I'm not entirely sure what to make of this...

[Calypso1]

Hello all,

To start, I tried an astral project course, or series of them, several years ago in my late teens/early twenties as I was very interested in trying to project and during my early to mid teens I had several recurring or just 'pick up where they left off' dreams where I could fly, consciously and fully aware and in control.  At the time I had no idea what lucid dreaming was or anything like it, it was just something that I could do naturally and I quite enjoyed it.


It's been several years, as I stated above, since I've re-visited the subject, due to many things, such as working and school simultaneously, in which I don't have a set sleep schedule each day and I simply lost interest (though I did have one positive experience before I quit, I just couldn't repeat it).

I am now 27, and I must share a dream I had last night.  It may have been triggered from me watching the movie 'Devil,' in which I ended up randomly thinking about the movie while I was trying to fall asleep, then somewhat psyching myself out as that isn't really a pleasant thing to be thinking about, in the dark, alone, trying to fall asleep.

I was curled up in a pseudo-fetal position because I was cold and I really did need to fall asleep so I could get up and study later, and I fall asleep a little faster if I'm 'hugging' myself.  I have no idea when I actually fell asleep, but it feels as if I never did fall asleep.  I suddenly found that I was paralyzed, unable to move. 

This has happened to me before on several occasions (even with the lights on!).  It felt like something was there, behind me, but I couldn't see, I could just FEEL it.  Same feeling I had on the other occasions.  However, in past occasions, it felt like it was something that wanted to talk to me, to get me to get up and come out of my body, and go with it.  I honestly can't say that it felt like negative energy, but it is a 'stranger' to me, so I'm not going to go anywhere with it.  But even if I wanted to get up, I couldn't.  Like the time that I fell asleep on my bed with the lights still on, I could feel the light of the room on my back, but I couldn't open my eyes, and I felt a pressure at the edge of my bed, like 'it' had sat down.  I almost want to say 'it' was being patient, waiting for me.  As I said, I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, and I was a little scared but not out right frightened, and in my mind, I kept saying 'no, I don't want to talk, please go away.'  But again, I couldn't move.  I eventually woke up in the same position, and I knew it wasn't simply a dream.  Incidentally enough, I just got up, turned the light out, and went back to sleep, LOL.  Totally un-phased, I guess I knew that 'it' wouldn't be back that evening.

A similar thing happened when I was taking a nap in my car before work a few years ago.  I knew my cell phone alarm was about to go off, and my mind was WIDE AWAKE, but I couldn't get my body to wake up, and I was afraid that I was actually going to be late.  I could not wake up.  It felt like something was holding me down.  I'm not sure that anything was actually there, but I was spooked by the experience because I couldn't even will myself to wake up.  I didn't really like that experience.

So on to what happened last night.  As I said, I was curled up in a fetal position, but I had one arm tucked between my legs (weird I know).  I woke up suddenly, without waking up, and I felt soooooo sluggish.  I knew I was lying in my bed, and I knew that something was behind me.  Because I felt so awake, it just didn't occur to me that I might be dreaming. The first thing...I could open my eyes.  This is the first time that I can remember this paralyzing feeling and that I could actually open my eyes and somewhat see.  My vision was clouded, but I could see my blankets, see my wall, and see a little bit behind be, and of course I saw a shadow back there.  Of course it was a black silhouette of something.  But for some reason, I felt like that particular 'being' (for lack of a better term) DIDN'T want me to get up.  I may have mis-understood, now that I am awake and thinking back, but at the time I felt like it was holding me down.  I seriously felt like I had to defeat it.  So I tried getting up.  I struggled soooo hard, to free my hand from between my legs.  It was...difficult.  Somehow, I got it out.  I didn't really feel like it was floating, but I could sluggishly move my arm.  Then I felt some pressure and I couldn't move again.  For whatever reason, I wasn't scared, just determined.  I told myself to 'shield'.  I tried to imagine a golden bubble around me, blocking 'it.'  It sort of worked, I couldn't really see the shield, but the thought of it almost completely unlocked my body, and I fell out of bed.  I noticed that I couldn't feel anything, like before I could feel the blankets on me.  When I fell, I couldn't really feel.  But I was still sluggish.  I had to keep thinking of the shield to keep moving; I looked over to where my computer was, and I saw the internet was off, as was the power strip it was plugged into.  I think I crawled to the power strip and turned it on, then I grabbed my chair (still in the floor) and was using it to help myself stand up right.  Everytime I had trouble I'd keep thinking of the shield and I would be able to move, ever so slowly though.

