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Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep
Biology 202
2000 First Web Report
On Serendip
Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep
Hiro Takahashi
A person may wake up and find himself unable to move or speak as if he is frozen. He also may hear footsteps, see a ghost-like creature, or feel someone sitting on his chest. Throughout the history, people considered this phenomenon as work done by evil spirits. However, the modern science can explain the terrifying event as a Sleep Paralysis.
A Sleep Paralysis is possibly a hereditary disorder in which one experiences very frightening seconds or minutes of total body paralysis with little respiration and eye movements (1). A victim in this state feels awake, but he cannot move or speak (2). In addition to the immobility, the common symptoms include feeling choked or suffocated, hearing strange noises like footsteps and voices, seeing beings or dark shadows, and feeling an existance of someone in the room (1). Although these symptoms often direct the victims to believe in ghosts, mistransmission of neural signals in the brain causes Sleep Paralysis. When a person sleeps, his brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contraction (3). If he comes into consciousness before the brain sends signals to activate muscle contraction, he cannot move his body, and consequently, become "paralyzed"(2).
In order to understand how a body becomes paralyzed while the person is awake, it is necessary to understand sleep cycles. In a mammalian sleep, the brain activity undergoes two different states called non-REM (NREM) sleep and REM sleep, which differ very much from wakefulness (3). NREM and REM sleep alternate cyclically through the night; in human, about 80 minutes of NREM sleep starts a night of sleep, about 10 minutes of REM sleep follows, and this 90 minute cycle is repeated about 3 to 6 times during the night (3). During NREM sleep, a body produces few movement, but the body has capability of tossing about in bed and producing some other motor events, such as sleepwalking and sleeptalking (3). The cardiac-muscle contraction and breathing occur at a uniform rate, and the eyes move slowly (2). During REM sleep, on the other hand, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure vary (3). The eyes move rapidly because most dreaming takes place in this period, and the sleeper probably "look" at the moving objects in a dream (2).
The brain's control over muscles during REM sleep points out that in this period, a body is normally in the state of total paralysis, called a "nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis" (3). Probably to prevent a person from "acting out" a dream, the brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contractions (2). Although some peripheral muscles, such as the muscles of the fingers and face, still twitch, the large skeletal muscles become relaxed, or "paralyzed" as a result (3). Some evidence supports that the motor paralysis of REM sleep protect against the acting out of one's dreams. A patient who suffers from rare syndrome called REM Sleep Behavior Disorder lacks the normal nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis, and he acts out violent dreams during REM sleep, often with injurious consequences (4). For example, a 60-year-old surgeon dreamt that he was attacked "by criminals, terrorists, and monsters who always tried to kill [him]" and fighting against them in the nightmare, he was actually punching and kicking his wife who slept in the same bed (4).
A nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis during REM sleep is accomplished actively by postsynaptic inhibition of motorneurons (3). Although the exact process of motor inhibition is not clear, some neurotransmitters and hormones are known to generate the many components of REM sleep. Aministering physostigmine, an inhibitor of the catabolic enzyme, increases the concentration of acetylcholine within the neurons in the pons, making it possible to artificially generate and start REM sleep in the middle of NREM sleep (3). Carbachol, the cholinergic agonist, produces a period of REM sleep in cat when directly injected into the pontine tegmentum (3). The hormone melatonin, a "master hormone" (5) that mainly controls circadian rhythms, also seems to play an important role in enhancing the REM state; the level of melatonin secretion by the pineal gland reaches its lowest during REM sleep (5). Such neurotransmitters and hormones probably activate or inhibit the activity of second messengers, which then activate or inhibit the third messengers, and so on till the last messenger inhibit the synaptic transmission or cause hyperpolarization of the motorneurons. And if, for some reason, the nervous or endocrine system continues to release the neural inhibitors, a person may experience Sleep Paralysis as he enters awakefully into or awakens directly from REM period (2).
While the modern neuroscience can describe the state of Sleep Paralysis as some errors of the neural transmission in the brain during REM sleep, a person who has seen or heard ghost-like figures/voices may easily believe that eveil spirits fully controlled his entire body. However, the images or noises, which the victim believes that he has seen or heard, are most likely hallucinations; and hallucinations, too, can result from the brain activity. In the 1960's, the Canadian neurologist W. Penfield introduced that electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe can cause the auditory hallucinations in the wake state (5). The buzzing or ringing sounds in the ears and other auditory hallucinations are closely associated with the activity of the auditory cortex and involves the temporal lobe (5). During the early period of sleep paralysis, the activity of the temporal lobe increases significantly, sometimes inducing hallucinatory sense (5). Similarly, the visual cortex generates internal visual stimuli, causing the victim to "see" terrifying figures during the paralysis (5).
How an episode of Sleep Paralysis induces visual or auditory hallucinations is still not clear, but it seems to have a significant relationship with anxiety (5). For anxiety is a neurocognitive event closely related to both psychological and physical processes, the extreme anxiety or panic may cause the release of several different signal molecules that trigger all kinds of physical events (5). A person experiencing Sleep Paralysis feels mortal fear or extreme panic, and hence, the brain generates and releases internal visual or auditory stimuli, producing hallucinations.
Also, hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis may happen, for one keeps dreaming even after some parts of his brain wakes up directly from REM sleep. Since the nervous and endocrine systems continue to release the neural inhibitors which sustain the paralysis, it may be possible that those systems keep releasing the neural activators that stimulate dreaming. Thus, a person continues to "see" the images and "hear" the noises produced in the dream that he has just had in REM sleep from which he has awaken.
Understanding more neural concepts of Sleep Paralysis, some researchers now hypothesize that a very rare condition called Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) may closely relate to Sleep Paralysis (1). Upon the death, a SUNDS victim produces no body movement even though he experiences a myocardial infarction and strong breathing difficulties and should straggle in agony (5). The death may be caused by the extreme muscle atonia during Sleep Paralysis, which is so severe that even the cardiac muscles and the diaghragm paralyze (5).
Until I started researching on this subject, I have believed that the total paralysis of a body is due to an evil taking absolute control over the body. However, the interactions between neurons in the brain can explain this seemingly mysterious phenomenon in a scientific way. Although the explanation is not complete yet, for there are many unclear processes about Sleep Paralysis, the current hypothesis appears to reject the possibility of ghosts on this matter. Of course, it is impossible to completely disprove the existence of "spirits", "minds", or "God" affecting one's behavior. Nevertheless, like Sleep Paralysis and SUNDS, many or the mysterious conditions and behaviors which are only explained in supernatural terms probably result from brain.
