Let's discuss sleep paralysis

I notice there's a lot of individual threads about sleep paralysis, mainly personal accounts, questions and opinions.

Many people are firm with the biological and scientific explanation of the body being paralysed by the natural hormonal response of sleep, whilst the mind suddenly awakens from the sub-conscious dream state to a semi-awake 'half dream', thereby the 'sufferer' experiences a state of confusion unable to comprehend their situation... experiencing hallucinations both audibly and visualy (and to a point physicaly).

Whilst others truly believe that its a one of a kind experience, a step into a kind of lucid state of being, many accept that it is no doubt a biological state, but also firmly believe that its much deeper than that... A kind of step away from the physical reality, into a spiritual or dream like state.

I personally speak from experience, having 'suffered' from this on and off over many years and tend to sway with the second opinion.

Maybe just maybe, the biolocal state is a result of the dream-like state, possibly re-routing the brain patterns or something?

Maybe a kind of 'tuning' or 'untuning' of reality due to the strange perspective. I'll try and explain the best i can:

From my experiences, i have noticed that my emotions can be the very things that are affecting A) the lucidity B) the 'feel' of the situation and C) how far 'in' to the experience i can go to.

For example, my most memorable experience seemed to last for ever, whilst my most recent experiences seem to be very short events, in a sense that i have adjusted to the feeling and gained a slight form of control.
If and when i want to wake up, i can force my self awake with the very thought of 'finding the feeling in my toes'.

I also noticed that the handful of times i was feeling depressed, i got rather scary visuals and feelings and very strange and distorted sounds, but the times i was feeling ok, i went beyong the paralysis into lucid dreaming (flying and beautiful colours and the feeling of being free).

I do believe the paralysis state can lead to lucidity, its just a matter of riding the experience, rather than fighting it... as fighting it can also bring on the disturbing or unsettling scenes.

The very first time i had it, I was scared to death, all the electricity in the room was buzzing so loudly, i could hear radios playing through walls, i heard people talking very, very fast and i also experienced a strange jolt through my feet and spine and brain... And as soon as i started feeling scared it was almost manifested an entity of the things i was fearing.
Seriously i knew something was just out of eyeshot, looming at me from the corner of the room.

An example of the 'depth' feeling, is when two years ago, I was having a bad time and needed to really sort my life out, having gone through a bad break up and living in a bad series of moments i was feeling somewhat depressed and even to apoint considered suicide.
One night i felt the usual signs and I totally let go, not even caring about anything, i had a bizarre feeling of being taken 'out' of myself and was somehow millions and millions of miles away, deep underneath the surface of a distant alien sea. Just inanimate and safe... and far away from all my troubles.

The best time I had was as i say, i swayed myself into a lucid dream as i was feeling especially relaxed), in my dream I was walking down some beutiful hills and grass and plants. They were all extra colourful and i the next thing i knew i was running down the side and i was suddenly just gliding down, so i just started swooping up and down and around a valley...

So yeah, three different experiences (from many), but from three different emotional states... With the nervousness and anxiety of a first time leading to a very disturbing state, whilst the time i was feeling lost with myself led me to a distant neutral place and the relaxed state took me somewhere beautiful.


I some know this may seem like gibberish to some, but i hope some people understand where i am coming from?

I'd love to read about people's experiences, any thoughts from non-experiencers and experiencers alike. Opinions and theories welcome...


Thanks in advance

Mr - L

You bring up a lot of excellent points to argue the case, but I believe simply there is not enough evidence to prove either way. Of course scientists, psychologists and the like will claim they know all the answers and will close the case. I've also had various experiences in the SP state, and while I do think they are mainly comprised of figments of my imagination, there's just that overall feeling that "this is tangible, this is happening," what you refer to as the lucidity.

