I've never had this happen except once and it has me a little baffled. This just could be an odd dream, but my dreams are never like this. Around last august I had a dream where I felt someone ontop of me while I slept. I couldn't wake up or anything to get away from them. A few times I thought I had gotten up only to find myself sleep alseep unable to wake up. I did feel them well doing sexual things and I haven't had those type of dreams ever. Though before that dream and for weeks later I did feel like a spirit was in my room. I have heard mixed things about weither spirits can cause sleep paralysis I believe it's called.

Some have told me that it sounds like a spirit was doing this or that it was something with astral projection. Does anyone have any possible answers or theories.

Everybody has a different opinion regarding sleep paralysis. I believe that it's more likely to be a glitch in your sleep cycle than to be a spirit. Doesn't mean that I think that it couldn't be a spirit but my take on it is usually that it's a dream. I have had the problem of thinking that I woke up, or turned over, during a sleep paralysis episode only to find out that I haven't and the whole thing is starting over again. I also think that it's pretty normal to experience things in a sleep paralysis episode that your don't in your regular dreams. These things might well be in your regular dreams but because during sleep paralysis your mind is both dreaming and awake it leaves you disturbingly aware of the dream when you wouldn't ordinarily be during a normal sleep cycle. As you probably found out it's quite frightening. Just my theory, I'll be interested to see what other's think.

Sounds to me what you experienced was sleep paralysis (SP). SP is actually quite common. Though some ppl have only experienced it once or twice others have experienced it several times or never have. I've even read of ppl who have reported it occuring numerous times over a span of a few months, and in rare cases it will happen regularly off and on for years. I agree with Renee that SP is related to dreaming and sleep cycles. It's as if we are in the process of waking but somehow get stuck along the way, so we are dreaming yet partially awake. Which is why the episodes are so vivid and real. We see, feel and hear as if we are awake but yet are unable to move and even speak because we are still partially in a dream state. I don't believe I've ever read of a SP episode that wasn't frightening in some way. And rightfully so, the feeling of being held down or having someone sitting on your chest and your not being able to move or scream is an awful thing to experience. I've experienced this a few times in my life myself. Not fun. I've heard many ppl explain that they saw a being of some kind hovering above them, standing next to them, or actually sitting on them during the experience. A ghoulish looking creature is common as is an old woman or the old hag, some have seen a demon like face, a dark shadow and even an alien looking being have been reported. I have never seen anyone or anything above me, next to me etc though I have definitely had the feeling someone/thing was in the room with me a cpl of times when it happened. It was just a feeling though.

Although I think what we actually experience is related to being in that half dream state, I do think it's possible there may be times a spirit presence felt was because there was actually one there. I don't believe though that a spirit/ghost/entity is actually holding you down nor touching you in anyway. But there certainly are times when ppl experience that not alone feeling or sense a presence in the room while laying in their beds at night, be it before falling asleep or upon waking during the night. So it's possible that once you've awoken from the SP phase (your moving and know for certain your awake, even sitting up), and you feel your not alone, it's because your not. I feel spirit visits happen more often then we realize, not ghosts associated with hauntings or malevolent beings, but spirits of our loved ones visting or watching over us, or it could be a spirit guide. When we're laying in bed at night, especially if we awake in the middle of the night when everything is dead quiet and dark, our senses are more acute and we tend to focus in our surroundings more intently then we do when the sun is shining in the room, and the birds are singing and cars are moving outside etc. I'm not saying I think that's the case everytime someone has a SP episode, just perhaps there are instances when two different experiences happen at or near the same time. Just my opinion anyway. =)

