Sleep paralysis - anyone here experienced it?

reply to post by eliuk


I suffered from it years ago.The very first time it happened to me I had a dream that I was abducted by aliens. When I awoke,felt this intense pressure on my chest like something was holding me down. Could not move at all,except my eyes. But I could see little green men all around my room. It lasted about 15 seconds then I was able to fully move. It happened on and off for the next few years while I was working graveyard shift.Once I was back on a regular sleep pattern it stopped. I'll tell you what though,it could be absolutely terrifying.I saw quite a few freaky things. Also the feeling of being pulled out of bed then thrown back on it.That's frightening.

TechniXcality
Once right when I first met my wife I awoke unable to move and what do you know at the bottom of my bed is a black hooded figure in the shape of an old woman. The entity promptly walks up beside me and put its hands around my neck hers or its face I could not see with exception of its red glowing eyes. I litterly was being chocked to death frantically trying to move and then I did. Poof just like that she/it disappears and all is normal only later did I read about old hag and those same experience s Im not one to belive in paranormal however something is truly going on with sleep paralysis

I have had sleep paralysis once in my lifetime and it was the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. My story is similar to yours, I was living with my girlfriend, now wife, she had told me that her psychic friend told her that there was a spirit of an old woman in her house who didn't approve of us living together unmarried. So on the night the sp happened my wife was coming out of the bedroom and sensed something in the hallway, she thought I was trying to scare her, so she called my name I was in the living room. She was so freaked out because she swore there was something there.

We go to bed after that, and shortly after I had fallen asleep I woke up with something on my chest trying to smother me. I couldn't see anything but I sensed something very dark trying to snuff me out. It felt like there was cellophane over my mouth and nose, I couldn't breath or move. I was in a panic and the only thing that would move was my eyes, so I'm looking over at my wife trying to wake her up so she could help me. It was the freakiest thing, all of a sudden I was normal and could move and breath. This was 14 years ago and has never happened again.

In 1988 while in the army, I had an episode of what I later learned to be sleep paralysis. I "awoke" being unable to move. I was in the barracks sharing a room with two other soldiers. I was unable to speak or move but I felt myself sliding up the bed into the headboard. There was a dark silhouette above my body and seemed to be causing the sensation. Needless to say, I was terrified. I finally made a very willful exertion and swiped at the shadow above me. At this time I sat up in the bed, breathing heavily and more than a little scared from the episode.

I looked around my room and saw my two roommates sleeping soundly. I decided to go the bathroom and get my wits together. Due to an incident in the barracks, hall guards had been stationed in each hall by our first sergeant. But when I exited my room, the guard was nowhere to be seen. The bathroom was 2 doors down, so I went there, splashed some water on my face and gathered myself together. I was a little curious as to where the hall guard was but went back to my room.

When I entered the room, my attention was immediately drawn to a corner of the room where a very hideous little man was standing, laughing a maniacal laugh and staring at me very intently. I about crapped my shorts, ran and jumped in my bunk. (Not very brave of a former paratrooper....I know) . I looked up after a moment and the man was gone and my roommates were still sound asleep. I woke them up and told them what had just happened. They both said I must have been dreaming. The next day I spoke to The hall guard who told me I never left the room.

Many years later, I believe I experienced "the stranger" known to occur sometimes from sleep paralysis. It was very terrifying at the time. Everything about the incident was so vivid and never seemed like a dream. I put it behind me for years til one day I came across some information about dreams and people had experienced similar things.....

reply to post by eliuk


ive experienced it myself once or twice, the first time was scary, i couldnt move and the shadow of a vacuum cleaner in my room turned into a large looming figure standing over my bed. after i calmed down i slowly regained movement and the shadow receded. needless to say i turned the tv on and went back to sleep with it on. lol

smurfy

TechniXcality
Once right when I first met my wife I awoke unable to move and what do you know at the bottom of my bed is a black hooded figure in the shape of an old woman. The entity promptly walks up beside me and put its hands around my neck hers or its face I could not see with exception of its red glowing eyes. I litterly was being chocked to death frantically trying to move and then I did. Poof just like that she/it disappears and all is normal only later did I read about old hag and those same experience s Im not one to belive in paranormal however something is truly going on with sleep paralysis

You may feel that way, I can't argue with that, but I do know the origins of where my sleep paralysis came from, and while it is scary it is also pretty mundane.

