Night terrors and lucid dreaming (for Hope67)

[GoSlash27]

All,
 This is how I discovered how to turn night terrors to my advantage.

 I had a spate of night terrors a few years ago. They were so bad that I was losing enough sleep for it to be a problem. So in my typical nerd fashion I began to analyze what was going on. The sleep paralysis was totally normal. It's just how my body protects itself from injury while in REM sleep. What I was 'hearing' was just an auditory hallucination. This gave rise to visual hallucinations, all of which were scaring me.

 The problem was that my conscious mind was still active at a point where it was not supposed to be. Once I convinced myself that it was safe to fall asleep instead of trying to fight my way to wakefulness, I did.

 I felt a falling sensation and immediately 'woke up' in my own bed. The first question that came to mind was 'am I really awake right now, or is this a dream?'. Stepping into the hallway immediately answered that question. This was not my house. I was dreaming. I was fully conscious of the fact that I was dreaming.

 It did not occur to me at that point that I had 100% control over the dream itself, but I remember every moment of that dream as fully as any waking moment.

 This was fascinating to me! So I resolved to try it again, and it worked that time too. That dream I actually controlled, which was amazing! I could change any aspect of the dream I wished, I could fly, whatever.

 I soon came to welcome the night terrors (later the precursor hallucinations themselves) as my gateway to lucid dreams. I developed habits to establish whether I was dreaming or not. Look out the window to check the scenery. step out of the bedroom and look around. Read a book and see if the text changes.

 That 'changing text' method amused me so much once that I kept reading the changing text just to see what it would say next. It said 'please stop doing that'.    There was an intelligence on the other side of the changing text. I soon found out that I could communicate *directly* with my own subconscious through asking questions and reading the responses in the text.

 I have not developed the ability to lucid dream at will and haven't had many night terrors lately. But now I look forward to them. I plan on putting that direct communication with my own subconscious to use as I work my way through this.

 So this is my good news for anyone who has trouble with night terrors. For me they are the gateway to lucid dreams and I bet they are for you as well.

Best,
-Slashy 

[Hope67]

Hi Slashy,
Thank you so much for writing about your experiences with night terrors, and the link with lucid dreaming.  I think it is really relevant to what I've been experiencing myself, and also very thought-provoking (in a helpful way).  I appreciate you taking the time to write about it, and I hope that others will find it helpful as well.

I looked online for some more information, and there is mention of using Lucid Dreaming Therapy to help with night terrors. 

But what I particularly found helpful - was you sharing your experience and knowing that it's similar to my own - it's validating to experience that. 

I do remember previously how scared I had been by the hallucinations part of it - but I read that it's along a continuum with dissociative experiences, and I get those in the daytime (dissociation) - so having it at night, with hallucinations does make sense.  Interestingly, one of my more recent experiences, was seeing a green heart-shaped balloon in the bedroom, which was actually a pleasant thing.  So it's not all been bad.

Anyway, thank you!  I hope you'll share more of your experiences, if you want to.  I love the idea of a Gateway to Lucid Dreaming - it's such a positive reframing of something previously scary!

Hope 

[Lakelynn]

Slashy, what a thought!

I soon came to welcome the night terrors (later the precursor hallucinations themselves) as my gateway to lucid dreams.

You took control and found a way to extract a method and lessons from these experiences. I am IMPRESSED!

Lucid dreaming is a hot topic for me, since I've found the more I am willing, the more it happens. It's quite a surprise though, isn't it?

[GoSlash27]

Lakelynn,

 Absolutely, the first lucid dream came as a complete surprise. I remember critiquing the dream itself.    "This dream is dumb, who writes this stuff? I'm gonna be *sooo* tired in the morning", etc.

 In retrospect it makes perfect sense. Both are just slightly different variants of the same situation; the conscious mind being active when it's not supposed to be. On the one side the conscious mind is still dominant and alarmed by the paralysis and hallucinations. Just on the other side the subconscious is dominant, filling in a completely realistic dream world, with the conscious mind allowing it to happen.

 Very slim difference between the two.

Best,
-Slashy