I took the material already posted and rearranged a few things. I made some changes to wording, grammar and punctuation.
What I'm posting here is by no means perfect but I tried not to take too much away from the 'feeling' of the material.
Sivason, I added some of your personal experience from the intro into the area where you provide expert testimony. It could probably use cleaning up but I didn't want to destroy the feeilng you were trying to convey.
Take a look and see what you think.
Many of the staff and long term members of DreamViews have decided that a serious misunderstanding about Sleep Paralysis (SP) has become a huge stumbling block for new lucid dreamers. We have had to answer more questions about SP than nearly anything else. This guide was written in response to that problem.
First, what is SP (Sleep Paralysis)? : The true meaning of the term is a certain medical condition which affects the ability to wake up or go to sleep properly. People with this condition feel as if they are trapped while either going to sleep or waking up. They have almost no strength to get up and often have a fearful experience. Sleep Paralysis is a sleep disorder. A basic search of readily-available information reveals about 1 in 250 people experience true SP on a frequent basis.
A man named Dr. Stephen LaBerge is very well known for his clinical research into lucid dreaming. The following article written by LaBerge may be the starting place for the current state of confusion regarding Sleep Paralysis. Please take a minute to read it over, LaBerge Article on Sleep Paralysis.
In the article Dr. LaBerge discusses Sleep paralysis and its effects. He attempts to reinforce the idea that the experience is not to be feared and is a rare event. He also suggests that based on one man’s experience, someone stuck in SP might be able to transition into a lucid dream, the likely source for the confusion. Current suspicion is that someone wrote a guide telling the sufferers of SP how they could convert the terrifying state into a WILD (Wake Initiated Lucid Dream). Unfortunately this is not useful to 249 out of every 250 lucid dreamers! The idea was spread incorrectly as a normal WILD event. Sleep Paralysis (SP) is not a normal part of a WILD event and should not be a consideration in WILD attempts.
The Lucid Dreaming community has been calling REM Atonia by the wrong name of Sleep Paralysis (SP) and we should stop doing it.
The primary factor for the term getting so misused is people on dreaming forums like this one trying to explain how to correctly achieve a WILD. When people join the forum they often say, “Someone told me I had to reach SP.” We would reply, “You do not reach a point when you cannot move. SP is what stops your sleeping body from acting out dreams.” That is not actually true. The normal condition that prevents you from jerking around in bed, during a dream is properly called REM Atonia. The LD community has been calling REM Atonia by the wrong name (SP) and we should stop doing it.
So what does REM Atonia mean? It is a change in chemicals and brain function that causes your body to remain still while you dream. REM Atonia does not prevent you from waking yourself up and moving normally . That is why it is not true Sleep Paralysis. People are experiencing awareness during sleep of a normal nightly process, one that does not truly prevent you from moving. Some people can actually feel the chemical change begin. It may feel like you are not connected to your body and many people describe it as a heavy-blanket feeling. It may feel like you are on narcotics, and moving would take a conscious effort.
Here is why we talk about it (incorrectly calling it SP.) In a WILD you are attempting to stay aware while your body falls asleep. You will be able to experience the stages of sleep and one event you can sometimes experience is REM Atonia. Some methods of WILD use this as a mile post in the WILD process.
Here is what six well known experts and staff have to say in support of you all not worrying about SP and moving on to some useful material.
- Sivason:
I have used the term SP incorrectly in the past to describe a state where the WILDer experiences the chemical changes of REM Atonia. In my method of WILDing you observe the progress of your sleep, and when you feel REM Atonia, you shift what your mind is doing. Many people call REM Atonia SP, but I intend to never use the term SP to describe it again. It is not hard to type out 'REM Atonia' instead of SP. Using the term SP causes everyone to become confused. I use a system that does require awareness of REM Atonia, and I will continue to teach it, but let’s all stop calling it SP.
In my WILDs, for instance, when I experience REM Atonia, I change my mindset from an anchor (counting, mantra) to trying visualization to induce a dream. People just started calling it SP. Again, it is using the term incorrectly and adds to the confusion. Let’s all agree to stop using the term as it just complicates everything.
By learning what each part of your sleep feels like you can improve your chances of pulling off a WILD. If you are reading a tutorial from now on I suggest you take the term SP to mean REM Atonia or awareness that such a state has been reached. That is unless it involves you supposedly being able to start moving in a dream, because you are supposedly paralyzed; I would laugh those off and find a new tutorial altogether, if it mentions that kind of stuff. It is only going to work for 1 in 250 of us.
I have successfully been using WILD methods for over 20 years, but on no occasion have I been even slightly paralyzed! I sometimes feel as if moving would be hard but that is a natural feeling because my body has fallen asleep. I can always get my body to move if needed. Do not worry about SP and move on to some training that actually works. Unless you were experiencing SP before you wanted to learn lucid dreaming, you will probably never experience it and can forget about it.
Please stop using the term SP and forget the idea entirely! You will not ever reach actual SP, so let's move forward, leaving the days of SP confusion behind us. Call REM Atonia by its true name, describe what you mean if it is not REM Atonia you have been using SP for, or coin a phrase that you can use instead.
- Sageous:
First, I have had many thousands of WILD's, and never once cared about SP, much less looked for it. No one should.
SP is not a mystical or unusual event by any measure because REM Atonia happens naturally every time you are in REM -- it must occur, or else we’d all be flailing about in our beds, or sleepwalking, or shouting, or … well, you get it. That you are consciously aware of it because it remained switched on a bit too long or switched on early does not make it special, unless you consider your ability to defy nature and notice it as something special -- which is a pretty cool thing, I suppose.
SP is also not a goal in WILD. Let me repeat that: SP is not a goal in WILD. One more time for the back rows: SP is not a goal in WILD! You should never, ever, be trying to “achieve SP” if your ultimate goal is lucid dreaming. To do so is to elevate a normal condition of sleep to a point where it is all you pay attention to and then, invariably, your chances of Lucid Dreaming will fade behind the empty excitement of SP.
It is critical for WILD that you understand that SP is not dangerous; it is not an invasion by monsters or your body failing you or a break from reality, or any of the other things noted on the forums by breathless dreamers who encounter SP unprepared. It is just a natural bodily function that you happen to notice because you possess waking awareness at a time when nature never intended you to be awake. So if you ever encounter SP (I rarely do) just relax, acknowledge it, and move on!
Most of the time SP isn’t really even SP: People who are talking about their experiences in SP are really talking about their experiences in NREM sleep, which can include the vibrations, sensory deprivation, and other assorted bells and whistles associated with SP these days. This is sort of a shame, because consciously navigating NREM sleep is an adventure unto itself (and, BTW, the place the Tibetan sleep yogis like to visit) and to belittle it by calling it SP is to miss out on an otherwise good thing.
- Gab:
I have had 36 WILDs and 20 DEILDs and many more attempts. In 10 months I have never experienced any full body paralysis (SP) when WILDing.
Any sensation you are experiencing during your WILD attempt is a part of the falling asleep process. You can feel vibrations, floating feeling, sounds, acceleration, your body being distorted, heaviness and being relaxed.
It happens every time but we normally don't notice it because by then we are asleep. Lucid dreamers going for a WILD notice it because they stay conscious and aware during the falling asleep process.
SP is something you either experience or not. Most people don't so waiting for it or making it a certain point in your attempt that you need to get to, or get past, or experience, is detrimental.
If you have not experienced SP while falling asleep normally then you are quite unlikely to experience it during a WILD attempt.
It makes no difference if you experience SP or not, or if you think you have/have not experienced it. You just go through your WILD attempt, until you enter your dream lucidly.
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