i searched google 
–someone on dreamviews asked the same question. 
The Old Hag is a general term for any unpleasant hallucinations or feelings you get whilst in a state of sleep paralysis. Most people aren’t affected by sleep paralysis but when trying to WILD, you’ve got a much higher chance of getting sleep paralysis. I’ve found that whenever I WILD, I always get sleep paralysis before I start to dream but only get unpleasant ‘Old Hag’ effects if I let myself panic or become scared by the paralysis. If you stay calm, you shouldn’t get scared by what you see and you’ll hopefully slide nicely into a lucid dream.
That said, I haven’t tried a WILD in over a year (gonna try one tonight though 
. The last few times I tried I got pretty bad Old Hag feelings (felt as though someone was sliding up the bed next to my legs and hissing at me and seeing my dressing gown on fire were the worst ones) so I stopped trying to WILD except on mornings, which was never really that successful and in the end I gave up.
I have never got far enough in WILD to actually reach SP but I do have SP occasionally after awakening. Sometimes I’m SP but don’t realise it, but the instant I realise I begin to hallucinate. Here’s what usually happens during my SP experiences.
First of all, I’m basically locked there in position (it feels like I’ve been tied up…also hence the name Sleep Paralysis) and can’t move. Rarely I have the feeling I’m suffocating (it’s a scary feeling; I’ve only experienced it twice) which makes me feel very uncomfortable.
Second, the auditory hallucinations kick in. The hallucinations are usually buzzing or popping sounds, similar to the sound you hear when you yawn (the ‘whooshing’ sound). Amongst these sounds are incomprehensible whispers and laughs, but sometimes I can understand what they are saying.
The tactile sensations set in next, and these happen the majority of the time. For me, it is usually a falling sensation or the feeling that my bed has been tilted 45 degrees (it can be hard to get enough grip to stay on, and when you’re paralyzed, it’s a lot harder). Somewhere amongst these sensation is this feeling someone has just climbed on top of me (the Old Hag, maybe).
I don’t think I’ve ever had any visual hallucinations (I don’t open my eyes) during SP.
The first time in SP can be frightening, but I’ve come to terms with SP and it is quite interesting and weird at the same time. Sometimes it can be freaky, but I know it’s all in my head. My next objective is to try and turn SP into a lucid dream.
I had three experiences with sleep paralysis last night. Over the years, I have dealt with sleep paralysis and learned not to fear them. I read a pdf a while ago that had a specific method on how one can become lucid while using sleep paralysis. Apparently sleep paralysis is a naturally occurring function of the body. I also learned that to get out of it all you have to do is breath in and out deeply.
All three times I’ve concentrated on calming down.
On the first time, I prepared myself in my dream for the sleep paralysis to appear. It feels like a pulsing headache or crack in reality. I allowed it to blanket my whole body and i felt the static all over my body. It’s generally really really loud as well. It lasted for a while so I decided to breath in and out to wake up.
Is there a specific way to go from that sleep paralysis to dreaming. Or did I have sleep paralysis while dreaming?
thanks =]
Yeah, breathing in and out works for me when I want to wake up from SP; and yes it is a ‘defense mechanism’ which prevents the dreamer acting out their dreams in REM.
I’m a little naive when it comes to turning SP into a dream (I am still trying), although I do hear that visualising a scene whilst in SP works well. Before I attempt a WILD I want to VILD so I can visualise effectively. However, there are other methods avaliable to go straight into a lucid dream; but I’m not an expert when it comes to WILDing, so I can’t help you much. Sorry 
And, like you said SP can be experienced in a false awakening. It’s not true SP but it’s what your mind imagines it to be like (you’re likely to experience SP in a false awakening if you’ve heard of it beforehand).
I was reading this topic and just had an OSHI- moment.
Back when I was around 10 years old I had this unusually vivid dream of me playing basket ball and I jumped and I was floating in the air, and I couldn’t move until 2 secs after I fell back down…
Does this sound like SP?
Seriously screwed myself now I have read this lol.
This kinda stuff really gets to me
No. SP is described as Sleep Paralysis - You are awake (or seem to be awake) but cannot move. Can be accompanied by extreme fear.
What you experienced was within the dream itself.
I had some pretty terrifying experiences with SP a few weeks ago, and had some mild episodes recently. I’ll describe them.
The first one was pretty scary. I ‘woke up’ in my bed to find I was paralysed, and I also heard intense buzzing sounds. Then, I heard a growling sound behind me, and I felt a huge hand grab my cover. It didn’t pull the cover off, but it started clawing at the cover. The growling got louder, and then I felt the ‘thing’ growling and breathing down my neck. I was really scared at this point, but I did wake up.
The second was the longest and moderately scary. This huge demon thing pushed my bed aside, tilted in 180 degrees and I fell off of my bed. Instead of hitting the floor I continued fallng in an endless loop, seeing these demons (not vividly, but I did have my eyes closed; however I could see visuals, which is now becoming visible in my SP episodes) laughing at me. The third episode was similar to this.
The fourth episode wasn’t scary after I knew what was happening. The first 3 seconds were frightening for me, but when I had a sensation that I was falling at 300mph, it was actually really fun. While falling at 300mph (felt like), I was doing hundreds of barrel rolls and backflips involuntarily. It was fun, but the insanely loud buzzing sensation was painful.
Not sure if this was a SP episode or not, but last night I woke up and briefly heard a huge crashing noise. I was partially paralysed at the time but snapped out of it 10 seconds later. I wondered what it was, because I used to experience this a lot as a child.
Other than last nights, I haven’t had any other recent SP experiences - I usually have a few episodes a month but this month seems to be a hotspot for my episodes!
Is it possible to WILD/SP/That business off of regular sleep? Some say it’s possible, others say you can only do it off of dozing/naps.
