Strange Dream/Feeling?

[StephanieLynn]

Two nights ago, I was having trouble sleeping. It was maybe two in the morning, I physically felt tired but I guess I had so much running through my mind it was almost impossible to sleep. Let me start by saying I am only fourteen. So, whenever I have trouble sleeping my mom gives me melatonin, not wanting to wake her up, I went downstairs took one, watched some TV while I waited to become sleepy, then went back to bed. I was still having some difficulty sleeping but I was much more comfortable then before. Just when I felt like I was about to fall asleep, I rolled onto my back. I remember feeling so peaceful, it felt like I was lifting out of myself. Then I starting lightly shaking, then it turned to a heavier vibrating. I remember my mouth being open, I tried to close it, but I couldn't. I tried to move my arms -- once again I couldn't. I felt cold moving to my left side, directly across from my heart. I was completely terrified. It suddenly just stopped, and I just started praying. I was actually sleeping with my mom that night since my room was clutter-filled and I had much piled on my bed. She hadn't woken up. So I stood up, and went to the bathroom. Once the toilet flushed she immediately woke up. She's a pretty light sleeper so I thought it was pretty odd she hadn't woken up when I had felt like I was "vibrating". I tried to keep my eyes open that night for as long as I could, until I finally gave up and fell asleep. I had no remembered dream that night.
The next day I looked up Melatonin finding out that it gave you more vivid dreams, and now thinking about it I've been remembering most of my dreams pretty clearly lately. I also looked up what I had felt, and came across lucid dreaming. That day I was talking to my friend, and she's not even a really close friend. But more than anything I wanted to tell her what happened, but I keep everything to myself, so telling someone I'm not even that close with would be odd I decided. So ever since I've kept it to myself. Well it's pretty much the only thing I can think about lately, so I came across this website, and decided to ask what happened, since I'd like some answers and keeping it to myself isn't helping. Thanks for reading through all of this.

[bamzone81]

what u had was sleep paralysis. ive had that 2-3 before. medical people say that its like psychological or some crap. but others say that its a demon attack. if you were laying on ur back then thats what it most likely was b/c its easier for a demon to attack you that way.

[JanT]

Hello StephanieLynn -
It sounds like you are describing (re:vibrating and lifting out of yourself) was an OBE or OOB (Out of Body Experience). It is very common, but for those who don't remember doing it a lot, can be very unnerving if not down right scary.

We each leave our bodies nightly (so it is very common) - but when our physical body is awake or awakens while we are OBE, we then experience sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a very necessary function - it stops us from hurting ourselves while we sleep - but sometimes we awaken and are still under the sleep paralysis function.

Some people (as per bamzone81) feel like it is a demon attack. It is not - is a very natural occurance. With sleep paralysis (when we awaken) sometimes comes with a feeling of something sitting on your chest, can't move, and 'freak out'. It is okay...

If you find yourself in that situation, you can tell your self:

Head to head, neck to neck, shoulders to shoulders, arms to arms, hands to hands, torso to torso, legs to legs, feet to feet.

What this does is bring your non-physical body back into your physical body and re-aligns it (a grounding exercise). However, if you stay in the panic/fear mode, it does take a bit longer to reintegrate.

If you want a comprehensive book to read about OBE's and the 'symptoms', I highly recommend:

"Adventures Beyond the Body: How To Experience Out-of-Body Travel” by William Buhlman.

I recommend it to my students, and recommend it a lot on this site.