Hi
kpeace,
aboard (pun intended).
Have you had any changes in medication, medical condition (apnea or narcolepsy?), diet, or routine? Any major life stress issues (death, divorce, surgery, job loss, etc.)? These are all factors known to affect sleep & sleep cycles.
I have lucid dreams quite often - the kind where you realize you're in a dream - not the kind where you go from conscious to unconscious w/o realizing it.
I've also experienced the "waking up only to find you're still asleep" phenomenon -
nested dreams.
Quote:
I was almost in some kind of paralysis at the end because I felt myself wake up but couldn't bring my eyes to open or my body to move.
|
This phenomenon is known as
hypnopompic or
postdormital sleep paralysis, and is known to follow lucid dreams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_p...ossible_causes
It's disconcerting/unsettling, but it's not usually dangerous. I've had it a few times.
Knowledge is empowering. Read the article, and
google:
sleep paralysis
lucid dreaming
nested dreams
Then if it happens again, you'll know what it is, and that it's not to be feared. Sometimes I like to have fun with it. When I'm lucid dreaming, I can fly, breathe underwater, etc. If the dream is so disturbing that I want to wake from it, I concentrate on that very hard. If that fails to arouse me.... well....
let's just say that any time I've died in a dream, I've never failed to wake up immediately (or within seconds). It's never failed. (
Since I know it's a dream, this isn't really as morbid/weird as it sounds.)
As for the paralysis upon waking, just wait it out. It only lasts a few seconds (though it may seem longer).
Sweet Dreams, Kiddo.
Doc