One thing I have found interesting to corroborate the evidence you are presenting is the location I enter SP in. For example, if we are tapping into an alternate reality, spiritual / astral plane, certainly there will be different objects we can change, format with our minds power on said plane. When I entered SP in my apartment bedroom, there simply would be nothing there except the regular matter, a desk, a computer, a chair and a closet. I could bend the shapes of these material objects. This happened several times. However, when I entered SP in my living room after catching a nap on the couch (or waking up hung over from sheer drunkenness) I would see different objects moving around, some in the form of humanoids, some just random shapes. I would also have the auditory hallucinations, voices and such in the living room as opposed to the bedroom where I'd simply hear a wind-like noise (extremely loud).

Who knows exactly.... and thanks for replying.

Interesting point about the rooms having different effects, possibly an electromagnetic effect maybe?

Maybe just maybe, this is the 'energy' mentioned in practices of feng shui? Not that i necessarily believe it, but interesting theory nontheless and makes some sense.

I have so many questions and idea's but i'm going to wait until i get more replies...

SP usually happens before I enter a dream state. When it happens, I am always flat on my back (I try not to sleep that way anymore) and my body totally relaxes and reaches the paralyzed state. However, most of the time I am fully conscious of what is going on around me. The last time it happened I heard a buzzing sound and willed myself to move and wake up before I get deeper into it. The other times I have heard voices singing to my child "B-I-N-G-O Bingo was his name-o" while he was in his crib in my room. I have felt a veil over me and could see shadows looking at me. The scariest was when I was trying to scream and grab my bf's hand and it only came out as a whisper.

I thought that when I moved they wouldn't find me, LOL. But it has happened at my new house. Now that I am more aware of how it comes on I am able to partially prevent it. It is like my mind takes control and says NO.

I know that I don't want an OBE. I think I am too afraid to let go and see what happens. I agree to the lucidity of the SP. Although, each time it happens my emotional state is always different.

Interesting to read, star and flagged!

Nice diversion from all the crap that is going on.

I can only recall a few vivid dreams, that were frightening, and one that I took with me from a dream state to awake.

In a dream I was taking a walk late at night, sights sounds and smells were all very real and convincing, I somehow lost the ability to distinguish between reality and dream, as I was turning a corner heading back to my place, I noticed a briefcase laying on the curb next to a car, I picked it up, opened it and it was full of cash, a lot of it, I immediately looked all around to see if anyone else was around, looked in the car the case was near, there was NOTHING in that case but cash, I had an overwhelming adrenaline rush, I then quickly closed the case, and ran to my place, went inside, locked the door and looked out the windows for a while to see if anyone was out there. Then I went into my bedroom and opened the case again, I smiled and began thinking of all the things I was going to do with all of that cash... I closed the case, as at that moment I felt very tired and was having a hard time fighting off sleep, so I put the case on the floor, slid it under my bed, took one last look outside, and laid down and went to sleep... Here is where it gets really strange.... I woke up that following morning, for real, and the first thing I did was nearly dive to the floor and reach under my bed, nothing was there, I immediately looked outside, the car was gone, I went through the house checked the doors and windows... I was frantic for a moment, then I was PISSED, because I had plans for that money... It took a minute or two more for me to realize that it was all just a dream.

It seemed so real, that whole day really bothered me, I couldn't believe my own mind played such a dirty trick on me. And then I realized that in deep sleep, dreaming or even half awake dreaming, we are not totally in control, and that in itself is kinda scary.

It was so real, and it was just a dream, for a long time after that I wondered how dreams work, why we have them, and what do they mean, but gave up, as there are really no answers.

I just wrote this on a similar thread:

I think it ties in perfectly to what i'm thinking, so i hope the mods don't mind me quoting and linking into my own thread.

"Maybe that's what all this talk of aura's consist of. The aura is essentially the electrostatic field, a different 'shade' or 'tuning' can be noticed. We as people all emit and receive energy, in the form of vibrations and without sounding all pseudo-spiritual here, let me be the first to say i'm an atheist, who strongly believes the universe consists of harmonic patterns, represented in many forms....

