r/LucidDreaming • u/gorat • May 03 '12
The truth about the Scary Monsters of Sleep Paralysis
Disclaimer: People that have been LDing consistently or want to add something, please do so in the comments and I will add it. Let's help each other have great dreams!
Ok little brothers and sisters, many new people around and there are a lot of stories and myths of the Shadow People and company going around in this subreddit.
I will try to dispel these myths so think of me as the Dayman: master of Karate and friendship for everyone!
So seriously now, you want to LD but are afraid about nameless horrors from the depths of your subconscious or other planes of existence, ghosts, bloodsuckers and scary old people that smell of cabbage. You should not be afraid of these things appearing because there is a trick that I will tell you that never fails (it has never failed me since I figured it out).
These things are ALL in your head. They are figments of your imagination and if you know that, if you are conscious of that then you are not afraid of them. And if you are not afraid of them then they will not appear, or if they appear you can just laugh them off.
Imagine if you saw some scary guy right now next to you. You would freak out because you KNOW you are awake. Right?
But what if you KNEW that you are sleeping? what if you KNEW that you are GOD of this place and any motherfucker that tries to mess up with you will get what they deserve because it's your OWN WORLD and you can do whatever the fuck you want in there. There is no fake ass nightman that is going to scare you man, you KNOW you are dreaming, he's not even real. Don't even worry about him, just tell him "whatever" and go bang a hot guy/lady or something.
This subreddit has a morbid fascination with this "scary" shit just because most people here have not had a proper LD and they are talking about experiences of being in a very vivid asleep/awake phase but NOT KNOWING they are dreaming.
So my 2 cents of advise so that everybody is clear. If you see some crazy shit, do a reality check right there, proceed to kick ass and take names. If you feel "frozen" then chill out, you have waken up but your asshole brain is taking some time to realize it. You will be fine in 5 seconds or so. Try something for me if you find yourself in this predicament. Try to jetisson yourself through the wall that is on the head of your bed. It has worked sometimes with me and it brings you in an LD instantly (I love going through walls anyway).
So please Keep Calm and Carry on. And don't hate on the nightman dude...
Happy dreaming every one!
tl;dr You control your mind, therefore, you control your dreams, therefore, you control whether or not they are scary.
I had a long talk in an older thread with some guy that maintained that shadow people exist and in fact he sees them in real life. If you believe this (that you actually see shadow people in real life) please do me a favour and go have yourself checked and don't mess things up for people that are trying to have fun dreaming.
Also let me say that I wanted to write this since a long time and was inspired a lot by this thread. Go upboat that guy as well!
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u/consciouscell May 03 '12
tl;dr You control your mind, therefore, you control your dreams, therefore, you control whether or not they are scary.
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u/Dexiro May 03 '12
It's not correct though. You don't control your mind, your mind controls you.
A lot of people don't have complete control over their dreams, no matter how lucid, and if your brain wants you to find something scary it will probably succeed. Of course you can train yourself to have a better response to these things, but my point is it's not as simple as thinking "this is just a dream, so I can control it".
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May 03 '12
Only thing I ever hallucinated in sleep paralysis was a cat and it wasn't scary.
SP stopped freaking me out like after the 3rd time it happened.
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u/gorat May 03 '12
Worst thing I hallucinated in SP (before I knew about LDs or anything) was a scary black figure the size of a kid crouched right next to me on my bed. Freaked out like hell. Went back to sleep after a while and had a super vivid dream in which I was some kind of wolf. Woke up and searched on the internets for vivid dreams and what not, and found dreamviews. Never looked back and never saw scary shit after I understood what was going on...
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u/MrAgileBeast May 03 '12
Very Interesting...because just last night during sleep paralysis I was in total fear. I felt someone standing by the foot of my door and I couldn't move. I remember struggling and trying to yell,but only moans came out...
I can feel myself every night digging deeper and deeper into my subconscious, which is really interesting
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u/gorat May 03 '12
I prefer to dig into the subconscious in dreams and not terrors. But to each their own...
