Was it sleep paralysis or an intense dream?

[Mac]

A few months ago I had a very strange and intense experience. I am hoping to gain a deeper understanding of what happened to me. In my research I have ruled out it being a physical or medical problem. To preface my account and give some reasoning behind my thinking that this could have been medical is solely because I am an insominiac and I suffer from high blood pressure and am under near constant stress. So here goes...

I live with my two daughters but this night I happened to be home alone. After having a very upbeat phone conversation with a friend I fell into a very deep sleep - after this happened I deduced that I had been asleep for about an hour. I was awakened by a buzzing in my ears (it sounded like thousands of dragon flies circling around me) and consequently my body began to vibrate at an intense pace. I realized that I could not move or make any noise. I could see my bed but my eyes were closed. I felt as if I were pinned to my bed. As the buzzing and vibrating intensified (I was sleeping on my right side) I felt something very heavy roll down the side of my body. Naturally I was petrified.

I kept trying to move but was unable- eventually I saw myself leave my body and get out of bed. I moved into the hallway in the darkness (with my cell phone in hand...odd) there I encountered a woman. She was short and stalky (robust) wearing a green plaid shirt and green skirt. I could not make out here face but could recognize her black hair and reddish-toned skin as if she were Native American or South American. I asked her without speaking why she was there and she responded, "I am here because I can be here." I remember raising the cell phone above my head as to strike her with it in defense.

Suddenly we were in my dining room and the lights were on (when I went to sleep they were off). Still unable to make out her face, I was overcome by a need to embrace her, as I moved toward her she begin to laugh at me. When I asked her why she was laughing she chuckled at me and said, "I can have fun too." I immediately snapped out of it and awoke in my bed in hysterics.

It is not the first time I have had some kind of experience that I could not explain but this was by far the most intense.

Anyone who can lend a thought on this, what it might mean or what caused it - I am truly grateful.

[freestate]

It's been 21 hours since you've posted this. I'm surprised no one's touched it yet, but perhaps this is meant to be.

First of all, CONGRATS! You've just accomplished what many people spend years trying to learn: how to have an out of body experience. These are also called OBEs.

Something similar to this happened to me a years ago when I was sleeping on a couch, except I didn't have the lucky fortune of leaving my body. I did however, experience the LOUD buzzing noise and the feeling of energy. When I tried to speak, I felt my lips move, but at the same time I felt my body's lips remain STILL. It was a very odd sensation, but that experience goes to show that humans have an energy body and a physical one. After this experience, I did extensive research on this phenomena over a period of years, and learned much more than can be summarized in one post.

To be honest, there is a HUGE amount of info about this subject, and much of it is verified by scientific study using MRI, etc. The brain reacts to this body separation in interesting ways. To make a long story short, the sound that you heard was something like a dissonance between energies. Once you push through that, you can separate from your physical body and see the world without physical eyes. (I have managed to do this. Fun!) Many people are afraid that if they leave their body, something else might try to take it over, but the body has natural defenses against that and that isn't an issue, plus your Guardians are overseeing your life, as well. Once you get over this, you can begin learning how to travel the astral planes, which is actually easier than walking around since everything works at the speed of thought. To return to your body, hold that idea in your mind and BAM. You'll probably wake up at this point.

The more you research this, the more you'll see that Free Will is actually a law of physics.

One of the more exceptional examples of someone who learned to do this at will was Robert Monroe, who wrote 3 books about his experiences in the astral plane. Look him up. I recommend his 2nd book "Far Journeys", and it's probably at your local library.

I realize all this may come as a shock, but you've taken your a step into a larger world. Now its up to you to do the research and decide for yourself what do to about it. Have fun, and let me know if you have any other questions.

Also, Steve and Erin have both said they've one their share of astral travel, Erin moreso. I'd love to hear from them, or anyone else who has successfully had an OBE.

[Mac]

Thank you so very much for your response! I was wondering why I hadn't gotten any responses...hahaha. It is interesting that you say "meant to be" as earlier today my mom and were talking about when I would gain an understanding of this and I remarked to her that I would know when I was meant to know. Universal thought is alive and well.

I will most certainly seek out Robert Monroe's books and continue my research. Any other readings you might suggest or avenues to follow?

Do you have any thoughts on why the woman appeared to me? What her role might be in my first experience with an OBE?

Lastly, do you think this is a doorway to a greater intuitive ability?

Thank you again...I'll rest easy knowing I have not lost my mind tonight.

[freestate]

Synchronicities are alive and well, indeed. You're most welcome.

