#0 · Jul 15, 2002, 14:02 · neopete

Hi All.

I am a complete newcomer to all this - OBE, WILD, Lucid Dreaming, Astral Travelling, only discovering the subject a short while ago when I saw a reference to it,  and Robert's book, Astral Dynamics.
I read the book with great interest and amazement, and would sincerely like to try to have one or more of these experiences.
The main concern I have is that described by Robert as Waking Paralysis.
Up to now in my life I have experienced this four times. Early in the morning, becoming conscious and my body being completely paralysed. For several terrifying moments (but what seemed like an eternity), not being able to move at all, not knowing what to think. Was I dying? / dead? I know this might seem melodramatic to some more experienced people, but to me it was really frightening. Then all of a sudden my body was able to move again.
I want to attempt  Lucid Dreaming and OBE , but i would be particularly worried if it caused me to have more of these experiences.
Are they anything to be particularly frightened of?  Really dangerous? Might kill you?
Sorry to seem a bit dramatic but if anyone has had this experience they will know why I don't particularly relish the thought of having any repeats!

Pete

#1 · Jul 15, 2002, 14:21 · Tisha

Pete Pete Pete!

This is how I got started:  terrifying waking paralysis.  Now that I know what it is, I get so excited sometimes that I ruin the experience!  If you surrender to the experience, instead of fighting it, you can have an amazing, magical OBE.

It is completely harmless - - - - now that you know this you can stop being scared, I hope.  Fighting the paralysis can be really painful . . . I suggest you just "flop" instead . . . with a little prayer if that makes you feel better.

If you don't want to OBE, just stay as awake as possible and focused on your physical body, and try to wiggle a toe if you can.  Even if you don't break the spell immediately you are almost assured of at least staying "put."  If your paralysis experiences (at night) exhaust you, get a good sleeping aid that promises dreamless sleep.

If you believe in the "split" consciousness thing that Mr. Bruce describes in Astral Dynamics (the jury is out with me on this one), you will supposedly remember the consciousness that stays in your body and forget the experience of leaving.  Which in your conscious mind will be the same as it not happening at all.

I've promised myself that as long as I am engaged with this Forum, I will do my best to reassure every newbie who has experienced the terrors of waking paralysis.  Welcome aboard!  The fun has just begun . . .

tisha

#2 · Jul 15, 2002, 15:44 · jilola

I've come to like a conscious sleep paralysis. It's kind of liberating or something to know that you have a body but don't really feel bound by it. Recently I've been experimenting with it to see how far I can push the limit before it dissolves. So far Iäve been able to move my arms from elbows to fingers and not feel any other part of my body. Quite strange.

Don't worry about it. Sleep paralysis is a natural safety mechanism that prevents us form getting hurt when we dream. I can be really really scary at times (at least for me when it's unexpected) but it's one of the best free rides in the world.
Now if I only were able to stay cool enough to get out for real.....

Just recognize it for what it is, a natural state of the body while sleeping.

2cents

jouni

#3 · Jul 15, 2002, 17:38 · BD

Hello Pete!

Nothing to be worried about, at all!  In fact, consider yourself very lucky because you have a headstart!  You already seem to have a "glitch" (which is good!) in your system... that is, the ability to remain conscious while the body is in "sleep mode".  Natural ability along this line, will make it just that much easier for you to succeed in having a full-blown OBE!  (Most of us have to work really hard at achieving that.)  Good luck!

BD

#4 · Jul 15, 2002, 22:22 · Clarine

Hi Pete !

Hope my english will be ok, I usually speak french.

When I was young, I was very interested by astral travels.  One day, when I was 20, I woke up in afternoon and I had a wake paralysis.  I was afraid and I said to myself : "Oh no, I'm going to have an astral travel !"  I never read about the subject before, but I knew that this paralysis had something with OBE.

After that frightening episode, I read a lot about the subject and I saw that wake paralysis is a prelude to OBE.

I don't think this is dangerous, just stay calm and decide if you want to let the experience go or wake up.  Try to live with this new reality, I think this is something wonderful that's happenning to us.  It's happenning to every one in this world, but WE are able to recognize and be conscient of this phenomena.

Be quiet, Pete !

Clarine xxx

http://www.chez.com/darkside/dark.html

#5 · Jul 16, 2002, 02:34 · Frank

To have a successful conscious-exit obe you have to bring yourself to a state that is described as: "mind awake, body asleep". From there, I found, all you need is a little mental push and the Astral will come into view.

The BIG problem, at first, is dealing with the protective aspect of your conscious awareness *especially* if you get into this "mind awake, body asleep state" without realising what is going on. Which is what you appear to have done.

You are laying there, fully conscious, yet have no sensation of a physical body. The natural tendency is to panic, thinking you have died, or whatever. But what you didn't realise is you were on the verge of realising your goal of having an obe.

It can also be the same when people spontaneously find themselves projecting into the real-time zone. Instantly they panic thinking they are in the process of dying, or something. But once you understand the process it all becomes much easier to get to grips with.

You see, one of the MAJOR stumbling blocks, that I touched on before in other posts: is when you project within the Astral, you don't just suddenly develop some super Astral faculties that provide you with a collective sense of conscious awareness instantly geared for Astral use. No, the collective sense of conscious awareness you take with you to the Astral, is the exact same one as you have with you on the Physical.

