Me and sleep paralysis are old frenemies. I'm willing to risk it.

This is a big part of why I don’t nap anymore.

I was napping on the couch one time and I started having this lucid dream about meeting up with someone.. idk it’s kinda fuzzy now, it’s been a long time. Anyway it was one of those super emotionally charged dreams, even tho I’m pretty sure I didn’t actually know the person.

So I started trying to wake myself up. What was happening is that I was waking up… only to find I was still asleep and get returned to that same scene. Dozens upon dozens of times. I could feel my actual body uncomfortably on the couch, unable to move, but my mind was stuck in this reoccurring dreamscape.. I’d do things like intense exercise to check my pulse, breathe in water to see if I drowned, check clocks and text for consistency.. anything to confirm I was still sleeping so I could try to wake up once more.

It gave me weird feelings for a while after, not just about sleep, but it made me feel weirdly about being awake. Being stuck like that, knowing I was asleep and not able to do anything about it.. I still lucid dream sometimes, but I haven’t practiced in a while, and never naps.

My most lucid ever dream turned into a terrifying figure of a witch/crone slamming me in the chest while screaming "you're not supposed to be here!" And waking me up. Scared the shit out of me. Didn't try again for a few years. Everything was fine, but as soon as the woman in the field saw that I was lucid she changed. On several occasions dream characters had become irritated with me when they realized I was lucid, but that one... She made me afraid to sleep again. I know that's not rational, and I know there's nothing actually supernatural going on... But damn did it freak me out