Sleep paralysis is the terrifying feeling of being held down after just waking up or going to sleep. You can’t move or scream, and sometimes this paralysis is accompanied with the certainty that someone –or something — is in the room.
Quite simply, sleep paralysis is one of the most horrifying experiences in life, because we feel awake but can’t believe what is happening to us.
The truth is, sleep paralysis is a biological event and there is nothing to be worried about. You’re not dying. It’s a hiccup in the brain’s chemical soup as we transition from sleep to wakefulness.
Recurrent sleep paralysis can often be prevented by attending to lifestyle choices, but making new habits can take time.
So how do you wake up from sleep paralysis tonight?
Here I compiled 9 ways to get out now.
Note: Because this is such a personal thing, some of these tactics will work for you, and others won’t. Choose the ones that make the most sense to you intuitively. Think of these strategies as tools in a toolbox to bring out when the conditions are right. Make a plan and resolve to remember it for the next time you wake up in sleep paralysis.
1. Don’t Fight
If you feel like you are being held down and you can’t move, do not fight back. This actually will intensify the experience. Not only is fighting back likely to increase the feelings of being held down (so much that it may seem like you are being crushed), but fighting back will also increase the fear, thus triggering the emotional centers of the brain and strengthening this lucid nightmare. Controlling fear is the most important skill during these moments.
2. Surrender and Go with the Flow
Instead, try to relax when you notice SP starting to happen. Prepare an affirmation like “This is SP and I am okay.” If you feel pressure on your chest, see if you can “go with” the pressure rather than against it. It’s like winning a fight by having no resistance. For example, for me, I often feel like I’m being pushed into the mattress when I have SP. I let myself go, and mentally “pull” in the direction I am being pushed. What happens is I then “pop” into a full-on dream, or I can wake up directly.
3. Wiggle your Toe
Another excellent tactic that works for many people is to try to move an extremity, such as a finger or a toe. Most of the feelings of paralysis are in the belly, chest, and throat. So focus all you attention on the toe and try to move it back and forth. In many cases, this will break the paralysis.
4. Clench your Fist
This is a variation of the toe wiggle method. Clench and unclench your fist.
5. Focus on your Breath
An easy way to stop these nightmares is to do some controlled breathing. Controlled breathing does several things at once. For starters, it lessens the feelings of chest pain that sometimes accompany SP. Breathing is autonomic like the heart’s beating or digestion, so it’s not paralyzed like the big muscles in our arms, chest and legs. But breath can be controlled with attention or be affected by severe fear, which may be why SP sufferers “forget” to breathe when under attack. If you can control your breath, you can control your fear. Simply draw your breath in at a normal rate, and exhale fully, using all of your lung capacity. Notice that you can breathe fully without obstruction. This technique will keep you calm as the SP runs its course and then you will wake up without any trouble. A few moments of focused breathing with a strong intention to wake up is effective.
6. Lean into Love to Find Courage
Now is also the time to lean into unconditional love. For many, the surest path is in religious or spiritual beliefs. Regardless, focus on a figure that you admire and love. Think of someone who calms you down—someone who you associate with peace, love and safety. This could be Jesus, the Dali Lama, or someone you know personally. In my first SP nightmare when I was fourteen years old, I thought about the love and respect I had for a girl in my class. Embarrassing but true! It worked: the feelings of oppression and evil dissipated immediately. In this case, true love really does conquer all.
7. Getting Help from your Sleep Partner
If someone shares your bed, you can tell them about your SP attacks and what to look for when you are having a nightmare. For example, my wife used to shake me awake whenever I began to breath heavily and irregularly in my sleep. As it turns out, she was waking me up each and every time from an intense SP nightmare. Now when this happens, I tell her not to wake me up, because I actually use SP to go into a lucid dream.
You could also have your partner respond to a verbal request. This only works some of the time, because some people cannot speak in paralysis. But some can. Choose a short word that is easy to say. “Help” is a good choice. When you’re in paralysis, focus your attention on your throat and say “Help.” Don’t try to say it as loud as you can; what may happen is that your imagination will take over and you will only say the word in your dream. Instead, say it forcefully but without screaming.
8. Coughing for Help
A variation of using your voice is to try to cough into wakefulness. Like breathing, coughing can be autonomic or consciously regulated. By coughing on purpose, you can jar yourself awake.
9. Write out the Plan
The suggestions above all have helped hundreds of people get out of SP and get some sleep. Not every tactic will work with you. But having too many tactics in your mind can actually be counterproductive. So it is important to make a plan, almost like the fire escape plan you may have for evacuating your family home in case of emergency. Write it out; this will cement the plan in your mind and make it easier to remember when the paralysis comes on strong.
