conscious Oobe....It's Real!!, page 6

Originally posted by instar
One of my few totally serious replies.
Often when i go to bed and im drifting off, ill suddenly be wakened by a violent involuntary movement of my body, as though ive fallen on the bed.
Im sure im not physically levitating as i sleep, afterall, my wife would surely have noticed at least once. So your thread made me wonder if the normal leaving of the body, if indeed its normal, is being suddenly interupted when this happens? Ive experienced these for many years, once i awoke in the same manner with such a violent wrenching of my neck, i had to wear a brace for nearly two weeks. However at the time I was living in a house that was to say the least "occupied" by the unseen, possibly malovelent unseen, such was the feeling/atmosphere of the place. This may or may not of had something to do with that particular experience, and it was ,to date, one of a kind,

Hi Instar and Group....first posting; interesting forums to be sure.
What you've been experiencing, Instar, is called a "myoclonic jerk" or simply, the contraction of several major muscle groups, the cause of which is still being researched by sleep scientists (me: retired). I've put a couple of links at the end for you to follow-up.
Some folks have it real bad; contracting so violently that they injure themselves, as you did once, or their sleeping partners (usually a sign that it's time in the marriage to consider seperate sleeping rooms

....to those who might experience it once or twice. Also, a lesser "jerk" is quite normal; so much so that we don't usually notice it...one's perception of one's body can "fall away" quicker than one's stream of consciousness, if you will, and we just don't realize it when it happens.
From my experience in the lab, they usually happen in the transition between hypnogogic pre-sleep and "formal"(stage 1) sleep.
The incidence seems to increase if the S (you) has had a particularly physical day of activity or, if one is under a lot of stress. One theory postulates the possibility that the myoclonic jerk is nothing more than the stored up energy/stress, being released spontaneously and dramatically as the muscle tonus levels decrease normally as one falls asleep. So, in response to your query about the possible linkage between your own recurring spasms and OOBEs or "in reaction" to one's leaving one's physical body, I'd have to give a cautionary, "probably not".
Having studied OOBEs in the lab, I can say that the brainwave pattern, "typically", is quite different, comparing Stage 1 sleep and OBEs. That's not to say there -isn't- a link between the spasms and pre-OBE consciousness, not at all, but your own particular discription strikes me more as the former (typical pre-sleep-to-sleep transition State), rather than the latter.
Just IMO and hthelps:

but I digress.
Often there appears to be no sound or other disturbance to account for these "interruptions" , they just happen, after which i drift off to sleep.
If these are indeed aborted experiences of the nature you posted about,
why are they happening at all? I have never made any concious effort to "astral travel". I might mention that I seldom ever dream or remember dreaming. Could it be that i am elsewhere?

Just a quick comment so that there's no confusion about the matter:
all mammals dream: as you properly add, it is one's ability to recall them that is the primary variable. Try this sometime, set your alarm for an hour and a half after you anticipate falling asleep, if you can do so without lousing up the test in anticipation

), and I damn near guarantee you'll awaken at the alarm with wisps of recall from your first of 4 or 5 REM periods for the night.

Im a very down to earth kinda guy, I dont swallow the fantastic as a matter of course and I am not ruling out some odd medical condition causing this, although im of a smoker of average health.
feel free to share your thoughts/theorys, i am broadminded.

Cheers and happy floating!
bubbabak

Search on "myoclonic jerk":
hxxp://www.medhelp.org/forums/neuro/archive/11725.html
hxxp://www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq/part2/section-5.html

Bandit: Edited quote

[edit on 15-12-2004 by TheBandit795]