Jump to content

Dream Paralysis?


GrayTheCat

Recommended Posts

For the record, I do not actively try to Lucid Dream. I think it's interesting and have tried it several times before, but I found that it's not the right fit for me.

 

Two nights ago, I was having a regular dream and then all of a sudden I was worried I was going to fall down the stairs in the back of a heavy truck, stressing me out. Not much longer later, I was texting a friend and didn't want to fall asleep. Suddenly, I felt a familiar tingling, and realized I was becoming paralyzed. I tried to move my right arm and after trying a second time I realized I was paralyzed. I paniced and tried to fight the paralysis and then shortly I woke up. I believe I was still dreaming when it happened and the episode lasted for about 10 seconds. I only mention the truck moment because I wonder if that moment contributed to the paralysis.

 

And then last night: I was on my bed in the dream and I became paralyzed again. I woke up almost imedietly after my realization. This time it probably only lasted for 3 seconds. I don't recall any stressful "oh crap I'm dead" scenes in this dream.

 

Is there a reason I keep becoming paralyzed or should I assume this pattern won't continue? For the last month or so I noticed I could recall more of my dreams. My Tulpa Ranger told me he doesn't remember his dreams, assuming he had some.

Meow. You may see my headmates call me Gray or sometimes Cat.

I used to speak in pink and Ranger used to speak in blue (if it's unmarked and colored assume it's Ranger). She loves to chat.

 

Our system account

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most likely, nothing can actually affect your dream self like that but your (subconscious or conscious) expectations. Obviously dealing with sleep and paralysis there may be a link to actual sleep paralysis (a normal and ever-present condition while asleep), but it seems very unlikely. Your dream body is not tied to your waking body in the slightest, aside from your eye movement and, for some people, breathing.

 

Since you're not really conscious/lucid enough in those scenarios to exert any real control over the situation, and you seem to quickly wake up anyways, I'd say just ignore it and hope it stops happening. Doesn't seem too terribly invasive since it's happened so little. Typical things people say regarding most problems with sleep might apply, like not eating certain things before bed, drinking coffee or energy drinks late in the day, etc.

 

This also isn't very tulpa-related. Productive discussion, but off-topic nonetheless.

Hi, I'm Tewi, one of Luminesce's tulpas. I often switch to take care of things for the others.

All I want is a simple, peaceful life. With my family.

Our Ask thread: https://community.tulpa.info/thread-ask-lumi-s-tulpas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I forgot there was a lounge channel. I'll go ask if they can move this thread.

 

I have had dreams where I felt like I was suffocating or drowning, both which I connected to colds or allergies effecting my ability to breathe. Thanks for the response.

Meow. You may see my headmates call me Gray or sometimes Cat.

I used to speak in pink and Ranger used to speak in blue (if it's unmarked and colored assume it's Ranger). She loves to chat.

 

Our system account

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure if breathing in dreams being disconnected from your actual breathing is normal or not, but it's not the case for us. I noted recently that holding our breath in a dream tends to make us wake up with our heart beating fast, and it's relatively uncomfortable.

Hi, I'm Tewi, one of Luminesce's tulpas. I often switch to take care of things for the others.

All I want is a simple, peaceful life. With my family.

Our Ask thread: https://community.tulpa.info/thread-ask-lumi-s-tulpas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could shift this over to the lounge.

 

As for an idea about the in-dream paralysis... this is my take. You have only had two, so it's probably statistically not something to worry about... it is interesting. Especially as you lead with you don't actively pursue lucid dreaming, 'because' it's not for you???... So you, pursued it and was successful? Or you pursued it, and were unsuccessful, or modestly successful, and found it to be too much work, and wasn't interested in pursuing further? If you were successful and decided, I don't want do it, well, that's why I suspect you're being paralyzed in your dream! You have this ability/skill and you're telling yourself not to do it, and so you are literally asking yourself to 'limit' your presence in the dream. basically, once you're aware, lucid, awake, it's hard to go back to sleep...

 

hope that's helpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could shift this over to the lounge.

 

As for an idea about the in-dream paralysis... this is my take. You have only had two, so it's probably statistically not something to worry about... it is interesting. Especially as you lead with you don't actively pursue lucid dreaming, 'because' it's not for you???... So you, pursued it and was successful? Or you pursued it, and were unsuccessful, or modestly successful, and found it to be too much work, and wasn't interested in pursuing further? If you were successful and decided, I don't want do it, well, that's why I suspect you're being paralyzed in your dream! You have this ability/skill and you're telling yourself not to do it, and so you are literally asking yourself to 'limit' your presence in the dream. basically, once you're aware, lucid, awake, it's hard to go back to sleep...

 

hope that's helpful.

 

Thank you for moving it.

 

When I was younger, I tried to keep a dream journal and practice Lucid Dreaming. I had a really hard time writing down my dreams because I had an irregular schedule, I had trouble falling back asleep if I woke up in the middle of the night after recording a dream, I had little luck with MILD or WILD, but mostly it boiled down to my frustration with keeping up with the dream journal and my lacking desire to keep fighting myself over it. My main motivation was to talk to Ranger my "subconscious" at the time (I was afraid I was parroting him otherwise), I gave up in frustration and just stuck to trying to talk to him in the Wonderland (which lead me to finding out about Tulpas later in the future).