10. The Ultimate Method I know — I said 9 ways, but this is the single best way to wake up from sleep paralysis and it’s really in a class of it’s own. When you realize you are in SP, scrunch up your face. In other words, make a face like you just smelled something bad. Snarl and squint. Do this two or three times in a row and the paralysis will break IMMEDIATELY. I’m not sure why it is so effective, but unlike the pinky wiggle, this method is foolproof.
After you wake up, get out of bed immediately and turn on a light. Wash your face with cold water. If you just stay in bed, the chance of sliding right back into sleep paralysis is pretty high.
Want to break the spell of sleep paralysis? Download my free Sleep Paralysis Report below!
Hi everyone I have this problem, it scares me so much, when I’m extremely tired I fall asleep and go into a weird kind of dream, in my dream I’m telling myself to wake up or else Something bad is going to happen to me, it’s like I’m struggling to wake up and something is holding me down I try to speak but it don’t work I have to force mysel to wake up by jerking my whole body it freaks me out! It happens very regularly, is this down o stress??? X
I had a dream the other night, it felt like something was making me float towards the ceiling then second it felt like someone was pulling me by my neck towards the back door. And this all happen because me and my kids father had an argument and i went to bed mad.
Ive studyed the topics your describing it sounds alot like astral travel but you wouldnt know obvisouly . And it would of been your astral body floating out of your physcial ,….
Hi Raymond, you’re right. many people who have sleep paralysis can then go into out-of-body experiences (or astral travel). here’s an article with more info: http://dreamstudies.org/2010/10/15/out-of-body-experience/ the question remains… do you interpret it as “really” leaving the body, or as a dream? It’s really a personal choice, like religion and politics.
Ryan, i came uppn this cuz i too get sleep paralysis. On fct i jus woke up from several….ugh! I even stayed up for a few minutes and then tried sleeping, and it happened again. This after having read these post i tried to control what was happening so i said in my head, stop! And iheard it being said back to me in my own voice but like echo form. Then what got me frightened nd i couldn’t go on was that something answered back but said an ugly comment i dont evn wna say. It scared me like why does this happen to me! I wish i knew…. i got an out of body experience where i was floating also but this has happened since i was in about 9th grade off and on. Im 26 mommy of three and it seems this wee ive been getting it more oft3n to the point where i dont wna fall asleep nemore. I just thought id share cuz i feel no one else understands. Hope someone replies im not sure how old this is. Thanks
The Same exact thing happened to me Last week I tried this method when I got the SP, and when I tried the squint of the face or wiggling my toes a face figure came really close to me and said “Good Luck” it was extremely creepy. I sometimes wake up from it screaming and don’t even want to go back to sleep. But ever since then I’ve tried other methods to avoid SP, what works for me is if I sleep in different positions in Bed. For example, if I sleep on my back I most likely get it, but if I sleep on my stomach I hardly ever get it. I would probably recommend finding a position in bed where your feel comfortable and “safe”. Hope this helps. and honestly this has been happening to me for such a long time I’ve just learned to accept it. We’ll never really know why this is happening to us. I don’t mind the paralyses, but the feeling of someone standing next to me is horrifying. Anyways Good Luck 🙂
that is terrifying! and somewhat amusing. I think the “trickster” nature of the figure is something that is given short shrift. This could be a seen as a playful invitation to not be so scared and face what the figure has to show/tell. For me, the best way to prepare and be present in the moment without fear is to practice gratitude expercises — like described in this article about lucid dreams: http://dreamstudies.org/2011/10/25/stabilizing-lucid-dreaming-with-gratitude-and-forgiveness/
Hey Brenda, yes I can relate. Here is another example of the SP nightmare “playing” with us — check out Eddie’s comment. Breathing and relaxation and courage are really the best medicines — and taking strength if you are spiritually motivated. however you do it, cultivating trust and courage is the way to go… easy to say, I know. I still struggle with it myself, but when I find my power, and my certainty, the SP experience transforms into something else — like a dream — or I wake up.
I understand, I just had on of those this morning. The kind where you sleep and then you can’t wake up, but here myself saying wake up then my body/soul floating off my bed to the floor, it’s scary.
Hi everyone, i suffer from sleeping and i get scared to go to bed most of the times because of it, because i am sure i will get it once a week there is no doubt in that, i feel like someone is sitting on me and i try to move, but i can’t, i feel so heavy during this thing happens to me, sometimes i feel like someone is grabbing me from behind and i scream and try to wake up, but i can’t, i ask for help, but there is no body to ask from i sleep all alone, so last night while i was asleep and the thing was grabbing me i was trying to text someone to let him know maybe she could help me out, but i couldn’t and i woke up after that so scared, but what made me know that it was maybe just a dream or a nightmare is that while it was happening to me my phone was in my hand and when i woke up, it was on the charger, so here i felt releived, which is the first time, because all this years it happened i had no clue if it was a nightmare or not, but i was just assuming it is. i want to know if this is what you guys call it SP “Sleep Paralysis”?!!