WWW Sources
1)The Evil's of Sleep Paralysis
4)REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: A Neurologic Dissociative Sleep Disorder
5)Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis
Comments made prior to 2007
I have been trying to figure out what was going on in my sleep untill i read this.Now i am happy to know what my body was expeiencing. It's quite scary your first couple experiences of sleep paralysis but now i'm gonna stay calm when it is happening to me and try to get my own understanding of the experience ... Jeremy, 21 March 2006
I have had sleep paralyisis at least once per month for the last 8 years. I am 29 as of this writing. I just had the experience about 1 hour ago and thus has caused me to do reasearch about it on the net. I noticed that many Dr.'s contribute this to anxiety, stress and other factors. My question is ... why is there always an evil presence in that concious yet body is still asleep phase? Today I heard a loud static sound, and opened my eyes to a spider crawling all over my arm. When I prayed to God, or said His name (Jehovah) the spider would start to disappear. I finally went thru my mental prayer when I awoke. This leads me to believe that it is more of a spiritual occurence, because I never have positive images while in this paralized state. I know there are many things in which our ancestors thought it was demonic rather than scientific, only to find there was a scientific explanation. However, I think this is different and cannot be simply written off as "scientific". There is not enough proof to show that it is scientific.
About a month ago I had another episode of sleep paralysis and I saw a small presence in the room with me. It was dark, and I could not see it's face (I am getting chills typing about it right now). My question is, why is there always an evil presence not only associated with my episodes, but so many others I have read about? ... Abel, 24 August 2006
i was thinking it is evil who do that during night but now i find out why. I am suffering from sleep paralyze possibly every nigh spicily when i have dinar ... Salah Nasser, 28 January 2007
I used to have this sleeping disorder when I was a child. It has come back once or twice with adulthood, but otherwise, it is in the past. I used to, with great effort, move my hand to my face and pull an eye open, which would wake me up, but sometimes the struggle was too much and I would go on into a deeper sleep.
Since the brain can do this to me, can it also cause me to get migraines just as I am about to wake up?
It seems, as I have discovered, if I get less than 4 hours sleep a night, I do not get migraines. If I get 6 hours or more, it's about a 90% chance I will wake with a migraine. Later in the day, I get an hour or two nap and that is the routine as it works. Doctors just sort of treat the migraine and don't get into the sleep thing I have. I take MaxAult for the migraines when they do get me.
I woke one time, and just as I woke, I felt this white-hot needle going into my head... bingo. A migraine in 5 seconds. That is how they can occur. I wake with them otherwise. I figure it my brain doing things it shouldn't. I have a clean bill of health otherwise.
Thanks for your time. Have a good day ... Jay, 11 February 2007
I have a question, and hope someone out there has an answer, it has been months and I have thus far failed to find one. Has there ever been a record of anyone receiving the effects of sleep paralysis without having been asleep? The reason I ask this, is a while ago, having not slept in a few hours, I was sitting at my computer, and it seemed to have happened to me. Within seconds I was too tired to hold up my own head, and my breathing got very difficult. Then I began to feel a sort of dizziness as my limbs lost feeling, and dropped to my side. after this, the dizziness turned to near blindness. I could see, but nothing would focus, and everything I tried to look at seemed to dart around like a mosquito. By this time I had no feeling in my entire body, could move nothing without quite a bit of concentration, and I could barely breath. My mother heard me try and make out some kind of cry for help, and found me there spilled into my computer chair. She rolled me to my bed, and poured me into it. Within about 10-15 minutes I had regained everything I once had, but my sea legs did not ware off for another ten or so minutes. I went to the emergency soon after. I had an E.K.G. and a C.A.T. scan, with no results, and I piss less in a week then the amount of blood they took that night. After basically telling me I was lying, the doctor told me that my symptoms did not fit anything at all. What I do know, is I have been researching the issue ever since, and can only base my problem on Sleep Paralysis. All the symptoms match. And again, my question....Has there ever been a record of someone under the effects of sleep paralysis without ever having gone to sleep? I hope you can shed some sort of light on this subject, as it,...well, it freaked me the hell out, and no one has been able to answer me! Thank you for your time ... Mitchel Henderson, 7 December 2007
I used get this "evil paralysed me" feeling when i was paralysed and usually saw a ghost. i tried to shout or move but no sound escaped my mouth and couldn't move at all. it happened again yesterday and was almost convinced that ghosts/evil spirits were getting the better of me. But, me being a practical and logical guy, erjected this theory and started researching on this phenomenon. I came across this research paper on Sleep Paralysis. This greatly helped me in alleviating my fears. And next time i "see" a ghost during sleep paralyses, ill just laugh at it ;-) Thanks for the research ... Siddarth, 10 December 2007
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| This paper reflects the research and thoughts of a student at the time the paper was written for a course at Bryn Mawr College. Like other materials on Serendip, it is not intended to be "authoritative" but rather to help others further develop their own explorations. Web links were active as of the time the paper was posted but are not updated. |
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Comments
SP
I believe it's the Grim Reaper
it's not beyond scientific studies, don't worry
I'm not sure if it's 'legit' but what has helped me before is to stay calm and breathe deep for what would feel like a few seconds. That's happened to me before and the first thing i did was panic, which is normal because it's a weird and scary feeling haha. but just remind yourself that you're still asleep and your body is stuck in that dream state where it's not supposed to move. like if you're having a dream about running, your body is most likely not to do the same, sometimes it does but that's like sleepwalking or sleeprunning or sleepjogging, whatever you prefer, or night terrors and stuff which is not too preferable but that also happens. IF ANYTHING, it's like waking up too early from a dream. your mind is awake but your body is still knocked out. it's not some demon or anything, its just bodies acting weird. Just don't be scared and stay calm, it'll go away. hope that helps.
think again
if you experience sleep paralysis you will shit your pants
it is the ultimate terror in my opinion
you can see creatures that you cannot imagine
you will think that you are going to die
the first times that this happen to me tears were dropping from my eyes during the paralysis
I was shocked it has a name, SP ?
I was sleeping aware of my surroundings but could not wake, some one was touching my legs, I opened my eyes to see if it was my husband, but he was not there, I went back to sleep immediately, then it felt like someone was in the room a presence, i was trying to wake up, but i could not, then suddenly I felt a piece of hand warm in my left hand, I squeezed onto it, then I took my cell phone and starting drawing the cross on it,
I started pleading the blood of Jesus , I was saying the "Lord is my shepherd", "Our father who art in heaven", "No weapon form against me shall prosper", "He that dwell in the secret place of the most high" The blood of Jesus is against all spirit
of evil, was shouting Jesus and no sound came from my mouth, was struggling and when I finally awakened I could hear myself mumbling. It was very scary and I sat on the bed and it still felt like someone was in the closet, I took my bible and started reading. I have had this for many many years, but it had stopped and just last night for the first time again in like about 10 years.
i have been researching about of problem
Dear Writer ,
Thank you so much for your article ...before i was totally unware about what happeneing with me while sleeping at only in afternoon i hardly get sleep even i slept i feel so uneasy at awakeing time i force myself ...also some evil dream i felt like i was awake and seeing also trying myself to fight with them ..after hardly wake up i feel like dizzyness.After reading your article i came to know it was sleeping paralyze
Please help how can i deal with this problem or any solution?Thank u so much for your research on this topic .
your sincerely
Non Sleeper
I'm looking to see if anyone else has similar symptoms to me. First off, I'm 46 and was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 30. I've never been a great sleeper but as time went by, my deep sleep total continued to drop by an hour each year. As I predicted, I never feel like I sleep at all. I've heard myself snore but all along I feel like I'm awake in my brain and awareness, which I still consider to be true. I teach and every day in homeroom my head begins to pop up and down as I try to stay awake or focused. Many times I'll drink a soda and this help, but I still feel tired unless I'm up and doing something. I take Dilantin mostly, with a little bit of Neurontin. I also take clonzapem at night, to make me feel like I'n not "fighting" sleep all night but basically, like everything else, it's starting to wear off. I want to try something else at night or even begin weed (I've never done an illegal drug in my life, so I don't know if it will work). I'm game for anything and I go to the sleep neurologist tomorrow (6/1/11) Steve (weed is now legal in AZ, via doctor's permission)
Sleep Paralysis New Ability (MUST READ)
Good morning, I just woke up from yet another frightening xperience of this so called "Sleep Paralysis". This time was extremely different though. Through out my life I've had numerous cases of SP to the point where I can control it. Some of you shared how you can kinda move or can twitch certain body parts, well this time I actually got up out the bed. Let me explain.
