Anyone mange to self induce sleep paralysis?

[RichardMooner]

Upon experiencing sleep paralysis for the second time in my about a week ago, and being pretty freaked out about it, yet completely intrigued by it, I decided to try and induce it on purpose today. I woke up this morning, after a long period of insomnia, and decided that I was going to try and paralyze myself, as crazy as that sounds. Haha.

I've been really interested in Astral Projection, and I have been meditating recently to try and induce it, but as I've read, it most easily occurs during sleep paralysis, and thus my reasoning for trying this. I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I did what seemed to me as the most plausible way I could think of, which was to envision an intriguing thought with my eyes closed and get lost in it while remaining slightly conscious of the thought, but without too much focus on a cognitive level. This was fairly easy as I have a pretty bad case of ADD and it happens to me all the time, (Visualizing something, getting lost in the thought without really any analysis of it and zoning out the external world). So anyway, I closed my eyes, thought of something that I could remain conscious of, pertaining to a feeling or sense that I did not have to process any analysis of. Of course, this thought was sexual, which I'm rather embarrassed of when posting this, but honestly, who really gives a fuck, we all have sexual thoughts, and this seemed a rather easy route to take. I visualized it, got lost in it, remained conscious of the feeling, but did not analyze it. I just let it happen and zoned everything else out. After about five minutes, I had the familiar sensation of an overwhelming pressure and tingle that was surfacing onto my body. As soon as I felt it, the thought stopped, and I was completely conscious of everything I was thinking, and was able to analyze all of my thoughts. Cognition was fine, but I couldn't open my eyes, couldn't talk, and even with an immense amount of effort, I couldn't move my limbs. At first, I thought about astral projection, but then I got extremely excited that it worked and forgot all about it. After that, I started hearing a bunch of random stuff that wasn't actually there, like voices in my head, engines roaring, etc.... and after I started focusing on them, I started focusing on the feeling that was overwhelming my body, and lost sight of everything and became afraid of what was happening. I tried to move for the next two or so minutes, but couldn't, and eventually it passed and I had full function again. As soon as I could move, the feeling was gone, and I was no longer afraid. Just as the last two times, everything stopped at once.

I figure I'll try again tomorrow after waking up and make an attempt at astral projection, although I doubt I'll succeed this soon, I have to start somewhere, right? But most importantly, and the point of this post, my question is whether any of you have been able to induce sleep paralysis onto yourself consistently, or somewhat regularly? Is it likely that this was just a fluke accident, or have other people done this? Anyway, any answers would be great! Thanks!

 

[ParappaTheRapper]

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[-=SS=-]

I've been able to do it since early childhood, though as I've gotten older it seems to happen less.. probably because life becomes more tiring and you have less energy. If you make it a consistent thing to try, once a day, just lay down and do it.. sooner or later it will happen, and the more you try the more it will happen.

When I was doing it regularly as a part of my meditation I would just focus on breathing slowly and regularly first, to put the body to sleep, and mentally I would just try to maintain awareness of presence for lack of a better description.. just observing. I find visualizing or getting sucked into thoughts or fantasies tends to make me slip into dreaming very quickly, which is a step too far.. thought sometimes you can pull yourself out of it. So for me I would just observe the back of my eyelids, listen to sounds. Oh and it helped to tense then relax all the muscles in the body as the beginning, so you give your body the chance to relax properly. Light clothing helps, reducing pressure/distraction.

The trick for me personally was watching out for the signposts. At some point I would begin to lose awareness of my body.. then a wave of tingles would start from some random point on the body and cascade all over briefly.. then the body would seem to feel slightly heavier and my awareness becomes centered within my head.. at this point this is where the magic begins, and where I usually fail by getting overly excited or trying too hard. The times I've succeeded it feels like someone has placed a box over my head, like all the outside sounds become muted, and yet my head feels large.

