Sensation of Flight
Byeka
Name changed from Freak83Toronto Join Date: 2003-03-13 Member: 14484Members, Constellation
Name changed from Freak83Toronto Join Date: 2003-03-13 Member: 14484Members, Constellation
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Weird stuff when falling asleep</div>Alright this is a really strange question I'm about to ask.
Has anyone ever felt a huge shock of fear that jerked them awake just as they were about to fall asleep for no good or logical reason? Last night I was just about to fall asleep when I had this overwhelming sensation of flight like I was being beamed up by a UFO into the sky through my ceiling. I suddenly opened my eyes in a panic expecting to see my house down below me but of course I was in my room in bed.
Just a really weird sensation. Anyone ever experience anything like this?
Has anyone ever felt a huge shock of fear that jerked them awake just as they were about to fall asleep for no good or logical reason? Last night I was just about to fall asleep when I had this overwhelming sensation of flight like I was being beamed up by a UFO into the sky through my ceiling. I suddenly opened my eyes in a panic expecting to see my house down below me but of course I was in my room in bed.
Just a really weird sensation. Anyone ever experience anything like this?
Comments
I don't think these are night terrors as Drfuzzy calls them. These are unconnected to dreaming, they're a weird sensation you get as you're falling asleep.
I once heard that it can happen if you fall asleep too fast. I don't know what "too fast" means, and it sounds a bit bogus, so it's probably nonsense.
Either way, it happens to many people as far as I'm aware, and it's nothing you need worry about. Occurrences are too rare to disturb your sleep patterns, and its as harmless as a sudden jolt can be. The worst thing is that you can get a quick shot of adrenaline that'll keep you awake for a bit, but in my experience that only happens if you get worked up over wtf just happened afterwards, so just calm down, turn around and go back to sleep.
Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.
I had a few good memorable ones when I was young but after I hit 18 they stopped completely.
Ditto here.
While night terrors are a real thing it sounds to me like you're describing what lolfighter is talking about here, a sensation I can attest to experiencing as well right down the to 'stumbling' aspect of it.
Once this happened to me when I fell asleep in a highschool classroom. Hilarity ensued as people wondered wtf I was doing jerking upright in my desk.
I had a few good memorable ones when I was young but after I hit 18 they stopped completely.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You're still dreaming but just not remembering them. There are techniques you could do to try to remember them but I'll let you do the research if you're interested.
I don't think these are night terrors as Drfuzzy calls them. These are unconnected to dreaming, they're a weird sensation you get as you're falling asleep.
I once heard that it can happen if you fall asleep too fast. I don't know what "too fast" means, and it sounds a bit bogus, so it's probably nonsense.
Either way, it happens to many people as far as I'm aware, and it's nothing you need worry about. Occurrences are too rare to disturb your sleep patterns, and its as harmless as a sudden jolt can be. The worst thing is that you can get a quick shot of adrenaline that'll keep you awake for a bit, but in my experience that only happens if you get worked up over wtf just happened afterwards, so just calm down, turn around and go back to sleep.
Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Its related, its where the body has a hard time telling itself if you should be awake or asleep. If you realize it and still can't wake up, it becomes frightening.
Incidentally, is it anything like this?
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The sensation of falling, or sleep paralysis, or other strange sensations like hearing noises or seeing sounds or feeling vibrations, can all be indications that your mind is open to the possibility of entering this state.
They can also be indications of a serious medical condition affecting your CNS.
It's most likely the former. The answers are out there.
Good luck.
Swiftspear I've also experienced what you explained however it's usually accompanied by trying to cry out for help but finding your voice has been muffled and you can't make a sound. I suppose this is actually better though. My dad also gets these from time to time and I've heard him screaming in terror from his room. If my instinct wasn't that he was having a heart attack it would be quite funny.
Good luck.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are now controlling the transmission.
But I have had similar feelings of being floating, or falling, they mostly come from when I spent a major part of the day upsetting my balance senses (and I love to fall asleep to that feeling).
Most often when I been swimming for a long time I get the feeling of floating around, in some wierd way, and a few years back when I was in the kind of school that has swings, I used to use them, and then at night have a feeling of being jerked around to have free-fall a few seconds.
Not sure if that is similar to your feeling, but if it is, I suggest you enjoy it (or is the fear not just optional?).
On the topic of sleep paralysis, I read about it before, and it sounds like one of the worst things I can ever imagine. Sort of how I think it would be like to have a goa'uld inside your head...