It was so weird. I was already dreaming about hiding/barricading in a house with several other people who were being attacked by these creatures which some got in the house and I brutally stabbed two with a screw driver. Another creature got inside so I ran to a bed room in the front and hid underneath it. Eventually I must have fell asleep in the dream because I slowly fell into the state of SP. I knew it cause I couldn't move, I couldn't scream out, but I've had this dream so much that I've learned how to shake my legs around significantly enough to wake my self up.
So as this was happening I could see myself in almost like 3rd person view and my little brother was sitting on a bed in the same room. I kept trying to get his attention furiously twitching around and the the most crazy thing happen. I was able to free myself out the the state of SP and I got up and was pushing my little brother, angry saying stuff like " why didn't you wake me up, couldn't you hear me"....No lie all of a sudden I woke up out the whole entire dream completely and looked over and my brother was actually in the room playing his video games. It's a little past noon right now and I woke up from this dream maybe 30 minutes ago.
He told me yeah I could hear you making noises and your leg was shaking around. Now this is my point I have never been able to actually pull myself out of the state of SP and still be in a dream to.the point where I can interact in the dream. I usually wake myself up out the state of SP but lll immediately wake up to the real world. How was this possible for me to.accomplish this? I'm really spooked out honestly.
This websites comforts me to know others experience SP BUT thus experience I have not heard anybody speak about. I would really like it for you, readers to contact me if your interested so we can further research it. I want to learn how to purposely fall into SP. I feel like I can discover something incredible. Please contact me at Thank you for your time.
Re to New ability
Heyys Terrell... I hav exp same things time n again...i hav succeeded coming out of episodes of Sleep paralysis almost every alternate time...itds kinda drug now...
if u wanna increase the chances of SP den keep some blanket/towel on ur face while sleeping...o else sleep in such a way that it becomes difficult fo u to breathe through nozzle after u fall asleep...
Hope this things work fo u... All the beat...enjoy SP ;-)
Hey man Ive been experiencing
Hey man Ive been experiencing SP for about a year now. It's usually always the same, seeing terrifying things but not being able to move or talk. However, recently, my SP experiences have changed. I'll wake up from my dream thinking I'm in the real world because I wake up in my room but only to find out Ive woken up from a dream within a dream experiencing SP. After this time waking up I'll finally wake up to the real world. So basically I'm having a double layered SP dream. It's very unsettling to me and I wish I had an answer. But it comforts me knowing people share this.
Freaked out!
I am 23 years old and I have had these sleep symptoms since a teenager. I never knew anything about SP before today and im comforted to know im not crazy lol. I just now decided to research only because just 2 hours ago i finally woke up from an episode that only lasted maybe 20-30 mins but felt like hours. I have always eventually woken up a short time after an episode and have never actually "moved" or gotten up during. This morning i did though. I, as always, felt a couple different presences (evil ones), heard voices(of family members) so audible it gives me chills thinking about it, and felt someone over me, putting indentions in the bed as well, as if they were standing over me with a foot on each side of my abdomen. I was on my left side and tried so hard to sit up...i thought i eventually succeeded until i could hear myself breathing as if asleep still. And the "force" pulled me back down. Sometime later i somehow got out of bed, walked into the restroom(still seeing figures) and went to put my contacts in. I felt so heavy and everything was so foggy as if still in a dream. Just after that i really came too, looked around and realized it was finally over. I have never experienced an episode that severe. And i do not seem to EVER have episodes when my boyfriend is still in bed...its only after he leaves for work. Im not sure what that has to do with it but i just noticed that part stays consistant. Im very interested in continuing research on SP.
im experiencing something similar
everyday when i go to school i would fall asleep in class and in whatever dream im having that day ill feel myself all of a sudden fall asleep and i hear people calling my name to wake up and i cant do anything except jerk myself awake. and sometimes i would even get this feeling of electric in my body
i thought a stranger was on my bed
I have been experiencing sleep paralysis since i remembered sleeping on my bed. I too thought that there might be evil spirits lurking around my bedroom because I just couldn't breathe and move when "the thing" happens. I always thought that "the thing" has a name and thank God i found this site, it answered my questions. But what bothers me is that after changing sleeping position wherein my head is now on the other end-side of the bed, the sleep paralysis had gone off. So i was wondering why is that? I haven't tried sleeping back to old position 'cause I'm scared i might die because the latest SP i had, I had so much difficulty breathing and moving. I just prayed and slept again but it still happened. I want to hear out other's solutions to this... Thanks for the infos!
sp
i personally believe that the devil is from Greek or roman mythology, and so is hell and hades, they are to do with god worship hundreds of years ago when men had no understanding of the universe.
IF we were not subject to horror movies and religions telling us were going to hell if were not good ect , i think we would still experience sp but with out the evil part. this is my personal opinion and i think it holds water.ps i believe in god but i dont think he makes people burn in hell.
There was a time in 2009,
There was a time in 2009, where I had something like Sleep Paralysis. The only thing was, I was a Christian. I mean, before I just said I was but didn't follow the commandments of Jesus Chrsit. Anyhow, God opened my spiritual eyes becuase you know, we have eyes in our spirit too. So, I looked over and I had felt complete terror like you have never known but then again, if you've experienced Sleep Demon Paralysis then might have.
Anyhow, I looked at this creature less than 3 ft. standing at my bed and then I saw him leave after a few minutes. Then I went to sleep, but then he came back. And left. This happened about 5 times that night and finally the Holy Spirit told me to pray for a hedge of protection. When you are in danger, you don't analyze. You just do what God is tellin you to do. Plus, I had no idea what a hedge of protection was so this just goes to show it was God. I prayed and then I woke up early in the morning and guess what I saw on the side of my house, on my neighbors side? That same little demon that was trying to give me sleep paralysis.
Um, if you are a Christian, you can say, "In Jesus Christ name I command you to leave." It's only in his name. I mean, there's no analyzing what works. If it works for me then I'm sticking with it.
