Sleep Paralysis, Lucid Dreaming & OBEs (beliefs, Isaiah, America, mission)

[yuvgotmel]

Sleep Paralysis, Lucid Dreaming, and OBEs

I have spoken to a couple posters on this forum that have experienced Lucid Dreaming, "flying in their dreams," waking to feel pressure on parts of their body, hearing audible strange voices in their dreams, feeling movement of flying in a craft and so on while dreaming or during the stage immediately upon waking.

I thought that this article might stir up a conversation on this matter.

All of the things mentioned above, I too have experienced on many occassions. It seems as though, from the article below, those things have been relegated to simply "Sleep Paralysis".

What do you all think? Have you experienced things like this too?

Excerpts from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected...5/nsleep06.xml

'Flying' in your sleep may be a paralysis

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
March 3, 2007

People who have out-of-body experiences, such as flying along a tunnel towards a heavenly light, are more likely to suffer a strange effect called sleep paralysis, according to a survey that adds to mounting evidence for a biological explanation for the experience.

During sleep paralysis, people experience a kind of breakdown between states of consciousness which takes place on the fringe of sleep, either when falling asleep or waking. Because the brain turns off the body's ability to move during dreaming, muscles can lose their tone, or tension, causing paralysis.

The details of sleep paralysis vary from person to person. Some hear vague sounds, indistinct voices and demonic gibberish. Others see hallucinations of humans, animals and supernatural creatures. There is a striking inability to move or to speak, or a weight on the chest.

Also common are feelings of rising off the bed or flying. In addition, people report out-of-body experiences, sometimes accompanied by "autoscopy" when they look down on themselves. Not surprisingly, these moments are accompanied by fear.

Throughout history, there have also been accounts of people having visions on the brink of death - what are now called "near-death experiences".

...
"We found that 96 per cent (24 of 25) of near-death subjects having sleep paralysis also had an out-of-body experience either during sleep transition or near-death," said Prof Nelson.

...
The sleep paralysis linked with out-of-body experiences was thought rare, but may strike between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of people at least once.

They report sensations of floating, flying, falling or leaving one's body. It ranges from relatively tranquil floating experiences to horrible feelings of falling or rising at high speed.

(See Link for Full Article)

[yuvgotmel]

Here are a couple of my experiences just to start the discussion...

Excerpt from Dream dated -- June 4, 2006:

2nd memorable dream = dream within a dream …and it was lucid dreaming….. was over a lake… looked kind of like the picture from the background of the poem “Solar Reflections”….. then all of a sudden, I felt my “body” shoot straight up… . I felt the sensation of moving very fast… at that time, I realized I was lucid dreaming… then we started flying across land… I was looking only what was behind me… I thought that I woke up …

That experience was so "real" that I literally (in my senses and memory) felt the wind whipping my hair around my face. It was an exhilarating experience.


Excerpt from Dream dated -- June 17, 2006:

Snippet: I was flying with my mate, and I realized that I was lucid dreaming.

Snippet: We walked out of a building onto a balcony. He either told me, or I realized that I was still lucid dreaming and I could fly if I wanted to. I was in command of where we went. We flew up and saw mountains. We came down and flew over cities with trees, cars, etc. It was in the day time.

I felt my mate’s hands around me, holding me (as is common in lucid dreams for me). I felt a particular warm hand on my back—to the left-side of my body. He seemed to be talking to me. It was a very nice feeling. I was really enjoying it.

Then, I felt myself “waking up.” (Yet, what I did not know, I was still dreaming.) I woke up on a table, facing downward. My back was exposed. And I could still hear what I perceived to be the voice of my mate. But as I woke up more fully (within the dream), I realized that I could not understand what the voice was saying anymore. The language was foreign to me.

So, I rose up and turned around, while on the table. I looked back at whoever was speaking. Much to my shock, it was an alien-looking being. It was white. It had almost human-sized eyes. It did not have hair or clothes. It was stockier (body-size) than the pictures of the famous Greys. It was about 5 feet tall. And there were two others of the same kind in the room, to whom that alien(?) had been talking to. He (?) seemed quite talkative. He seemed almost nice (?). The language was different.

In the dream-state, (before walking up into another dream), it seemed like I understood the language. It was rhythmic. It was a bit monotone-sounding, but with sound qualities that are not common…or commonly known.

Yet, I was slightly afraid, not knowing what was happening. What seemed to be the most puzzling was turning around to see the one speaking to me and finding out it was an alien...and nothing like what felt like my mate.

