Dream, Lucid Dream, or Sleep Paralysis?

I want to share an experience I had last week and just get everyones opinions on this. I'm on the fence about it as well and haven't come to an obvious conclusion to be honest but I am leaning one way.

I tend to meditate for about 20 minutes every night before bed, nothing heavy just clearing my mind and relaxing letting my mind just wander wherever it may go. Helps me get a real good night sleep.

This particular night I had an argument with my s/o a few hours before and to relax I meditated for about 45 minutes and then lied down. I glanced at the clock before closing my eyes and it was 3:50AM. I drifted to sleep slightly, definately not in REM sleep yet and one of my cats woke me up, i kicked my cats out of the room and i looked at the clock and it was around 4:00AM. Everything seemed quite normal at this point.

I closed my eyes again and almost in an instant (this is a slight exageration) I felt like I was lighter than air and was seperated from my body, I saw down the hallway towards my bedroom and saw myself walking down the hall -- I 'floated' into my own head as the 2nd me came into the bedroom, I physically felt the force of the blow and it knocked the 2nd Me onto the ground, except I was seeing through his eyes as if I was the 2nd me. I tried to move but couldnt, but I felt the 2nd me crawling and trying to sit up against the edge of the bed. I once again tried to gain control of this, what I seemingly was now aware was a dream.

I physically was trying to move my arms and couldnt. I looked down the hallway and saw my cats looking at me and my girlfriend came running towards me, except my eyes started rolling back into my head and my 2nd Body convulsing as if having a seizure. In my real life I have never had a seizure at all just for a reference.

So my girlfriend came running up to me, except her face was slightly distorted and my vision seemed to be fading, i physically forced my head to turn towards her and being that I didn't recognize her I screamed out "Who the @&*% are you?!" and then she went to touch my shoulder and i again screamed out "Just wake the @$*&% UP! Someone wake me up!"

I heard me say this in my real body like it was through a megaphone

Now, this is where I shot out of the 2nd me and into my normal body, I jumped halfway out of my bed, wide awake, heart thumping, shakey and feeling very off. At first i just stared up at my ceiling (I woke up on my back which is odd for me) I look at the clock and it was 4:07AM, only 7 minutes had passed, and it felt like 20-30 minutes.

I have had sleep paralysis before many times and can tell between a dream and real experience. This didn't feel like a dream to me at all really.

Now -- my initial reaction was that it was sleep paralysis again. The feeling of immobility, the fear once youre shook out of it was all close to the same -- it was when i was inside this other me that things just felt wrong, I could hear, touch and smell everything around me like never before.

Being that i knew i was 'dreaming' i felt maybe it was just lucid dreaming but I dont know enough about that to know for sure.

After thinking about it for a few days, and remembering my limited knowledge on multi-world quantum theories I thought of a second possibility. That I may have accidentally slipped into an alternate universe into the conciousness of another version of me. the Earth 2 version for lack of better term. Which is why I had no control, and didn't recognize someone who FELT like my girlfriend but didnt LOOK like her, least whom I know of in this world. Which with two minds in 1 body that shouldn't be there could have caused Earth 2 Me to go into seizures.

It's absurd I know but everything is a possibility, I'm just wondering if anyone else ever had anything like this happen or have other theories than simple sleep paralysis, which is what im leaning towards it being for sure. Im just excited about the other possibility being true maybe.

Interesting.

That would be one hell of a lucid dream if it is.

Sleep paralysis is just that, nothing more. It makes sure you an stay asleep while 'dreaming' about running etc.. without motor reflex. Which is what happens when something startles you in a dream and you literally kick yourself awake.

Personally, I don't like the term Lucid Dream b/c I feel it describes an astral experience of a certain level/vibration/density (use you own term).

You have one physical body, but you have a few energy bodies. You actually can experience more than one in a subjective experience at the same time with conscious intent. That being said, you do have an order of return to the physical. A higher vibration body cannot (I'm pretty sure) enter the physical ahead of the lower vibrational double.

My opinion on your experience is that you experienced firsthand the different bodies. I have never had that happen myself, but I do know how to move from one body to the next with conscious intent. I've never had a double subjective experience like Robert Bruce or William Buhlman describe.