I don't know if your a
I don't know if your a believer of Jesus Christ or not, but even if you aren't you can still call out his name the next time it happens, and it will stop, you may have to say it several times. I had to a few times but I recently got it all to stop! Kate this is not for me to know only you to ask yourself. Have you played with a wiegee board, or ever looked into witchcraft, or ever tried to find out more about Satan like how he fell from heaven? This last question is common for many people that have SP like myself had messed with. UFO'S I deeply was interested by UFO's and alien junk. And it was at this time while I was researching this that I even being a christian wanted to know why Satan fell and all of this I know opened doors for Satan and evil spirits like a beacon to them... If this has happened then maybe you have unknowingly opened doors to the enemy. You unknowingly could have given your authority over Satan and his demons. This is what I did and it has worked for months I haven't had an SP episode. Ask god to give you back your authority and tell him that you recognize that you gave it over to the enemy. God will return it but the longer SP attacks have been happening the harder it is for you to be rid of them so the steps are Ask god to give you back authority. Recognize your faults. Stop doing those things. And know that calling the name of Jesus will make it stop. Sleep with a bible. Pray that god give you angles to protect you while you sleep. This will deliver you from these things.
That's so true
I agree with you. It's really strange I only had these experiences while I was researching about the occult for my papers.
Stay Calm.
I have this once in a while, and it feels like you are just waking up to someone talking to you but then you come to find out that you cannot wake yourself up from this paralization. Your eyes are slightly open and your body is just limp. You have to stay calm though and force your body to wake up and you eventually will.
so there's a name for it
i always knew that it's just my brain acting up, but it still pretty scary. it usually happens when i stay up late (so i avoid it). there would be noises, like people chatting, and sometimes laughing. i'd force myself to wake up, then i can continue sleep peacefully. the worst is when i'm still awake while my brain had decided to be dreaming. i'd open my eyes, trying to get up but cant see the real world. when this happen i usually try to hug something/someone. it usually works and i can get back to sleep:)
5 times in a night.
What happened to me seems similar to SP , but the only thing was I was fully awake , and then I would close my eyes for less than a minute and I would start to picture this terrifying man and an intense ringing would start and then I couldn't move anything for almost a minute. I was also laying on my side and I saw that laying on your side helped.... This happened to me 5 times in less than a half hour. I was so scared and I couldn't go back to sleep.
astral projection!
Im from San Diego ,CA its 4:45 am
i regained control of my body about 45 mns ago and decided to do some research on this. surprisingly i ended up on this forum and i found a lot of similarities with some people here. 3 years ago i was sent to a rehab center in mexico where i met 2 other guys with a similar background to mine, now this was before i experimented with any type of drugs or shit like that(dont ask how i ended up in rehab),anyways these 2 dudes started talking about astral projection and described the beginning stages of the trip and how to induce this state of mind. I being a hyper active kid never even got close! about 9 months later my doc ran some test on me plugged a whole bunch of wires up to my dome and asked me to do some breathing exersises(she also told me not to sleep the night before) about 10 minutes into my hyperventilation i started to shift in and out of consciousness till finally it felt like i was staring at a bright white screen i remember jumping up needing to take a piss so i headed of to the bathroom. i never made it when i tried to open the door i could grab the knob on the door so i asked my doc wtf was going on. WELL GUESS WTF I SAW!! myself still sitting down on the chair doing the breathing technique!! i was so scared i pissed myself and finally woke up with a yell. ill never forget the docs face sometin kinda like this O_o?
im now 20 years
have had my share of psycho experiences, , i guess you could say i have a really defined sixth sense i can guess peoples ages sometimes ill know whos about to call or what a certain person will do next like that stupid movie with nicholas cage, sometimes i can even make objects or events materialize.
only thing is i dont know how to fully use it yet.my younger brother seems to have the same ability to do it to some extent. CAN ANY ONE ELSE DO THIS??
ive been meditating alot lately and i finally learned how to get to that state of mind. by keeping my mind awake and my body perfectly still i tricked my brain to think i was ready to go to sleep i could feel the vibrations trough out my body. i was laying face down when all of a sudden i felt my body go completely numb; this didnt surprise me though in fact its one of the first steps to climbing out of your shell so i welcomed it with open arms but about 30 seconds into the numbness i remember feeling like i was floating almost as if i had a harness on and was being lifted of ground slowly. that was cool really relaxing then i dont know what happend i started feeling a rush of energy comming from inside my core (no hommo) only way i could describe it is going down a big as rollercoaster while your on your third X pill with wet clothes being shocked with a taser. i couldnt catch my breath at one point it felt like my heart was about to stop i couldnt move couldnt yell and trust me i was trying! i began to feel like gravity increased and was sinking into my bed. at that point i said ima die fuck it and started praying. right after i felt myself rising back into my body
when i regained control my heartbeat was of the chain my face was numb and my left arm was on fire i called the doc lady a lil while ago and she said it was this SP thing. i feel like im right at the door step of this astral plane... i wonder what would happen if i just go with it next i feel like im floating? what about when i feel like i cant breathe should i just stop trying to? im afraid that if i open that door i wont like whats on the other side or worse wont come back. could that be whats defined as SUNDS? will i be the next case? part of me says kick it with all this shit, but part of me wants to reach new frontiers.
next time i think ima go with it.
bye/goodluck.
sp
Ive had this happen to me for awhile (years) and I have never told anybody till one day i was sitting with a group of friends and I said "do any of you ever feel like you cant move when you sleep but you can still see" they looked at me funny but one girl said yes. This prompted me to reasearch and i came across this site. Well since getting a better understanding I dont really get the sp thing anymore. Also when I do I just relax. at first its hard to want to move but you cant. But you just calm down and its not scary. One of two things will happen- I'll just go to sleep or i will wake up completly. Once i calm down while in this state of mind,my thoughts become clearer. what im trying to say is just let go. embrace it and it will reveal you to yourself
Astral Projection
This same senerio all to real to me! Just over a year ago, I started a new life transformation(in a positive direction) I started having what I thought a reoccurring frightening dream where I was lying on my stomach slightly levitating just so to slide off the bed. What was frightening to me was the feeling of numbness, a tingling sensation followed by a force of not having control, like my spirit was pulling my body(or pulling from my body?) aggressively. Like I said these where frightening to me. So I learned to wake myself up as soon as this dream starts to make me feel uncomfortable. I hadn't had this dream in a month until 2 nights ago. This time when I tried to wake myself up, I did but in the same dream state & then really freaked out & came to.. extremely disoriented. I thought about astral projection for a min. & decided to research it. Like you, found this web site, all I gotta say is WOW!! Next time I have this experience, I'm dropping my defences & going with the flow. After all "We do without doing"... Right! Good luck to you. I hope it's an adventure of a life time:)
So Bad That It Caused Insomnia
So I read some of these stories and I can relate to some parts of them but not entirely. I'm 19 years old and I've been experiencing SP since I was 15. At first I would get "episodes" every so often like once every 2 weeks, but they gradually became more frequent and more and more intense. It got so bad after I graduated High School that I began to develop insomnia.