Much can also be learned from Stephen LaBerge. While not claiming to ever have had an out of body experience, his research on Lucid Dreaming is also relevant to this subject.

The woman could have been one of many things. If you did leave your body and it wasn't a dream, and from your story sounds like you left your body, the woman could have been a guide or one of many personalities that inhabit that space. The most important question is this: What did she feel like to you?

Greater intuition and self-knowing is a requirement for developing this skill. And at the end of the day, that's all it is. An exceptional skill, but a still a skill. This skill allows you to see reality though a completely different lens, and I have a feeling that this goes both ways and greater practice with this will help grow your intuition.

I'm not an expert on this subject, I've only done the research that I've felt compelled to do. Unfortunately, daily life provides a constant distraction from focusing my efforts on learning this skill, but that will change.

The overall goal of this is to become more aware and learn things from entities, some human some non-human, that you could never learn any way else. If you get really good at this, you can literally visit Mars, the Moon, and everywhere.

Erin Pavlina! Are you around? I'd really value your input on this, as well. How often do you astral project these days? Can you do it at will yet?

World moves too fast these days. Makes it difficult. One of my goals for the next 4 years is to learn how to do this at will. Perhaps we'll meet up in the astral someday.

[jeff3]

I had several experiences similar to what you mentioned about 8 years ago when I was doing some astral projection exercises, they always happened just after I fell asleep and that high pitched buzzing sound is exactly like you described. I remember sometimes I would wake up with a terrible headache after this happening. One event that really was sort of funny was the first time I actuallly projected in a waking state, It was a bit scary but exciting because it was the result of lots of effort over several months. I was in a basement and lying on a bed, "I" left my body, went through a wall into a workshop, then up through a floor, I remember it feeling like I was going through a screen or something.. anyway, there was a kitten in the laundry room and when I went up through the floor that's where I went, the kitten freaked out, freaked me out, and I "snapped" back into my body immediately.

[Mac]

Thank you again...you are a wealth of knowledge. I understand about life moving too quickly. It almost as if it goes by faster with each passing day making time to almost non-existent.
I'm sure should we meet in the astral- I'll know you immediately. I know I've said thank you several times - which can be annoying - but it never ceases to amaze me that knowledge and support sometimes come best served from those we do not know. Best of luck in your studies. I will keep my eye out for your posts.

[Mac]

That's an interesting experience. I am not sure how I would react to something that physically intense. How did you will yourself into this state? I am unsure of what "snapped" in my psyche for me to be able to do this. I would be curious to learn more about the exercises. Thank you for sharing your story with me.

[freestate]

Originally Posted by Mac

Thank you again...you are a wealth of knowledge. I understand about life moving too quickly. It almost as if it goes by faster with each passing day making time to almost non-existent.
I'm sure should we meet in the astral- I'll know you immediately. I know I've said thank you several times - which can be annoying - but it never ceases to amaze me that knowledge and support sometimes come best served from those we do not know. Best of luck in your studies. I will keep my eye out for your posts.

No worries. Rest assured a "thank you" never gets annoying.

You're welcome.

[jeff3]

Originally Posted by Mac

That's an interesting experience. I am not sure how I would react to something that physically intense. How did you will yourself into this state? I am unsure of what "snapped" in my psyche for me to be able to do this. I would be curious to learn more about the exercises. Thank you for sharing your story with me.

There are many techniques out there to induce OBE's, google is your friend.

[Daylilly]

Hello,

I posted a topic about a dream I had about my deceased sister a few days ago, and I got to talking to my other "alive" sister about the responses I got over dinner last night.

Anyways, back when my deceased sister passed away over 20 years ago, my other sister was having some very nightmarish dreams that we attributed to the trauma caused by my deceased sister's death. So we got to talking about those dreams again, and she told me that she would always get that loud buzzing noise in her ears just before the "dreams" would begin. I hadn't heard about my sister's "buzzing noise" until yesterday! I told her that I had been reading a thread that someone wrote about that same buzzing noise, and how it is related to OBEs. She was pretty surprised.

But anyways, what I wanted to get at was the substance of her nightmares. She explained to me that she would always get the buzzing noise that seemed to close in on her ears, and then suddenly, the buzzing would stop and she would feel like she was in another world. However, she never felt like she left her body or saw her body from the outside. But her dreams were very, very scary, and they terrified her. She also got that same paralyzed feeling where she could not move her body at all. One time, she "dreamt" that an evil presence was crawing up her body, starting from her toes, and when it got to her face, it said, "That was your sister, Dam**t!". She was paralyzed and couldn't move despite the terror she was feeling. At that moment the presence spoke to her, the "dream" ended.

