Paralysis

COMMENTARY NON-LUCID DREAM LUCID DREAM Asleep: 11:45 <PERSON>: 3:26, 4:46, 6:25, 7:15ish Awake: 8:30 Tech: MILD, WBTB + MILD, WBTB Dreams: 2 <PERSON>: 0 (read on, I had an experience that is hard to fit into a category) 1. Fragmentary recall - I am at the restaurant where I work part-time. While my usual co-workers are there working, there are also beds (or at least 1 bed?) in the restaurant. I remember speaking with my manager at one point about being hungry and eating and she tells me that I cannot sit at the usual section to eat because it is still to early in the night and we are busy. Nevertheless, she gives me the "early section" that is usually empty before the others. I go there and there is a bed. It is in the far back corner of the restaurant. Around 8:56 dream time (I thought we closed at 9:00pm), I decided I needed to make the bed so I could leave? I remember struggling to do that, and it was taking much longer than I thought so I did not think I would finish by 9:00. (Memory Blank) I then got desert which was a huge plate of cookie cake served with ice cream and ate it on the bed while talking to 3 of my co-workers. I kept seeing their eyes look towards the bowl so eventually I went and grabbed three forks (or spoons?) and let them have the rest. One guy, <PERSON>, seemed to eat the rest of the cookie cake in one bite. 2. This was either a lucid moment or very vivid HH. I am not an expert on the terms so maybe someone can clarify. I woke up as T was leaving for work and used the restroom. Then I laid down and did MILD. I was tired and started experiencing visual HH. Suddenly, I am walking out of a restaurant. I see my friend <PERSON> having dinner with a girl. Although we make eye contact and I wave, he does not seem to recognize me. After I exit the restaurant, I am walking through the parking lot and I see my best friend from high school and his girlfriend. They also do not seem to recognize me. This strikes me as really weird and I think to myself that maybe this is a dream. I try to do an RC but I feel sleep paralysis and this attempt at movement causes me to "wake up". After writing tags for this "dream", I tried to fall back asleep and I entered sleep paralysis 4 times. It seemed like if I stayed still for 20 seconds I would enter full paralysis. <PERSON> always freaks me out so each time it happened I struggled to move my head/neck until the paralysis broke. Next time I will try to stay calm and enter a dream. Notes - Regardless of whether that 2nd "dream" was a lucid dream or vivid HH, I am still really happy. The other lucid dream I had came as a result of "just knowing" I was dreaming. This experience involved reasoning and questioning reality, deciding I might be dreaming, and attempting to test my state with a reality check! This occurred after a MILD attempt, so I think I will stick with MILD It seems it does not give me insomnia anymore when I do it "lightly" and in a relaxed way.