Altered States...

[DÛke]

...

There are 5 stages of sleep. Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM (Rapid Eye Movement). As you sleep, the body cycles through these stages, starting in stage 1, and moving up to REM, where the body would spend most of its time. Then from REM, the body would cycle back to stage 1. This happens a couple of times during a normal period of sleeping.

REM is very light sleep. In this stage, the body is completely paralyzed. You will dream in this stage. Your eyes would move rapidly and repeatedly.

When you start on missing sleep, or not getting enough sleep, your body will strive to enter the REM stage. It will spend the very minimal time in each stage, and then spend a lot of time in the REM. In fact, sometimes, the body would sleep in REM right away.

It is still an enigma as to why the body likes the REM so much, or even more, why the body is paralyzed there.

Attempt this for a startling experience. When you're very, very exhausted for long periods of time...your body, again, will strive to enter the REM stage. When you're that tired, and when you plan to finally get some sleep, try to focus on staying awake. Play some entrancing music if you must. Keeping thinking on something if you want. Stay awake at all costs -- but lie down, and close the lights. Do not talk to anyone…

If you're as tired as you should be, and if you really have focused on not falling asleep, eventually, you'll feel very warm and smooth heat all over your feet. This heat would, very slowly, climb up to your whole body. You wont feel its progression, but you'll feel it when it's there. If you're still up by now, it will feel to you as if you haven't any legs. You wont notice that right away unless you think about it...

If somehow you resisted the temptation to sleep by now, you'll experience the most amazing thing. Waves upon waves of heat and force will eventually force you to lie down still, if you resist, it'll feel as if you are resisting something, as if someone trying to nail you to the bed. If you don't resist, you'll become paralyzed, and would quickly and consciously begin falling asleep. If you keep resisting, the heat wave and the forces would decrease, but as soon as you start feeling your legs again and attempt to get up to make a reality check, you'd fall back again, the force would be stronger, and the heat would be more recurring, but not any hotter. If you keep resisting, the force would wear off, giving you the freedom of movement once again. However, you'll feel your heart pounding, and you will still feel the left over heat from the experience. Maybe you'd even be sweating.

It happened to me last night. I did not do it on purpose. When I finally could get up, I broke in laughter…because my right arm was in pain as if I was in some epic struggle. My lower back is also in pain, and still is till now…

It’s amazing…

 

[Aku Necromancer]

Interesting bit of information. Guess one does learn something new everyday.


http://www.explodingdog.com/august6/shouldgotobed.html

 

[Thallid Ice Cream Man]

If you don't get much sleep, at the time just before when your body tries to fall asleep, you start to get more creative, and streams of thought that seem to have little to do with each other flow through your head. Thomas Edison took advantage of this by staying awake with little sleep for long periods with a bunch of ball bearings in his hand. When he fell asleep, he would invariably drop the ball bearings, causing him to wake up so that he could write down whatever fantastic ideas he came up with.
This time period is when I'm at my most creative musically, but usually I'm tired so I haven't been taking advantage of these times very much.

Dreams and brain wave patterns connected with them are weird.

Aku: Interesting picture.

 

[Gerode]

I've actually gotten a few Magic deck epiphanies during the night like that... It's spooky. I think I'll actually try that REM paralasys trick soon, I've experienced the beginning stages before (where it feels like you don't have your limbs).

 

[Apollo]

I've come up with all kinds of kooky ideas when exhausted (which is most of the time). Most of my Magic decks were created very late at night when I'm totally drained, and a couple times I got up to write them down lest I lose them when I finally fell asleep (my current favorite deck was created like this). I also wrote a comic strip for a very short period, and the only funny strips I was ever able to make were concieved late at night. I also find that I write brilliant English essays at 4:00 in the morning (the essays suck the rest of the time). It's pretty neat how it works like that.

I think I've experienced the benning stages of the paralysis in history class. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at resisting, as I'm usually out like a light shortly.

 

[MrXarvox]

I'm going to try that in a day or so, having remained awake until then. That should be interesting.
I'd imagine this sort of thing, if done correctly, could also be conducive to lucid dreaming, which is a very interesting experience.

 

[Gizmo]

Is that actually a scientific phenomenon? I always just thought it was really annoying that as I tried to get to sleep I had a really good idea and had to get up to write it down.

 

[DÛke]

...

Gizmo -- I'm not sure if you could call it "scientific," since nobody out there has been able to analyze why it happens. Psychologically speaking, however, it could be related to the fact that when you are in REM (very light stage of sleep), you begin dreaming. There are many theories as to why we dream, but no final answer. One theory treats the human brain like a computer's hard drive. When we begin the REM dreams, our brain begin "de-fragmenting" all the information, removing all unnecessary information, and even recalling information that may have been questioned recently during the day time or so. This de-fragmenting process may mix and match different images and ideas to create a mental picture known as "dream." This is just one theory, and I partially disagree with it...

For example, you may be trying to finish building a deck or something, but you just can't get a good idea to finish it. When you enter REM, your brain would recall everything you know about Magic, shuffles it, toys with it, throws stuff out, and organize it all – you may wake up with "new" information or ideas, but really, it's just that your brain had cleared the way for you to think more clearly.

Apollo -- That's amazing - that's usually when I write my essays too.

If you haven't, you guys should try it...you'll actually feel the paralysis slowly covering your body. It would feel exactly as if you were being "teleported" or something...

The weird thing about all of this is that it can't be scientifically explained or explained at all. It's pretty much an enigma why we dream...and why the REM stage is so special.

Here's a fact that will really take this over the edge: the brain has a right and a left hemisphere. The left one works with analytical skills, facts, mathmatics, logic, and stuff like that. The Right hemisphere works with imagination, creativity, fantasy, art, music, and so on. Take this: when you're awake, your left hemisphere dominates the field completely, with little to no right-sphere activity. However, when you sleep, the right hemisphere goes into massive full effect...with no or very, very little left-sphere activity. Again, it's proven...but nobody has found a reason yet. It's almost like two different worlds, you experince one when you're awake, and the other when you're asleep. Very interesting.

 

[terzarima]

Yay for Carl Sagan!!

His book, Dragons of Eden has lots of stuff about the brain, theories about why we dream... why we swear... why we have three parts to our brain and so on. Its really an amazing book.

So yes....

Go there for more information.