Sleep paralysis is the inability to move during awakening or falling asleep.
The scary thing about this phenomenon is that you are awake but you can't move or speak and you see unreal things or beings. Also, symptoms can be heavy feeling in the chest or back or a feeling of flying and levitate.People who experienced it described hallucinations as demons, creepy creatures and dark clouds above them. Scientists still don't know why sleep paralysis happens.
What is going on when we experience it?
While we are sleeping, our body is between REM which is rapid eye movement and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. One period of NREM and REM sleep happens in approximately 90 minutes. In NREM sleep, the body is relaxed and after NREM our sleep slowly shifts to REM. All of the muscles are "turned off" during REM sleep. If a human becomes aware before the REM cycle has finished then he can't do any move.
I haven't experienced sleep paralysis but I have two friends who actually did.
One of them told me how she once woke up and she saw a little black creature on her right side of the bed, but she couldn't move or anything else. She knew that she is in a sleep but she didn't know how to wake up. Later on that day she did online research about it and showed me a picture of creature assuring me that it was the same one she had seen during paralysis. It was completely incredible and scary. At first, it seemed weird to me, but she looked so upset while she was talking about it. It happened to her one more time and since then it has never happened again.
My another friend has sleeping problems too, but she can't sleep at all. She discovered that she had a sleep paralysis problem a year ago. Her case is more interesting because she believes that she must have experienced some kind of trauma when she was a little because any psychological problem can cause this phenomenon. I never knew that she was actually suffering from it. Even though she went to the psychiatrist, far and she decided to visit a priest. I am not sure did she went but she believes in paranormal activities. As she said, that is the only thing that could maybe help her.
I have sleeping problems very often, the first one is on nights of a full moon. Also, sometimes I can't sleep because I have increased energy that needs to get out. So I often ride my exercise bicycle in the middle of a night. You can call me crazy, but I would like to experience sleep paralysis!
I've also experienced it few times. For the first time I was so freaked out. I didn't hallucinate any demons and boogeyman but I remember the horror of paralysis when you think/feel you're awake. And the feeling of uncontrollable spinning around, awful. I've experienced it few more times later on but I didn't panic as it was familiar to me and the experience wasn't that bad (but far from pleasant). I can relate it with tiredness, like when you're so tired but you can't sleep. That's when it kicked me. I don't know if it's related to psychological trauma, possible. But maybe there is some sort of electrolyte imbalance that could also be the cause of it. To me it smells more like a neurological story, rather than psychological as it happened to me when I was physically exhausted. Could be both tho. Great post anyway! :)
Thank you for sharing your story with me! I really appreciate it! 😊
I heard that most of the people who had experience with it were also very tired before they went to sleep.
I agree with you and think this phenomenon can be best-explained by these medicine branchs.
Waoo very nice post.horror photos
thanks!
I've gone through this and believe me you don't want to experience that :/
Wow, many times or just once?
Bolje da se ostavin čoravog posla.. 😥
Once, after a lucid dream... Hahaha kako želiš na tebi je ☺
Još uvijek ništa 😆
Iskusila sam ovo vise puta na drugaciji nacin i zbilja nije ugodno :/
Zanimljivo je da vecina ljudi ima taj simptom da osjete nekakvu tezinu na grudima, kao da netko sjedi na njima ili osjecaj nekakve zlokobne prisutnosti.
Meni se obicno dogada u situacijama kada sam mrtva od umora, pa eto probaj nakon par sati bicikliranja ;)
Baš tako je bilo prijateljici, a i čudi me koliko zapravo ljudi to doživi!
Do prije mjesec dana nisam znala da takva vrsta noćne more postoji..i sad kako me zanima, pokušavam spavat na leđima. Kažu tako je veća vjerojatnost da te snađe,al valjda ću se naučit pameti pa stati na vrime😂
Thanks for the insight. Sounds scary though
Yes it is really scary thing!
Baš zanimljiv članak za pročitati prije spavanja :)
baš sam pogodila vrime za objavu :D
Loads of my friends have experienced it and say it's the worst thing they've ever went through. Tbh, I wish it'd happen to me so I know what its like.
