Relaxation vs Sleep Paralysis

[LucasPotter]

I'm sorry for asking such an ignorant question, but... I'm very confused about those two. I know what sleep paralysis feels like when you wake up from a dream. I can never move, it's like my whole body is vibrating, as if my insides wanted to leave through my skin and if my skin wanted to go inside and there this weird buzzing sound. I've been trying to WILD for some time now (not much, it's been about two weeks, give or take a few days), and I usually lay there. I feel a bit tense, so I relax all my muscles. After a few minutes (not more than three, I think), I feel very light and I start trying to imagine myself swinging/spinning, cause this makes me feel even lighter. Then, some very soft tingling starts. Usually on my left leg, then it goes up to my belly, then my left arm. Then the same thing happens on the right side. The tingling comes and goes, it's not steady. There's also a pressure on my chest, as if there were somebody or something pushing me. It's not painful and it doesn't make breathing hard. While it's not comfortable at all, I find it very relaxing. This pressure, however, also comes and goes. Then I start getting confused about my arms and hands. I usually leave them in the same position every night, but then it seems like they're in a different one (sometimes in a position that doesn't make sense at all). And finally, the first time I tried to WILD, I started hearing someone whispering in my ear. I'd like to know how much of this is just relaxation and how much is actually sleep paralysis. Could someone help me?

[xspectrum]

I usually get the pressure on my chest and tingling when I'm very relaxed... But I've never heard whispers in my ear. From the sounds of it, you were either in SP or you convinced yourself that you were and began to hear noises as a Placebo.

[OneiroMoon]

It's a big difference between relaxation and sleep paralysis. Small vibrations occur a few times when I'm relaxed in NREM sleep, along with some other sensations. Sometimes I hear voices or other sounds in those sleep stages. Suddenly, I feel intense vibrations and pressure over my body. In other words, sleep paralysis. From here, I'll either transition into a dream within 10 seconds, or the paralysis will just disappear within 10 seconds. Like I described, you don't slowly go into full sleep paralysis, because it happens in less than a second once you reach REM sleep. Also, this kind of sleep paralysis feels the same as the one you experience when you wake up from a dream (at least it does for me). Just keep trying, and you'll soon have a WILD!

[OmgErika]

Same thing happens to me in SP. I start to feel pressure moving up and down my body and my hands feel numb. I usually head strange noises when i fall deeper into it. Last night i heard metal scraping against metal. But then I usually get too excited and my hearts starts to beat really fast and I wake up again

[sanctum]

In deep relaxation, you'll feel like you don't want to move, you might not be able to feel where parts of your body are, and you may feel some faint sensations like floating, sinking, tingling, and some others that might be just me (parts of my body feel like they're heating up, and sometimes I feel like something I can only describe as having a stream wash through me). The pressure sounds like it could be SP, but you might be paying attention to it and to trying to detect your hands too much. This could tie you to the real world and your physical body, preventing you from transitioning. The whispering is almost certainly part of SP/HI. It sounds like you're on the verge of transitioning. If you have a vivid imagination, try to visualize your dream scene and you might pop into it. If that's too difficult or it takes too much concentration, you can try repeating a mantra in your head quietly. You might want to try a short one, like one word ("dream" or "control" or something similar). Otherwise you can sort of passively observe the sensations and concentrate on nothing at all until they pass. If the last one, you'll probably wake up in your bedroom (but you'll be dreaming).