Wow this hits home . I ' m one of those people who didnt need training to enter the state of lucid dreaming and I hate it . Main reason is the sleep paralysis part . I know I am not awake , very aware of that fact . But I am not dreaming either . Its like seeing my room with my eyes closed . I just lie still in bed for hours on end , desperately trying to move an inch or make a sound in hopes of waking up my girlfriend so she can wake me up . Moving is quite impossible so most of the time I try to breathe as loud as I can which freaks her out quite a bit . I usually wake up exhausted since it takes quite some time breathing someone awake . When I am alone its absolutely terrifying . For the worst part is that dark hooded figure you described . For me its not myself I am staring at . Its a very pale distorted face with bulging eyes and a sickly grin with lots of bared teeth , hovering an inch above my face . And I can ' t look away . EDIT spelling