No I absolutely feel that way, I have had no previous contact with anyone who has experienced the "old hag". However during a apparently hallucinogenic state I had a text book,( I guess text book is used improper) more like straight out an occults black magic book experience with what would only be known as a succubus. With that said, I am in no way shape or form believing in ghost or demons. I’m an agnostic on a good day and a static atheist otherwise. Also I am very familiar with scientific and well documented stages of SP. Yet this does not offer any explanation for the shared "hallucination" that apparently jumps time and geographic location? So we come to a point where we have to ask What is real? and what is the nature of reality? At the very least and without a long drawn out discourse I would say that which affects me and you. So that leads me to some interesting ideas, is this an archetype like Jung writes about? Is this just the way that humans hallucinate whilst experiencing SP due to cultural archetypes and the collective unconscious? Or is this a legitimate case of an objective paranormal entity bridging the gap in my reality? I highly doubt the latter to be true.

Once again the point to me is not SP or the hallucinations but rather the nature of the hallucinations and the shared theme they have even at time's the exact same entity. With that said though your experience’s are mundane and not of the same nature you cannot dismiss my experience either as if I’m scared or somehow inadequate because I believe there's something more to it. (Having said all that) and on a broader stroke, isn't there something to all of life? Don't you notice meaning in chance? dose serendipity not affect you?(I hope you realize at this point I am speaking generally and not to a specific subject) Archetypes and themes and drama's we not only imagine we live. For instance we imagine the way someone dies but also the way they should go about dyeing depending what role and judgment we place upon them. We fit these images in our regular life sometimes we are the fool and seemingly nothing can go our way ( but then again dose anything ever go right for a fool?) I just see a very unique way of experiencing ones psyche through SP; and as a fellow experiencer I am just trying to get further towards the truth no matter how triumphant, or dismally absurd it turns out to be.

Sorry for going on a rant I hope it's coherent and well understood

I used to get it but I cured myself. I know this doesn't work for everyone but for many suffers, just sleeping on their stomach can stop them. I will still get them if I sleep on my back, or even sidish backish. I never get them if I sleep on my stomach. Also understanding the science behind them and what goes on in your brain while you are asleep helped a lot. My belief is that fear gives it power, if you don't fear it, it becomes simply, "Ooh, I am awake, but i can't move yet, let's see what pleasant things I can create in my half awake, half dream state.

My last episode with frighting sleep paralysis, I am not sure was even that. It seemed like every other SP episode i had had, and i thought i was awake, until my husband shook me and woke me up saying I was screaming in my sleep. I know I was trying to scream but I thought I couldn't scream because of SP.
So it could have been that I was just having a nightmare where i was having SP, but really wasn't.
Just something to think about.

Also, one of my SP experiences as a young adult, my body was vibrating, and it felt like an entity was trying to get inside of me, not just on top of me.
Any one experience that?

reply to post by eliuk

I have had sleep paralysis since I was about 13 years old - I am now in my early 40's. My first few times scared the heck out of me and I told my mum about it. She said she had the same experiences but grew out of it when she reached adulthood. I haven't.

My early experiences usually started with waves of energy washing through my body and the auditory symptoms of a lady speaking to me in a foreign language (only in one ear), or something like about ten TVs or radio stations on all at the same time and getting louder. I have never had any threatening presences like something sitting on my chest or lurking at the bottom of the bed like some have described. I have felt like I was floating and when I finally realized what was going on sometimes I could have some fun with it and float around so it was sort of an OOBE. I've had a few experiences where I actually got "stuck" when trying to go through a wall or a door, and the latest was one where I was floating out but then suddenly fell "through" the mattress. I could literally feel my self sort of dispersing and the darkness when going through the solid matter. THAT was super strange.