These "episodes" at one point would happen everyday as soon as i began to close my eyes, basically everytime i opened my eyes and had awoken from an "episode" and decided to fall back to sleep it would happen again and again. I was scared to sleep, it would even happen as I nodded off in my college class. Although some of my symtoms are alike to everyones here there are some differences.
A typical episode for me would go like this:
Beginning of sleep I am okay, then this growing numbness starts to radiate, I feel it coming like vibrations on my body. So I wake up fast before my body is overtaken. Then i start to dose off again this time I hear a humming noise Ohh Nooo so i wakeup again. Finally I get too scared to go back to sleep so I watch TV or go lay with someone else. As I watch TV or hear my mom talk to me about her work day, it occurs again but this time the humming and vibrations are to quick to stop, I see everything the TV or My Mom, the whole room, and I hear everything too, I think I'm talking or nodding in response, i actually like sort of feel these things happening but usually my mom looks straight at me and waves her hand in front of me like if i hadnt done anything, i try to talk louder but no words come out i try to move then nothing move, i try to cry but it wont work. I try to reach out my body struggling asking my mom to wake me up, and shes over thinking im playing games with her or ignoring her. I try so hard to move my finger and finally they twitch a little and thats when my mom tries to wake me up or whatever, it got so casual that my mom knew when these things were occurring to me. When Im by myself its worse i see the room, my tv, my dog, everything mormal. When out of nowhere something Jumps on me it feels like just heavy air on top of me, then my chest tightens up cant breathe or scream Nothing. Then this thing is like a force and it moves me around one time it even threw me against the wall and i was terrified. I would wake up with bruises like hours later but the SP slowly goes away as my sleep goes on... after being "thrown around" even if i didnt wake up from the episode.
just had an sp episode and realised
just woke up from an episode today, this has been happening to me for a while now , I have had all kinds of different experiences with this sleeping paralysis issue.. hallucinations, feeling as if somebody is sitting on my chest, full awareness of my roomate s actions in the room doing his own thing in the room and unable to do anything..i even had an out of body experience wich was pretty cool.but I m sick and tired of this crap, I feel like fighting it so bad cause it happens once a week or twice if im stressed out and or over sleep... when I realise how paralyse I am,all I can do is feel my body twitchin as as I try to help myself..i usually feel something heavy trying to paralise me. im not scared though , at least not anymore, because I know itsmy body, not some evil spirit ..but if I feel that it is , I will pray the rosary and wear it as I sleep. u said u have bruises? and feel tosed around? tell me about that part, u can email me ... I found a little solution when you want to wake up & feel helpless.. I did it this morning
hi, just dropping by
my sp started after i had become friends with a group of friends who were amatuar satanists, they played the ouija board, but i did not, but through my involvement with them, it was just as well i also played. I was with them for three years, i was invloved in many other things they did. After i commited my life to Jesus these attacks became more frequent and everytime it happened i would call on Jesus name and it would go away. If you research satanism, they tell of the ''grays'' which is the ''enemy'' of set that causes this paralysis. Usually i would be asleep and then suddenly wake at some point and there would be an invisible force on me, i would want to move but cant. Sometimes it even lifted me up, moved my legs, as though it wanted sex, sometimes there are spiders, foul smells, figure moving in the corner of my eye, growling in my bed and always the feeling like something evil is watching you, but God is stronger and His blood is mighty. Everytime i say Jesus Name it would go away.
I just pray evrynight that Jesus blood protect me through the night and i pray Jesus blood over my bed. It helps. The last time this sp happened i saw the demon doing this. He had a gray and black body, his body was skinny, with long arms and sharp nails. His eyes were dark and evil, he had long white shark like teeth. He put his arm around me and started suffocating me, until i managed to say Jesus he went away.
This is spiritual, somewhere a door has been opened and it gives free ground for the demon to do what he wants. My doors were;
occultism
drugs, hallucinogans
ilicit sex, pornography
horoscopes
self mutilation
satanic paraphelia
satanic music
Anger
and im sure there are more
anyway, if you want to know more about the opening of doors for demons then research it. Its quite effective and if you try Jesus blood, youll be surprised how effective it is. Our battle is not with humans, but with the spiritual world.
And satan loves playing with humans, cause they are such easy targets. Look at how easily we cower when we se a demon, satan is just enjoying the show and probably laughing his head off.
hope that through this people will find Jesus. It,s so easy all you have to do is believe.
Yes, totally agree
I just had an episode last night. This one was the worst. I heard someone using the bathroom, they flushed the toilet, then I heard footsteps come in my room and stop at the foot of my bed.(I live alone btw) My covers were shook. I started saying Jesus, Jesus! "I plead myself with the blood of Jesus Christ", and said "devil you're not welcomed in my house! Then I heard growling. I was out of it in a few seconds. This has happened to me since childhood. Usually wiggling my big toe helps to get out of it. But me praying and saying Jesus, it helped faster. It was if the spirit had got angry. I've seen what I thought at the time was an angel in white that touched my arm! you feel a presence, I can see something out of the corner of my eye above me. I've had a feeling of being raped, tickled, and covers taken off. I believe my doors are sexual related, horoscopes, and watching horror movies.
You're so rite, I've
You're so rite, I've experienced the same things for years and now I'm convinced that it is a spiritual battle for our souls.The more we believe in Jesus the more the attacks would periodically continue. I believe that Satan knows God's children and like Jesus he tries to temp us and scare us. And the more we seemed scared the better entertaining it is to him. And like I experienced myself being somewhere a little away from my body.
Please Help
'Sleep paralysis' has happened to me alot so i decided to get a dream catcher then it all stopped. But last night it happened again. This time was abit different though.
I always sleep with the covers over my head which makes me feel more comfortable, and i never open my eyes because im always so petrified i'll see something i dont want too.
I always feel the most evil presence and i cannot, for the life of me, move no matter how hard i struggle. I lay there scared out of my mind, mouth open trying my hardest to scream out to my mum but nothing comes out.
I always repeat the lords prayer but alot of the time i forget it, although i know it off by heart.
The reason last night was different was because i felt the evil presence touching my body all over, and as if it were trying to have sex with me.
I realise i sound crazy, but it was so real.
I dont understand how this can be a scientific thing.
If anybody relates to this please talk to me about it.
Im so scared to sleep and im just so confused as to why this is happening.
hope this helps
hey tamika what you need to do is pray and plead the blood of Jesus over you. And you also have to remove the dreamcatcher anything thats not of God could be a doorway for the devil ie music,movies books etc. I also suggest that you take oil and pray over it and annoit your room. That should do it and pray before you sleep. Pslam 127:2 God gives sleep to his beloved hope this helps
I don't know if you are a
I don't know if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, but we are truly in a spiritual warfare. Dream Catchers, well, God told us not to mess with that because you are only using the devil to attact the devil. There are only two powers, good and evil. The only one that can and wants to protect you is Jesus. The devil makes up different things, like dream catching, in order to fool us into thinking it's not him. But it's the same Demon different name.