The sounds and voices you heard, sounds like you were close.. but unable to break through. That usually creeps me out the most.. some times I hear rattling chains, industrial type noises, other times (usually when I've had a drink/unintentional sleep paralysis at night) there are voices which are pretty nasty to say the least.

I can count the times I've broken through on one hand. For me it was like a geometric vista, lots of bright colours and patterns, very strange.

 

[psood0nym]

I've not experienced sleep paralysis, but I suspect it's closely related neurologically to what many refer to as "out of body" experiences. One way to induce these sorts of experiences is to stay very still for an extended period in bed while repeatedly imagining (in as thorough a way as possible) getting up and walking around in familiar places near by. Staying still mimics sensory deprivation (paralysis) and the imaging techniques create psychological and proprioceptive dissociation. Combined, they can trick the brain into having all sorts of interesting perceptions. You may have to be patient and persistent in your efforts.

From my thread, "Sensations of highly dynamic motion/flight with coordinated visuals on dissociatives" in the psychedelics forum:

I had tried it a handful of times before with no results, but this time I suddenly had a vision of a two-dimensional B&W illustration of a house with roots extending from its base (almost certainly from the 90s "The Outer Limits" opening credits, appropriately enough). This image extended out into three dimensions, then it extended into "more," leaving me feeling like I was tumbling around in space, as if my proprioceptive sense had suddenly enervated a body multiplied in an infinity mirror or something. It was totally unexpected! I was so shocked I came out of it after just a couple seconds, and was far too excited to get back into it. Years later I would re-experience the state, though in a far more immersing and longer-lasting form, after smoking salvia 10X while on ayahuasca (to this day I've only experienced it twice). Unlike the earlier experience, which I wasn't certain about how to interpret, this left no doubt in my mind (though despite that lack of doubt I spent 5 minutes repeating the word "IMPOSSIBLE" during and afterwards).

 

[rickolasnice]

Sleep on your back.. That's a good place to start..

Other than that.. Staying awake on stimulants for 3 - 4 days straight would cause it.. but I don't recommend that.

I've not experienced sleep paralysis, but I suspect it's closely related neurologically to what many refer to as "out of body" experiences. One way to induce these sorts of experiences is to stay very still for an extended period in bed while repeatedly imagining (in as thorough a way as possible) getting up and walking around in familiar places currently near your body. Staying still mimics sensory deprivation (paralysis) and the imaging techniques create dissociation. Combined, they can trick the brain into all sorts of interesting perceptions.

Going to use this technique for as long as i remember / can be bothered until i get results.. danke

 

[psood0nym]

^Good luck! I think your best chance at being effective is if you physically act out what you will be imagining right before you do it. That is, get out of bed and walk around while paying attention to how the whole process looks and feels so you're bringing the freshest and most accurate information to your subsequent imaging techniques. It may not seem like it matters, but examples like the rubber hand illusion indicate it's not that difficult to trick the "lower" area of our brains (the part evolution trusts the most) into profound misperceptions, and so going through the motions may help us exploit these perceptual vulnerabilities intentionally.

 

[-=SS=-]

Been looking up astral projection again after having some lucid dreams again last night.. Michael Jacksons Earth Song was playing and all the words sounded like garbage, I think I may have even been laughing in my sleep.. was definitely laughing in my dream :D

Anyway, I remembered Robert Bruce. Got his book Astral Dynamics. Pretty interesting, large book too. The amount of information he has lends me to believe he definitely experiences things, and also from my own personal experiences that match things he's experienced prior to discovering his material. Trying to navigate this stuff alone can be difficult and require courage, so it's a great help to hear from someone who's already done it.

In this video he mentions the noises and voices. As I said, symptoms of being close to the moment of projection, very close. The trick is to not let emotion overwhelm you, to remain relaxed. I don't tend to get afraid, rather I get excited.. and that ends the experience.



This video is pretty insightful too, definitely relevant for you OP

 

[RichardMooner]

Thank you! Going to watch the videos now, and maybe I'll check out the book on Amazon. Greatly appreciated!