Dreams and OBE's Letter 11

Doug,

I just wanted to say that I have been having exactly what you are talking about here on your website about:

"Sleep paralysis, also referred to as the hypnogogic state when semi-concious, happens as the mind drifts off into sleep. To be specific, hypnagogic paralysis occurs as you're falling asleep, hypnopompic paralysis occurs as you're waking. At night, one's body must shut down to rejuvenate its inner energy. While semi-concious, fear can sometimes set in as the paralysis is felt. The person tries to call for help but can't move their lips, their eyes dart around the room, sometimes seeing dark figures and hearing wierd noises."

I have been having this happen to me for about 3 years and have kept it a secret until about a year ago, when I told my wife about it. Then i told my doctor about it a month ago and see scheduled MRI's of my head, which came back normal. It seems I have about 5-10 of these per month. Im not sure what causes it to happen. The other night I had about 10 in one night, that scared the crap out of me. I always fight it. I cant call out but I can force myself out of the senstation by forcing myself to wake up. It works and the sensation immediately goes away. I stumbled across your site by change putting my experience into a yahoo.com search. Last night I had another one and after reading your webpage, I decided I would let it play out and see what happens. Holy shit it was the best thing I have ever experienced. I had the senstaion last about 5-10 mins it seemed and It felt like I was flying around, I could hear things going around outside and I kept my eyes closed. I flew up into a floating city and then I got thrown litterally into my old house in my old room, I knew i was dreaming and I was like holy shit. I tried telling the ppl in my dream that this was just a dream and they (being my family) didn't believe me. I said watch this and proceeded to show them I could fly and had my brother doing it to...anyway I just wanted to say Im glad to have found your site and Im not scared shitless about this phenomenon.

Peace,

Alex