Lucid dreaming/sleep paralysis/astral projection

[deficiT]

Anybody else have experience with any of these?

I have experiences that range from fascinating and beautiful, to the most frightening things I could possibly imagine.

I've been leaving my body, and flying around in my dreams for as long as I can remember. I didn't really recognize it as anything noteworthy until I had become an adult pretty much. And there is still a lot I would like to learn about it, lucid dreaming in particular. I would like to learn how to control my dreaming a bit, and be able to do the stuff intentionally.

Some of the more intense dreams I've had, are of being stabbed by my brother when I was a kid and killing my best friend sometime in middle school. I have a recurring dream where I am able to basically ride the wind and fly, sometimes there's a crowd of people cheering for me, sometimes I'll run into other people that can fly. This is probably my favorite recurring dream. I have one where my dead father is alive again or basically never died, through some different circumstance each time. I actually quite enjoy this one as well, as it truly feels like I'm spending time with him again, and I'm always really upset and disappointed when I wake up.

I get sleep paralysis pretty regularly. I've seen the demon, or "shadow hag" or whatever a few times. It usually presents itself as kind of a faceless shadow person, either standing by my door or standing right over me. I can usually feel it's breath, and sense it's presence. This I'll never get used to. It hasn't happened in a while thank God, but it's as terrifying as it sounds for those who haven't experienced it.

Sometimes when I leave my body I just kinda get stuck buzzing around in my room, and other nights I go up into the sky. My astral projection experiences are kinda fuzzy and hard to remember, but I've been trying to work on controlling it a little more and exploring further.

Looking to hear people's experiences with dreaming, and maybe if you have any tips for me on developing my lucid dreaming or astral projection skills, or sources for more information on the topic, or even theories as to what it all means, feel free to let me know!

 

[Nas47]

Anybody else have experience with any of these?

I have experiences that range from fascinating and beautiful, to the most frightening things I could possibly imagine.

I've been leaving my body, and flying around in my dreams for as long as I can remember. I didn't really recognize it as anything noteworthy until I had become an adult pretty much. And there is still a lot I would like to learn about it, lucid dreaming in particular. I would like to learn how to control my dreaming a bit, and be able to do the stuff intentionally.

Some of the more intense dreams I've had, are of being stabbed by my brother when I was kid and killing my best friend sometime in middle school. I have a recurring dream where I am able to basically ride the wind and fly, sometimes there's a crowd of people cheering for me, sometimes I'll run into other people that can fly. This is probably my favorite recurring dream. I have one where my dead father is alive again or basically never died, through some different circumstance each time. I actually quite enjoy this one as well, as it truly feels like I'm spending time with him again, and I'm always really upset and disappointed when I wake up.

I get sleep paralysis pretty regularly. I've seen the demon, or "shadow hag" or whatever a few times. It usually presents itself as kind of a faceless shadow person, either standing by my door or standing right over me. I can usually feel it's breath, and sense it's presence. This I'll never get used to. It hasn't happened in a while thank God, but it's as terrifying as it sounds for those who haven't experienced it.

Sometimes when I leave my body I just kinda get stuck buzzing around in my room, and other nights I go up into the sky. My astral projection experiences are kinda fuzzy and hard to remember, but I've been trying to work on controlling it a little more and exploring further.

Looking to hear people's experiences with dreaming, and maybe if you have any tips for me on developing my lucid dreaming or astral projection skills, or sources for more information on the topic, or even theories as to what it all means, feel free to let me know!

This sleep paralysis remind me of those-sucub/incubus evil spirit.They feed upon your energy when you sleep.This in field of antropology,demonology and old myths.Lucid dreaming is maybe(unscientific) aproach to have some control and to dream your dreams intentionally.Only in real dreaming and may be psychedelic experience have some feelings of flying.its tremendous and hard to describe.as to atral projections not sure was that mean.Yes you met dead relatives in your dream.that is place to meet somebody that is passed.This could be ordinary dream or the person want to show you something or tell you some important.It could be.

 

[iridescentblack]

I remember meditating or focusing for several hours one night because I couldn't sleep. When I was suddenly bothered by a familiar feeling, I suddenly launched out of my body as I instantly thought about the moon. Next thing I knew, I was out of body on the moon. Dust particles scattered into the air as visions of Lilith passed quickly by. The earth suddenly came into view. Unconsciously, I must have thought about the creation of the moon because the next detail that I witnessed was Tiamot being struck by Marduk (also known as the collision of a giant asteroid with earth some 4 billion years ago). With that, the moon formed within my parameters of sight into the very shape it is to this day. But the destruction to the earth is something I still think about to this day... because when I looked back at earth, the image was incomprehensible. Shortly after that, I went back into my body.

