So I've decided to use Sleep Paralysis to LD...

[FriskyBadger]

I'm far too lazy and inconsistent to use practical techniques for achieving a lucid dream, so I'm going to bite the bullet and use the easy, yet possibly frightening-ass shortcut of sleep paralysis. I've heard that after you wake up, you start seeing freaky hallucinations, and you feel like you can't breathe. What are some tips to overcoming this phase? Since all these hallucinations are generated by your mind because it's panicking over the fact that you're awake during SP, should I try imagining the scary visitor as a misunderstood nice guy who happens to look like he went through a meat grinder? Taking deep breaths? (If this is even possible, since you probably feel like something is pressing down on your chest). What do I do once I'm in the actual sleep paralysis? Do I slip into a lucid dream after the nightmarish ordeal is over? Do I have to do something else? I have never done this before, and I'm trying to gather as much info as I can before jumping into the fire so that I know what to expect and how to deal with it. Any help would be appreciated!

[mafanabe]

I wouldn't assume you'll see anything scary, since just expecting it could be scary enough (I've made that mistake!) The fact of the matter is that the scariest SP experiences happen to people who unintentionally wake up in SP without knowing what's going on. This happened to me only once, and it does stick out as one of the scariest experiences I've had. Next to that, the experiences I've had while trying to WILD were merely weird or freaky by comparison, and the *anticipation* of what I might see or hear was FAR WORSE than anything I actually did see or hear. I've had LOTS of non-lucid nightmares which were scarier. If you go into it knowingly you have a great advantage. First of all, you can prime yourself by imagining that you'll only hallucinate pleasant things. Second, you'll be able to tell yourself it's not real. Third, you will know you can wake yourself up if you can't handle it anymore. Oh yeah, and if you want you can try it first in a nap while it's light out, which will probably make it seem safer.

[Doarealitycheck]

SP isn't to scary but it can be the first few times you manage to get into it. Once you're in SP you'll hear a very loud ringing noise in your ear but be sure to keep Your eyes closed. The after a few moments you should slip into a dream. But be sure to RC because fake awakenings are a bitch!

[Robot_Butler]

I wouldn't expect to even enter sleep paralysis. It is not as common as people make it seem to be. Make the dream your goal. If you do happen to get hit with SP, try to keep your thoughts positive. If there is a presence, ask it for help entering the dream. For example, if it is grabbing you, strangling you, or otherwise molesting you, imagine it is dragging you with it into a dream. It is there to help you and guide you. It is showing you how to enter the dream.

[ooflendoodle]

It's all about your expectations, good luck.

[That]

lol, you just decided you're going to have SP every night? I wish it was that easy!! Don't you think 90% of the forum would be doing that right now if it was like that?

[Nightmare]

Sleep paralysis is one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my life. Don't be afraid. Go with it. Ride the wave, free fall into the oblivion. I think Nina started a really excellent thread about trying to consciously channel the vibrations to your third eye, so if you get vibrations, try doing something like that. Search the forums, do some homework on SP. If it comes across as all freaky hallucinations and other scary experiences you may be missing a lot of what SP can be.

[Amythest444]

Sleep Paralysis is actually fun sometimes. If you make it seem scary, it probably will be scary, but if you make it seem cool, it will be cool. I also suggest looking at the HI, they were so pretty for me And actually the HI is what made SP fun for me XD

[Doarealitycheck]

I have never gotten a hallucination like someone or thing coming up to hurt me. I enjoy SP because I know i'll be dreaming soon.

[eticket]

I also like SP. When I first started lucid dreaming, I'd get so excited when I felt it coming on that sometimes I'd stop it from happening. These days, when I feel SP wash over me I just relax and melt into it. The only mildly disconcerting part is the random sounds that I hear. The sounds vary wildly in both volume and content but it is always multiple sounds that are both familiar and not at the same time. If they are really loud, sometimes they will startle me. All in all, I have always enjoyed the feeling of SP. Joe

[Choi]

You never hit sleep paralysis unless you have sleep atonia or sleep paralysis like it's called. If you feel unusual sensations and start to see really vivid hypnagogic imagery, you are already dreaming! Get up because you are laying in a dreambed... At least it's is like this for me, If you feel numbness and small vibrations it's not sleep paralysis it's just you being aware of a total relaxed body. But try to get up of your bed the second you see vivid images or hear voices while you are attempting to WILD, because you are dreaming! (Although this is an all in gamble) Because you can sometimes start focus on your physical body again, and then you wake up, although you think that you have been awake the whole time. Or you can do the safe way of manipulating the images and "teleport" to a another location, but that is harder, but with pracctise that would work too. So there is no awake -> Sleep paralysis -> dream step. Only Awake - Dream step. Although the phrase "sleep paralysis" is what you use to call the laying still in bed watching images WITHIN a dream step. Just be aware of this. But to stay on topic. The scary part of sleep paralysis is something that I have never experienced, except the feeling of falling and those sensations, but if you see monsters and aliens or whatever just remember that it's just a dream and these creatures can't hurt you.

[FriskyBadger]

So if I do enter SP and see stuff, I should assume I'm already in a lucid dream and start doing whatever I want?

[Choi]

So if I do enter SP and see stuff, I should assume I'm already in a lucid dream and start doing whatever I want? Well if you see those stuff you are already dreaming and are aware. Think about a a dream as vivid thought in a subconscious focus. The hard part is to still maintain the subconscious or non-physical focus when you start moving to get out of your bed, that's why many suggest that you visualise that you do something, because then you are focusing on the non-physical body. When you see vivid images or hear vivid sounds, you are already dreaming, and if you choose to get up instantly there is a 50/50 % chance that you will focus on your physical body (real body) or the non-physical body (dream body), but sometimes it's worth it. I have even HEARD (not experienced) that people have let alarms wake them up, then when they wake up they lay still and and have closed eyes, then they just wait a few seconds and then they get out of bed and do a reality check and they are dreaming! (I think I might try this out ) It sounds too good to be true, but to quote Michael Raduga "How many times have you actually tried it?" Another simple way to explain it, is that you are catching false awakenings.