If you are fornicating, watching porno, sleeping with someone elses husband, smokin weed, whatever, these are open doors. Sexual sins are huge open doors and so are doing drugs. You got to stop and only God can help. Believe me, I went through a whole lot, trying other stuff and it did not help me. I can't deny, why would I? When I came to Jesus sincerely, he lifted a feeling of emptiness and heaviness up off me. Pretending agnosticsm couldn't do it. I remember when I was praying in college with some Christians, adn tehn I came back feeling so light, so much peace. I didn't even no it was possible, and actually didn't know that it was Jesus presence because when two or more gather in his name, he's there. I found that out later.
No one can take away that now but so I can't let anyone convince me out of the joy Jesus gives. Even when it's a sad situation, I cry and God is there comforting me. Just think, some are miserable and want to make you feel miserable to so they say things to make you not believe in Jesus. People can say different things, but my life has totally changed since making Jesus the Lord of my life and he works for me. We all need it.
Hope This Helps
ridiculous
The idea that you believe in all that you just said is mind boggling. The human psyche has the potential to make us experience all sorts of things. To draw from these SP experiences and conclude that some dead dude named jesus can protect you and that a devil exists to tempt us and make us sin are primeval fairy-tales. If you want to believe in God (despite absolutely no evidence for it), then fine. But making shit up about devil and jesus and sin and doors is ridiculous. I'm not trying to be mean or rude, but education goes a long way.
No offence but the fact you
No offence but the fact you believe 'fornacating,watching porno' etc is an open door, is just pathetic. That has nothing to do with it. Thats just stupid. The fact you judge people on those things is horrible and god doesnt like people judging other people. Go and preach to somebody else.
Please Help Tamika
Hi, Tamika I have been experiencing SP since I was 14yrs old I am now 33 yrs old, I dont want to scare you but from my experience I know what might happen. I have a question does the presence feel like a man and has is always felt like a man?
If it does than the same thing that happened to me might happen to you. When I was 14 yrs old and had my first SP it started with the feeling of someone touching me in a sexual way it started at my leg and all the way up to my face I could feel the cold hand and when it got to my face it scratched my pillow so it sounded like it had long nails but I felt the presence of a man, I was able to start screaming my sister was sleeping in the same room and next to the light switch she right away turned on the lights and nothing was there but my parents also woke up and ran to our room my dad said he saw something run out the front door and he chased it he said the front door just flung open but he didn't see anything, for the next 4 mnths I slept between my parents until I started feeling safe again. Many years passed when this man, demon, ghost what ever it is had sex with me the fist time I was around 24yrs old I heard it come into my room and crawl on my bed I felt the covers slowley being pulled off of me and I felt it crawl on top of me everthing felt cold I could feel it between my legs and I couldn't move I was trying to fight it off as I felt it move on me (sexually) but of course I was paralised than it just vanished, the second time it did it I was already married it all started the same way but when it started crawling on me it felt like it was turning into a huge fat snake and it slithered and wrapped its body all around me and in between my legs I could feel cold scales like a snake than it felt like I was floating above my bed with it wrapped around me and again I could feel it move sexually, than all of a sudden it vanished and it dropped me on my bed which made me snap out of the paralis stage. This is a very scary feeling I know what you are going through unfortunantly I have been unable to find help I have tried everything from seeing a neurologist and psychologist and they have found nothing wrong with my sleeping habits and nothing wrong with me, I have even seen a witch doctor she said a being followed me and always will. The only thing that has really helped me is to talk about it and pray. I suggest you do the same this will help you start to over come your fear yes I know the fear is great but it does help some, tell and talk to someone you trust and wont judge you I wish you the best of luck and hopefully someday all of us that suffer from SP will find an answer to this nightmare.
This is beyond terrifying!!
This is beyond terrifying!! Im so sorry to hear about your story. But im glad im not crazy. It hasnt happened the last week because i've been sleeping with a light on. I really hope it stops. But i have a feeling if it happens again it'll only be worse ): I wish the scientific explantation was real, but we know its not ):
Me tOo
this has happend once, but soon it was gone and i just went by the norrmal sf so u should try to fight it off or sleep w/ someone else
hey i have had sleep
hey i have had sleep paralysis since as early as i can remember. I used to get it pretty consistently and was very scared because i did not know what it was. I have never actually seen anything but i have had the pressure on my chest and on two occasions I felt something moving inbetween my legs and it was the most uncomfortable thing ever. I am 22 now and I understand SP a little bit better, I now dont believe it is anything spiritual but i noticed that these things would happen when i was more stressed out and having anxiety. I really want to learn more about this and i recently learned my mother has had these same kind of attacks too. Iv been exercising much more and being more healthy and i have not been having the attacks as often now maybe once every 4 or five months as opposed to when i would have it once or twice a week.
It's common,
I've read through some of these stories and I want to say that SP is a common thing, almost everyone experiences it, more or less. It happens to me about 4 nights/week, mostly when I go to sleep but sometimes in the morning when I'm about to wake up (however this only happens on free days when I don't have an alarm waking me up). Some years back I was terrified of this aswell, but then I learned that there is no point in fearing it.
I know that whatever is going on is just my imagination, what I do is calm down and breathe normaly ignoring what is going on. Whenever you experience this just tell yourself that nothing is real, think about it, how many times did it happen and there's always the same outcome, nothing happens to you.
it starts with the ringing
Weird thing lol. So I’m 25yrs old, and i used to be religious, but I’m not anymore. i am starting to become more spiritual though... thing is i was sitting my chair last night staring at my TV, kinda zoning out a little bit, letting my vision focus on everything instead of one thing, and everything in my peripheral vision was slowly bending, moving ever so slightly...like I’m in a dream. Which is what brought me here.
I Google searched "when i stare at something, why do other things around me move" and there were no matches. As i was scrolling down, the very last link was this website... and i remembered back when i was 17 years old, so i decided to click on it and check it out.
I started reading everyone's posts, and remembered back when i was 17 years old, i had a few of these episodes. At the time i was in a very hard part of my life. I was going through minor drug addiction (Oxycontin) and now that i think back, i was very depressed, because i had not been the best person. I lied a lot, to many people, and took advantage of many people in that time as well. I was working 3rd shift at a big house in middle of nowhere in the country, taking care of behavioral and mentally unstable adults.
There was just me and one woman i worked with, she worked and cleaned the upstairs, i did the downstairs, and we pretty much kept to ourselves. On occasion she would come downstairs and catch me asleep, in which i would get a scolding and i was then afraid of being fired and what not.
Either way, this is my story...
First off i want to explain this certain noise and feeling before the SP occurs. It is right when i am about to fall asleep. Like right between the place where your body falls asleep and your mind falls asleep. At this point, i hear a soft tone, a soft crescendo and decrescendo sound, getting louder and softer, like a wave of vibrating sound. It starts in my right ear, at that point i know what is coming, i know this has happened before. it starts to get louder, sounding kind of like a "weeooooweeeeooooweeeeoooo" it’s like the sound travels from my right ear, through my head and on to the other side of my ear...if i do not wake myself up before the sound gets to the other side of my brain, i do not wake up in this so called reality. I wake up in the "land of the dead" or as others call it, SP.
10 minutes ago, i remembered i wrote down one of these episodes right after words, and here is the letter i wrote.
