stuck in a dream.

a reply to: lostgirl

will do, and a song to leave it on for now.

Based on my research, it can also be an initial symptom that a negative entity is trying to penetrate your mind. A similar one is where you attempt to turn on the lights in your dream and they don't come on and you awaken because this causes the dream to become a lucid one; it's like error checking caught by the subconscious. Over time, nightmares are more frequent and one may awaken to sounds like knocking on the walls or brief visual hallucinations upon wakening. And it can progress from there. But is this the most likely explanation? Probably not.

Read about some of the cases dealt with by hypnotherapist/ psychoanalyst Milton H Erickson.. You will discover some incredible information!

One astonishing & exemplary case involved a young man going through an emotional crisis of some sort who attended Erickson's clinic to better understand & overcome his predicament.

Erickson hypnotised the man, who later recounted the highly unusual - and possibly illuminating - sequence of events he experienced during the one hour session.. As soon as he was hypnotised, he was regressed to see himself at a young age. Rather than 'reliving' his experiences as a boy, he actually saw himself from an outsider's perspective, as though he was in attendance as a sort of ghost, as his young self proceeded to live out the days of his youth. This involved an incredible effect of time dilation, in that he found himself acting as a sort of 'guardian angel' in relation to his young self, following himself around, hearing his speech with others, observing his actions.

Each day he observed - in real time' - himself, as a boy, waking up & going about his daily routine. This didn't occur over any sort of short time period - it was HIS ENTIRE LIFE as a youngster. He walked, ran & sat with his young self as he observed himself living out the exact pattern of activities, lessons, games, trips to visit various places, conversations & so on (which were carbon copies of real conversations, visits, activities, etc, which he recalled having had as a youngster) - he even began to 'assist' himself, by attempting to convey important information to himself in various ways.

He spent the entirety of something like 15 years, following the exact pattern of his own life as a youth, right up to pretty much the time when he approached Milton Erickson for assistance with his emotional needs. At a certain point he woke from his trance in the present day, in Ericson's office, and recounted a summary of what had taken place - Erickson was, of course, astounded at the tale. The entirety of the actual session in terms of time spent in trance was no more than 60 minutes - but the young man had experienced fifteen years of actual time spent observing & even interacting with himself as a youngster. He had 'aged' in his own mind by a literal 15 years, and through the bizarre experience, had taken on a greater understanding of himself, his emotional needs & problems, and had figured out how to deal with his problems as a result of all he had contemplated during his regression. And so, his problem was cured - in a near-unbelievable way (though others have reported similar time dilation effects, albeit not quite as extensive as in this case).

As a hypnotherapy student myself, and as someone who has experienced a few anomalous/ paranormal experiences, I can attest to the incredible potential for growth represented by the techniques involved. The case I have referred to is certainly exceptional, and is not anything like a common experience - I have heard of only this one case with such fascinating details. But it highlights the astounding power of the mind to create, to adapt, to grow & develop, to change entirely one's views & to mature as life goes along, aided by psychotherapy/ hypnotherapy interventions.