It really is a weird thing. It has been happening off and on since I was a teen. Before I knew what it was, I was certain that it was a ghost or demon attacking me. It wasn’t until years later that I talked to my dad about it and he explained what it was and told me he had episodes of it too. I still kinda feel like it is spiritual in nature and not just a “brain thing”

"Awake, yet asleep"

It's like lucid dreaming where you know you're dreaming and you gain control over the dream and can do whatever you want. Fly, run fast, etc. In my lucid dreams (and I have a lot ) I always find myself floating just above the ground, being able to float here and there, get my feet off the ground to protect myself from something trying to catch me, etc. It's a lot of fun.

BUT, lucid dreaming can then lead to you gaining consciousness to the real world but you're still stuck in dreamland. When that happens to me I partially wake up and am aware that I'm in my bed and aware of everything around me but I slip right back into dreams yet I am able to sense what's going on outside my dreams. It's a very thin line and it doesn't happen to most people, and it doesn't last very long either, maybe 15 minutes tops.