This happened to me last night , like if someone is pulling you to the celing and you can see everything as it was before you went to bed
This sounds like sleep paralysis with hypnagogic hallucinations, which are basically waking dreams while you are still in REM paralysis. the incongruity with your cellphone is a good detail: you were experiencing a very realistic dream. welcome to the club 🙂
The sleep disorder this article describes, is also known as “REM Intrusion.” The experience is both terrifying and wondrous.
I’ve had disorder since I was a child (I am now 50). In 40-something years of dealing with this, I have found a method that has all but completely eliminated my sleep paralysis. After I was able to wrap my mind around what was happening, I learned to remain calm during the paralysis cycle, and I began to take note of consistencies within the experience. For instance, I noticed that the onset of this paralysis would often occur while napping and light dozing during daylight hours. When the sleep paralysis occurred during the night or in a semi-darkened room, I would remember details about my surroundings, or things I could see clearly. It occurred to me that familiar fixtures and permanent objects such as furniture served to heighten the hallucinatory aspects by making the surroundings seem more realistic, which they were. On the flipside, if I was sleeping on my stomach and unable to view the surroundings, the effects were mostly auditory.
So, I decided to try an experiment wherein I would darken the room using blackout shades and eliminate all other light sources such as LEDS and displays. What I’ve discovered is that the Sleep Paralysis, or REM Intrusion all but ceased to occur, and when it did happen, it was short-lived and more of an auditory experience. Without a light source, to illuminate the surroundings of the room, the stage could not be set for the hallucinations to take place and I would quickly fall back into a deeper sleep and circumvent the paralysis experience. So, now, I sleep in a room that is as dark as it can be, and I find that I sleep much better, because I am waking less in the middle of the night, and I hardly ever experience sleep paralysis when using this method.
I just woke up right now to another one of these dreams. I always wake up in my bed and I know in my head that I am dreaming because it feels different, but I cannot move or speak and it’s terrifying. The worst part is sometimes when I have these dreams I hear scary noises and sometimes figures walk into my room and I have no control about it because I’m in this Paralysis. I was able to wake up I think because my laptop was open in the dream, I kept fading back into like the real world realizing I had it charging, it was unreal. I did not like this experience though and I hope to never have one again. I feel that whenever I wake from these dreams too I have to stay up for a little while before sleep or else I have to same dream!
I found that darkening my room by covering all light sources at night in an effort to achieve pitch black darkness, eliminated 99% of the sleep paralysis episodes I was experiencing.
Does anybody kno how to stop dos nightmares? ? I keep having them recently I jost woke up from some I keep having some in a row nd sometimes nightmares I just close my eyes boom I hear something or I talk to myself on my mind about weird stuff I just would like dis to stop completely. I can’t or don’t wanna sleep no more.
Excellent point, and yes it only happens to me when i try to force my self to sleep in the daytime, want to wake up at a certain time but do not set an alarm when to wake up. I look at it as my mind telling my body to wake the f up, whereas my body wanting to sleep more..
I also have been a bit stressed in work and studies, and am working under a deadline, so that adds alot of stress which makes this happen.
For others reading this, just relax, this is just your mind telling your body to wake up and don’t fall asleep more than you need to, specially in daytime. Fix your sleep cycle, eat healthy, and you won’t have SP.
If you do get SP, for me i can only blink my eye, relax your mind and do not fight it and you will get out of it rightaway. Push it and try to wake up will make it even harder and intense.
Thanks for the tips! I have had this for years although it may ony happen once or twice in a year- I’ll be alseep try to wake and can’t hear noises, try to yell or scream and can’t – I have to try VERY hard to force my way out and then I have a overwhelming senstaion of fear. If I go back to sleep right away I often have the same experice again. In my case, some lights On help me. I will try the scrunching of the face and toe wiggling next time. Good to know it’s not monsters in the room 🙂
meant to write I CAN hear noises ( in the house or in my room)
yeah, let me know how it goes. try doing 1o minutes of moderate cardio after the next attack — this can prevent you from slipping right back into the same nightmare.
I tried wiggling my toe during one of my “attacks” and it got worse. I felt pushed further and my imagination took me to a whole other level.