By the time I was able to stand up right, I noticed the lights in my room were gone, and so was the presence. I didn't notice anything strange until I looked at the lights and saw that instead of one, there were 4.   Then someone tried to unlock my door, and I just told them to come in, and it was my sister (my sister doesn't live here, she lives in a different state).  Then my neighbor opened her door, except the wrong person was living there...and my sister had a lot of things out side the door that she wanted to bring into my apartment (some really huge, life like dolls) and I remember being confused by having the wrong neighbor next to me, and how was I going to fit these dolls in my apartment...then I woke up, in the exact position I had fallen asleep in, with my arm tucked between my legs.

Strange experience, it seems that once I was able to stand up, I had progressed to a full dream and pushed whatever had been in my room, away.  I'm not entirely sure that it had been trying to hurt me, but my instinct still tells me not to talk to it, whatever it is.  It may be the same thing from before, or it may be something different, I can't really tell.  But it does come back every once in a while and seems to catch me while I'm transitioning into a dream.

I don't really like the paralyzing feeling, it makes me feel vulnerable.

Anyway, that is all I wanted to share, I felt I had to get it out of my system, talk to some people that might understand the feeling, and maybe even offer some feedback as to what the entity, presence, or whatever you might call it, might have been.

Thanks a lot for reading.

[blis]

Cool story. Dont really have any insight for you though.

It reminds me of a giant thing that had me pinned down from behind once. I couldnt see it either but I knew it was there and it was causing me a lot of pain. I remember agreeing to do what it said although I wasnt consciously aware of what it was saying. It was like I wasnt being allowed to hear what instructions I was being given. I reached up and felt a furry thing sticking out of my ear. It was just poking out a little and was solidly anchored within my head. It wouldnt move at all. It felt kind of like the back end of a bee but without the sting.

The more this scary stuff happens and you still keep waking up unharmed the more comfortable you should get with it.

lol I like how even with all that stuff going on you still took the time to put your internet back on.

[Naykid]

A similar thing happened when I was taking a nap in my car before work a few years ago.  I knew my cell phone alarm was about to go off, and my mind was WIDE AWAKE, but I couldn't get my body to wake up, and I was afraid that I was actually going to be late.  I could not wake up.  It felt like something was holding me down.  I'm not sure that anything was actually there, but I was spooked by the experience because I couldn't even will myself to wake up.  I didn't really like that experience.

This sounds like paralysis to me.  And the sluggishness sounds like normal projection side effects.  Sounds like you're doing fine.  Carry on. 

I don't watch scary movies much anymore... tended to make my experiences more dark and disturbing. 

[EscapeVelocity]

I agree with Naykid, what you are describing appears to fit within the range of "normal" sleep paralysis/transition/separation effects...and yes, they can be freaky and confusing, but the vast majority of these things are creations of your own mind and though they can't hurt you, they can scare you IF you let them.

Two things I've found that may help; you mentioned that you felt "vulnerable" during SP. You have to get over that. Eliminate that fear. Even the least little fear and worry is enough to be reflected back at you in the forms and feelings that you described. You need to try to maintain a cool, calm and detached attitude. Anything gets in your way, just radiate Love and Humor at it. You have to let go and take that chance a few times and you'll find that it works.

Also, after separation, move away from your sleeping physical body as soon as possible; get at least 10 to 15 feet away and you'll find that these "transition" effects quickly diminish and disappear. Somebody described it as a kind of energetic feedback that creates this chaos when the projected double is too close to the physical. In your post, you told of crawling over to a chair, raising yourself up and turning around to realize the "presence" had disappeared...how far away were you at that point from your physical?

Sluggish movement in the RTZ is normal early on and can happen anytime, maybe it has to do with low energy, simply just forgetting how to apply that energy or could even be a manifestation of a subconscious block.

For an interesting read, do a Wiki search on Sleep Paralysis.

Good job and good luck!