Excerpt from Dream dated -- Tuesday, June 28, 2005:

Here’s where the dream began (as much as I remember):
I was standing (in the middle of a very odd battleground) on a bright gray gravel road with the Sun behind me, in the afternoon. There was a chain link fence to my left with barbed wire over the top edge. The right-hand side of the road [seemed] blocked; (although I don’t know what was over there except POSSIBLY trees).

In the middle of the road were two groups of people--who had guns--and they were facing each other, with only a small distance between them. I was among the group that was facing away from the Sun. When the guns started firing (from both groups), I headed over towards the fence, which was to my left.

(I did not want to be in the middle of the path of bullets.) I went up a short embankment to my left where the fence was located, and I stopped at the fence. It was way too high to climb. As a solution, I decided to fly. I rose higher and higher until I was over the fence.

Once I cleared the fence, I darted to my right (across the road), but I was out of danger and flying. I flew over and saw more battles. The biggest battle had thousands of men dressed in plain khaki uniforms. The men were all running in the same direction. They had their guns tucked under their right arms and pointed forward (almost like swords). They ran towards some trees and into the small forest, as if the trees themselves were the enemy. I didn’t see any other “human” group of people fighting them, only the trees, which just stood there. I remember the men were racing westward towards the trees and the Sun. …I knew in the dream that it was an important battle, but I was not all that interested.

About that time--while watching the battle from my aerial perspective (and facing what I surmised was a northerly direction, with the Sun to my peripheral left)--I realized that I was lucid dreaming and completely in control of what was happening in the dream. I heard (or rather asked myself) a question: would you like to see Africa? I don’t remember responding. Nor was there [so it seemed] a lapse in time or space. As soon as the question was asked, I was automatically flying over Africa. [That came as a surprise to me, because I had believed that I had been in North America. And I figured that I would at least have to fly to Africa. But that was not the case, and immediately there I was.] It was a huge desert. In the dream, I thought that I must be flying over the Sahara.

I remember flying in the direction of East; whether it was southeast or northeast is unclear. But it was afternoon, and the Sun was still behind me.

Then a river came into view. It was huge and long. It went on for as far as I could see, even from the air. I was so far up above the landscape that I could see hundreds of miles (maybe more). I was fascinated by the river, especially because it was the only visible thing--from my vantage point,--except for desert.

There were green splotches of vegetation on either side of the river. From the height that I was at, I do not know the exact distance that the vegetation spread from the river, but it followed the river on either side. When the vegetation ended (on both sides), it was only a yellowish desert. I remember wondering in the dream if this river was the Nile, but I wasn’t sure if the Nile ran through the Sahara.

[NOTE: From the height that I was at, I did not see any humans or buildings, nor could I make out the distinction of trees. It appeared only as a huge winding strip of green (with some tributaries) with a gray-blue river in the middle of a desert. However, I could see the details of the topography, where the green vegetation stopped and started, conforming to the land and/or tributaries.]

All of a sudden, I was overcome with the urge to touch the river, the water. I started to fly downward very quickly with my hands out, in order to touch the water. Then another pair of hands came from around behind me on both sides. They were trying to grab my hands and pull me back. I heard the words “No, no. Don’t touch the water!” But I flew even harder and faster towards the water, struggling to get my hands free so I would be ready to touch the water when I got there. And I kept hearing “No, no! Don’t touch the water!” with even more emphasis on the warning. Repetitively, the hands were pulling me back. And I felt a literal, physical tug on my left leg at the joint with my waist.

I wanted so badly to touch the water, but I was being shaken (or rather tugged) awake. And I knew that whatever the warning meant that I better heed it. Also, I felt quite certain that my intention to touch the water would not be allowed. So I began to ponder if I should fully wake out of the lucid state or not. As I allowed myself to ease back into my own physical surroundings, the words “Do not say water, water” came to mind (from a book I read years ago).

The experience felt so real, that even as I woke, and again the morning after, I sincerely felt like I had visited Africa, the Sahara and the Nile in that dream.

[NOTE: There is something else. While in the dream and afterwards, I was disappointed with myself. Because I knew that had I not tried to touch the water, I would have been able to continue viewing the landscape. However, my attempt at touching the water caused me to be pulled back and even out of the lucid state.]