Ah, now here's something I've had quite a bit of experience with. When I suffer sleep paralysis, it's usually caused by a hectic schedule that allows very little time for sleep. Mostly (this one often made me late for work) a dream of a bus/truck backing up & making that beeping noise which allows me to sleep through the alarm. During my pregnancy, I often had nightmares of my ancestors coming after me, their spirits holding me down, covering my mouth-I would struggle frantically to scream or move-anything to wake up-my husband would hear me breathing hard and come & wake me. I can even laugh now at the memory of a nightmare-I dreamed my mother died, my father had her buried in all her jewelry so me & my sisters wouldn't fight over them. I was so angry, I went to the cemetery & dug her up-I opened her coffin, reached around her neck to remove her necklace, her eyes opened & she began choking me & slamming my head into the side of the grave. It freaked my husband because he said I was sitting up & slamming my head into the wall & he had to throw me off the bed to wake me up. He took to sleeping on the couch after that. These kind of dreams & nightmares were triggered by a stressful job & lack of sleep. I started going to bed earlier & that seemed to help alot.
I've heard that spirts can haunt your dreams but I can't be sure if I've ever experienced it.
Fallen-not sure how to advise you except maybe to take a look into your day to day cycle & see if something is going on that would trigger it. No intent to make fun of your situation but if the sexual stuff is pleasurable, I'd probably being going to bed early every night. Hope things work out ok.

Pam

Thanks for the help. It actually happened around 7 or so in the morning so it wasn't like it was dark and my senses were acting different.

Also my sleeping pattern has always been crazy and nothing really out of the ordinary that I can think of that would even come close to being a cause for what happen.

Pam- hehe it was slightly enjoyable, but once I realize how real it felt and knowing that I couldn't wake up it stopped being pleasureable.

Thanks again.

Fallen I've been doing a little extra reading on SP in the last bit as I've been trying to sort out certain recurring dreams I have (posted in all things psychic). I see you mentioned this happened around 7 in the morning, so thought I'd mention that SP episodes can occur whenever we are sleeping be it during the night or day. I've read accounts where folks experienced it in the morning and saw a very creepy looking being hovering over them. Because it was daylight the thing they saw seemed even more real as it wasn't shadowed by the darkness.

I just re-read your first post, where you noted that you felt a spirit in the room with you before this dream and several times after. What did it feel like to you? Were you asleep and awoke to the feeling or did you have the feeling before or just as you were falling asleep? Have you had any other kind of activity or is there something that makes you feel there may be something in your home, besides that feeling you noted you have had while in your room? I've had a similar feeling in my recurring dreams (more noted in my post), and since we have had activity in our home off and on since we moved here, I have wondered if it was more than just a dream. =)

You also mentioned others thought it may be related to astral projection. Have you experienced an obe, or had dreams where you felt they may have actually been astral projection? Some say we all do this fairly often while we sleep, we just don't remember it. Certain flying dreams are at times associated to obe/ap as well. It depends what the dream content is, as at times flying dreams may also be our way of getting away from a problem/person etc. I've heard others describe that meeting or sensing another with you, which they recognized to be a spirit or entity of some sort, is sometimes part of what they experience during what they believe to be astral projection. Not saying that what you have experienced was AP, as I don't know that, just some food for thought that's all. =)

Pam, wow you have had some very scary and intense nightmares. It's good that you have been able to associate them with times of stress and lack of sleep. I feel it's always a good idea to consider what is going on in your life when you are trying to determine what your dreams mean.

FYI - moving the thread to All things Psychic forum, seeing it is related to dreams.

Cat - sorry I haven't gotten back to you earlier. When I feel spirits I typically get a sense of that they are there. Like all of a sudden I just know they are there, but then it goes into me being able to tell their sex and age range, only sometimes can I tell. On this spirit I felt a male presence and and age range around 20-30. I don't remember if before I went to bed or before the dream if I had felt a spirit. I do believe that it wasn't until I had the dream where I was aware of it being there.

I know that there are some in my house, but I don't often feel them. It's just in those odd moments where all of a sudden I feel that they are there. I cannot think of any kind of activity going on, but could be possible that something is going on, but I just am not in tune to notice it.

When it comes to dreams the only ones I can think of possibly being me astral projecting is ones that i cannot remember, but do remember waking up feeling like I jerk or was falling. Which I believe was me re-entering my body. other than that I haven't had dreams where I can pinpoint as me actually AP, but like you said we forget when we wake up.