Sleep Paralysis without Full Paralysis

Hello everyone,

I've never successfully had a WILD but I have had quite a few DEILDs so I am somewhat familiar with the transition between wakefulness and sleep. Anyways, whenever I attempt a WILD, after about 20 minutes (if I'm relaxed enough) I start to get this muscular sensation, it's hard to describe but it's almost as if all my muscles are tightening but usually not in a bad way, that starts in various parts of my body and spreads throughout. Anyways, whenever I get that sensation and wait a couple of minutes while still feeling that way, I'm always able to move whenever I want to. The point is though, it is definitely a different state of my body, I do not feel only slightly different. So is this sleep paralysis or am I just fooling myself?

You're just fooling yourself. It's possible to cause some very strange sensations just by relaxing and focusing.

This discouraged me =/ When I think I have sleep paralysis I choose not to try and move at fear of loosing it but I have a strong feeling if i tried to move I would be able to, cause i remember when i was really small I would NOT be able to move even if i tried when i was sleeping sometimes. Like a restriction.

I've experienced something like this, usually when relaxing, it almost feels like my muscles are trying to resist relaxing completely by tightening up. I wouldn't say it's sleep paralysis though. You'll definitely know when you get sleep paralysis, you will feel heavy and very drowsy. You won't be afraid to move, you won't really want to move, it's as if you can't even muster the will to move.

Also as a seasoned DEILDer, I would say sleep paralysis can be a little different in the WILD version. DEILD SP isn't as paralyzing, because your closer to the dream, if you try to get up in this SP you'll probably end up in a false awakening. In SP in a WILD I can sometimes shake it off and be right back in my waking bed, there is definitely a greater sense of entrapment. But waiting always leads to dreams. I know it's sort of off topic, just an interesting thing I noticed.

It seems like your really looking out for SP though. You should know that the majority of WILD is about not focusing on WILDing. SP will never come if you wait for it, in fact SP can sense that you are expecting it, and won't come if you do. It's sort of like you'll never fall asleep if you are thinking about falling asleep, well it's exactly like that, because WILD is about falling asleep fast and focused. I use the same method to fall asleep as I do to WILD, just a little less focused.

I'm sorry if I was discouraging. Letting some one believe they've experienced SP when they really haven't can cause major problems and I think this happens far too frequently on this forum. In nearly all true cases of SP you will not question whether you're in SP or not. You will know.

Full paralysis only occurs in REM atonia, after a dream has formed.

Stop looking for it when WILDing, because it can't happen if you're body is functioning correctly.

I agree that you should not make getting into SP your goal, especially, if you having hard time getting there. Don't worry about SP at all. Many people don't feel the SP even if they are in it. Just concentrate on the images behind your eyelids to enter a dream. It's not like you have to confirm you are in SP in order to continue onto next step. SP is in the background, wheather you are aware of it or not. And don't get discouraged. :) It usually takes many tries to WILD ( succesfull or not) to get the feel of all different sensations you can get during WILDing. No two attempts are same.

BTW, I love DEILDs. How do you keep yourself still when you wake up? That's the hardest part for me. happy dreams:)