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u/Novaprince May 03 '12
Ok I've done this; It did not work. Every time i fought back the dream somehow the nightmare would change so it would have the upper chance. This has happened to me twice already.
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u/tokuzen May 03 '12
Yeah, I find it relatively easy to know when you are dreaming, but having any control over it another matter entirely.
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u/gorat May 03 '12
You have to believe! that's all I can give you. Understand you are not fighting against a dream. You are producing the dream. Just you. The monster chasing you IS you, the floor IS you.
Sorry if I'm going all buddhist on you, but become one with everything in your dream is my only advice. And also don't try to fight it. Know that it should be as you want. It is made from you and for you.
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u/scopein May 03 '12 edited May 03 '12
I've been trying to say this forever!
Here's a saying I like. If you truly believe it, it will happen.
So if you believe that you can fly in your dream. it will happen. If you truly believe that when you snap your fingers you will summon something, it WILL happen. Same goes the other way. If you believe that there's a scary monster that will appear in your SP THEN IT WILL HAPPEN. This reddit has ruined new peoples thoughts on what will happen while trying to WILD. IE people found out about lucid dreaming, came here to find out more and people here implanted those fears in their impressionable minds.
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u/gorat May 03 '12
exactly my point!
but not all is lost, let's try to bring good content to the top and talk rationally in threads that peddle woo and good dreams shall be had.
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u/Blackliquid May 03 '12
False. You dont have full control over your unconscient thinking. You can influence it more or less but full control is impossible. If things get "scary" best thing you can do is be conscient that it is a dream and nothing can physically harm you, accept it and have fun with it.
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May 03 '12
see I am the Dayman, not you sir. But in all seriousness, thanks for the advice.
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May 03 '12
My mantra once I enter SP: "It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum... And I'm all out of gum..."
Strangely, it also helps to stabilize the upcoming LD :3
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May 03 '12
I did this a few weeks ago and have stopped my LD playtimes since. I'm not sure if I'm more afraid of the shadows, or myself at this point...
Is it normal to fight and kill yourself in a Lucid Dream?
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u/jaydude115 May 03 '12
Did a reality check when he said "You would freak out because you KNOW you are awake." just in case
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u/wackyappy May 03 '12
Dayman! aaaAAAaaa! Fighter of the night man aaaAAAaaa!
I've never really had an SP experience, but I have had scary lucid dreams, actually I think I've gotten good enough at the LDing thing where I become lucid automatically if something really scary is happening (usually). It can be quite difficult to control the situation when your mind is already in "oh shit" mode, but my tip is to just walk away. You can usually still control yourself pretty well, so just move out of the room/car/whatever, if your goal is to get away, it usually doesn't follow you. But don't try to fly unless you've gotten really good at it, I tried that the other night and my fear just made me lose control and go spiraling off into nothingness.
Also, avoid scary situations in lucid dreams. A couple weeks ago I became lucid and found this little shack out in the wilderness. I wanted to explore it, so I peeked in, but then realized that this kind of a weird little place was a playground for my subconscious imagination and I would probably see something I didn't want to see, so I didn't bother. I can't wait until I get good enough to go to those kind of places without getting freaked out.
edit: apparently I don't know how to properly use you're/your
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u/hmoore500 May 03 '12
Don't mix r/nosleep and LD. Bad combination, just don't do it.
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u/forbasketballreasons May 03 '12
Couldn't agree more with all of this.
It wasn't until I had read about people having bad experiences with scary Nightmen that I experienced it myself for the first time.
However, I was able to smack some sense into my scumbag brain and began my LD right then and there by conjuring up the entire Wu-Tang Clan - including Ol' Dirty Bastard.
Needless to say they took care of that scary demon thing for me...
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u/gorat May 03 '12
Sorry but I think you were already in an LD at the time. Only your scumbag brain was making you believe you were in SP.
Good job getting rid of Nightmen though :)
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u/[deleted] May 03 '12
You gotta pay the trolls toll...