Exactly! I love adrenaline so why not and my friends said that I am completely crazy :D
The REM sleep doesn't freeze, next time your dog is asleep watch him chase the rabbit he is dreaming about- his legs move. Trauma is frequently a factor and the phenomena is most likely partly related to dissociation which is common in trauma.
Nice to know, next time I will pay attention to my dog!Thank you for comment 😊
Meni to sve zvuci ka mitolosko bice Mora iz slavenske mitologije. Zezan se. Nisan nikad iskusija, valjda me More vole ipak san napisa post o njima haha
Isto nikad ne znaš kad te može snać 😂
Scary... Fortunately, I read this in the morning... But, nice post... :)
Haha, lucky you 😁
Tenks!
Lucidni snovi su zanimljiva tema. Ovo je malo scary...
Je bome, bilo bi baza napisat post iz prve ruke!
You really did only scratch the surface with this topic :)
There is nothing to be afraid here dough, it may seem scary at first but if you are relaxed everything will be fine. Our brain is capable of creating and/or seeing incredible things, just because they are new or different does not mean they are bad :)
Yes, true one! I still want to experience it, all of that sounds very attractively to me!
I actually had this happen to me many times and recently even more. The more I practice my meditation the more it keeps happening. If you don't know what astral projection is, look into it. It will explain so much about this phenomena. You simply can't move because you are not in your body. You are in energy form and that is why you can't move. This does not have to be a bad experience if you know what is happening to you. But, most time people panic like I did as well, but the more you know the less you fear. Most fears come from not understanding. :)
Here is one good article about it. The more you meditate, the more you can control it. :)
https://www.gaia.com/article/what-astral-projection
I never heard of astral projection, I would like to know and so thanks for the link! I would definitely search more about it because I really like all of this things! When I decided to make a post about this phenomena, I was thinking how people will think that I am crazy and a good liar lol! I am surprised how many people actually know about it. 😃
It is a common term for people who like to meditate. I meditate 1 hour every morning and it has changed my life in so many ways for the better. :)
I think your friends are projecting monster images because they are afraid and don't know what is happening. So their brain is projecting something they would be afraid of. But, if they relax and just think more positively when it happens the projections can be a very pleasant experience. :)
I am glad I could help. Astral projections are a big topic and I am only really finding out about them in detail. And, I know how you friends feel exactly. :)
Proteklih godinu dana sam i ja razmišljala o tome da počnem sebi olakšavati život i nađem način za opuštanje :) Nikad nisam pokušala meditirati, nekako uvijek mislim da to ne bi znala odraditi kako treba. Zapravo ne znam odperjat misli 😅
Prijateljica je to iskusila par puta, s tim da kaže da iako u tom trenutku shvaća da to nije realno i da je to nešto što se učestalo ponavlja, ne može se opustiti i smirit. Inače je osjetljiva i nervozna osoba pa joj se valjda sve to reflektira kroz san.
Ja sam isto rekla da sve leži u blaženoj pozitivi, al treba vremena za doć do toga 😊
Meditacija iskreno treba vremena i strpljenja. Jer kad tek pocinjes misli ti lete na 200 strana i nije se lako koncentrirati ali ako si malo uporan postaje sve lakse i lakse i ti postajes sve smireniji-a i mirnija. I misli i emocije polako dolaze u kontrolu iza toga i puno laske kontroliras svoj zivot.
Ja imam ucitelja koji me vodi kroz specificnu vrstu meditacije kroz raznovrsno disanje i mantru. I meni je zivot promjenilo. Ali potrebna je disciplina i redovno vjezbanje. Ja sada svaki dan ujutro meditiram od 40 do 60 min. Ali radi cudo doslovno u mom zivotu. I vec mi je dopusteno uciti druge ljude prve korake. Tako ako ikad stvarno budes imala zanimaciju za to pokazem ti kako se radi. :)
I have experienced this very clearly once; about 10 years ago. I could 'see' something pushing me down & I was totally immobilised. My logical mind tried to convince me that this could not be real, since I do not believe in supernatural forces.
I'm glad that I have only experienced it once. I will not wish it on anyone to experience this. It was scary. You feel a total loss of control. My logical mind wondered after the episode if it may be a symptom of a potential heart attack or some other malady.
When I recounted this experience to some friends, some of them were surprised; but 1 of them was surprised that I had only experienced it once. He was a little shy to divulge more details.