Originally Posted by Gills
Why complicate things this much?
Sleep paralysis cannot be mistaken for anything else. It is literally being unable to move. It feels as if you are being "blocked". Everything, your arms, your legs, your head. In SP I have to try very hard, with great strength, to move my head, and that way (with lots of "pushing") I am able to break SP. It feels exhausting afterwards. So if someone describes their experience as finding it difficult to move, but nonetheless being able to move, then he/she definitely did not experience SP.
The problem: Some people have never experienced SP, and therefore they will mistaken SP for something else which isn't even remotely related to it.
SP happens either 1.) when falling asleep, or 2.) when waking up.
I have had SP since I was a kid, but I also know many people even in their 60s who have never experienced it. Why that is, I don't know, it beats me. But those who experienced sleep paralysis will know they had it. There is no doubt about it.
Therefore, let's keep it simple. When you feel sleep paralysis, you won't be able to move. It will feel as if you are stuck in an extremely tight box with no space whatsoever. The best way to "get out of it" seems to vary from person to person. For me, it's attempting to move my head with great effort, and then I break out of it.
SP feels uncomfortable, especially to people who don't know what it is, or to those who aren't used to it. For me, an experienced lucid dreamer who also experienced SP countless times, sometimes I feel absolutely OK with it, and I use it to go into a WILD, but yet other times it feels uncomfortable and I simply have to break out of it.
Either way, SP is a feeling you can't mistake for anything else.
Thanks for a first hand account Gills. Gills is clearly explaining what SP really is according to the correct scientific version of SP. The fact is simply that somehow we, as a group, have been using the term SP to describe something else. The majority of us will never experience true SP like Gills is describing, and that is why so many of us are frustrated with the fact that the term is being used to describe a state in WILD attempts. SP like Gills describes is fairly rare, and perhaps it can be used as a tool for lucidity, but that will have no impact on the majority. You can not reach a state of true medical SP, unless like Gills, it is a condition you have.
The state most of us experience is just an awareness of being asleep, and having our motor function supressed. It is helpful in identifying when to attempt a transition, but by no means is the kind of SP Gills describes. It really should not be called SP. Thanks again Gills for explaining, first hand, what actual SP is like.
To clarify the difference, Gills is sayng he must try very hard, with great strength, to break it,, and most of us would be able to break out of the state (REM atonia and other states) with only a serious intention. Think about when you wake and getting up seems dreadful and very difficult. That is clearly not what Gills describes. It is what the LD community in general has been calling SP, but it is just a state to prevent dream movement, not true SP.
Now, if we look at Auron's post, the state he is calling REM atonia is one of the states that is often mislabled as SP. You can feel it begin, and it gets written up in guides, as 'when you feel yourself enter SP' Other states that occur in nREM are also mislabled as SP.
It is best for people learning to WILD to not think about SP at all! Do not try to move your body, because you are trying to stay asleep, and moving may wake your body. If you have the SP medical condition, you already know it. Then I guess you could ask someone like Gills to share his thoughts on how it could be useful. If you are like most people true SP will never be part of the WILD equation.
|
|
Bookmarks