I too have trouble sleeping tho, it usually take around 45 minutes before I fall asleep, if im really lucky its around 30. I think it is because I think to much, I simply cant let my brain relax, and when i am about to sleep I feel like I am so unproductive that I have to do something (aka get rly bored), which means I usually start to think about problems I need to solve.
It has a side-effect of me often solving those problems the next day, as when its the last thing I concentrate on before I fall asleep, my brain seem to put extra effort in analyzing it while I sleep.
Also works when I need to study before a test, if I do it the minutes before I go to bed, I remember everything much better.
lolfighter, you and me both with the falling asleep troubles. I'll often toss and turn for hours before being able to get to asleep. I've been like that all my life. Not going to go over well if I get this new job which may require waking up around 6:30....
ya, ###### is pretty bad, ###### with your mind, but its nothing threatening since its a regular function of the body which isnt just working as snappy as it should
its quite a read
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->what you call sleep paralysis , is something im very familar with.. its really hard for me to talk about that , but every time it happens, i know it will happen... it mostly happens when im sleeping on my side, or my belly. but i dont think its in the rem phase, like said once, because you fall into the rem phase several minutes after you fall asleep.
in my case it happens when i nap away for a half second.
it just happend yesterday to me. i was going ia bit earlier to bed to watch some tv.i wasnt tired or something. i can remember every second every time it happens. i can remember the comercials starting..the first spot ended, and the second folowed.. i napped away for a second, and felt this alarming easyheaded- dizzy feeling.. like im without wheigt everytime it happens, when im not able to snap out of this situation within a second it starts... im losing all feeling for my body.. its like someone puts your body into cotton batting first, and even that feeling fades away after a second..and then it happens ..
before ive went to a therapist, s.p. turned me almost into a insomnia zombie...
i got panic to fall asleep several nights after phases of s.p.
there is medication against the symptoms of s.p. , but when you stop to medication, the s.p. or "Old Hag" comes back more often, and lasts longer..so its like you getting addicted to the meds
The term "Old Hag" was and is still used to describe a demon, ghost, etc. that sits upon their victim's chest, causing paralysis and sometimes making it hard to breathe, the explanations for why an old hag would choose to do this is are as varied as the cultures on earth who experience it. Though nowadays most people who report experiencing SP claim to have never actually SEEN an old hag sitting on their chest, it's not hard to imagine why or how the legend began, and the term stuck. In the past 10 years, and especially the last 2, more and more people are learning that Old Hag actually has a name, Sleep Paralysis, and that is is being seriously studied by researchers around the world. And conversely, researchers are beginning to learn that this is not an isolated event, occurring to just a small percent of the population. Many people have experienced Sleep Paralysis but were just too afraid to mention it their doctor's, psychological or medical, and even leery about discussing it with friends or relatives. Now that the subject is becoming more understood, people are a lot more apt to come forward and talk about their experiences with Sleep Paralysis, and the more people that do so, the sooner scientists and researchers can find out about just what it is that's going on during an episode of Sleep Paralysis. And who knows, maybe the parapsychologists will need to be called in as well, because we all know, 'stranger things have happened."
while others credit the "Devil" himself and/or his minions, and if not that, then the classic "old hag" who sits on an unsuspecting sleeping person's chest, and upon their waking realize they are powerless to move. For what ends a hag would do this are as varied as the cultures on the planet.
The old hag does not always appear as a grotesque elderly matron.
Only in the last couple decades, and especially the last 10 or so years, have researchers begun to seriously study this bizarre happening. Nothing is as of yet in concrete, but we at least now have a solid place to begin. And I would like to further add, that although we may now have an explanation of the mechanics involved, it does not mean we know WHY or WHAT causes this strange phenomenon to occur, but only explains what is going on physically during an episode of sleep paralysis, or SP.
Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone about to fall asleep, or just upon waking from sleep, realizes that they are unable to move or speak, but can still breathe and move their eyes. I like to call this "half-asleep/half-awake" stage the "twilight" stage. Your conscious mind has begun to drift into sleep but is not yet there, therefore you still retain a small amount of your waking conscious. It is a very transitory stage indeed, and one that seems to leave you "open" to certain experiences you would not otherwise be receptive to when fully conscious or fully asleep. It is also accepted by most researchers that although this can happen in any sleeping position, it most commonly occurs in the supine position (laying on your back).
Once the person realizes they are unable to move, they usually, but not always, leave this "twilight" stage and become fully awake, but still paralyzed. At this point the experience can go either way. The person may only experience a temporary paralysis, and after several seconds or up to a minute or so would then regain their movement and the event would be over. Researchers believe many people experience this at one point in their lives.
