[alan_n]

Part of it probably is hypnagogia though I was so alert that it did not feel like that normal transition to sleep. It felt more like I had meditated myself into a lucid dream. There were some stray thoughts but none of that cloudy brain fog with senseless thoughts I would normally get going to sleep.

Also from what I understand the feeling of suffocation is quite common for people who experience sleep paralysis. You're not actually suffocating. Given I induced it, that's probably what that was. The first time it woke me up, the second time I ignored it and a few seconds passed and then the sensations stopped and I was lucid dreaming. At least that's what it felt. I slept for slightly more than an hour most times (I've only managed it during naps) and lost lucidity at times. It felt like the dream started immediately but it might not have. Also at other times I could feel my body in the bed again but wasn't dreaming just asleep.