Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Bag of Ass · 03-16-2003, 10:54 AM

Occasionally I'll get that sort of half-sleep right before waking. You realize you're asleep but you're still aware of your surrounding, hyper-aware even. One time I was in physics lecture (heh) and I'd fallen asleep for a few minutes. Just before waking up I was in a state of half-sleep where I could hear everything going on around me. I was paying attention to the lecture, hearing everything the professor was saying, and understanding it better than I ever could when awake. Not that I was taking notes or anything, but man that was some good sleepin'! Also sometimes before a test I'll dream that I'm studying, so I've reviewed things in my dream and it seems to make sense. However, when I wake up, I don't know whether to trust that dream-studying or not, so usually I just feel more uncomfortable about it.

Lobstrosity · 03-16-2003, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by greyline
Alien abduction is also linked to sleep paralysis awareness (don't know the technical term) which is something different. It's a well described (but relatively unknown) phenomenon where you wake up but your muscles are still paralysed (which normally happens during REM sleep). So you can't move but are mentally alert, and in my case my eyes are open. This experience is often associated with intense feelings of fear, the sense of a malevolent presence in the room, and aural and visual hallucinations.

I've experienced sleep paralysis once back in college. If I recall properly it happened to me as I was falling asleep as opposed to in the middle of a dream. I would have been incredibly terrified if I hadn't already known what sleep paralysis was (thank you Discovery Channel!). I had the overwhelming irrational feeling that someone else was in the room with me, even though I was completely alone. I can totally see how this sort of phenomenon could produce alien abduction stories.

Strawberry · 03-16-2003, 02:00 PM

I have lots of these usually in the form of nightmares. One of the worst things I think I've ever been through is an hour or two when I kept repeating one dream over and over, trying to change the ending and never being able to. In the dream, I was babysitting my youngest sister, who was about 4 or 5, and answered to doorbell to find the silhouette of a man there, and he grabbed my sister and took off with her. No matter what I did--trying to get him to take me instead, calling the police, etc., I could never stop it. ( :: shiver :: )

greyline · 03-16-2003, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by excreationist
greyline:
Here are some sleep paralysis links:

http://skepdic.com/sleepparalysis.html
http://sleepdisorders.about.com/msub...htm?once=true&
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html

I think it basically has some information about it and how to avoid it... but I didn't find any explanations for why it makes you paralysed during the hallucination.... maybe we normally are paralysed during sleep to stop us running around in our sleep (unless we are sleep walkers) people with sleep paralysis could get paralysed for too long - or begin too early. The hallucinations could be from the dreaming-type mode (imagination) being combined with the things they're actually seeing. The scary hallucinations could be from their fear reaction to the paralysis manifesting inself as scary visions.

Thanks for the links, excreationist. I have heard that muscle paralysis during REM sleep is indeed to prevent you acting out your dreams, so that part is normal.

The fear is not a result of paralysis or hallucinations - I have known that the paralysis is normal for many years, but that hasn't stopped the absolute terror that occurs during these experiences - I have never felt anything close to this in waking life. It must be that a part of the brain is overstimulated (the fear part, duh) and the rational knowledge that there is nothing to be afraid of does not prevent that terror.

The sense of an evil presence in the room is also very real, even when you "know" it is a normal effect of this phenomenon. I used to think that God had sent a demon, in order to prove the existence of the devil, and thereby prove God's existence - He was forcing me to accept religion.

Didn't work.

03-16-2003, 08:05 PM

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge. Here is a link:

Lucid Dreaming

It is a great book...I just haven't tried the stuff in it yet. He doesn't mention the aforementionned problem one user had that he woking up when having sex. He gives ideas as to how to keep yourself in a lucid state, like focusing on your dreams. Sexual excitement, I guess, might make you simply let your mind go free and lose concentration. It is a great book though. Covers all the basics.

Kevin

DonnieDarko · 03-16-2003, 08:26 PM

A couple of years ago I was trying to stop smoking by wearing the nicotine patch. An interesting side effect of wearing the patch while sleeping is having very vivid dreams. The package warned that if you encountered this problem you could take it off at night and put it back on in the morning. Personally I thought it was really cool, and looked forward to it. The dreams were very vivid and as close to lucid as I've ever had. One side effect I didn't like was that when I woke up in the morning after a night of very vivid dreams, I seemed to still be tired, like the act of dreaming exhausted me.

greyline · 03-16-2003, 08:32 PM

If I sleep late on the weekends, most of that extra sleep seems to be REM sleep with vivid dreams. And I always feel like shite for the rest of the day - so maybe you're on to something: too much dreaming wears you out?

Darth Dane · 03-17-2003, 03:43 AM

Being conciouss in my dreams has revelaed to me that I can fly.
I can fly, fly through walls, through water, earth. I can also CHOOSE to be solid or transparent.
I have also materialised flowers. Altered on teh physical properties of a pair of glasses, although my control was not perfect.

Mind over matter!!!

