SP choking me

Yesterday, I was so tired, I went asleep at 19 00 just to wake up 3hours later by my phone.. I turn it off and try to fall back to sleep, after a while I was lying thinking of battlefield as the nerd I am.. But all of a sudden the whole room started to move, I heard gunshots and rockets exploding around me. I was litterly sitting in a helicopter. After about 2minutes I was starting to feel numb, just a second after this feeling I entered a sp, it did just fine until I couldn't breathe, I was grasping for air, and it felt like someone really choked me. How do you keep calm trough something like that??

That's probably the most scary of all hallucinations you get from SP. By not focusing on the feeling and knowing that you're actually breathing fine, also knowing it's only your imagination, you should be fine :) It might take a while to get used to it but in time you won't freak out over much at all.

Like what Matte said, do not focus on your breathing. Focus on the other parts of your body like the beating of your heart, the blinking of your eyes, etc. All of the effects you experience in an SP are nothing more than just your own imagination. Just close your eyes, meditate, and go with the SP's flow. Hope this helps :)

Well, since this was my first sleep paralysis, I really warmth prepared for it to be so intense but all the vibrating inside and the feeling of a loaf of bread im my throat was to much to handle I guess. And there is one more thing, since I started with ld (3days back) I have been waking up 7 40 no matter what I set my alarm clock at.. My bus goes 7 35..

When it comes to sleep paralysis, WILDing, lucid dreams, hypnagogia, etc. etc. here's a good rule of thumb that I've learned after years of experience: EVERYTHING IS TOTALLY NORMAL. No matter how bizarre or frightening things get, just remind yourself that it's all completely natural, your body does it every single night except you're usually never aware of it, and absolutely nothing can harm you.

The reason you were feeling suffocated is because during sleep paralysis, the muscles of the chest become paralyzed with the rest of your body. So your breathing is more restricted, it may feel like their is pressure on the chest, or that your throat is tight. When you are asleep your breathing becomes much more slower and more shallow that what you are used to, so it can often feel as though you are suffocating, when really you are completely fine and have nothing to worry about. If you allow yourself to become scared or anxious, then you will wake your body up and ruin your chances of entering a lucid dream. Rather than thinking, "oh shit I can't breathe what's happening!" tell yourself something like, "ok my breathing is shallow, that's normal, I must be about to enter REM, cool, let's do this" (then focus your attention on something else like the hypnagogic imagery). Always try to direct your mind away from your body and any physiological changes, no matter how weird or alarming they might seem at the time. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by mackebula

And there is one more thing, since I started with ld (3days back) I have been waking up 7 40 no matter what I set my alarm clock at.. My bus goes 7 35..

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That's not good. You could try saying mantras to yourself while you're getting ready to go to sleep, for example:'I will wake up at 7 o'clock'.
It works for me.

What happen was since you were thinking of a shooter you had went into a WILD about it. The things about the game effect your hypnagogic imagery about the dream and you were able to feel it subconsciously. If you want to stop the choking sensation do some of the following things. Say this is only a dream and I have control, think of something else rather then the sensation of being choked and if you still have some strand of consciousness left within you, try to move small muscles such as your toes or fingertips. Swallowing is another thing as well. Sleep paralysis is more effective on your bigger muscles rather than smaller ones.

I get choked in SP too if I try to WILD. I panick, try to scream for help and when I can't, I realise I'm in SP so I just relax and next thing I know I wake up in a dream :)

Personally, I prefer this hallucination to the auditory and visual ones. I've learned to identify it as being "one relaxation away from a lucid dream". Problem is, I only sometimes get this one. Usually I get all the other ones and they freak me out more, so I wake up violently shaking. RCs confirm that I'm awake.