With the aid of a natural yet complex chemical build up, our patterns of perception change, possibly (and i'm speaking on pure speculation based on personal research and experience) enhancing our ability to receive the invisible signals...

An example being sound frequencies, with the human range of hearing ranging 22hz to 22khz, with the lower end being bass frequencies (harder to diffuse, these frequencies can pass through walls and solid items as they have a slower, deeper vibration), whilst the higher end is the sharper, higher frequencies which dissipate faster as they consist of faster, condensed waves.
What my point is, even below 22hz even though we cannot physically 'hear' the lower end frequencies we can still feel them (just go to any psytrance party and you'll see what i mean - lol) and above our range of hearing, such as dog whistles, they still have obvious effects...

Then with the effects of tones and timbre, the physical and mental effects of sounds in certain keys and harmony, how a tune can make you feel nostalgic or melancholic or happy or angry etc...

Now imagine those frequencies just out of ear shot and audible range, playing certain tones (again affecting our mood) but we are totally unaware of, essentialy unconsciously changing to those secret tones and frequencies...

Maybe, just maybe our natural aura's and electostatic fields are the things that respond to those inaudible tones, and maybe just maybe its the unconscious power of the mind that creates those changes. "


Maybe, just maybe those sounds and tones we hear in SP are the natural harmonics of reality???

So many thoughts....

And a thanks so far to the people who have posted, appreciated

reply to post by mr-lizard


I suggest a paper for you to read, it might give you some more info you could use. It is by JohnJoe McFadden. It is called the Cemi-Brain theory. It ties in quantem mechanics to the electrical mind. Pretty interesting read. I've contacted him and he is more then helpful. If you google him he should pop right up. Hope that helps...peace

Originally posted by goopity
SP usually happens before I enter a dream state. When it happens, I am always flat on my back (I try not to sleep that way anymore) and my body totally relaxes and reaches the paralyzed state. However, most of the time I am fully conscious of what is going on around me. The last time it happened I heard a buzzing sound and willed myself to move and wake up before I get deeper into it. The other times I have heard voices singing to my child "B-I-N-G-O Bingo was his name-o" while he was in his crib in my room. I have felt a veil over me and could see shadows looking at me. The scariest was when I was trying to scream and grab my bf's hand and it only came out as a whisper.

I thought that when I moved they wouldn't find me, LOL. But it has happened at my new house. Now that I am more aware of how it comes on I am able to partially prevent it. It is like my mind takes control and says NO.

I know that I don't want an OBE. I think I am too afraid to let go and see what happens. I agree to the lucidity of the SP. Although, each time it happens my emotional state is always different.

O.k. that freaks me out, i hear kids singing nursery rhymes all the time. Ring around the rosie, Seasame Street...(can you tell me how to get, how to get to seasame street, over and over and over) I've never mentioned that to anyone before...ever. I also hear songs, clear as day like there is a radio on. Not my rendition of the song in my head, I hear the song like it is on the radio. Any song I think of I can recall with absolute clarity as well as conversations with people, movies anything. I don't remember it, I experience it over again like it is recorded. Thank you for bringing that up. I thought I was alone....peace

I still remember the sound as clear as day. It was bizarre. I am glad I am not the only one too!!

I don't know if it our aura or whatever the OP said (that is way out of my grasp) but maybe our bodies being in the awake/sleep state develop a heightened sense of awareness that amplifies sound, sight, etc... Maybe that is what you said, just a thought.

for the op here's my account

www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread386384/pg1


truly scary

I've always thought of SP as a switch from left brain to right brain. I used to experiment with lucid dreaming, and for me it was nearly impossible to be conscious during SP. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't SP occur when the body remains still for a long period of time, which signals the brain that you are ready for sleep?
My own experience with SP has been very mild compared to some of you. I just remember hearing a buzz that kept getting louder and louder until it was almost unbearable. Then, I started feeling as though I was being blown up like a balloon. It was a very strange feeling and I had never felt anything like it. After that, I panicked and willed myself out of SP.