I have a few theories as to why the image I saw of the destroyed earth was incomprehensible, but it takes a while to explain; some say when Columbus came to the America's, the Native Americans didn't see their ships. Because they had never seen anything like it, they were incomprehensible images. Invisible, even.

 

[G_Chem]

I’ve only had a lucid dream once, which was fairly recent.

It was a normal dream, one where I was on a balcony of a large high rise that then started to tilt/break off where I was about to slide off to my imminent death (I get these often.)

As I was about to slide off I look at the guy next to me and say “it’s ok this is just a dream” and soon as I say that and realize I’m in a dream it was like I woke up in the dream. I suddenly have full control.

So I began sliding down this balcony, but I pushed off with my legs and began flying high into the sky. Just one problem, I’m deathly afraid of heights lol. (Hence all my falling dreams.). I got so scared that high up that I awoke instantly kind of pissed that I had wasted the opportunity. Haven’t had it happen since.

What I found so interesting was the instant change of cognition once I said that line, as I said it was like I woke up inside the dream. I hope to have one again some day but not holding out hope for it.

-GC

 

[JTemperance]

I still get sleep paralysis every now and then, most often when I fall asleep sitting up in a chair or when I go to bed in an unfamiliar place. If I dozed off on the commuter train that I used to take to work in the morning, I would more likely than not experience at least a moment of paralysis once the train stopped and I learned some techniques for "breaking the spell," like focusing in on a single finger to move.

Fortunately, I've never had any demonic or alien presences added on as extra toppings for my episodes of sleep paralysis, I find the plain vanilla experience plenty unpleasant on its lonesome. Having consciousness and sense perception within an immobilized body usually causes a kind of muffled panic; it seems like things in the world are being seen from the bottom of the ocean and time has slowed down to a crawl....

As for dreaming, I don't know if I've ever reached 100% lucidity, but on some occasions I have been able to "direct" the narrative or shape the content of my dreams. Some of those experiences were really memorable, especially when I've been able to "time travel" and walk around in a vivid simulacrum of the past.

More often, I'm able to restart a dream if I want to "see how it ends," picking it up at the point where I woke up, so long as I can go back to sleep within a short time. I also pretty commonly realize that I'm dreaming but continue on with the dream scenario for some time before I wake up, which is normally triggered right away (probably to resolve the dissonance between realities). Sometimes that experience is interesting, but more often it's just strange, or worse.

In a recent one, I dreamt that I was driving at high speeds and lost control of the car, which began careening towards a barrier. I knew I was dreaming by then, but I remained in the dream and in the car as it made impact. The crash seemed catastrophic and I felt panic surging through me as I witnessed everything take place in vivid detail, feeling certain I would've been killed if I hadn't known it was just a dream. Waking up, I had the uncanny sensation of having lived through my own death in some way...and not a positive, "I'm-immortal!" one.

 

[deficiT]

This sleep paralysis remind me of those-sucub/incubus evil spirit.They feed upon your energy when you sleep.This in field of antropology,demonology and old myths.Lucid dreaming is maybe(unscientific) aproach to have some control and to dream your dreams intentionally.Only in real dreaming and may be psychedelic experience have some feelings of flying.its tremendous and hard to describe.as to atral projections not sure was that mean.Yes you met dead relatives in your dream.that is place to meet somebody that is passed.This could be ordinary dream or the person want to show you something or tell you some important.It could be.

Astral projection is basically an out of body experience while you dream. It is said that this is your "astral body", or "subtle body", exploring the astral realm.

It is fun, but can be dangerous, as you can run into entities that don't have your best interest in mind, and can be pretty frightening. I have had a few weird experiences, but they are hard to remember. It is also speculated, could be a myth, that your body is open to demonic possession while your spirit is outside of it. The horror movie Insidious is based on this concept. Great movie

 

[iridescentblack]

My favorites were my first out of body experiences. Those were quite enjoyable. Looking back at all the ones I've been through, though, I'd have to say a more appropriate word is 'pleasant'. But whatever. I was naive back then. I had no idea I would later run into entities and such later on.

