Stopped breathing while lucid dreaming

[redfive]

First off, I'll introduce myself by saying I've been following Steve and Erin's blogs for quite a while, though I've never posted in the forums before. Also, I've been working on trying to lucid dream on and off for six months or so. This afternoon while taking a nap I had my first lucid dream (at least the first that I can remember clearly).

It was a lot of fun, but while I was flying around my lungs started to hurt and I realized I wasn't breathing. I tried hard to make myself breathe, but I think I was trying to make my dream self breathe because it didn't work. Eventually I made myself wake up, and it took me a good 10 minutes to get my breathing back to normal. My lungs still hurt a bit, and it's a half hour later.

Now, it's possible I suppose that I rolled over on my face while sleeping, but this has never happened to me before and I'm almost positive I was on my side when I woke up. I have a feeling it had something to do with being lucid. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Any ideas on what to do about it? I'm almost afraid to go to sleep tonight, in case this happens again.

[MiBeloved]

Best thing is not to be fearful. Take it in strides step by step until you get used to how your system operates for lucid dreaming or astral projection.
It won't necessarily happen exactly as you read in a book or in an article, but still accept it as just psychic occurrences which will not cause serious harm to you.
Much of it is anxiety in the beginning and a confusion regarding which is the physical body and which is the subtle body. These systems are different but if you cannot discern them, then sometimes you will be uncertain.
In time however, it will clear up for you.

[Martyn13]

Hi
Yes I have experienced breathing problems as a result of lucid dreaming.

It is a while since I experimented with lucid dreams.
I went through a period when I experimented quite a lot with lucid dreams, and I found that my mind kept creating what I regarded as defence mechanisms, in order to make me decide to wake up.

I came to the conclusion that this was because lucid deaming was unnatural - It's quite a long time ago, and I don't know whether I still think that.

At the time, I told quite a few people that lucid dreams caused a variety of 'negative' experiences, but I never read about or encountered anyone who shared my negative experiences with lucid dreams.

The final straw came when, as a result of lucid dreaming, I developed chronic asthma - I had already had asthma as a child, but it had more or less gone -
but lucid dreaming brought it back -
I was however able to cure my asthma after a few days.

Before this happened, I often noticed that in lucid dreams, my breathing seemed laboured - but I never heard of anyone else experiencing anything unpleasant with lucid dreams

My tentative theory is that I am a very focused person, and it could be that too intense awareness causes problems in lucid dreams.
I thought that one's mind being awake within the dream environment, caused deep conflicts, and having a highly focused mind, intensified that conflict.

I think it's a very similar mechanism which normally causes asthma

I don't know if anyone has done any research on the sort of personalities who have problems with lucid dreaming, as hardly anyone complains of problems.

It was always said that introspective people find it a lot easier to become, and to understand the meaning of lucidity, but perhaps if you are too introspective, it may cause other problems - Like mental conflicts

[redfive]

Thanks Martyn13, I can really connect with a lot of what you said.

It was always said that introspective people find it a lot easier to become, and to understand the meaning of lucidity, but perhaps if you are too introspective, it may cause other problems - Like mental conflicts

I am a very introspective person, and I understand what you mean about mental conflicts. While I was lucid dreaming I kept trying to figure out if I was really lucid dreaming or actually awake and just daydreaming--I had a hard time beleiving I could actually be lucid dreaming. Maybe that confusion or lack of belief had something to do with it. I'm not sure why that would make me stop breathing, though.

The final straw came when, as a result of lucid dreaming, I developed chronic asthma - I had already had asthma as a child, but it had more or less gone -
but lucid dreaming brought it back -
I was however able to cure my asthma after a few days.

Yike, that's a scary thought, although I've never had asthma.

It's good to know someone else has had the same problem. Maybe the conflict would fade away when I got used to the experience, although it doesn't sound like it did for you. I wonder if lucid dreaming isn't something I should be experimenting with...

[Martyn13]

Originally Posted by redfive

I am a very introspective person, and I understand what you mean about mental conflicts. While I was lucid dreaming I kept trying to figure out if I was really lucid dreaming or actually awake and just daydreaming--I had a hard time beleiving I could actually be lucid dreaming. Maybe that confusion or lack of belief had something to do with it. I'm not sure why that would make me stop breathing, though

Sounds as if you were anxious about what was going on.
I think that an unconscious panic / anxiety reaction as a result of a new experience could easily temporarily affect your breathing.

Originally Posted by redfive

Maybe the conflict would fade away when I got used to the experience, although it doesn't sound like it did for you. I wonder if lucid dreaming isn't something I should be experimenting with...

Since the time that I experimented with lucid dreams, I've made great strides in self development in many areas. Nowadays, if I had the inclination, I would risk lucid dreaming again.

At the time though, I wasn't anything like as aware of the signs of anxiety and psychic imbalance, as I am now - and I'm also very confident of my healing ability.
So I suppose it might depend on how aware you are of your anxiety and personality stability, and general confidence about doing it.
When I was expeimenting, in my early twenties, there was no way that I could have succeeded without creating tension in the dream, but years later, knowing myself a lot better, and overcoming conditioning to a great extent, I would be much more confident now.
So a lot might depend on how well you know yourself