I should be going back to sleep right now, but instead, I’m here writing this in the wee hours of the morning out of fear. You see, I knew I was going to get Sleep Paralysis this morning, because I know what it feels like, and as I was trying to fall asleep, I could feel it starting. My eyes popped open, and it stopped. As soon as I dozed again, I could feel it starting, so I opened my eyes again. It’s scary. And I’m a grown man. But it’s a generally unpleasant experience that anyone would try to avoid, especially someone who knows exactly what it is and when they get it.
The thing is, I know Sleep Paralysis, and apparently it knows me. That’s a big difference that separates me from a lot of people who experience it. And a lot of people, often more than those who realize it, have experienced it. Think about this for a moment: You’re laying there on the bed, either about to fall asleep or about to wake up, and suddenly you notice something. It’s a feeling of panic, and the inability to move. Maybe there’s also a feeling of a presence in the room, could be anywhere, but often it’s either right next to you or right behind you. There’s a noise of some sort, like maybe a buzzing sound (like a dentist drill or electrical device), or maybe other sounds that are vaguely familiar, like faint talking or clanking of keys. While you can observe these things, you simply can’t move a muscle. You feel a crushing weight on your body, as if you’re being sucked into the bed, and you’re biggest concern is to move something, anything, even a finger. You feel the need to turn your head so you can see better, but 9 times out of 10 you really don’t see anything. And the presence? It’s evil. Totally evil. You can feel it doing evil things, like observing you, drawing nearer, and somehow being responsible for your inability to move.
You are officially in Sleep Paralysis.
Now not everyone experience this to its full potential. Some people just find that they can’t move, and their heart might be racing or they feel strange and nervous. Some people can barely tell what’s going on, and before they know it, they are back asleep. Long before science had an answer, the condition existed around the world in folk stories, the majority of cultures depicting sleep paralysis as “a ghost pinning you down”, “a demon that visits you in the night”, or an “old hag or witch” of some sort. The ideas are generally evil, as a result of the strange feeling that something is malevolent during the experience. In actuality, research has found that most of sleep paralysis is simply a function of the body to prevent movement during REM sleep. WebMD goes further into the details of sleep paralysis.
My own story is a bit different. You see, I love the thrill of researching strange things both paranormal and normal. I like hearing about ghosts, aliens, strange creatures, and I also like to scare people with my own stories. I’ve known about Sleep Paralysis for a long time, but I’ve never experienced it until recently. As a result, when I finally was experiencing it for the first time, I was excited and tried to test out all my theories about what I could move, and just generally taking in the feelings and observations. That first time, I recall being able to look around the room and see the clock, which stated that it was 10:16am. I remember slowly being able to lift my arm, as if it was extremely heavy. After a while, I felt a sense of panic, and that there was something behind me (I was sleeping on my side) just out of view, that I simply must turn my head to check on. The rest of my paralysis was experienced in this dreaded state, with me attempting to turn my head, but being unable to, yet convinced that there was something behind me just out of view. Finally, I was able to wake up, and I noticed the room looked slightly different, the clock said 10:08am, and of course when I turned, there was nothing behind me. Since that first time, I’ve experienced sleep paralysis on 4 other occasions, and due to the uncomfortable nature of the experience, I always find myself trying to get out of it. I’ve never really felt a presence again, but I’ve felt the state of panic at my inability to move.
My Theory on Sleep Paralysis
After these events, I was able to stop my sleep paralysis. Here’s how. When I started experiencing sleep paralysis, it was because I had recently changed my sleep schedule to one where I woke up early in the morning, around 7:30am, to do about 1 hour worth of work that was required to be completed before 9:00am. I would then go to sleep after doing this work, for only about 1 hour, before waking up again to head out for the office. It was during this new schedule that I experienced sleep paralysis multiple times. And I would always get it during that last hour of napping that I tried to force in after doing my work. My theory is that due to the normal sleep cycle, where you go into REM sleep more frequently toward morning, you increase your chances to get sleep paralysis. It’s the same reason why people remember dreams well if they happen in the morning. Sleep Paralysis is scientifically defined as the paralyzed state of being in REM, yet being conscious. In the morning, my brain was still in the morning stages of frequent REM cycles, yet also ready to “wake up” to a state of consciousness due to a full night’s sleep. That is why I got sleep paralysis during those times.
I found a thread where someone was asking as to methods on inducing sleep paralysis. I’m not sure why anyone would want to do that, but I have a good idea that waking up quite early in the morning for a few minutes of activity, and then trying to go back to sleep will probably cause sleep paralysis.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
When I was a teenager I was able to learn to use sleep paralysis as a gateway to lucid dreams and out of body experiences. When I was a kid sleep paralysis was absolutely terrifying because I didn’t understand what it was. I thought I was some sort of freak and was afraid to approach adults about my experiences. But as I grew older I started going to the library to research the topic and realized that it was related to other strange, spontaneous phenomena, namely out of body experience and lucid dreaming, that I was experiencing. I soon learned to embrace these skills as gifts rather than disorders and have even learned to have OBEs and lucid dreams at will. As I grew into an adult, other concerns took over and I’d experienced fewer and fewer episodes of SP, OBE, and LD. Now I kinda miss them since I spend a third of my life sleeping, and I feel that a lot of that is going to waste if I cannot harness these abilities.
I have the same thing! I never new what it was, I spoke to a spiritual counselor and was told that I may be having a outer body experience. I started having this when I was little, like around 6 or 7 and I would wake up every night screaming for my mom. It went on every night for about 6 months, my mother kept a note book and documented it. It stopped than came back in my teen years every now and than. I’m 29 now, I kind of thought everyone had it. Anyway it always feels like I’m awake like my brain is and I can see my own body and I keep telling myself to wake up and I can’t then I would go into like a panic mode and almost start crying in fear! I try to yell for help, or move and I can’t. Last night I had one but I saw my body sleeping and I saw a man with his hand on my leg shaking me and saying “honey wake up” I thought it was my husband. I some how woke up and sat up quick and no one was in the room. So weird!!! I’ve had them before and felt like I was falling but this is the first one I can remember feeling like someone was touching me.
For the past seven months everynight I go through what you all are talking about. It lasts for about a minute and it frightens me to no end. But the last two nights I have in a way inbraced it and tried to control what is happening. I wont say that I was 100 percent succesful but they weren’t as bad as the others. They last longer…. these last two times but there not as scary. Don’t know if this will help but I was also waking up earlyer and sometimes not sleeping at all that brought all this on in the first place.
I’m sorry to hear that Lynn, I hope it goes away for you soon and you don’t lose too much sleep over it!