Try to say a mantra in your lucid dream.
Try to do yoga, meditation in your lucid dream.
Try to fly up as far as you can.

DD - Love

03-17-2003, 08:36 AM

A couple of years ago I was trying to stop smoking by wearing the nicotine patch. An interesting side effect of wearing the patch while sleeping is having very vivid dreams.

I know they give you some insanely vivid dreams. I had a dream a friend was driving like a maniac and plowed into a cop, who we hit so hard he practically exploded. I woke up after yelling at him a few times that he is a fucking idiot, and he killed that cop.

I woke up sweating, and breathing as if we really did just plow into some cop at 70 miles an hour. That dream was insanely vivid, and everything was so clear it was almost impossible to even tell it was a dream.

callmejay · 03-17-2003, 10:22 AM

I can't believe no one's mentioned it yet, but the movie Waking Life is a really cool movie about Lucid dreaming. It's animated, but I believe they drew (or whatever) on top of actual film, so it looks really really cool.

03-16-2003, 08:05 PM	#25
TheDiddleyMan Guest Posts: n/a	the book is.... Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge. Here is a link: Lucid Dreaming It is a great book...I just haven't tried the stuff in it yet. He doesn't mention the aforementionned problem one user had that he woking up when having sex. He gives ideas as to how to keep yourself in a lucid state, like focusing on your dreams. Sexual excitement, I guess, might make you simply let your mind go free and lose concentration. It is a great book though. Covers all the basics. Kevin

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03-16-2003, 10:54 AM	#21
Bag of Ass Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Torrance, California Posts: 17	Occasionally I'll get that sort of half-sleep right before waking. You realize you're asleep but you're still aware of your surrounding, hyper-aware even. One time I was in physics lecture (heh) and I'd fallen asleep for a few minutes. Just before waking up I was in a state of half-sleep where I could hear everything going on around me. I was paying attention to the lecture, hearing everything the professor was saying, and understanding it better than I ever could when awake. Not that I was taking notes or anything, but man that was some good sleepin'! Also sometimes before a test I'll dream that I'm studying, so I've reviewed things in my dream and it seems to make sense. However, when I wake up, I don't know whether to trust that dream-studying or not, so usually I just feel more uncomfortable about it.

03-16-2003, 02:00 PM	#23
Strawberry Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Lancaster, PA/Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 627	I have lots of these usually in the form of nightmares. One of the worst things I think I've ever been through is an hour or two when I kept repeating one dream over and over, trying to change the ending and never being able to. In the dream, I was babysitting my youngest sister, who was about 4 or 5, and answered to doorbell to find the silhouette of a man there, and he grabbed my sister and took off with her. No matter what I did--trying to get him to take me instead, calling the police, etc., I could never stop it. ( :: shiver :: )

03-16-2003, 08:26 PM	#26
DonnieDarko Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: The home of Bob Jones University Posts: 1,053	A couple of years ago I was trying to stop smoking by wearing the nicotine patch. An interesting side effect of wearing the patch while sleeping is having very vivid dreams. The package warned that if you encountered this problem you could take it off at night and put it back on in the morning. Personally I thought it was really cool, and looked forward to it. The dreams were very vivid and as close to lucid as I've ever had. One side effect I didn't like was that when I woke up in the morning after a night of very vivid dreams, I seemed to still be tired, like the act of dreaming exhausted me.

03-16-2003, 08:32 PM	#27
greyline Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Doing Yahzi's laundry Posts: 792	If I sleep late on the weekends, most of that extra sleep seems to be REM sleep with vivid dreams. And I always feel like shite for the rest of the day - so maybe you're on to something: too much dreaming wears you out?

03-17-2003, 03:43 AM	#28
Darth Dane Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Required Posts: 2,349	Being conciouss in my dreams has revelaed to me that I can fly. I can fly, fly through walls, through water, earth. I can also CHOOSE to be solid or transparent. I have also materialised flowers. Altered on teh physical properties of a pair of glasses, although my control was not perfect. Mind over matter!!! Try to say a mantra in your lucid dream. Try to do yoga, meditation in your lucid dream. Try to fly up as far as you can. DD - Love

03-17-2003, 08:36 AM	#29
The Insomniac Guest Posts: n/a	A couple of years ago I was trying to stop smoking by wearing the nicotine patch. An interesting side effect of wearing the patch while sleeping is having very vivid dreams. I know they give you some insanely vivid dreams. I had a dream a friend was driving like a maniac and plowed into a cop, who we hit so hard he practically exploded. I woke up after yelling at him a few times that he is a fucking idiot, and he killed that cop. I woke up sweating, and breathing as if we really did just plow into some cop at 70 miles an hour. That dream was insanely vivid, and everything was so clear it was almost impossible to even tell it was a dream.

03-17-2003, 10:22 AM	#30
callmejay Regular Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 466	I can't believe no one's mentioned it yet, but the movie Waking Life is a really cool movie about Lucid dreaming. It's animated, but I believe they drew (or whatever) on top of actual film, so it looks really really cool.

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