I've found that sometimes I can put myself into the sleep paralysis by making my eyes go back and forth, lids closed and then I sort of get a bunch of rapidly changing thought pictures and then it happens. Sometimes I get a buzzing pressure in the middle of my forehead. Upon waking from the paralysis I feel really cold and still have afterimages of colors and patterns that stay even though my eyes are open and I am fully awake. I think the scariest part of it all is when you can't seem to get out of the paralyzed state and it keeps pulling you back. Haven't had that problem in a while though. I used to only experience it when sleeping on my back but lately it's been happening on my side as well.

If you tell a doctor about it, you'll probably just get ignored or they'll suggest a sleep study. I have had problems with insomnia for most of my life as well. When I do actually sleep I just love it because it's like exploring another realm since I have lucid dreams as well. The dream world almost seem more real and vivid than waking life - and that for sure I don't tell any doctor about because they'd think I was a headcase (and I might be, but I'm OK with it).

sleep paralysis is the result of a natural physiological mechanism but turns out to be a gateway to your own subconscious and/or higher consciousness.

It all starts when your body is physically exhausted and wants to switch to deep sleep faster than what your brain can handle.
You are mentally still awake ( or partly) but your body enter lock-down, a state created by evolution to prevent us from running around in our sleep (I know my vocabulary is not appropriate but I know my # as I went through some dark episodes of my own).

The result is what you described. Paralysis of the physical. Added to this is the semi-lucid state of your brain. You are conscious but not fully awake and this is prone to trigger hallucinations.

From here you can decide where you want to take this. We are all different. You can say it can be explained with medical terms or you can believe it is a gateway to some other reality. Not necessarily exotic, but maybe "internal", a raw vision of life.

I suggest you read Robert Allan Monroe : journeys out of the body.

My experience is that this state is a door to a wider universe where things are #ed up but instructive.

You will have to accept to let go and "die" (metaphore) in your physical body to pass that test. The entities you see are part of the show. Either projections of our primal fears or fear feeding entities as described in Monroe's book.

The outcome is astral projection. A life where only your soul can travel.

You will have to stay calm and handle the deafening bells of hell to be granted access to this world.

I never managed to fully consciously tap into this world as my brain is too active and stuck in this fast paces life of hard work and stress but I have seen enough to be certain of what I said.

Read the book.

Peace

I've only had it once that I'm consciously aware of. It was about a few years ago, and I woke up and couldn't move from the neck down for a few seconds. And I mean I had no feeling either, it just felt like my head was laying on the pillow and nothing else. After those few seconds I regained feeling. Really freaked me out, and I can't remember what dream, if any, that I was having to cause it.

I've heard/read that your body basically becomes paralyzed in your sleep so you don't act out your dreams while sleeping, but I'm not sure if that's true or not because I've acted out dreams plenty of times by kicking and punching if that's what I happened to be doing in the dream.

moth115
reply to post by eliuk

 

I think you mentioned the sense you dropped from above and were then unable to move in your body? I suppose that could be as your brain is coming out of the dream state.. you're kind of half dreaming that you are dropping and then as you are dreaming that you reach your body you become a bit more aware. I'm not sure.. I'm not expert, as you can probably tell!

I've read that the pressure people feel on their body is their spirit trying to get out to have an OBE. Also, the ringing or hum, and any vibrations people feel are the beginning stages of an OBE.
I've even read that most all S P experiences are related to OBEs.

People who see scary things during S P need to work on raising their frequency; get rid of all the negative thoughts, or negative issues in their life, then they will have a wonderful experience.

I've never experienced SP myself, I'm just commenting on what I've learned about it from others.

ETA: I just saw the post by Logiciel above me. That describes it very well; better than I did.

reply to post by EveStreet


Thats interesting, I have seen a dark figure that walked to my right and out of view, then a women apeared floating in the center of the room bathed in light, she touched me on my chest where my heart is and she disapeared and I could move. What did the lady say to you?


Edit: I have also experienced this while wide awake, which leads me to believe that this is a spiritual thing, maybe not every case, but the ones I have experienced always involved another figure in the room. The waking one was by far the scariest, it made me sick for a day.