 

At one point during this period of time I had a non-lucid dream where I took some "haunted keys" and I asked myself, "What would happen if I put them under my pillow and found them in real life?" After that paradoxical question I awoke from the dream but found myself in a state of sleep paralysis. It ended once I tried to scrunch my face and successfully broke out of it. Even now I'm disappointed I didn't hallucinate any "Rainbow People" or really anything in the 30 or so seconds I was paralyzed for.

 

Ever since, I have been nervous about performing MILD or WILD. The most serious attempt afterwards was when I tried to relax my body and I gave up, only to find out I was trying to relax my body for a good 45 minutes or so. It was not long after that I realized that my impatience was not working in my favor and Lucid Dreaming is not a skill I would master any time soon.

Meow. You may see my headmates call me Gray or sometimes Cat.

I used to speak in pink and Ranger used to speak in blue (if it's unmarked and colored assume it's Ranger). She loves to chat.

 

Our system account

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not done the MILD or WILD. When I dream journal, I tend to do it only at my designated wake time, because, yeah, I too, would find it hard to go to sleep if I came that much awake. I have been waking about 2 am from a dream, and I my efforts have been to return to the dream or be lucid. I have been doing some form of dream work since childhood, only I didn't know that's what I was doing.

 

I don't remember precisely when I discovered 'lucid dreaming," but I did, a book, and I spent two solid weeks questioning reality, reality checks, writing on my hand, and notes stuck everywhere... And I did it! And then, I was exhausted, because that was hard work, and so I relaxed and now they are hit or miss, though I try to keep it in my thoughts that I want to do it.

 

I use to wake during sleep paralysis as a kid, and would freak out, thought I was being abducted... I have been wanting to wake up in it recently, but have not managed to hit it. I have become quite a light sleeper... Um, I wonder if that is a correlation. I don't know...

 

Tell yourself, if I become paralyzed in the dream again, I will know this is a dream and become lucid! I bet that works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After that paradoxical question I awoke from the dream but found myself in a state of sleep paralysis. It ended once I tried to scrunch my face and successfully broke out of it. Even now I'm disappointed I didn't hallucinate any "Rainbow People" or really anything in the 30 or so seconds I was paralyzed for.

 

"Rainbow People", huh? Sounds more fun than the "Shadow People" people usually cite. It's all hallucination and there is no substance to those stories. Either way, sleep paralysis should not last long enough to utilize the state for any real visualization/imposition/whatever you're doing. Wouldn't rely on it. Some people do say it's a good state to WILD from, though.

 

Ever since, I have been nervous about performing MILD or WILD. The most serious attempt afterwards was when I tried to relax my body and I gave up, only to find out I was trying to relax my body for a good 45 minutes or so. It was not long after that I realized that my impatience was not working in my favor and Lucid Dreaming is not a skill I would master any time soon.

 

We've done many attempts that lasted two hours, so I know that feeling. Dream recall is important regardless of your method however, because it strengthens your link to your dreaming state, which we theorize should lead to more vivid dreams lucid or not, and probably makes lucid dreaming in the first place much easier. A dream journal isn't an absolute necessity, but I would recommend you still try to manually remember at least the last dream you have each night when you wake up. Even doing that will make a difference compared to remembering nothing at all, if you're still holding out hope for a LD.

 

As we also wake up very easily and can't fall back asleep after that (in a timely manner in which we remember our intent still), we're not fans of WILD/MILD. Dream Exit-Induced Lucid Dreams may work for you, which you can read about here. While we naturally are just a bit too awake between REM cycles (we wake up naturally between each one for maybe a minute every night), it's been a long time since we attempted to DEILD so we may try them again ourselves. The short and sweet of it is to, once you've become conscious in the night (if that's something that happens for you), you should immediately - not recall, as this may have been our mistake in the past, but - immerse yourself in the dream you were just having. Don't try to remember it, try to put yourself in the same place mentally you just were. Remember the feelings and environment-feel, and if your recall is good enough to remember actual details without effort you've got an advantage. If you can enter a dream state again from here, the dream should be relatively vivid and, hopefully, more lucid than a normal one, as you've just transitioned pretty cleanly from a waking state. It's no guarantee, in fact it seems one of the least direct methods of becoming lucid I've seen, but if you can get the technique down it does put you in a perfect state to begin a lucid dream. High general awareness, high vividity, and if it all works out then the most important of all, the longest possible lucid dream as normally achieved with WILDs.

 

This is just some quick advice since you seem to have some interest in lucid dreaming still, though. It doesn't seem like it should be necessary for the thread topic nor is it a necessity to interact with your tulpa. But who knows, it might work for both. You could use paralysis as a dream sign, ie something you associate with awareness of dreaming that occurs frequently in your dreams, so as to trigger lucid dreams. If you wanted more information, see our main post on lucid dreaming: https://community.tulpa.info/thread-the-great-shared-lucid-dream-project?pid=170800#pid170800

Hi, I'm Tewi, one of Luminesce's tulpas. I often switch to take care of things for the others.

All I want is a simple, peaceful life. With my family.

Our Ask thread: https://community.tulpa.info/thread-ask-lumi-s-tulpas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...