Re: Physical movement in sleep

Luna · Post by **Luna** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:44 am

Last night I had just gone to sleep and I entered a dream straight away. I was walking up a set of stairs with my husband and son when I tripped!! I almost became lucid but I woke up because I actually moved my physical leg. Why did that happen? SP hadn't kicked in already?

Post by **Summerlander** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:58 pm

It had kicked in but muscle atonia was most likely wearing off. Either that or you moved a phantom limb!

Whatever the case, I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Mind that metaphysical set of stairs next time!

Post by **Michael Raduga** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:19 pm

Summerlander wrote: It had kicked in but muscle atonia was most likely wearing off. Either that or you moved a phantom limb!

I'm agree with this.

I'd better think at that moment about getting the state back immediately

Luna · Post by **Luna** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 12:07 am

I actually kicked my husband when my leg moved. I did ask him at the time if he felt me kick him and he replied yes. I read your replies and thought "ooh I might have asked him in the phase!!!" so I asked him again yesterday and he still said yes I kicked him.

Post by **Summerlander** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:04 am

Yes, it's good to ask again in waking life.

12padams · Post by **12padams** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:30 am

Hey Luna,

If you don't already know what you experienced is known as a hypnic jerk. You can find out about these here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk

I used to have them almost every night as a kid... You always enter the dream quickly then you trip and when you hit the ground in the dream it feels like you fall and land on your bed.

Just be glad your not suffering from the tetris effect... People experience these jerks constantly and then can't get to sleep because they fear it happening again. The more they fear. It the more it happens and the worse their insomnia get... So yes what you experienced can be deadly if it happens often.

Post by **Summerlander** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:28 am

It wasn't a hypnic jerk because those are experienced at the onset of sleep (hypnagogic state) and bring you abruptly back to wakefulness. It is common in people who are hesitant about falling asleep and possibly the result of the brain mistaking relaxation signals for falling.

Luna's leg movement happened after a full-fledged dream. The fact that she tripped in the dream is quite significant as it may have triggered a fight-or-flight response that ejected her from the dream state and woke her up.

As it happens, you can imagine the amygdala sending impulses to the brainstem thus triggering the mechanisms that bring about the release of adrenaline - which is enough to break REM atonia in a split second especially when it's wearing off (as I said in my previous post).