Sleep paralysis=not breathing

Let me start off by letting you know that I'm a casual lucid dreamer. I've had periods of completely not interested in LDing and being obsessed over it over the past 3 years. I'v had a little over 10 lucids in the past year.

Here's what is important:
Last night at 5:30pm I decided to take a nap. I woke up at 7pm. I had the intent to WILD later that night. I ate dinner, did homework, went to bed at 9. I thought maybe it wouldn't work because I was too awake. I have had problems with the swallow reflex when I lay on my back so I decided to lay more upright, it felt very comfortable. I thought "now all I have to do is wait". I wait much longer than usual, still keeping high hopes. All of a sudden I go through a moment of unconsciousness and I feel very intense vibrations/ rushing, rumbling sounds. I think " yes good SP and this is gonna be my first good WILD since school started!" the sound was much louder than any other SP I remember having. I picture a scene in my mind and I feel it materializing. After like 10 seconds I wanna focus on my breathing to stabilize. When I realize I'm not breathing at all. I think maybe I just don't realize that I'm breathing cause I'm so deep in SP. But I actually wasn't. I try to wake myself up by the "changing breathing pattern" method, when I realize that it's impossible. I try to bite down on my tongue to wake up but i'm insignificantly weak. All of a sudden I hear my throat open very loudly and I wake up breathing heavilly. I think maybe it was just a 1 time thing. So very quickly I enter SP again. The same exact thing happens. So I decide to turn only my head to my right. I went to sleep normally after that.

This situation has never happened to me before. Only my succesful WILDs occur when I am on my stomach but I wanted tot try something new. It seems that if I could breathe fine in SP that it would have been very successful. I wanna know if this happens to you and if it is okay to ignore and will my body automatically continue breathing when I dream. SP has never scared me thru the many times I been thru it until last nite. I don't want this to end my ability to WILD. Any thoughts?

Man that's scary!

It may be indeed related to your position ; if you were upright(ish), perhaps your head fell forwards and restrained the flow of air. If you're comfortable doing it on your belly, you should stick to that position, since it also solves the swallowing problem.

Breathing can be impaired in any position though. I remember, two years or so ago, experiencing something pretty similar in SP (while laying on my back). It freaked me out at the time. My breath would become more and more shallow until I realized I wasn't breathing anymore. The problem went away by itself after a few nights.

I think paying attention to it just makes things worse. Breathing is automatic, even most comatose patients breathe on their own, so it'd probably be better no to think of it, except, it's not that easy when you're experiencing it, don't I know it!

Its a common occurence to find difficulty breathing in SP, because when you consciously breathe most people use their chest. In SP your chest is paralysed, you have to breathe from the diaphragm. I suggest that all people should practise breathing from the diaphragm all the time really, its far better for you. Because you have control over your breathing you might consciously be trying to use muscles that are impossible to use in SP. I suggest you try to find a comfortable position in which you can easily use your diaphragm, and don't let your chest move whilst you sleep. The inability to breathe in the incorrect way (with your chest) was one of the first things I realised whilst being in SP.

Good luck... and don't be put off!