Thread: Rapid heartbeat stops my SP attempts

Hi joseduc,

Welcome to the Dreamviews forum. Hallucinations are a natural part of sleep paralysis, and a rapid heartbeat is one of them. But like all the hallucinations in SP, it can vary in how often it occurs. I hardly ever get vibrations, for instance, but someone else may always get them. I've only felt a fast heartbeat once, but others get it more often. Unfortunately there isn't any way to really "control" this hallucination, but as for the breathing - was it you intentionally breathing faster in reaction to your heartbeat, or was it just a sensation? If you think it's a hallucination, try your best to ignore it. If it's you becoming nervous or excited, remember that sleep paralysis can stop if your mind thinks you're still awake. As you were waiting for SP to kick in, your breathing was level and steady, but if you suddenly change it, your brain will go "whoa there, this person is still awake! Cancel the SP!". So be sure to relax and keep breathing steadily.

All in all, ignore the hallucinations because your goal at this point is to completely take attention away from your physical body.

Have you tried any other techniques besides WILD?

Hi Puffin,

Thank you for your reply. I think I was breathing faster as a response to the heartbeat. So, are you saying that my heartbeat is not really increasing, and I'm just hallucinating? Wow. That is amazing. It feels so real!

You said that you felt a fast heartbeat once. What did you do in that situation?

And this was the first time that I try WILD. In the past two weeks I've only tried DILD. Often during the day, I ask myself "Am I dreaming?" and try to be as skeptical as possible. I do different RCs (look at my hands, pinch my nose, read text), and try to come with a compelling reason as to why I am really awake. But the habit hasn't carried on to my dreams yet. I recall at least one dream every night, and in the mornings, when I'm writing down my dreams, I notice all the irregularities and the moments where I could have done reality checks. I have even dreamed of discussing lucid dreaming with other people, but that hasn't rung a bell yet.

This is not a complaint post, by the way. I know it takes time, and I'm determined to become a lucid dreamer.

Yep, it's just a hallucination! When I got it, it almost felt as if some of the sensation was echoing more in my head than anything else, but I could also feel it in my chest. I simply diverted my attention away from it and tried to imagine my dream body walking around. You could also try incorporating the heartbeat into a dream scenario - maybe imagine that you're running, but you've become tired so your heartbeat is going faster than normal.

If that was your first time trying WILD, then you're way ahead of the game. Often it can take a few weeks or longer to reach sleep paralysis. When it comes to DILD, it sounds like you're doing things right; I personally don't even use dream signs or reality checks that much because becoming lucid is more about actually realizing that you're in a dream, or being aware. Skepticism is good, and try to be more observant of what's around you if you aren't already, noting whether the textures or general shapes of things look "off".

Your post doesn't sound like you're complaining at all. It sounds like you're really close to your first lucid, whether it's through WILD or DILD.

I tried WILD a few minutes ago (was taking a nap) and whoa... my heart started beating really strong. I wouldn't say fast, just strong, neither fast nor slow, almost as if it had no rhythm. It was really weird, I'd never had that happen to me before. Unfortunately, my parents have some friends over for a barbecue and their friends have kids... and they started screaming and running around right then, so... well, maybe next time, when there are no kids at home?

I pretty much always get a high breathing rate and pulse when I try to WILD. And you're telling me it's all a hallucination and it's not actually happening to my body in reality?

Originally Posted by Avalanche

I pretty much always get a high breathing rate and pulse when I try to WILD.

Avalanche, how do you manage to control it?

I never really do. I have never WILDed successfully before, but whenever I have gotten past the pulse and breathing rate I just let my mind wander and get lost in a daydream, which then distracts me from the breathing rate and I just fall asleep- usually into a dream or just plain old deep sleep.

WILD is difficult, and works best when you know what to look out for- what a lucid dream feels like and what sleep feels like when it's about to come along. Not recommended for newbies as it is difficult and is usually a waste of time, when they could be getting good sleep with a MILD say.

Argg! I just tried to WILD and my heart was racing like crazy. I couldn't get my mind off of it because HI decided to kick in at the same time as well and when red swirly things start moving around in front of your eyes its hard to focus on a dream scene! >:O stupid body!

lol, and it's hard to go back to sleep after that happens. Body is too overwhelmed. Have you successfully WILDed before?

Originally Posted by Avalanche

I pretty much always get a high breathing rate and pulse when I try to WILD. And you're telling me it's all a hallucination and it's not actually happening to my body in reality?

Could be a benign arrhythmia or form of tachycardia (especially if it's consistent).

Or, you know, a hallucination with real, physical side effects..

You wouldn't know unless you went to a physician, but don't bother with that if it isn't negatively affecting your daily life.

It's nothing bad, it's just whenever I get close like everyone else my heart rate goes up a bit and my breathing rate increases. Then I get too awake from that and the attempt fails. I have never seen HI before though, ever.