However, on the Astral, very different ground-rules apply. All of which means you tend to behave like a fish out of water the first 10 or 20 times you project.

Yours,
Frank

#6 · Jul 16, 2002, 12:44 · neopete

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your messages and info.
I feel more confident now after having read your posts that  Waking Paralysis is perhaps not to be feared so much.
I am determined to proceed anyway and try to achieve these things.
I intend to start with what is probably the easier, Lucid Dreaming rather than OBE.
I have started recording my dreams in the morning when I wake, and I have also started doing reality checks, many times a day.
Hopefully I will be able to report some modicum of success to you soon.

Thanks

Pete

#7 · Jul 16, 2002, 13:21 · Frank

Pete, please also understand that there is no real difference between dreaming, lucid dreaming, or experiencing what is called a wake-induced lucid dream. It's all basically an "out of physical body" experience.

The only major difference is your level of conscious awareness .

That's why keeping a "dream diary" is helpful. It raises your level of conscious awareness towards your dreams. Rather than doing what most people do, i.e. simply shrug any residual dream-memories off and get on with their day.

Yours,
Frank

#8 · Jul 17, 2002, 08:06 · neopete

Thanks Frank for comments.

By the way,  I had a weird dream last night. I dreamt that I had just woken from a dream and was filling in my dream diary of a  dream i'd just had.
Hope that makes sense.
My bed was under a tree  outside on the street (??) and raindrops were dripping off tree and making the writing run on my book so it was impossible to get anything down on paper. There were other things but this was the most interesting.
At least it shows that my unconscious mind knows what i'm doing,  trying to remember my  dreams.  I just hope it helps me rather than hinder me  lol

Pete

#9 · Jul 25, 2002, 12:12 · Grenade01

I actually became interested in OBE because of my horrible waking paralysis.  I would have it like 15 or 20 times a night, and my interest in OBE and metiphysical actually helped me deal with them.  I don't mind them at all anymore..they are actually peaceful once you learn to deal with the weird sensations.  If nobody mentioned it already (I didnt read replies)  its pretty easy to get out of sleep paralysis by wiggling your toes then kind of going to wiggling your foot then your whole leg...  For some reason you can always wiggle your toes and kind of spread it from there ..it will get you out pretty quick most the time.

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#10 · Jul 25, 2002, 13:03 · jilola

Hee I'm built upside down then. I've found wiggling my fingers does the trick.
But if you suddenly become aware during the night that you're buzzing all over and can't move it can be pretty scary. Of course once you recognize what it is it's ok.

2cents

jouni

#11 · Jul 26, 2002, 11:10 · sleepyone

Awareness during sleep paralysis, sometmies reffered to as ASP, is indeed harmless, and as the others stated, a head start. I can remember the first time I had that, thought I was, either, dead, in a coma, or pysically paralyzed. I told everyone in the house if they ever found me like that,unable to move, not to worry, just shake me. You can snap yourself out of it by willing your self to move any body part, arm, leg whatever. I used to think "on the count of 3:.." and it works but if I didn't get up and walk around, or even sit up, I fell rightback into it. Don't worry, you will always come out of it, i promise!

#12 · Jul 26, 2002, 12:14 · Windameir

Hey All http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/images/icon_Smile.gif" border=0> I have a question about sleep paralysis and how it feels. When I lay in bed and meditate sometimes I get a kind of allmost painfull stiffness in my feet legs arms and hands and it is quite difficult to get them to move it feels like they are stuck in very thick tar. Is this what you are discribeing as sleep paralysis? Or is it something entirely different?

Windameir

To make the best better

#13 · Jul 26, 2002, 12:17 · jilola

What do you mean by "painful"?
I don't feel anything aside from a gently tingly feeling and often not even that.
Are you sure you're not tensng your leg muscles without realizing it? It happens quite easily.

2cents

jouni

#14 · Jul 26, 2002, 12:33 · Windameir

By painfull im refering to the stiffness... when this occurs its usually from hours of being perfectly still. it might be nothing more than just that. Its generally really hard to begin to move but things loosen up fairly quickly

Windameir

To make the best better

#15 · Jul 26, 2002, 12:40 · jilola

Yeah  I know what you mean by getting stiff. But generally I don't stay still for much more than an hour or two so I don't get all that stiff.
But still, sleep paralysis is noticeable whern it happens. Any possible stiffness is a result of laying still for a long time.
What sort of feelings do you have during your meditation?
I usually feel like I've been covered in sme sort of bandaging when I consciously induce tha paralysis. Normally the vibrations start soon afterwards but not always. When I wake up at night paralysed I'm nearly always experiencing the vibrations.
All in all it seems to be an individual experience and I'm not the best around here to describe it having experimented with things only for a little while.

2cents

jouni

#16 · Jul 26, 2002, 13:54 · Windameir

What sort of feelings do you have during your meditation?
Well Im fairly new to this and there have been many different feelings. I spend quite a bit of time with new and energy raiseing then I usually begin with my meditation or quieting of my mind allthough the New and energy raiseing usually helps quiet my thoughts quite a bit. Anyway I have experienced many sensations but after energy raising I would say that a slight buzzing im my chest and stomach area (very light) is quite interesting. Im hopeing for more pronounced symptom soon http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/images/icon_Smile.gif" border=0> But I havn't had any seperation or floating sensations as of yet.

Windameir

To make the best better