Floating dream

I had this dream last night. I used to have them a lot, especially when I was doing my graduate work in philosophy. The thing is, I don't know if I should call it a dream, or a different kind of awareness.

In the "dream", I float around the room that I am in. It's like I rise out of my bed, bump into the ceiling, spin around like a leaf, and come back down again, only to go back up. I also feel like I have some control over my movements, like when I can move up and down.

The reason why I'm not sure it's a dream in the traditional sense is that I feel like I'm half awake when this is happening.

Just an fyi, I'm usually skeptical of out of body experiences and the like, but wouldn't rule out anything at this point.

If anyone has any insight or comments about what this could mean I would appreciate it.

I had to say, it sounds more like some kind of an OOBE. I have some times where I can float straight up, but usually no control or sight. Can you see during this? I think it is not a dream. I guess you can call it what you want to. Dreams usually have some sort of plot to them, inspired by your sub-concious. If you are just floating around then (and just so happen to be right outside your body) really I think it is something else. Might not be Astral Projection, but still. I've had things that I label as OOBE, but I wouldn't call it AP or EP, not sure what it is. But I think you can pretty much say that this is not a dream.

It can also be sleep paralysis, which is often the real explanation for "OOBEs" -- which I don't believe have any actual scientific proof yet. Though I could be wrong.

The false "OOBE" is a frequent symptom of sleep paralysis. There's a bit about it here: en.wikipedia.org...

Thanks so much for both your inputs. I'm pretty sure it's not sleep paralysis, unless it's of a different kind than I read about. I don't feel paralyzed or unable to move in any sense. Quite the contrary actually, I feel like I can't help but "float around" the room.

Whether this is an OOBE, I'm not too sure about that either. But, there's more in heaven and on earth, right?

Originally posted by MajorMalfunction
It can also be sleep paralysis, which is often the real explanation for "OOBEs" -- which I don't believe have any actual scientific proof yet. Though I could be wrong.

The false "OOBE" is a frequent symptom of sleep paralysis. There's a bit about it here: en.wikipedia.org...

Are you saying that OOBE is a symptom and not an experience? If that was the case why is it not an OOBS. Out of body symptom. Me and you are talking about two different things here.

You could just as well say that dreams are false and are merely symptoms of REM sleep. I just wanted to point out that we are talking about two different things.

Toromos, you experienced floating outside of your body, there is no real need to find a generalization for it. Most every experience is unique. I just thought it was understood that OOBE may well be hallucinatory.

Uh, no, actually. OOBEs SEEM to be outside the body, but there is no proof that one actually does go outside the body.

Did you read the wiki article on it? It talks about sleep paralysis and OOBEs.

Sleep paralysis is very strange, I've had it happen to me -- and yes, I had an "OOBE" during the period I was experiencing SP.

I went to sleep, woke up with a shock, and the ceiling was apparently two inches from my nose. I began to "go out and up" into blackness faster and faster, and panicked. With a supreme effort of will I "went" back to my body and sat up.

There were certain telltale visual effects that helped me to understand I was hallucinating -- very similar to visuals from certain hallucinogens that I learned about in my checkered past.

I am not convinced in any way that there is a "spirit" or "soul" that can leave the body, I am more impressed with the brain's ability to make up scenarios to fit strange experiences with hypnopompic and hypnagogic hallucinations.

Since experience is written into the brain as it happens, it doesn't make sense to me that a person can actually be "outside their body" and have memories of it.

I wouldn't dismiss a rational explanation for something "mysterious" until I'd actually researched it and read up on it.

Well I totally agree with that MajorMalfunction. I'm not here to tell anybody what is what, so I apologize. And if he truly wants more he can find more articles on the internet. I do think that me and you are looking at it from two very different perspectives yet it's really not important for us to sort out.