Laura – An expert floater with little control – that is something to be proud of. But it needs explaining so you can perhaps extend it.
In life and sleep we have two powerful actions working in us. The first is our waking experience based on having a body, its limitations, vulnerabilities and a particular gender. Our second is the power that gave us life and continues to express as spontaneous movement in dreams, in our breathing and heartbeat – our life. This I have given the description as the Life Will.
While we sleep our conscious self is largely or totally unconscious, and while we sleep and dream our voluntary muscles are paralysed – therefore another will or motivating force moves our body. So we have a Conscious Will, and what I will call a Life Will. The first one we have experience of as we can move our arm or speak in everyday activities; but the second will takes over when we sleep.
This Life will can move us to speak, can spontaneously move our body, and in fact do things that we cannot do with our Conscious Will, all that while we sleep and dream. As Freud pointed out this inner will has full access to our memories. It can do so many other things that are described else where – See
https://dreamhawk.com/interesting-people/edgar-cayce-and-the-cosmic-mind-superminds/ This allows for a little recognised phenomenon which, while awake also I dreams and in a passive state, allows the dream process to break through as spontaneous movement, sound and emotion, exactly as with dreams. In the past, and still in the present, this spontaneous movements and speech are all things that happen when this dream process breaks through into consciousness. Things like Seitai, Chi Gong, Tai Chi, Shaktipat, Pentecostalism, and Reichian therapy, where spontaneous movement is practiced by thousands of people.
This allows the process of homeostasis (self-regulation or self healing) to work more fully than while in normal waking mode.
But as you said, the others were frightened, which often happens because most people do not realise they have both a Conscious Will and a Life Will. But you have experienced it before. To learn more about it see
https://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/ Tony