[Mercedes Benzene]

I was searching the internet today trying to diagnose a "problem" that I've been experiencing lately. As I lay in bed, trying to go to sleep, I go into dream-like state, when all of a sudden, I awaken with a big jerk of my leg. It startles me, but at the same time, I get this strange sensation of an almost "out of world experience". I can't really describe it. For instance, last night, not long after I went to bed, I was dreaming that as I walked on a paved path, when, I suddenly came across a pothole. Instead of tripping on the pothole and falling, I awake with a start and my leg thrusts up to my chest.
Well as I started to say, I came across some web pages that describe this very thing! And it turns out, it's a very common condition! I suppose people just don't talk about it. But I'm glad to know I'm not alone.
The experience is called a Hypnagogic Myoclonic Twitch or "Hypnic Jerk".
Here's a really good article that explains it scientifically.
That Strange Falling Sensation
It explains perectly everything that I have been experiencing.

Please share any similar experiences! I'd love to hear.

[Tormod]

I have a sense of falling quite often while awake. It can be quite frightening at times. Occasionally I have the same experience while trying to sleep. I rarely wake up due to such feelings (I think)...

[HydrogenBond]

These things show how the unconscious mind can alter musclular actions, perceptions in space and time, imagination, and sensory perception. If we look at consciousness as an onion, the sensory systems and ego are on the surface, deeper layers are part of the conscious and repressed memories of the ego, while the core of the onion is the collective unconscious. Like the sun, the surface is usually in its characteristic state of flux, but every now and then solar flares come to the surface from the core. One way to look at these solar flares, is that memory is stored energy potential. Sometimes discharges are needed to balance the energy economy of the brain.

[GAHD]

I've had almost the exact same thing, though in my case the jerks are in direct relation to whatever it was theat I was dreaming of. I can remember maby 2 times it's happened once really young once when i was like 16 or so
Something about falling off a tower for the first one and diving in the second one.

[Killean]

I get this falling feeling, then the jerk roughly every 5-8 months. I'm always experiencing a waking dream, and nine out of ten times what causes the feeling is when I trip or stumble in the dream. My body and mind react to these situations and I suddenly wake up trying to brace myself for impact on the ground. The moment after the jerk is quite disorienting, once taking me a minute or two to realize who, what and where I was. Kind of makes me think that I am still dreaming, except the vision has change to my current perceptions.

Edgar babe, I know how ye felt.