ManBehindTheMask
reply to post by eliuk

 

many many many times....but you get use to it.....

It usually happens to me when im very very very physically tired, the first few experiences can be terrifying, but when you start to realize what it is, its really not that bad....you just have to remind yourself when it happens that you know whats going on and focus on a single part of the body to break it....

The weird hummms, bells and occasional other auditory anomolies are a bit strange sometimes

Same here.. I got used to it after a couple of times. At first (I was 13 years old) I was freaked out. I hear the so called Tao's hum, too when this happens and feel some kind of a vibrating sensation and them I'm 'locked'..

But it's been some years now, since the last time. Maybe I'm to old now

Is it possible that not all sp episodes are caused by the same thing? How does the official description of sp explain the fact that I felt like I was being smothered by an invisible pillow, and why does it feel like it's specifically someone with bad intentions for me? I don't think not breathing is suppose to be one of the parts of your body that is immobilized during sleep. Thoughts?

reply to post by jaws1975


Science likes to explain things away as material. What you experienced was in fact a demon, but if science admits they are real they must also admit GOD is real. GOD is what they seek to turn you away from, so they tell you it's a delusion, a hallucination, all in your head, your crazy take this pill.

jaws1975
Is it possible that not all sp episodes are caused by the same thing? How does the official description of sp explain the fact that I felt like I was being smothered by an invisible pillow, and why does it feel like it's specifically someone with bad intentions for me? I don't think not breathing is suppose to be one of the parts of your body that is immobilized during sleep. Thoughts?

I've never experienced that somebody tried to smother me with a pillow.. That's strange and maybe you should look into another more 'earthly' explanation.

I just feel a presence in the room (like starring at me), which gives some 'bad vibes'.. I feel creeped out. Plus the hum. It all happens very fast. It's like as soon as I feel this presence it's already on me

reply to post by zazen


Yes, I've had it at least twice, and was one of the most scariest moments of my life. Fully awake and nothing would move. Don't care to have it happen again

Thanks so much for your replies

It is strange that despite the core effects being the same - ie temporarily not being able to move/ frozen/ panic etc, many people seem to have their own little aspect such as seeing an old lady or a demon or aliens or whatever...

i definatly feel that part of it, is the mind playing hallucinations, because you are thinking oh god what is this what can this ever be, and then your mind is trying to put the only possible explanation into it that it could possibly think of, and if you are somebody that reads ghost stories etc, your likely to see a ghost, but if you are into fables about goblins and scary nomes, youl likely see one of those.

apart from once, and it wasnt ghost like, i have never experienced any kind of entity or being near me when it occured, and no, do not think for one second i am doubting you or saying it isnt scary, because i know what you are going through, i am just saying that part of the sleep paralysis (the seeing things), i think probably are just the mind hallucinating.

reply to post by eliuk

i am just saying that part of the sleep paralysis (the seeing things), i think probably are just the mind hallucinating.

I don't think that our mind would Hallucinate in this state, because when this first happens to you, you would automatically think that something is psychically wrong. Your mind would go to something paranormal by itself

I was about 7 or 8 years old and I had this dream that was scened in a blue and baby blue place that looked like the neurological systems nerves. The camera view was going forward through the blue and baby blue neurological system and It was weaving and curving and the same time and some Caucasian guy said my name.

Then I woke up and I couldn't move! It was weird. I think either NSA Echelon did it or the simulation we're in did it to me.

Hellas
reply to post by eliuk

 

i am just saying that part of the sleep paralysis (the seeing things), i think probably are just the mind hallucinating.

I don't think that our mind would Hallucinate in this state, because when this first happens to you, you would automatically think that something is psychically wrong. Your mind would go to something paranormal by itself

I will definitely agree that just because science labels it as sleep paralysis does not mean that every time anybody goes into that state, that they are not actually having an O.O.B experience, i mean for all we know when you die, you could momentarily go into that phase, where everybody is all around you, your body is lifeless and you are looking down at everybody who is standing around your body trying to heal you.