Lucid Dreams/Sleep Paralysis/OBE?????

[Jace]

Hello.  I'm new to these forums and are finding them quite helpful in my quest in learning about "awareness/consciousness".  I have experienced the scenario I decribed below ruffly 15-20 times in my 28yrs of life.  I'd like to better understand what is happening, what is it called (ie lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, OBE, etc..), and if it is a Lucid Dream or OBE, can I astral project from what ever it is I'm experiencing.  Scenario as follows:
I fall asleep in a normal fashion, with normal defined as not overly tired or any other circumstance which would cause abnormal sleep or induction into the sleep mode.  All of a sudden, I become aware that I'm asleep, but yet I'm conscious in my "dream" state.  That is, I can control my dream, including flying, super human power stuff, whatever.  I've even been shot by a gun in one of these conscious dreams, yet I knew it was only a dream so I just laughed at the shooter.  I can jump off a towering cliff, fall with the same velocity as you would if you jumped off a cliff awake, and then right before I hit the ground, I just stop myself cause I know its a dream.  Know this is where it becomes a bit weird to me.  Without notice, I feel a dark presence, some kind of fear, though I normally don't become afraid, again, because I know its a dream.  But what happens is that it becomes difficult to breath.  I try to take a deep breath and I can't.  It come to the point I think I can't breath at all so, at that point, knowing i'm dreaming, I start to yell, grap at my body, slap my face, try to open my eye lids, things like that.  As I'm doing these things, I feel this presence becoming closer and closer, which makes my try to breath harder, and being unable to, I continue trying to wake myself with anything possible until I do.  Some of these scenarios have occured when my girlfriend was sleeping next to me.  During those times, in my psuedo-dream state, I know she is sleeping next to me so I try to call her name to help me wake.  When I've yelled her name out,  or atleast I think I'm calling her out, she does wake me up.  She begins to tell me that I was moaning very load, sounding like a injured Lamb or something like that.  She can't recall me ever actually calling her name or even me remotely making comprehendable pronounciations of words, more like jibberish.  So thats it.  That is what happens in detail.  Sorry for the length, just wanted to thoroughly describe.  Any info. would be helpful.  Thanks in advance.  peace

[Kazbadan]

If the dark presence appears near the end of your dream, i think i know what it could be the problem.

When people are sleeping they have sleep paralysis (SP). No one will notice it .From all the people that i know in my life, the only one noticing the sleep paralysis its myself...even more: no one knows about its existence.

So, when you have the problems with breathing you are having a SP. I had many SPs and i know that when they "mixture" themselves with dreams or hallucinations (its normal too in sleep state and little people - except in this forum -knows that). These hallucinations are not dangerous on any way and they are common place. They are just the transition between awakening state and sleeping state.

Anyway, when you are moarning and with breathing problems, etc, etc, thats only a SP. Believe me because i have many times that problem and i am used to it (at 3 weeks ago i had maybe more than 10 SP in a row! Last night 1 SP).

The balck figure its an hallucination. Maybe it could something different but some experiences that i  have and judging what people says in these forums, i bet that its an hallucination.

You must remember too that while in that state (SP + hallucination + near OBE) your senses are very tunned. I remember to hear bad noises and then i observed it better just to discover that they were normal noises that were being amplified. Maybe the same for visual things.

How to deal with the dark figure? Follow the advice of experienced people in this forums: ignore it, or try to see it as good thing or a weak person and eventually it will goes out.

I follow that advice at 1-2 weeks ago when i was with fku. My body temperature was high (near 40 degrees) and when sleeping my dreams were nightmares. At a given time i awakened in a SP and a dark figure similar to a big wired black cat jumped to my back. It was an hallucination.

I got freaked and went into sleep again. A few seconds later i got awake again and the monster-cat repeated the attack. In that time i was prepared: i said a mantra that i felt as being powerful on that time (i dont remeber exactly but it was related with shiva).  After that the cat vanished.
It worked.

The important its not the mantra but just the belief.

Try these things and then tell us the results.

[-lines-]

There are tricks you can use when you have awareness during sleep paralysis, that enable you to break out of it. The first time I had SP, I was scared, then I swore at it defiently. It snapped me out of it immediatly, and it took me a bit to figure out what the paralysis was. The next time that I had it, I managed to touch my thumb and forefinger together to break out of it. You could also let yourself be sucked back into dreaming, but it feels kind of scary until you get used to it.

Since I realized what SP was, it didn't have the frightening effect on me that it had in the beginning. Being curious about it or laughing at it helps, because you know that it's all in your mind, dreams are just invading you while your mind is awake and your body is still asleep.

So, try to come to grips with what happens and know that even though you may be seeing/hearing/feeling things that are not there, that you can take control of it and have the option of dropping back into a dream if you can't snap out of it.

[Kazbadan]

Good idea lines. I use that too.

If you get a SP (sllep paralysis) start breathing slowly and think that you are suffering its just a normal sleep process. If are not very tired and if your mind its lucid, you get the oporunity to have: a nice lucid dream or an OBE (that what i am trying to learn with my SPs).

[Jace]

just wanted to thank all who replied.  Your suggestions were very detailed and I will most definetly be using these ideas to help me better understand SP.  Thanks again  peace

[-lines-]

Yeah, if you just get yourself sucked back in, or go back to sleep right after you break out, you can usually go lucid. I've managed to do it once where I'd wake up with SP, go lucid and change the stuff more to my liking, wake up with SP, and repeat.

[Jace]

when i come to the realization that SP is occuring, how do I break out of that.  I think on of the emails that replied to my intial post mentioned that i should try to touch my finger to my thumb.  If I can't do that, and I hyperventilate at a greater rate, thus increasing my fear, what should i try next in order to wake myself.  Thanks in advance.  peace

[-lines-]

Try to give it a good mental yelling, the sound of it inside your head may allow you to snap out of it. It naturally wears off over time, once your brain realizes that you're awake, so you might need to wait it out. Is there a reason that you are hyperventilating and in fear of SP? I know that it is frightening when you cannot break out of it, but when you understand what it is, you take away the reason it is frightening you in the first place, you can't move.

Another thing, leave some music running or keep the radio on. A change in the music or sound can cue your mind into breaking the paralysis. Your mind picks up the noise change normally when you are asleep, and it could wake you up a bit without you knowing that you are awake. It does the same thing, but since you are awake, you are aware that the effect turns off. Wish there was an easier way to explain it, but I have no real knowledge of how it works.

[Kazbadan]

NOw that i am more used t SP, its nice to see that i feel mysefl as not having an SP but as being leaving my body. Coicidence or not, when i am having a SP i just try to come back to my body (i was just leaving but i will stop it) and SP will stop.

I know that it may sound stupid to prevent an OBE, if its that what i want, but at night in darkness and with my mind very tired i just wanna forget about obes.

[-lines-]

Yeah, it takes a lot of strength (mental and physical) to snap out if it. Makes sense that after you've been asleep and just used up all that energy that you should want nothing more than to just go back to sleep.