[Bluegrass]

Originally Posted by parrai

I think this is the brain repairing/maintaining itself...

A lot of the time, one can wake up with a particular thought and it can be a transparent, perfectly thought out thought, in a split second of perfect understanding, then within seconds it's gone...

Brilliant/amazing/confusing, call it what you will, definately facinating

I get this at times too. This morning actually, in my dream something happened and I was thinking to myself (in the dream) and it all made perfect sense (no idea what it was, but i clearly did at the time). And I woke up and for a split second knew what I was thinking from the dream and still understood it, and then boom! Gone I was left wondering what it was I had been thinking about and just forgotten it straight away. Madness. Had some crazy dreams this morning actually

[DOK94]

I remember having this described sensation roughly four times in my life, 3 of which were around the age of 8. It felt like the room was expanding and moving around me as I was remaining still/ getting smaller.It usually caused confusion / fear as I was young, abit like claustrophobia,. in a way. One of the four times it occurred more viciously, it was during the day, think I was just napping, the next thing it felt as if my bed was hurtling towards one of the walls! It was so intense I leaped out of my bed screaming and crying,. When all had settled and I calmed down , I turned around to become aware I was in the sitting room and my sister just looked at me as if to say 'are you going out of your f'ing mind' ,and I almost burst into laughter, madness!

[Fear_an_tarbh]

Originally Posted by jenjr

...but it is so weird, and like you say, so familiar without being able to pinpoint what it is (a bit like a distant memory or something). To me its a bit like standing up against a wall (really close) but then feeling the great mass of space all around you, I get a slight panicky feel with it but nothing major. It really doesnt affect my life or anything but it would be interesting to know what it was all about

Yikes, I cant believe I stumbled on this thread, i used to get this when I was younger. Always when I was just falling asleep and sometimes able to control or prolong the 'dream'. In my case I would be holding a tiny plastic shape (like the thing that holds a clothes tag on, breaks when you pull off the tab), its in the shape of a hammer, about a cm long but feels like it has the weight of a huge lump hammer. It can be slightly discomforting to have so much weight or power in something tiny, or at times enjoyable.

There was also the sensation of a great white space all around, again sometimes discomforting, sometimes nice.

Im glad I found this thread and I'm clearly not the only person to experience this!

[rfrp]

its weird... i didnt know other people got this feeling too. i got that feeling today while i was lying in bed, but i also used to get it alot when i was younger.
i dont really like the feeling. i kinda scares me a little. maybe coz i dont know what it is.
while i'm lying in bed, if i start to think of an empty space, or if i concentrate on silence, i start to feel like i'm in this huge space, and i'm really tiny, but at the same time it feels like claustrophobic and everything feels crammed together. the feeling usually gets stronger and stronger, but it kinda freaks me out so i open my eyes and turn on my side.

[Noodles81]

I have experienced the exact same thing, mostly as a child while half asleep. Everything would rise up and I would shrink to this tiny thing but I'd still be aware I was in my bed, just suddenly small and out of proportion with everything else around me. It used to really freak me out and I remember on one occasion going up to my mam and sitting on her lap, trying to explain fretfully, as I was still experiencing it, but I couldn't articulate what was happening so she told me it must have been a bad dream. I felt very confused and it took a few moments to return to the room and to reality. I was about three at the time but I remember it clearly. I too have never spoken about it to anyone but it did happen again a few months back. I find it fascinating that others have experienced this too.

[Arpa]

Yep, have the same thing on occassion. Usually just before sleep. Also more frequent when younger.

Best way I can describe it is like lying on a large white plain...almost spongy to the touch, like gravity pressing me down on this plane but expanding at the same time. There is no discernible shape to my "being" during this sensation, just an awareness that it is my consciousness which is involved.

Something that I have associated with the feeling whether rightly or wrongly is the Michelin Man and/or the Ghostbusters Marshmallow Man. A feeling of bloatedness like an expanding head but as just easily willed to a retractive state.

I have never mentioned it to anyone as I thought it may just be me, but from this thread I see it is at least somewhat common.
Wonder if there is any medical or psychological base to this phenomenon?

[JJayoo]

Sounds similar to a DMT experience. It is hypothesised that DMT is produced in the Pineal gland during sleep and it causes us to dream. It's some funky ****.