If you wake up like that again, simply and calmly state your intention to understand what is happening. You can also ask for a clear head or help from a guide etc.. By all means try to avoid fear and negative emotions b/c this only makes things worse by giving energy to the situation you are trying to avoid. Stay calm if possible. You can always state a FIRM intent to experience "full waking consciousness NOW". This usually is the trump card on the astral experience.

You will have more and more experiences the more you meditate, so keep that in mind.

reply to post by stevenreanimator


I've had a similar experience, an out of body experience, this may sound weird but have you ever gone to a white city?

I know that sounds weird, but I had a few out of body experiences where twice I have gone to a white city, doesn't seem like a city in the clouds but I do feel I'm flying there.

The last time I entered a white temple and a Native American/Mongolian looking guy dressed in a white robe looked at me as I was about to enter the inner sanctum of the temple and told me without any words being spoken *Not Yet*.... Next thing you know I'm awake and have sleep paralysis and not just that I woke up really really weak.

Don't Know if there are similarities, I didn't really remember the white city into much later, But I know it was real, really real, as if I was in another wierd dimension or astroplane

[edit on 11/24/2008 by FoxStriker]

Originally posted by Spirit Warrior

You will have more and more experiences the more you meditate, so keep that in mind.

Thank you for an excellent possible explaination as to what exactly happened. I am looking forward to the next time to happen but am not forcing myself at all. I think I have a little bit clearer of an idea as to what happened and how to make the most of it.

Do you have any other information or links to information about the different 'energy bodies' ?

I must admit I was a little worried about posting being that usually topics like this either get ignored or mocked in some fashion so thank you to everyone for the excellent replies so far.


FoxStriker: I never have been to a white city, but the experience seems quite striking. If I ever do experience something like that I'll be sure to let you know. Any kind of tie in with other experiences would be excellent and prove, to me at least, that things could all be connected.

There is plenty of information about the different energy bodies. Probably the easiest book to read which talks about it is William Buhlmans book "Adventures Beyond the Body". For more advanced and indepth information Robert Bruce has written "Astral Dynamics". If you are new to the subject I recommend not starting off with AD, you will get more out of it later.

reply to post by stevenreanimator


One thing that is suggested is to have a health provider schedule a sleep disorder test, where you go into a clinic and spend the night. The specialists can monitor your sleep and find out if there are health problems like sleep apnea or a problem with REM stages. Once that is ruled out, then the paranormal can be looked at.

You would know if you had a sleep disorder or sleep apnia. People go to sleep centers to correct the problem and recover.

reply to post by Spirit Warrior
I recently had a similar experience, last night in fact (which is why I am researching this to see if people had similar experiences).

It began the same way as your episode. My mom had just left the house at around 6am and when she closed the door, the slam woke me up. I heard the key turn and thought to myself, "I wish I can tell her to drive safe".

A few minutes after I attempted to go back to sleep. I closed my eyes and attempted to roll into a more comfortable position but I was unable to move any parts of my body. I immediately recognized it as sleep paralysis, which I have experienced a few times before.

But after about 10 seconds I felt as if I left my body and watched the form of a shadow-like hand reach down at my face. It was like I was out of my body looking down on the real me. The hand began to squeeze my mind to the point were my vision began to fade. But the fading of my vision wasn't like my eyes were being closed. It was as if somebody set fire to my thoughts and black spots were being burned into my vision. The second it went completely black I felt an extremely painful restricting force on my head and I started to believe that I was dying. I struggled to resist which only made the pain worse but it snapped me back into my body.

After I was back into my body I was still under sleep paralysis. About 20 seconds later my vision began to fade again and I made a conscious effort to fixate my eyes on one spot on the wall to know that my eyes weren't rolling back into my head. The same burning and pain came along with it but last noticeably shorter then the first. Finally after that I was able to move my left arm, snapping me out of it. It felt like a mental invasion.

Well as far as you wanted to no about lucid dreaming and a place to share your experience we have a wonderful thread all ready started by shakesbeer

www.abovetopsecret.com...'