Thread: Please share your thoughts.

Hello All,

I'm new to this forum and would like to share my experience and get your thoughts.

In the middle of the night while sleeping I used to suffocate (or feel like suffocating) and will try to move my arms and legs for help. But I would feel like my whole body is numb and none of my body parts move. I feel like I'm going to die if I don’t get up. This has happened many nights. Sometimes, I even know that I’m asleep and waking up would help. I would try to open my eyes, cry out loud but no luck. Suddenly, I will jump out of bed after a long struggle (at least feels like a long struggle).

My second experience is that few nights, right in the middle of my sleep, I would feel like I'm getting up off the bed and moving away from the bed. The strange thing is I’m not physically up. I can literally feel that my body is very light and kind of floating away from my bed. For couple of nights I was able to realize that (or think) this is a dream and went along with it. I was able to guide myself to do things. However, those nights, in which I realized the feeling as dream, it was very short. The moment I realize it’s a dream and try to continue, I would wake up.

My third experience is that very rarely (not as often as my previous experiences), I realized I'm in the middle of a dream and tried to do things I like. I have had success with that but again just for couple of minutes (I think). I would wake up in the middle of the night and will force myself to sleep fast so that I can continue my dream but never had success with it. Neither did I succeed when I tried to induce this experience going to bed.

What do we call these? Have any of you had these kinds of experiences? Please share your thoughts.

The first one is Sleep Paralysis

The second might be OBE (Out of Body Experience)

The third I think when you tried to go back in a dream is DEILD (Dream Exited Induced Lucid Dream) or if your talking about realizing your dreaming, that's lucid dreaming.

1) Sleep Paralysis, and a very noticeable case of it indeed.

2) Possibly Sleep Paralysis, but since you say it happens in the middle of your sleep, I'd call that an interesting dream. Semantics as far as I'm concerned.

3) A lucid dream, and when you tried to get back to into it you attempted a DEILD. Mastery of the DEILD technique can create chains of lucid dreams where you can go back into a lucid dream after waking up from one. A very cool experience.

Originally Posted by Clyde Machine

1) Sleep Paralysis, and a very noticeable case of it indeed.

2) Possibly Sleep Paralysis, but since you say it happens in the middle of your sleep, I'd call that an interesting dream. Semantics as far as I'm concerned.

3) A lucid dream, and when you tried to get back to into it you attempted a DEILD. Mastery of the DEILD technique can create chains of lucid dreams where you can go back into a lucid dream after waking up from one. A very cool experience.

Well stated.

If it's lucid, how do I develop the skill? How to induce lucid every night? Do I stand a chance of being a lucid dreamer?

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger0811

If it's lucid, how do I develop the skill? How to induce lucid every night? Do I stand a chance of being a lucid dreamer?

Considering this entire online community was built on the understanding that ANYONE can become a good lucid dreamer and houses more information on the subject than any one person will ever use in their lifetime, I'd say yes. All it takes is a little initiative on your part and a sufficient amount of dedication to changing the way you see dreams and your own awareness. Please begin here and read through all the articles linked on the left side of the page, and eventually you'll have a grasp on the basics. You'll be an oneironaut in no time.

It's just being aware that your dreaming. Things you can do is question reality and do reality checks (like pinching your nose and being able to breath through your nose.) But first you should improve dream recall (remembering your dreams) so you can remember if you were lucid or not.

Last night going to bed, I kept saying to myself that I'm going to be lucid tonight, lucid tonight.....nearly hundred times and a closed my eyes. I guess I fell asleep after that. And the next things I remember is this morning waking up in bed. I was not lucid at all, not even for a sec. I'm trying to remember my dreams now and I heardly remember any. Few things that I see now in the walking life reminded me of few episodes in my dream thats about it. I know its too soon for me to be lucid without good practice, but still I'm bit disappointed that I couldn't have a lucid dream last night.

Yes, you will be a lucid dreamer. You've already achieved some lucidity, so now you just need to practice the techniques regularly.

It's never too soon to have a lucid dream, even now. It's also never too late.
Don't get too down about not having lucids - there will be times when you'll have non-lucids no matter how hard you try, but if you let that get you down you're practicing a counter-intuitive way of thinking. The point is to dream and enjoy your dreams, lucid or not.

Night two. No luck again. I was thinking of picking some dream signs. I saw strange animals (like animated ones) and still didn't realized I'm dreaming. It didn't occur to be to use these signs and realized I'm dreamin. I also didn't some reality checks multiple times during the day. But didn't do any of those in the dream. This morning I did remember nearly 4 dream framgemetns and wrote them in my first journal. However, I didn't do any reality check in the dream and any pick any signs. Bit disappointed again as I lost another night.

1. (what I like to call) drained body. I've had it before, and its like your dreaming and your in such a deep sleep your body starts to feel like its shutting down. If this continues, I'd go see professional. help.
2. Is the outer body experience. If it happens again, keep going with it....see where it takes you.
3 sounds like a DEILD. try using some of the supplements recommended by Thomas. If not, then try to practice over and over again waking up in the middle of a dream, and falling back asleep with the same mindset that you go back to the same dream. It eventually will work for you and in no time, you will be a pro at falling back asleep to the same dream.

Night three. Again, I did not do any reality checks and missed all dream signs. However, in the dream, I was saying to myself that "I missed another night and I should have noticed the signs and done some reality checks". I didn't realize that I was saying this to myself only in the dream. I remembered things that I was supposed to remember in the walking life. Is this lucid?

I had all the signs in front of me. New place, strange people and unusual scenes. Still, didn't pick them up. I even looked at my phone and the time jumped from 11 AM to 2 PM when I saw the second time.