[BFD_Zayl]

during sleep paralysis you normally do not feel like you are flying, you usually feel like a heavy weight is being pressed on you, breathing seems distant, sounds and sights are sometimes distorted, IE the wind might sound like a legion of demon roaring in your very room. and the most common description of lucid dreaming is when you are capable of controlling your dreams to do whatever you want in them. my dreams are real, yes, i most often feel pain, i can feel the grass beneath my feet or smell the decay of generations.

[yuvgotmel]

Originally Posted by BFD_Zayl

during sleep paralysis you normally do not feel like you are flying, you usually feel like a heavy weight is being pressed on you, breathing seems distant, sounds and sights are sometimes distorted, IE the wind might sound like a legion of demon roaring in your very room. and the most common description of lucid dreaming is when you are capable of controlling your dreams to do whatever you want in them. my dreams are real, yes, i most often feel pain, i can feel the grass beneath my feet or smell the decay of generations.

Same here BFD. All what you said mimics what I have thought too. It's just that all those things are now classified as "sleep paralysis" which I personally feel is a misnomer.

[BFD_Zayl]

Originally Posted by yuvgotmel

Same here BFD. All what you said mimics what I have thought too. It's just that all those things are now classified as "sleep paralysis" which I personally feel is a misnomer.

ah, i see, then i mis-read your intent

[Hema]

Thank you for starting this thread. Sleep paralysis has bothered me for years. Recently I had a couple OBEs. The paralysis usually happens when I wake in the middle of the night and I'm trying to go back to sleep. A couple times, while I was paralyzed, I heard voices but the words didn't make sense. Most times I hear a shrill piercing noise in my head. Thank God it's stopped for a while. Most times I pray for it not to happen. It's helping but once in a way it might still happen.

[Hema]

In addition, I have been able to control my dreams at times. I have even made myself wake-up from the dream. I was asking YmirGF the other day about this- but what do you guys think about this - when I'm falling asleep and I begin to dream (between sleep and wake), I see faces of people who I don't know. Sometimes, the faces change one into another.

[yuvgotmel]

Originally Posted by Hema

In addition, I have been able to control my dreams at times. I have even made myself wake-up from the dream. I was asking YmirGF the other day about this- but what do you guys think about this - when I'm falling asleep and I begin to dream (between sleep and wake), I see faces of people who I don't know. Sometimes, the faces change one into another.

During that stage between "falling asleep and dreaming" or "waking up and dreaming" is a good time to start teaching yourself how to lucid dream. You can start to work on part of your subconscious through lucid dreaming.

And...by the way, I'm glad you like the thread.

[yuvgotmel]

http://www.dreamviews.com/ <<<Site devoted to Lucid Dreaming

Synopsis

This website provides information on lucid dreaming, controlling dreams, the stages of sleep, dream recall, dream signs, and more. It is written to be easily understood by those just starting out; the information and techniques provided are also beneficial for those who already have some ability. Tutorials are provided to further help those in their attempts, and an active message forum is available for those seeking help or wanting to provide it.
Welcome and Introduction

Welcome to Dream Views! If you’re searching the Internet trying to find information on the still relatively-unknown topic of lucid dreaming (either for personal use or for research purposes), you’ve come to the right place! Perhaps you’ve been introduced to lucid dreams through a movie (such as Vanilla Sky or Waking Life), a newspaper or magazine article, your University psychology class, or even a friend who talks ad nauseam about the fascinating things that can be done with them. Or perhaps you’ve simply stumbled upon our site by chance...if so, we invite you to stick around and discover what lucid dreams are (and be surprised by the likelihood that you’ve probably already had a few). Regardless, there are a lot of great things that can be done with lucid dreams, and they can be a lot of fun...read on to discover more.

[MysticSang'ha]

Cool thread, mel.



I had a pretty radical dream last night. I was able to finally be able to completely control everything about the dream, and I decided to try something different. I thought I'd be somebody else for a while.



Dream yoga is something I'm still practicing. This is a Tibetan practice (as I'm sure you're well aware of, mel), that is also paralleled closely with lucid dreaming. The really cool thing about last night was when I decided to be someone else, I looked at myself in a mirror and was able to discern in detail everything about my new face and body. I was me, but I wasn't "me." Does that make any sense?



Here's another thing.........This new person already exists, and I don't know her, but my goal in the dream was to help her relieve her suffering. It was rather like the old Quantum Leap episodes where Sam Beckett leaps into the body of another person to help change their lives for the better.



Oh, and everything about the dream was so much more three-dimensional, colorful, and alive. Really, really cool.



Peace,
Mystic