Dreaming.... While Awake? Very Very strange....

[Nick R]

So I got home from work, and layed down in my room to nap, in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. I was falling asleep. I dozed on and off for a little while. But then something very strange happened. I was awake.. But I wasn't. I mean, I felt fully aware, but there was someone in my room. I don't know who it was, he was just staring at me. I asked him who he was. Nothing. I asked to leave, he just kept staring at me. I told him I needed to put on Jeans, and asked him again to leave. He just kept staring. I finally got out of bed and put on the jeans, a little self concious, and got back in bed, and he just kept watching me. Never said anything. Then, it was like a switch had been flipped. I looked, he was gone.

My first thought was that it had been a dream. But then I realized I was wearing the Jeans. I was a little freaked out. Never had anything like that ahppen before. I mean, I was awake. I was thinking, "this has to be a dream.. Who is this guy and why is he here?" But it didn't FEEL like a dream... It's confusing. Anyone else ever have anything like this happen to them? Anyone have any idea what it might be? This is the closest thing I can find.

http://neurology.health-cares.net/hypnagogic-hallucination.php

 

[Nick R]

And it keeps getting stranger. The more I think about it, and just layed down to sleep... The more I remember. That was the only instnace of that I can remember, but now I remember spending alot of that time in some kind of waking conciousness. Like I would know I was asleep, or couldn't decide, or something. It's all very muddled and confused, but it was definitely a very interesting and freaky nap.

 

[mechanicx]

In a psycology class I took in college, this was called lucid dreaming. You are dreaming but you are somewhat conscious and can even control your dreams sometimes.

 

[crinkles]

who did he look like?

 

[robshelton]

They say it's a sleep disorder and it manifests in various ways according to the time/place in history. In Europe a good while back folks reported seeing a little old woman. Back then they called it a witch and said it stole their breath by sitting on their chests. Other cultures have labeled it various things. More recently UFO "Abductees" have reported seeing little "Grays" and having been experimented upon.

I think its a gateway to the subconscious. A point where the mind is not tied to the physical as firmly as we think necessary. I'd like to mention Edgar Casey who gave remarkably accurate readings while in a similar state. Might mention the folks who have had out of body experiences and watched surgical procedures performed on their body after accidents and etc. And how about the folks who practiced remote viewing for the government for decades? And why is it we have this relatively huge brain and use only a small percentage of it?

Yes I have experienced what you mentioned. And more. Some may poke fun at my post but if you have experienced what we are talking about it's hard to explain away...

 

[nelrod]

Sounds almost like being in self-hypnosis to me.

 

[oilboy123]

I dream sometimes and realize that I'm aware that laying down in bed dreaming. It seems like the last few years I have noticed it at times.

Part of me wonders if it has anything to do with a medication I take for pain? I must admit it's pretty weird.

robshelton Pretty interesting thought on it. I feel what I am experiencing is kind of a subconscious thing. My Mom had an out of body experience while giving birth to one of us kids. She is as lucid as they come. Then again I'm almost 50 and the youngest of six kids. So I don't know what kind of drugs they gave women in the good ole days.

 

[rick9009]

2nd who/ what did it look like and what was your feelings? Did you feel fear or no emotion at all?

My great grand father had the same kind of dreams as yours and ended up institutionalized. With waking dreams such as yours you ether learn to deal with it or your can't. If you believe it to be a hallucination or demon you need to talk with someone in person and not over the internet.

 

[SZR48207]

Can you give us more background? You may want to see a doctor just to be safe.

 

[Nick R]

I've told you all I really can. I don't know who he looked like, I can't remember seeing him before. No, I wasn't scared really. Was just a little irked.

 

[jcwit]

The're coming to take you away! Ha Ha Ho Ho1 To the funny farm , where life is nice all the time!!!!

 

[TooManyWheels]

The last thing I would be is worried about it. The mind has powers that we have only begun to tap, so I would take this new experience, embrace it, and see where it took me.

 

[Scooter_man]

Obviously the OP is not experienced with mind-altering psychedelic drugs. I always thought that experinces like that are quite fascinating and worth exploring further.

Wiki Psychonaut


Rob

P.S. - I grew up in a college town in the 80's. Not the heyday of flower-power obviously, but still pretty fun.

 

[eljefino]

You saw your own Doppelganger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelganger

 

[levi]

"And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

 

[Augustus]

Don't know. Lack of a daily vitamin?

But they say a DejaVu is caused when one of your eye's image reaches the brain before the other eye's, making your brain believe you've already seen what you saw. (Is that good grammar?)

 

[oilboy123]

That's not cool to joke he is crazy guys. Besides crazy people are a lot of fun. You non crazy guys are boring. You know what they say about crazy women.......Woo Hoo..............

I would no worry too much unless it becomes a regular thing that starts to bother you.
Rudophna I read the link, interesting. I notice that I sometimes have those knee jerk reactions of where it feels like I'm falling then I bolt awake. It doesn't really bother me though.

I notice when I go fishing in Bristol Bay and sleep on the boat I have a lot of very vivid dreams. I wonder if it's from the high tides and the effect of the Moon? I don't know if that is the cause or not? We have to get used to sleeping while the boat is bobbing around and cruising etc.

The human mind is awesome and we have just began to even touch the surface of understanding it, that's for sure.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
I notice that I sometimes have those knee jerk reactions of where it feels like I'm falling then I bolt awake. It doesn't really bother me though.


All in due time. Wait until you develop some phobias as you age. I'll be laying there in that limboville where the conscious and unconscious states semi coexist and find myself in some "fear of heights" scenario and JERK RIGHT UP from an idle heart rate to shock the system with some brief, but intense WOT situation.

I was debating over the protocols on the stress test with the technologist. I stated that the progressive speed/incline method did not produce the most strain on the heart. I asserted that the shock loading of a high heart rate against not yet dilated vessels was by far the most strenuous state.


Right now I haven't had any sleep beyond cat naps for the past 3 weeks. I have a herniated disc and can't sleep in my bed. When you can't reach REM in the normal manner, where you're REM deprived, you start going into it quicker and quicker when you do fall asleep. The pain meds don't necessarily stop pain, but rather make remaining conscious too hard as they attenuate the pain.

This sets you up for some unpleasantly interesting mental states that can wear on you after a bit.

 

[oilboy123]

Well it does bother me more than I mentioned because it does awaken me. I don't have a fear of heights but still it does kind of shock me. I can understand where you are coming from Gary.

I think I have sleep apnea myself.....

 

[Gary Allan]

In my case the prison I'm currently in adds some new anxieties to the mix. But even before this body turned into a torture chamber the events would often have me get out of bed to reorient myself in the mood for sleep again.

I guess if I was to describe it, a random fluid slide show is playing in the background. All totally unremarkable and just part of the transitional event. Every once and a while some image gets recognized by whatever consciousness you have available to integrate it ..and it sets up a panic/shock response. It startles the heck out of you.

I don't have a classic phobic response to heights. It's more or less a fear of falling from incredible heights. Hitchcock had an uncanny knack for tickling that sensitive nerve in many of his movies.