6-24-05 3:20am
This time there was no warning, no sound, or distinct ringing in my head... i just opened my eyes and it had already "taken over me" the feeling of dread had already engulfed my entire body. Right now I’m getting cold and have goosebumps just thinking about it. I first hear moaning and evil/dead sounds. This time i actually told myself to calm down, i told myself that it was ok and to try... no i told myself i HAD to overcome this. I then felt my left arm fall to the left side of my chest. It felt as if my whole body was falling to the left, my eyes closed and it was an immense feeling of energy pulling me down and to the left. I opened my eyes to see that i hadn't moved at all. I looked around to make sure everything was where it was before i fell asleep. I looked at my arm that wouldn't move, then to the picture right above me... then to my TV. I could actually just watch it if it weren't for the aging feeling of dread and the feeling of a presence in the room. I could hear it if it weren't for the moans of the presence. I then saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I told myself it was ok and tried my hardest to look at the presence. i looked up and to my left, on the top shelf there was a dead man dressed in a black cloak, all ripped to shreds, either floating or resting in between the ceiling and the top shelf. I tried to scream but nothing came out. I tried to move but my body wouldn't budge. I tried so hard i lost track of the "dead being/presence" all the sudden it grabbed my arm and pulled my left arm down and i could see it close up...
Rotten flesh all over his face and rotten yet white teeth, his mouth opened up and clamped down on my fingers as his brown bloodshot eyes rolled into the back of his head he bit harder. I somehow managed to spread my fingers wide enough to fight his clamped jaw open and i think he disappeared, or was scared off. I looked again and my arm was lying back on my chest like it was before...after this i was able to mumble out some groans and a faint gurgling yell, but not as loud as someone clearing their throat. I was also able to move my hand but not much. i didn’t just snap out of this, it gradually dissipated... the feeling of complete helplessness and dread slowly but surely left my mind and my body as i tried my hardest to awaken, i sat up, just as i did i awoke to find everything just the way it was before i had fallen asleep.
At least i know I’m not crazy now and that it’s just a dream...i think. Maybe more of a being half conscious, or half asleep. I promise myself that if it ever happens again to just be calm and keep telling myself that it will pass soon...hopefully. I’m going to try to fall back asleep now, if it happens again I’ll be back to write about it.
~End of letter~
so, that was my very last experience with night terrors. I had been having them at that time quite often, the first time it happened i refused to go downstairs for a week, because of how terrified i was. For a while i had been trying to face it, to not be scared. This was the first time i had overcome the evil enough to wake up at will. This was also the last night terror i had ever had.
a few months later i was put in rehab, a few years later I’m here, happy, getting ready to give up all my money and everything I’ve become attached to, in order to go on my own spiritual (not religious) journey.
I do not know what that was, or why it happened. it’s weird, two weeks ago i started to hear the sound start, for the first time in 6 years, but it was mild and easily shrugged off. There are things i don’t know, probably never will know. But there are some things i do know.
Each individual is different; each person is unique in the way they perceive themselves and the world around them. What do i personally think this was?
It has nothing to do with religion, but it has to do with your inner being. i believe it was a battle from within, that i had been fighting my whole life, and at that time i had been losing... at that time i knew i wanted to stop using the drugs, and i wanted to be a better person, and that i hated myself more than i could hate anyone. I think it is something that cannot be explained in words but only felt. I think we all have inner demons inside of us, and i do not know where they come from, but depending on what you are doing with your life... they are more prominent, or less prominent.
If i have any advice to any of you, think good and hard about the way you are living out your life. Do you lie a lot, do you steal, do you take advantage of people, etc. the only way to get rid of the SP is to face your fears. No matter how scary it is, the fear will not go away, but you can fight it. Do your best to tell the fear i will not budge! You do not scare me! I will be a better part of myself! I will be the person i know i am deep inside. Compassionate, empathetic, trustworthy, and dependable.
Not only must you face your fear, but also your fear of knowing your true inner being. You must also change the way you live your life. Then, and only then, can you escape from the "land of the dead" or so to speak.
More than 10 Times, it's freakin scary!!!
Hi, I've been experiencing sleep paralysis since about 2 years ago. My first experience was I felt a presence looking at me, staring. Luckily, the presence I felt was bout a meter away, but it is staring at me from the ceiling. Then I started to experience more and more sleep paralysis, I even had to experience sleep paralysis twice a day. It just comes after another. Every time it just gets worse, first I saw things, then I hear things like laughters and whispers, and finally I felt something touch me and the presence is right next to me, kneeling down by my bed side.
At first, I thought it was ghosts and the supernatural, but then I tried to look for explanations. Even though I found some explanations, it still won't go away and I keep telling myself that it's not something supernatural, but it just keeps happening to me..
Is there anyway to explain my frequent experience of sleep paralysis? Is there anyway to decrease the fear or shorten the duration?
Thank you
3 times in one night and my GF felt it and heard it too
I have had this happen to me many times before but my encounter over the weekend 5/21/11 made me wonder even more. My girlfriend and I stayed at the Days Inn in Tannersville PA. We had both fallen asleep around 12am but i woke up about 2am to get some water to drink. Getting up from the bed i woke her up also but i did not know this until later. I laid back down still sleepy and dozed off. I laid down on my left side and my GF was facing the other direction laying on her right. I had not been sleeping that long when I suddenly felt this strange presence in the room. Soon after i felt like i was pinned down to the bed. Like everyone else i could not move, or talk or ask for help. I started praying and after what seemed like forever the weight lifted and i was able to move again.
I laid up in bed for a bit back against the head board still frightened after what had just happened. It was not long after i soon feel back to sleep this time laying on my back. Again the presence returned in the room. This time i could feel it right above my head looking down at me as if it was sitting on the head board of the bed. Then i started hearing scratching on the wall as if someone or something was clawing away at the wall behind my head. Then the weight descending on me again pinning me down. Same thing could not speak, move or ask for help. Once again i prayed and prayed then the weight lifted and i was able to move.
This time i did not lay up in bed i simply turned over on my right side facing my GF. I hard barely fallen asleep when i felt as if someone had tugged on the sheets from the leg area and was trying to uncover me or get under the sheets with us. This was the last draw at that moment i knew something was wrong. I shook my GF who to my surprise was awake all this time and asked her if she believed in evil sprits. All she answered was "if you are feeling the things i am feeling right now and hearing what im hearing in this room i know exactly what you are taking about." "We will talk about it in the morning " apparently she was so scared she did not want to talk about it at the moment. The time was now 4am and i stayed up all night watching TV till about 6 i was not going to bed and so was she. We fell asleep when the sun started to come up.
So we woke up about 9am and started talking about what had happened that night. She told me that she had been up ever since i got up for water and was unable to sleep. She started having a feeling as if a evil presence was in the room right after i laid back down as if something or someone was in there with us. She said she heard the noises and the scratching noises. Someone or something was walking about the room. she prayed but she would start forgetting the prays and suddenly caught head aches every time she tried to pray. How is that possible. if this is SP how can she hear what i heard and feel the presence.