My sister shared with me yesterday that she has always felt a lot of guilt about my other sister's death. The evening before it happened, my deceased sister had called home to see if she could spend the night at her friend's house, the person she was with when she died in the tragic car accident. My alive sister had been talking on the phone to one of her friends at the time, and she told my deceased sister that she would ask Mom, because she didn't want to get off the phone to let my deceased sister talk to our Mom. To this day, my alive sister believes that if she had let my deceased sister talk to Mom, my mom would have never allowed her to sleepover at her friend's house, and therefore, my deceased sister never would have been killed.

My alive sister has always attributed the scary dreams to her subconscious guilt, but after reading this thread, I wonder if there was more to it than that.

One last thought. My sister told me that she had seen a program on 60-minutes that apparently described almost identical dreams as hers. The condition is known as "sleep paralysis" and it is described here:
Sleep paralysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A woman named Susan Blackmore did a study on sleep paralysis, and how it could explain why some people think they have had "alien abduction" experiences. Anyways, here are some of the details:
Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis? (Skeptical Inquirer May 1998)

What is interesting to me is this statement from the article above:

Quote: "The experience begins most often when the person is at home in bed (Wright 1994) and most often at night" ... "There is an intense blue or white light, a buzzing or humming sound, anxiety or fear, and the sense of an unexplained presence."

Here is another interesting quote from the article mentioned above:
"In a typical sleep-paralysis episode, a person wakes up paralyzed, senses a presence in the room, feels fear or even terror, and may hear buzzing and humming noises or see strange lights. A visible or invisible entity may even sit on their chest, shaking, strangling, or prodding them. Attempts to fight the paralysis are usually unsuccessful."

One more quote:
"Imagine the following scenario: A woman wakes in the night with a strong sense that someone or something is in the room. She tries to move but finds she is completely paralyzed except for her eyes. She sees strange lights, hears a buzzing or humming sound, and feels a vibration in the bed. If she knows about sleep paralysis, she will recognize it instantly, but most people do not."

Just thought I would add this food for thought.

[dreamcatcher]

Hi!
This is an amazing dream, and occasionally it happens. I have had many OBE's like this. I am very psychic and have many dreams where I find lost objects, or know if someone is being hurt, and have premonitions that come true. Anyway, this woman in your OBE dream is most definately someone you used to know that passed over when you were younger, maybe in school years, like grammar school. She is your friend still and happy that you saw her. She was playing, and loved you, and to her, seeing you was like no time had passed. To you it was weird and confusing, maybe scary. Not for her. She is someone you used to know and had fun with. Think.
Dreamcatcher

[dreamcatcher]

Hi!
This is an amazing dream, and occasionally it happens. I have had many OBE's like this. I am very psychic and have many dreams where I find lost objects, or know if someone is being hurt, and have premonitions that come true. Anyway, this woman in your OBE dream is most definately someone you used to know that passed over when you were younger, maybe in school years, like grammar school. She is your friend still and happy that you saw her. She was playing, and loved you, and to her, seeing you was like no time had passed. To you it was weird and confusing, maybe scary. Not for her. She is someone you used to know and had fun with. Think.
Dreamcatcher

[Acting Like Godot]

You see, this is a kind of logical misstep that many people make. Let me explain.

Certain things happen - buzzing in the ears; perception of someone else in the room etc etc. You can call this phenomenon whatever you want. Your description is just a label.

For example, you could call it "sleep paralysis", but really this label means nothing unless there is some strong reasoning or explanation for sleep paralysis.

To put it simply, "sleep paralysis" could well be, say, a visitation by a spirit.

[Daylilly]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

You see, this is a kind of logical misstep that many people make. Let me explain.

Certain things happen - buzzing in the ears; perception of someone else in the room etc etc. You can call this phenomenon whatever you want. Your description is just a label.

For example, you could call it "sleep paralysis", but really this label means nothing unless there is some strong reasoning or explanation for sleep paralysis.

To put it simply, "sleep paralysis" could well be, say, a visitation by a spirit.

True, I'm not arguing your point at all. I just thought it was very interesting that someone did a study on the subject and found such a commonality among those affected by the phenomenon. If I remember right, I think the scientists that studied this also found that in every case, a certain part of the brain was highly stimulated during the experience in every case. I guess it was reassuring to me to think that my sister might just be experiencing some kind of sleep disorder vs. actually being visited by demons.