Needless to say, my astral projections took on a more frightening turn after some time. Many times sleep paralyzed and things approaching my bedroom door. Sometimes hearing my mother or father in the hallway when I knew for sure no one was awake at those hours. Yep, a little scary. The biggest one was hearing the front door open in my split level house, an entity slowly emerging up the half staircase, step by step... I don't know how close it got to the door, but I emitted what was basically the equivalent of a patronus charm from the Harry Potter Series. Yup. That was a wake up call for sure. I knew I had a vampire problem then.

It took much time to resolve.

Still, I eventually felled this psychic vampire, whoever it was, for I eventually took the fights into the astral plane, where - certainly my foe was much stronger - I finally defeated him.

I think I can honestly say I'm more well protected now, if not just wiser. As for astral projection: I'm in no rush to go back there. I still have much spiritual work to do before I can get the full enjoyment out of it. But something tells me - and like I said, I was naive - I wonder if I've been neglecting some of the experiences that I had whilst astral projection.

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

i hate dreaming unless it's that one dream where i snort the best coke ever....it just makes me wake up and then go back to sleep and blah blah - and it means im not really sleeping that good

smoking weed makes me dream less - or at least i remember less - either way, i prefer dreaming less

 

[deficiT]

Yeah, my dreams have been shut off through substance use, particularly benzo addiction, heroin addiction and meth addiction. They subsequently come back with a fierceness when I get sober. The problem with it is that I pretty much need to take antipsychotics at this point, and they def shut off my dreams.

 

[Nas47]

Astral projection is basically an out of body experience while you dream. It is said that this is your "astral body", or "subtle body", exploring the astral realm.

It is fun, but can be dangerous, as you can run into entities that don't have your best interest in mind, and can be pretty frightening. I have had a few weird experiences, but they are hard to remember. It is also speculated, could be a myth, that your body is open to demonic possession while your spirit is outside of it. The horror movie Insidious is based on this concept. Great movie

Absolutely right-when you are dreaming you are open to acess.more vulnerable at some point-thats why this "dream catchers"...For sure have some astral projections while i am dreaming,but not remembered well.Dream quickly is forgotten throughout the days activities.Asking myself-is this lucid dreaming could lead to possitive impact on your awaken life?

 

[Robi]

i sure have, but not paralysis

 

[Uncle Lep'rcon]

Years and years back horrifying sleep paralysis experiences night terror except feeling paralyzed and as if a terrible invisible entity were present in the room

Southern Asian cultures? have termed the sensation as The Old Hag. A real spectre to them sinister. Some have died during sleep paralysis I believe over there.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

I experience sleep paralysis occasionally and have realized it normally happens when I roll over and sleep on my back; normally a side sleeper. I think for me, it has something to do with not being able to fully breathe due to the position of my head on the pillow. Anyways, when I have sleep paralysis, it is usually during a frightening dream that I can't force myself to wake up from. I have even woken myself up from literally screaming in my sleep. The last time it happened, I dreamed I saw some dark figure either standing or hovering over the foot of my bed. I eventually was able to wake myself up when I screamed something to the effect of "Who the fuck are you?!" Sometimes during these dreams, I will even go so far as to throw my other pillow (the one I don't sleep on) at the being and that will wake me up too.

I usually don't have these types of dreams unless I quit smoking weed or if I drink alcohol. I quit drinking to drunkenness years ago but still have a single IPA beer every once in a while.

 

[n3ophy7e]

Ever since I can remember, like, as early as 4 years old, I have experienced sleep paralysis very frequently. I have always thought to participate in a sleep study because of it, as I know it's abnormal to experience it as frequently as I do. Usually it comes in clusters of 3 nights in a row, perhaps once a month.

It is STRONGLY exacerbated by MDMA use. But I don't take MDMA any more.

I have become so used to it, I know exactly what's happening when I'm experiencing it and I can easily use to it lucid dream. I'm not sure about astral projection, but I can definitely easily control my dreams and sleep paralysis hallucinations.
I am also quite good at getting the sleep paralysis to end, if I want it to end.

 

[iridescentblack]

I followed some advice from one of Morgue's streams on youtube. He said you can either ride the lucid experience and let it take you or you can seize control.

I'm used to just doing whatever the heck I want in lucid dreams, but I decided to try the other way, since things usually get out of control and whatever I fear happening usually does...