But the other scenario is much more frightening. Upon realizing one is paralyzed, a whole gamut of hallucinations may occur. Many people report hearing, seeing, and/or sensing a person or people in the room with them while they are paralyzed. There is also the common experience of a usually sensed, malevolent presence (or SMP). Note that not all sensed presences are felt as being malevolent, but very frequently they are. These SMP's usually seem to be just out of view of the person experiencing the SP, who from here on in I will refer to as the 'subject', for the sole purpose of easily identifying the one experiencing the SP. As a frequent sufferer of sleep paralysis, I know that for me its relatively rare to have an episode complete with the SMP, but t does happen, and when it does, it is terrifying. The SMP is so incredibly intimidating and I feel that this very evil, terrible "thing" is just right outside my field of vision, and if I weren't paralyzed and was able to turn my ahead just an inch or so, I would be able to see this horrid thing. At least, that's the feeling I get, and other sufferer's of SP have reported the same.
Sometimes it is reported that the subject feels crushed, smothered, or pushed into the bed. There are auditory hallucinations as well. A voice or voices may be heard, as well as footsteps. A loud buzzing noise is sometimes reported.
Out-of-Body experiences are also frequently reported with SP, along with the sensation of floating and sometimes of "falling" through the bed.
During SP a person may try to cry out or "fight" the presence they believe is responsible for causing them to be paralyzed. This has never helped me nor anyone else I've ever heard of, but somehow we have the innate feeling that we must "fight" this feeling. Usually movement returns slowly, usually within a minute or so.
These hallucinations are called hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations. These hallucinations are given these names because they occur at the onset of sleep, and the period just before waking, the period I call the 'twilight' stages of sleep. They can be auditory, visual, tactile and proprioceptive. A proprioceptor is a sensory receptor found mainly in the joints, muscles, tendons and inner ear that detects motion and can also can detect the position of a limb by responding to internal stimuli. This means when a person feels smashed into the bed or a creature is sitting on their chest that it really can be a VERY convincing hallucination. So I'd say that is possibly one of the single greatest arguments for a pro-"it's all in your mind" stance on SP. Because of proprioceptors we can feel as though we're falling through the bed, even though we actually are lying quite stationary, it can be among the most convincing of all hallucinations.
From my 'research into other people's research' I have found a few people ('people' meaning doctor's studying sleep research and/or their students contributing to the research) that agree that there are or can be several outside contributing factors to SP. Stress, emotional or physical, and one you have no power over, adolescence. The first time I heard this I automatically thought about the correlation between poltergeists and adolescent children, pre-pubescent or pubescent. Of course my train of thought ended there because I have no specialized skills in psychology, parapsychology or kids.
It is very hard to believe it is a hallucination, but, after all, that's what a hallucination proper is. This, however, does not make the experience any less terrifying. While it is happening it feels pretty damn real! And remember, this is not written in stone. This is scientific theory, not scientific fact. Who's to say these experiences aren't real? Or for that matter, more real than anything we've ever experienced? Maybe they can be so terrifying because it's a reality experienced on a totally different level. So who's to say these aren't angels here to show us another place? Maybe our fear is the totally normal and understandable fear of not wanting to leave our physical bodies. Maybe it's NO ONE showing us anything, maybe we are doing the looking and the searching all on our own. And then again, maybe it's just all in our heads.
Or conversely, something altogether more sinister. Maybe it is something so innately evil, even if we want to 'go with the flow' and see where the experience takes us, the deepest part of our minds will not let us, perhaps because we somehow already know of this nemesis. Who knows, maybe it's just gas. And maybe it's not, hmmm.
Some researchers at Waterloo University have done some of the most intense research on SP. They have studied the REM dream states and compared them to SP with hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, (or HHE's) and have found some interesting results. While we are dreaming in a normal REM state, our minds send out a message to our body's to cease our normal motor functions, our muscles "turn off" in a sense, so that we do not act out our dreams. This keeps us from possibly doing damage to ourselves or those around us. While in an REM state, we are experiencing stimuli manufactured from within our own minds, effectively "tuning out" the world around us.
REM SP with HHE's differ from a normal period of REM in two significant ways. 1.) There is little or no blocking of external stimulation, and 2.) the sufferer of SP regains full conscious, whereas they were in the "twilight" stage of sleep, i.e. sleep onset or sleep offset, and instead of falling into a deeper sleep state, regain consciousness but continue to 'dream'. Researchers believe the paralysis is due to the failure of the brains neurons to "remind" the body it is now awake so it is unable to move (called muscle atonia). And remember, not only is the person unable to move, but they are also "dreaming while awake", a condition that is very confusing and frightening. The hallucinations they encounter seem every bit as real as you sitting in front of the computer right now. This theory seems wrong to me, or at least it doesn't seem to apply to my SP. Dreams are very distinct, they have an obvious 'surrealness' about them, whereas my SP is a totally different thing. It's hard to explain, but if you've experienced SP, I KNOW you know what I mean. (right?!)
