Hi Robert, I am new to lucid dreaming and have a question. My whole life I have woken up while in sleep paralysis right before falling asleep. My body is frozen, yet I am awake and conscious. I always pull myself out of it, but it is bothersome and anxiety-provoking. I learned recently that this could actually be a way for me to enter a lucid dream. I have always had very vivid, colorful dreams that I can recall in excruciating detail— not only upon waking up but also permanently within my waking state, with more clarity than regular memories.
However, most dreams are unpleasant, scary or stressful. Last night I used my consciousness during sleep paralysis to try to invoke a lucid dream, but as I could feel something happen, I got anxious and pulled out of it. I thought since my regular dreams are so unpleasant then this lucid dream wouldn’t “go well.”
I have heard horror stories about sleep paralysis. I know I can control the lucid dream but am I more likely to have a negative experience when moving from sleep paralysis to a lucid dream?
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, you can move from sleep paralysis to a lucid dream. I learned this technique in Ryan Hurd’s excellent book, Sleep Paralysis. He recommends that once you find yourself in sleep paralysis, just relax and ‘imagine’ flying over a nearby lake or park—as you imagine and imagine flying over it, suddenly you will realize that you are flying, and having a lucid dream!
In this way, you can use your imagination in sleep paralysis to ‘construct’ a pleasant environment, and then lucidly find yourself there. Now, it takes a bit of trust, especially the first time, but lots of people have done this and had fun. So if you can imagine that pleasant scene vividly, then you will find yourself there, lucidly aware.
Let me know how it goes, okay? You can have an incredibly joyful experience of lucid freedom.