Hey guys, I'm new the site as of this morning. I've unknowingly had fairly frequent sleep paralysis for quite a few years now and I just chalked it up to nightmares. Generally during these bouts my heart starts beating like crazy and I get an overwhelming sense of anxiety. On quite a few occasions I could feel the bed compress next to me (i'm single), breathing on my neck, or hear soft voices - it seems as if in my trying to wake myself up because it was so terrifying I've actually induced a WILD on a few occasions by trying to roll out of bed to jolt myself awake(except I wouldn't actually wake up and I would crawl into the hallway yelling for help). After doing some research this morning and getting a better understanding of what was happening I was actually able to purposely induce a WILD when I took a nap today. What worked for me is as soon as my heart starting beating and I felt anxious I attempted to lift my left arm - however I imagined it not being my real arm more like trying to "separate" my unconscious self with my real self. Once I got my arm lifted up I just simply tried to roll out of bed - once I hit the floor it was like I peeled myself from my physical self and I was able to move around freely. It didn't feel all too real to me yet so I rubbed my hands together and everything kind of solidified and I got a really strong smell of cologne. I didn't have much of an experience as this was my first time doing it on purpose and I don't think I full believed it. I went upstairs to find my sister and she convinced me I was sleepwalking so I woke myself up lol. It's been my experience that right when my heart starts beating and my body starts to "tingle" with anxiety that is the moment the SP is kicking in, and that was the moment I tried to separate myself not letting my heart elevate to the point of waking me up. Hope this helps.

Hey Ruck0, welcome to Dreamviews. I haven't tried separating my "unconscious self" from my physical body, but it sounds like a good idea. I've been trying to just ignore the vibrations and heartbeat when SP kicks in, but it's just too overwhelming.

One question, what do you mean with "I don't think I fully believed it"?

Originally Posted by joseduc

Hey Ruck0, welcome to Dreamviews. I haven't tried separating my "unconscious self" from my physical body, but it sounds like a good idea. I've been trying to just ignore the vibrations and heartbeat when SP kicks in, but it's just too overwhelming.

One question, what do you mean with "I don't think I fully believed it"?

Oh, I just think my brain was fairly skeptical as this was the first time I actually tried to make it happen other than it just being reactionary due to a really bad SP episode. That was kind of my analysis after the fact, because I was lucidly dreaming but felt inclined to try and find my sister to justify to myself if I was dreaming or if I was sleep-walking. I kind of remember that thought process being along the lines of, "boy if I'm actually just sleepwalking this is going to be hard to explain to the neighbors if I'm running around the streets trying to fly" . Well, my fake dream sister insisted I was sleep-walking and was even jumping on the couch where I had fell asleep to prove it, so I woke myself up actually believing I was sleep-walking(kind of wild I know). I had a plan on how to get there, but once I got there I didn't quite believe what was going on and my subconscious kind of woke me up.

I'm having the same problem with my WILD attempts, except it isn't my heartbeat that's causing my SP to dissipate. Whenever my heart starts beating super fast my body automatically responds and I start taking deeper breaths making my crest rise a considerable amount. As soon as that happens I pay attention to my breathing and I try to breath like I was before (shallow, quick breaths) and then my SP wears off! >:O

so should i just let myself breath heavier and try to ignore it?!?

Maybe you should try doing exactly what you think wouldn't help, if what you are doing to help isn't working.

Aside from trying to move and break out of it.

Originally Posted by Avalanche

Maybe you should try doing exactly what you think wouldn't help, if what you are doing to help isn't working.

Aside from trying to move and break out of it.

That's it! Next time this happens I'm just going to roll over.

Wait what. That's the opposite of what I suggested.

Hi, I am new to lucid dreaming (learnt about it 2 days ago) and almost instantly, after reading a thew threads and web pages, I wanted to try it out for myself. So I looked for the most simple way other than DILD and I found napping. I don't normally nap but I was determined to preform a WILD so I gave it a try. Time went on and I started to see some random green lines flowing like a wave. Shortly after my whole body started to fell really Numb and my heart started to race. It seemed to get faster and faster every second and unfortunately so did my breathing. This carried on for about 10 seconds until I finally gave up and returned to my normal state. My heart didnt seem to die down for ages :L. Judging by what other people are posting, I would say I got rather lucky to get to this 'pre-SP' stage on my first attempt… I don't know if I could believe it was all a hallucination though…

Last night, I also tried WILD, not for the first time, but I haven't had ant sucess yet. I was imaging myself skiing in the forest, and my mind was starting to fill in parts of the scene. I don't know if I had gotten to SP yet, but suddenly I felt as if there was a shallow hole in my upper stomach. I knew it was only my mind playing tricks, but it came to a point where it was so uncomfortable I gave up
Any tips?

Do you guys really think that the pulsing sensation is your heartbeat? Following it through will likely prove it not to be, the frequency moves far beyond the possible speed of heart rate.
Or a hallucination?

I know what you mean. A couple of times after getting that "rapid heartbeat" that messes up my SP attempt, I've immediately taken my pulse and it's not even close to what I felt it to be. It's not even agitated at all.

I tried WILD again today, started hearing a child breathing so I snapped right out of it… not gonna attempt that again for a long time! However I am going to start trying out the MILD method, it seems a whole less freaky.

Good luck. I've been trying MILD for a while, but my intentions don't seem to carry over to the dream. Let us know how it goes.