During these episodes of hallucinogenic SP, the mind is not only accepting outside stimulation, but is also 'warping' it in much the same way as our dream states warp information. Its a melding of the two worlds, only the subject is not asleep.
It is not hard to see why demons, devils, and other beasties of the night have been blamed for these nocturnal 'attacks'. Virtually all cultures with a written or oral history has some kind of form of SP they have reported, and with that a usually very colorful explanation as to why these things happen. But if you're of an occult mind, or just an open one, it's also not hard to see why scary folk of the night would take advantage of us while in such a vulnerable position. Either way, legend and lore abounds. SP is more commonly known as Old Hag, and the origin for this title may have roots as far back as the Sumerians. Ardat lili or Lilitu, an evil hag-demon, was said to have the power of flight, which she preferred to do at night when she would attack men in their sleep. This seems a very obvious reference to the original Lilith, who refused to lay on her back when laying with Adam, and was therefore thrown out of Eden for a more suitable (docile) mate for Adam. After she was thrown out of Eden a myriad of things happened, depending on who you hear tell it, but a few things remain constant, Lilith flew away and is now the eater of children, hers and others alike. (If they be her children, we at least know which position they were not bore. Ha.) She is a disgusting old hag, (aren't all women who do not marry and obey they're men?!!) who now flies over the land at night seeking revenge for being thrown out of Eden.
But this myth is hardly unique, as many she-devils and hag-demons have, over time, made their presence known in mythology. They take credit for the nocturnal assaults for one reason or another.
Surprisingly, though, is the consistency of such reports made by societies and cultures with no previous knowledge of each other or their lore. The main details remain constant. A man or woman is attacked during the night, usually lying on their back, when an evil entity sits upon their body, causes paralysis, and even sometimes chokes or smothers it's victim. Though their motivation may differ, (possession, revenge, or just wanting to upset the living) the attack remains strikingly similar. And these stories are not limited to Western cultures, in fact, quite the contrary. In Thailand people refer to being Phi um (ghost covered) and phi kau (ghost possessed), and these experiences include a feeling of pressure, paralysis, and something black covering the body. In Japan, kanashibara ("to tie with an iron rope") is a common known and accepted experience. In the Far North one speaks of agumangia (Inupik) or ukomiarik (Yupik) in which "a soul" tries to take possession of the paralyzed victim. In Laos, da chor is described as follows: "You want to listen, you can't hear; you want to speak, you are dumb; you want to call out, you cannot; you feel you are dying, dying; you want to run away. You **** with fear in your sleep"<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No, I don't really have a problem with falling asleep. As long as I got to sleep at like 00:30 or 01:00 I sleep just fine. But if I go to sleep at like 23:00, I'll remain awake for a while. Quite simply I just go to bed a little later than most people, and (ought to) get up a little later as well. As long as I'm allowed to set my own sleeping schedule I have no problems at all.
Just don't panic, take it easy.
I have it when falling asleep when reading a book, my mind goes from reading the story to continuing the story in some dream state <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia" target="_blank">(Hypnagogia?)</a>, I realize it's not the book and I wake up with feeling like I was going to fall off the side of the bed.
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk" target="_blank">"Hynic Jerk" article on Wikipedia</a>
"If you lose sleep because you constantly jerk awake, you will become fatigued and may develop anxiety or worry about falling asleep. The more worried and tired you are, the more likely you are to jerk awake. The more you jerk awake, the more sleep you lose."
In short, try not to worry about it. Worrying is the only dangerous thing about it.
Believe it or not you can get round it. My physio said yes it's true, sleeping at irregular patterns and sleeping so little will stop my long-term recovery and looking after of my crippling back, so yeah it does deteriorate your health slightly from what I can gauge.
However one thing my physio did say is sleeping for shorter periods actually helps improve your overall health, all you do is make yourself as tired as possible, sleep the 4 hours, then work, then after work you should have tired yourself out for another 4 hours. Stay up until you then need your 4 hours, work, repeat. That way you get yourself in to the routine and I've been working on that for a year, I'd say 2 out of 5 working days I CAN do this, the other 3 I can't sleep until gone 2/3AM still regardless. However, 2 days is better than none.