Yo, i'm 13 years old...
hey guys i was sleeping and i woke up i quite aware that i was awake but.... my eye became so heavy and then when i open them it's like a flashlight thingy that you kept on open close open close but when it finally shut my body was completely unable to move and i tried everything to move but it wont budge, i only woke up when i breath deeply... (not ghost crap, not nightmare, i was completely aware that i was awake but could'not move)
common thing
this event of fairly common for me. I have it usually about 4 or 5 times a month. I do see things in my dreams, and I hear noises too. Last night i saw something running around on my floor as I looked down. I also heard gospel music being played in my living room. I am able to realize that I am asleep, and I can make very faint groans and noises to try to make myself wake up. I am able to move my fingers but nothing else. I often struggle to wake myself up, and eventually I will. As soon as I do, the music stops and I'm able to move just fine. It is an extremely uncomfortable experience.
I suffer from SP but my husband heard it to, is that possible??
I found this forum and it really has put me at ease somewhat! It's been 10yrs since I had my last SP episode which was my 2nd one since I was a child at 12yrs old. I was 19yrs old sleeping in the bed with my cousin and I woke up out of a dead sleep. I remember looking at the time and all of the sudden the tv clicked on and then it clicked off while the remote was laying on the floor! I FREAKED out and when I went to yell my cousins name I froze I could NOT move. I was completely paralized while my tv clicked off and on like ten times...I started praying "In the name of Jesus Christ I cover myself in ur blood" and I slowly became mobile again to where I could move. When I finally yelled her name the tv shut off as if nothing never happened...I deff thought I was having a spirit encounter...well here it is 10 yrs later I am 29yrs old and last night I woke up to a loud taunting noise and when I woke up I saw a shadow in the hall way, next thing I know I'm paralized again BUT I could still see my husband thru the corner of my eyes as he woke up out of a dead sleep screaming "what the was that" but he didn't see nothing and when he looked at me he said I was sleeping but I told him I could see and hear everything he did but I was paralized...I started praying and 5 minutes later I was able to move and speak again! I thought maybe it was just a bad dream since this hasn't happened to me in a long time but my husband told me this morning that he remembered waking up to a weird sound...(this really creeps me out) I understand the scientific part of it but how did he wake up from hearing the same thing to???? And he has never suffered from this as matter a fact he suggest I go talk to someone soon bc this has me all shook up!!
worst one last night
hi i also suffer from sleep paralysis, i had my worst one last night which made me reserch it online which brought me to this forum. im a 21 year old male and last nights episode has littiraly got me scared of being in the house by my self. i was lying asleep on my stomach and it felt like somebody suddenly jumped on my back and tried to sufficate me and i really though i was going to die gasping for air. i normaly have around 1 per month or maybe 1 every 2 months. i have had the holucintions befor, one time it was a dark shadow floating around my room and theother time it seemed my dressing gown had fell from mid air and my door opned.i fight my hardest to try and gain fully concisnes and normally workds my gasping for air and rubbing my fingers together. i have gathered that stress can normally cause this but this is bringing more stress on and i have had no sleep for more than 24 hours now but find my self scared to go to sleep.
i nevr sleep on my back which seems to be a factor causing it for some. and mainly happens when i sleep on my right hand side facing the door, and i think last night, ( the worst one ) was the first time its happened whil sleeping on my belly.
Anyway i would appreciate it if anybody couls email me a few tips/pointers on how to try and prevent this.
PS would i be able to consult a doctor / GP about this. thanks.
Sleep Paralysis Within a Dream?
I'm 19 years old and I've had the classic sleep paralysis for a while - being awake and not able to move for a bit with some auditory and visual hallucinations. I sometimes get the same paralyzed feeling without being awake or perhaps just without realizing I'm waking up.. I'll be in a dream and not able move, or only able to move very slowly, speak very slowly or I'll have difficulty opening my eyes [in the context of the dream]. I was just wondering if this is sleep paralysis as well? I do not come out of the dream or open my eyes as I usually do with sleep paralysis.
PS: I'm a strong believer in the science as opposed to spiritual/religious explanations.
NOT AGAIN!!!................
I have the exact same dreams...normally cant see the face but its like this heavy creature on me, I cant scream, I can see the room, I cant move its like im paralysed! Once or twice I seen a face, it was someone laughing at me, a person with white teeth! the other time i was dragged on the floor with this short person coming on top of me...this feeling is so scary! I normally pray to wake up and call out Gods name but sometimes it doesnt happened immediately....I started puting my holy book next to me and light incense outside my door, I dont know if this is my imagination but for some reason it stopped for a long while...This use to happen very often...however just yesterday it happened again..it normally happens when im lying on my back but last night it happened when i was sleeping on my tummy! I felt this heavy horrible thing on top of me, I was screaming but nothing came out, shouting and struggling wishing it would stop...eventually I called out to my Dad who's late and I believe is my guardian angel and just as I said Daddy please help me! Its like this heavy thing lifted off me and i woke up...and after that i fell off to sleep in a very deep sleep...this feeling is not nice to me i think its something evil...well i try not think of it too much...but I will be putting my holy book next to me and lighting incence!
Hey me and you have the same thing going on
Hey i start to wonder what was going on with me I found that i have sleep paralysis so I read and research on it. I also have read many stories but i fought out that me and your story are more alike every thing you wrote just like mine my father also passed away i would like to get to know you and more about our stories.
My most frightening moment
Okay.last night i went to sleep and awoke but was in sleep paralysis mode and as i opened my eyes,i saw a dark hooded figure(simularly looking like the grim reaper)by my closet holding its head down with its hands together in front of it.This happens to me every single night i fall asleep but its no biggie to me..i just dont open my eyes and hope to the heavens that i dont hear anything horrendous.(anyway)I particularly opened my eyes this night and saw the figure i closed my eyes lickety split and tried to rub my thumb of my right hand and my index finger together to remain consiousness but i couldnt.knowing that this happens to children my age(12 years old)i wonder why every day and it still remains a mystery to me...The devil...thats what it is.You know how they said the grim reaper is the devil?and how he stands at the end of your bed? well i think thats what this phase is and why it happens?behavior in your everyday life and sinning.Thankyou and i hope to read many more comments.(=
I use to have sleep paralysis
I had sleep paralysis for years. I was so scared to go to sleep because I didn't want it to occur. Ever since I stopped sleeping on my back, it has stopped completely! try this, it has worked for me and I haven't had sleep paralysis ever since!
Body paralysis
It's just happened to me 20min ago! My mind is awake and i think my eyes are open as i can see the room (unless im dreaming that bit), but I can't move my body! I can hear myself breathing and some outside noises. Iv had no spirit encounters. It happens when iv had too little sleep or too much! It's absolutely horrible though. It happened when I was younger and I actually had my face down in the pillow!-when I ran out of oxygen my body thankfully woke up and I lifted my head so I could breath. Although it's horrible I dont think we'll die from it! Hah- our bodies are pretty cleaver and survival instincts will kick in. I can control my thoughts so I try to relax and stay calm and I either wake up properly or go back to sleep! I wonder if there are treatments or techniques we could use?