Was this an astral projection?

[Hipster]

For about 3 years now ive been having fits where id awake and not be able to move. This experiences would be accompanied with varying degrees of hallucinations: voices, dark figure in the corner of my eye, but nothing really of consequence. At first i thought i was going insane but then learned that i was experiencing "sleep paralysis". Eventually i was able to control it, by either inducing it by focusing on my breathing or breaking it by moving my fingers. But with all this said, i have had one experience about a year ago, and cannot decide if i was having a shallow yet vivid dream or was projecting (or attempting to do so) myself in someway.

I was laying down in my room to catch some shut eye before staff came in to begin breakfast (i was in placement at the time) and then i became acutely aware of that feeling, and reaffirmed it by trying and failing to move my leg. This time however besides just breaking it off, i decided to indulge in the experience, so i opened my eyes (or not cant remember) and everything was hazy. There was a plastic CD case with a foot ball helmet there some other random bovine excrement that i have no idea why was there including a sock, and the cell i was in was kind of morphed with one of my moms ex-boyfriends house. There was...something just out of my view and i decided okay ima try to move my spirit (as corny as that sounds) to see it having read a bit into it when i played with the occult when i was 11 (at this time and currently i am/was a firm commie rat atheist, and i guess was delving to see where my own ego would bring me). Well i took a deep breath, and started to feel like i was floating and just before i actually felt fully uninhibited, i felt the most intense and concentrated sensation i had ever felt up to that point. It was like something jerked the lease to my spin, my ears rang like i got knocked out, and i quickly panicked. I was scared senseless and i didnt know why, so i concentrated on moving my fingers, then my hand and then my body.

Yea, i dont know what that was, but id like to find out and maybe have another experience like that, only not so abrupt and panicky. Was this a projection of sorts? I dont know the difference between astral out of body or mental or whatever so I'm asking you folks. Thanks.
-cheers n beers-

[Hipster]

Yea, the whole sleep paralysis thing stopped scaring me, and i came to view it as an annoyance if anything. I was wondering though, what techniques could be used to have an out of body experience? Like i said i can put my body asleep and keep my mind awake, but id like to experiment a bit with this.