Tristam

Have you ever caught yourself in a state of "half sleep"? I don't think I've ever heard anyone describe what I've experienced. It used to happen to me in high school all the time, and it would usually happen when I'd lie down to take naps after school. I never had the best sleeping habits, so I'd always be tired when I came home, but I knew if I took a nap I'd have trouble sleeping later that night - a vicious cycle. So I'd be thinking to myself "OK, I'll lie down just for a few minutes, but I won't go to sleep." Anyways, it seems my will may have been in the right place but my body thought otherwise, and I'd sink into a state of half sleep. It's actually kind of terrifying -- I think just the same way as if I were awake, but I can't move, I can't speak, and I can't open my eyes. All I can do is think and hear things. Basically, I think that my body has shut down -- physically, I am asleep, my digestion has slowed, my muscles have completely relaxed, my breathing is deep, etc. -- but my mind refuses to comply. And when I say that it's a terrifying feeling, it's no joke; it feels like I've got a pillow over my face and I'm being suffocated. Or more accurately it feels as though my whole body has been completely bound and I'm in pitch black water and sinking to the bottom. Perhaps I was wrong when I said I think the same way as I do when I'm awake, because in this state my only concern is waking up -- in this state, I feel like if I don't wake up, I'll drown. Indeed, when I do wake up out of it, I take a deep breath like I'd just struggled to the surface of a pool.

Even weirder is the method I use to wake up. I said I couldn't move, but there was one exception. I could wiggle the pinky on my left hand just a little bit, but when I did that I could begin to move my hand, then my wrist and forearm, then my whole arm, and finally I'd be shaking my entire body and doing that would wake me up.

This was always a much stranger experience to me than anything I've ever had while dreaming. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Just introducing myself here. I decided to join after I saw the "Sega Project 2007." That was just freaking incredible. Kudos to Trippy and the rest of you.

Anyways, I'm more than happy to join in on speculation of Journey of Dreams!