In one of the lucid dreaming books I am reading, it has been observed that waking early, staying up for a couple hours, then going back to sleep can be more likely to trigger a lucid dream. That is what I did this morning, but not intentionally for the purpose of having a lucid dream. I was up about 5:30 am because my kid was up, then went back to sleep around 8:00 because his mother got up.
I was asleep on the couch, and across from me was my fiance holding the kid. I came into a sort of sleep paralysis state, but anymore I do not become panicked. I often slip back into a dream state that I confuse for my waking state. Lately, I have not been becoming aware that this pseudo-awake state is a dream.
When it happened this morning, I could see her and my kid on the chair. I believed that I did actually open my eyes and see them for maybe a second, then slipped back into a highly aware dream state. I was trying to raise my hand to get her attention and kind of mess around with her, because at the time I thought I was in a sleep paralysis state and actually making my body do these things in reality for her to see. Looking back, I realize this movement was all a dream - in reality I was lying still asleep on the couch.
When I raised my hand, I could feel a vibrational energy. I have felt this vibrational energy before, but it is usually very chaotic and unpleasant, and felt throughout my entire body in a sleep paralysis state. But this time I could feel it in my hand when I raised it, and it wasnt unpleasant.
Next, I used both hands and raised them in the air, palms facing each other. I could feel the energy vibrating, controllably, in the area between my hands. If I pulled my hands farther apart, the energy would increase. I would do this, increase the energy to a higher level, then "let go". When I did this, something happened. I for some reason cant recall the full details of the effect, but I do remember it made me feel very good and more aware in the dream state, and also changed my surroundings into more of a dream state. From what I remember I did this at least a couple of times.
One of the strange things about this experience is, that when it was actually happening I remember enjoying the way the energy would "charge me", but it wasnt amazing or suprising to me that I could do this. It wasnt amazing to me until I actually woke up and looked back on what happened.
The way I woke up was finding myself in another aware sleep paralysis state, and moaning a weird noise that I am actually able to make audible in waking reality. I intentionally do this as a signal for my fiance to wake me up - ive done it numerous times before and when I do she knows what is going on with me and to wake me up. She thinks Im a complete nut case though.
This is also listed on my other blog, a much more serious and in depth collection of lucid dreaming info
thelucidmind.blogspot.com