Free-falling sensation in bed

Sometimes in bed I wake up to this free-falling sensation that makes me feel like I fell from somewhere and just woke up. Has anybody experienced this? What is causing this?
Thank you.

reply to post by sphinx551


Yes. The general consensus is that this feeling is your astral self falling back into your body.

Or at least that's the explanation I am familiar with.

Really?

I've had that feeling, although I'm sometimes awake---more or less anyway.
I never had any notion of leaving the astral plane.
I do believe in a universal consciousness, but know little of astral travel.

And, I've always wanted to know what that falling feeling meant.
Kinda like you're gonna fall out of bed.
(Although I do think I've had that feeling once or twice standing.)

yeah i get that alot... its the number one reason i wake up at night. I used to have that mind exploision thingy but then it turned into me having dreams where suddenly id just lose my balance and freefall and wake up.

reply to post by sphinx551


Hey man nice avatar.Ya you think that's bad? You know how when you're just lyin there, almost asleep and bam, you jerk to that falling sensation.
Well ever since I was kid that happens to me when I'm just walking down the street. No joke, I can be strolling along got my swagger goin all
of a sudden BAM. Really sucks when I go out to eat. Never been allowed in bars for to long either.

I get this too. I have to put the cover over my face or it won't stop happening.

I have experienced this my whole life.

When I was younger and sharing a room with my brother, he noticed it at times because I physically jerked then popped up awake. It happened in a car trip, I jerked so violently my mom swerved.

More recently, it happened and my arm went up and landed on my girlfriends stomach waking her up. she thought I hit her.

I've always wondered what it is...

I get it a lot, but it has a more mundane explanation.

When you sleep, your brain releases a hormone that paralyses your body so that you don't act out your dreams and harm yourself. Sometimes you wake up before the antagonizing hormone kicks in to undo the paralysis, this why you can experience "sleep paralysis". Other times, you wake up somewhere in between when you're muscles are extremely relaxed, just as it's starting to make it's rounds in your body you regain consciousness and it gives the sensation of falling.

The physiological term for the phenomena is hypnagogic jerk.

The sensation of falling is the most common manifestation of Hypnagogia. Nothing paranormal about it, its simply a side effect of the brain secreting the chemicals associated with sleep.

Gustatory, olfactory and thermal sensations in hypnagogia have all been reported, as well as tactile sensations (including those kinds classed as paraesthesia or formication). Sometimes there is synaesthesia; many people report seeing a flash of light or some other visual image in response to a real sound. Proprioceptive effects may be noticed, with numbness and changes in perceived body size and proportions, feelings of floating or bobbing, and out-of-body experiences. Perhaps the most common experience of this kind is the falling sensation, and associated hypnic jerk, encountered by many people, at least occasionally, while drifting off to sleep.

[edit on 11/20/2009 by defcon5]

Yeah I get that sensation quite frequently as well - when i'm just about to fall asleep or its what causes me to wake up. Let me ask this; has anyone else had a similar experience where during a vivid dream you pounce up out of bed, in a sort of more-asleep-than-awake state and fully awakened to find yourself in the bathroom? Not truly Sleep walking but still dreaming - weird as hell.

Originally posted by iamsupermanv2


I've always wondered what it is...

I really think it's a end-phase of a "Out of Body Experience" but I am not really sure. It also could be the brain playing tricks. I do not know.
That is why I am asking.

I have that when I am right on the verge of sleep. Like I can feel myself drifting off and losing focus and then all of a sudden it feels like the end of my bed disappeared and I just fell backwards. I hate when it happens because it is scary as hell because when right on the edge of dreaming I think that I really am falling backwards and that I am going to die.

Originally posted by randyvs
reply to post by sphinx551

 

Hey man nice avatar.
Ya you think that's bad?

1. Thank you
2. No, I think it's neutral. Not necessarily good or bad. Also strange but interesting when it happens.

I have been doing the free fall jerk kick and swing my arms thing I know for at least 45 years.....I'd go to sleep at my desk at school and once kicked the desk in front of me into the wall in study hall..... The teacher told me that it was common for students to do that and it was one reason why she sat at the back of the class room..... I still jerk and wake up usually just after going to sleep..

Originally posted by sphinx551
Sometimes in bed I wake up to this free-falling sensation that makes me feel like I fell from somewhere and just woke up. Has anybody experienced this? What is causing this?
Thank you.

I have experienced it , i would imagine most people have at some point.
.................

What is causing it ?

The best answer i`ve heard is that , whilst asleep, as your muscles relax , this relaxation/lack of tension gets interpreted by the brain as ` falling` . The sudden jolt experienced after the falling sensation, is the result of your muscles tensing up .

On the few occasions that i have experienced this falling sensation it has been morning time or at least close to my usually waking hour.

Does this only happen during a particular phase of sleep ?

There surely have been studies on this , or it at least has come up in sleep studies . There may be some info online .

reply to post by OptimusBob


I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but I remember back when I was around 6 years old, I had this falling sensation, went back to sleep.

Woke up about 15 minutes later, started getting up getting ready to go to my Nana's. Turned on the light, woke my brother up told him he better hurry and get ready...he blew me off and went back to sleep. I got up, unlocked the front door, started walking out and my mom stopped me. I told her she told me to get ready and go.

She then said..no I didn't. and put me back in bed.

The next day, we were all at my Nana's and I overheard her telling my family about it and she was genuinely freaked. I wasn't sleep walking as far as she could tell, I was fully concience, and even took forever to get back to sleep.

but was that along the same lines of what you are talking about?

Originally posted by HankMcCoy

 

 

Not sure how my post was off topic, as I gave information related to this thread AND pointed out that another user gave INCORRECT information, as is usual on ATS. Not ONLY that, but I also supplied the REASON it happens..

And so THIS post isnt off topic, I will repost that information.

Hypnagogic jerks are the cause of your condition and are made worse by ingesting caffeine.


[edit on 20-11-2009 by HankMcCoy]

Originally posted by sphinx551
Sometimes in bed I wake up to this free-falling sensation that makes me feel like I fell from somewhere and just woke up. Has anybody experienced this? What is causing this?
Thank you.

Hey, there. That would certainly freak me out if it happened to me all the time!

There are actually 6 homeopathic remedies that cover that symptom.

belladonna
bismuth
digitalis
guaiacum
phosphoricum acidum
sanguinaria

You could go to a naturopathic physician or a homeopath in your local area for a cure, if it really bothers you a lot. He or she will take a complete homeoapathic interview, and can then pick the correct remedy that will cure the symptom.

Good luck!

Originally posted by sphinx551
I really think it's a end-phase of a "Out of Body Experience" but I am not really sure. It also could be the brain playing tricks. I do not know.
That is why I am asking.

That's pretty much what the two people above are calling hypnogogic jerk or state. It's pretty common.

On the other hand, if this is happening, as some of you described OFTEN, or while you're walking you should really check it out with a doctor. Unless you smoke a lot of you should not be experiencing this in daily life. There's a small chance it could be some type of minor epilepsy, such as temporal lope epilepsy, etc.