams, otherwise we'd all be sleep walking and doing crazy stuff every night. Well, if you manage to stay aware as you fall asleep (WILD), then what's normally REM atonia becomes sleep paralysis. You'll see the dream, and if you open your eyes (or one of them ;-) ) then you'll also be able to see the real world out there, with the dream sort of overlaid on top of it somehow.

It happens most frequently if you're sleeping on your back for some reason - if you want to ensure you don't experience it again try sleeping on your side. And you should be able to wiggle your fingers or your toes while paralyzed, and if you do it will often break the paralysis and wake you up in short order.

Oh let me add - lucidity doesn't automatically mean you can control the dream - really it just means you know you're dreaming while you're dreaming. So yes, you were lucid. But dream control is pretty advanced - or rather some people can do it pretty naturally while some need to work at it for a long time (if they ever get there :armflap: ). What you can control while lucid though are your own actions in the dream. Well, that's assuming you can move I suppose.