Once I became lucid, I started to fear a monster was on the other side of a door. Sure enough, as I braced the door with my body the door started to open. I simply just waited and what ended up happening was energy built up in my dreambody and launched me through the door. Waiting some more after that I was launched even further a second time.

Has anyone else tried this?- just going with the flow of a lucid dream?

 

[n3ophy7e]

I followed some advice from one of Morgue's streams on youtube. He said you can either ride the lucid experience and let it take you or you can seize control.

I'm used to just doing whatever the heck I want in lucid dreams, but I decided to try the other way, since things usually get out of control and whatever I fear happening usually does...

Once I became lucid, I started to fear a monster was on the other side of a door. Sure enough, as I braced the door with my body the door started to open. I simply just waited and what ended up happening was energy built up in my dreambody and launched me through the door. Waiting some more after that I was launched even further a second time.

Has anyone else tried this?- just going with the flow of a lucid dream?

I completely understand what you mean!

I am pretty good at getting the sleep paralysis to end, if I want it to end, whereas a lot of people really struggle with this. They try to fight it and force their way out of it, which just makes the feelings of terror and confusion a LOT worse. I usually try to find some kind of reference point in the dream/hallucination that I know is either 100% real or 100% impossible to be real, and I use that as a "token", à la that movie Inception, that I can use to either grab hold of (mentally) in order to prolong the lucid dream, or to use it to reassure myself that the dream/hallucination is not real and that I will wake up soon, and to just relax.

 

[deficiT]

I completely understand what you mean!

I am pretty good at getting the sleep paralysis to end, if I want it to end, whereas a lot of people really struggle with this. They try to fight it and force their way out of it, which just makes the feelings of terror and confusion a LOT worse. I usually try to find some kind of reference point in the dream/hallucination that I know is either 100% real or 100% impossible to be real, and I use that as a "token", à la that movie Inception, that I can use to either grab hold of (mentally) in order to prolong the lucid dream, or to use it to reassure myself that the dream/hallucination is not real and that I will wake up soon, and to just relax.

I used to lucid dream fairly regularly. I seemed to be able to control it pretty easily, and I always enjoyed setting the pace of my dreams. But it has been quite some time since doing it with any success lately. These days it seems like it's mostly flying dreams, or the sleep paralysis more than anything.

 

[n3ophy7e]

I used to lucid dream fairly regularly. I seemed to be able to control it pretty easily, and I always enjoyed setting the pace of my dreams. But it has been quite some time since doing it with any success lately. These days it seems like it's mostly flying dreams, or the sleep paralysis more than anything.

Yep I go through phases of it too. It seems to be every couple of months I'll have a few nights in a row where it's really active (sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, and yeah lots of flying dreams too!!!), and then it'll settle down and be about another 1-2 months where it happens again.

 

[iridescentblack]

I completely understand what you mean!

I am pretty good at getting the sleep paralysis to end, if I want it to end, whereas a lot of people really struggle with this. They try to fight it and force their way out of it, which just makes the feelings of terror and confusion a LOT worse. I usually try to find some kind of reference point in the dream/hallucination that I know is either 100% real or 100% impossible to be real, and I use that as a "token", à la that movie Inception, that I can use to either grab hold of (mentally) in order to prolong the lucid dream, or to use it to reassure myself that the dream/hallucination is not real and that I will wake up soon, and to just relax.

Sleep paralysis used to terrify me. First time it happened I felt an entity (pretending to be my dad) kiss me on the lips while I was paralyzed. I had a lot of issues with my dad after that. It wasn't until years after that I found out about entities and stopped blaming my father. haha. Over the years it got easier, even with entities approaching me. I just use the patronus charm from Harry Potter if I still can't move by the time they get close to me. It works like a charm. haha. A lot of astral travelers swear by it. Whenever I emit one, it covers my entire body in aesthetic chills.

I guess that's pretty much the premise of wuu wei, though. Just going with the flow and not resisting it, so to speak.

 

[JoshLobbs]

Yea I had one where I woke up and killed a spider by the side of my bed, and then I woke up and killed a real spider that was there.

It's weird but the spider in the dream was yellow and black with long sharp legs and the one irl was just a house spider.

Honestly it was so vivid. I might have killed a spider in the astral plane and then woke up and killed it irl.

For context I am afraid of spiders but like in a pragmatic way, where I deal with them with extreme prejudice.