Sierra, this could be astral noise. It is possible and likely to hear astral noise during sleep paralysis….Chris 🙂
I experience this quite often, but is it normal to feel like my body is moving and/or I’m floating? Once I went through it when I was sleeping and I suddenly felt like I was floating and for some reason u could see around the room. Also I got in her face and was clenching my teeth make what felt like an evil face at her.. after a couple off minutes the tingly feeling went away and no longer felt like I was floating… My sister woke up and she said it scared her because it really happened. I kinda figured because my teeth really hurt! Is this normal , I’m only 16 and it really scares me, please help :/
Hi Kaylena,
this is totally normal — but that doesn’t mean it’s not a weird experience! when two people have the same or similar dream, it’s called “mutual dreaming.”
your experience sounds like an out of body experience that started with sleep paralysis — this is also something that happens to a lot of people (even tho we don’t talk about it). It’s nothing to be scared of. the best advice I can give you is to be confident and humble, and explore the dreamworld with respect — you have all the markings of a natural expert dreamer!
I’ve found that trying to wiggle my fingers really helps wake me up during an episode and gets me out of it. I’ve tried yelling “help, wake me up” to get my husband to wake me up, but as you know, it’s hard to speak. He said I was just mumbling something like “buh, buh, buh” but he realized it was sleep paralysis and thankfully woke me up.
I’m 16 and recently I have been having dreams where I can’t move or talk. And when I wake up I’m really hot. My dad thinks I have SP but I’m never awake when I can’t talk or move it’s a dream. One dream I had was that my mom had triplets and they died(my mom has never had triplets) but in the dream they died and I had found out from my sister and there were certain things that people in the house would do that the triplets “didn’t like” so I asked my mom what they didn’t like and she said when people say reeer like a cat hiss. So I did it. And then triplets took my breath away its like I couldn’t even finish saying it. And then next thing I know I’m laying in my floor trying so hard toan yell for my mom and I can’t talk I can’t move and then I woke up from the dream and my heart was beating really fast… I’ve had several dreams like this I’m starting to get scared to sleep. What do I do?
Hey Morgan,
it’s likely that you’re experiencing the body paralysis that is normal in REM while you are in the dream. I have a hunch that many dreams about “running through mud” or struggling to move are actually of this nature. These sorts of dreams are more likely in the morning when you are close to awakening. The mind is more active, there’s more cortisol (a stress hormone related to waking awareness), and sleep paralysis sensations are more common. And maybe you shouldn’t piss off the triplets anymore. 🙂
Also check out this article, as it can pertain to your situation: http://dreamstudies.org/2011/04/12/10-ways-to-prevent-sleep-paralysis/
Lol I just had a sp that’s how I ended up here. I’m so happy I’m not alone I’ve had these dreams or sp about four days now but today it was more intense i read that u never die in ur dreams because if u did u can actually die in real life is this true? Also I read that if u get real real scared u can have a heart attack and it’s funny cuz I remembered the scared part in my dream so I calmed down cuz I didn’t wanna die and it actually helped my heart rate went down immediately in my dream man these dreams really really suck hope I don’t have any more
Hi Javier,
actually, I’ve died in my dreams hundreds of time… and I’m no worse for wear. it’s not so bad.
But as for heart attacks in dreams, it’s not a risk. Sleep-related heart attacks are not tied to dreams. It’s possible to have a heart attack in your sleep, but this is for susceptible people, who are on the whole much more likely to have a heart attack while awake due to heightened activity.
Last night I was sleeping and I felt a bit uneasy. In my dream I heard footsteps (whole house has carpet though) and someone coming into my room. Then all of a sudden I felt like someone was pressing my head down by pulling something over my head and pressing it into the mattress. I have had an experience before where I felt like someone was sitting on my chest but never covering my head. It doesn’t help that I am 21 and scared of the dark and watching movies like paranormal activity. When I experience SP, I just think of Toby paying me visit.
Luckily I was calm and after 10s of realising what was happening I just turned my head and it was over. Hope it doesnt happen to me frequently because it is so scary. Im still trying to recover right now from it.
Tonight (which led me to this site) I went to bed with no restlessness. I was dreaming(1) -OF A DREAM(2)- (kinda like the movie “inception”) that was leading into the direction of getting hurt so I forced myself to wake up outta that dream(2) to my actual dream(1) but couldn’t keep my eyes open! I felt like I was floating off the bed & once completely off, I forced myself to wake up completely! But I still could move & talk! Is this SP? Or a double lucid dream?
I’m 22! This is my second experience
My first experience was 5 months ago. I have a baby & always been a light sleeper. I, again, was falling into a deep sleep which I purposely interrupted & awoke to find my body paralyzed for what seemed like the longest minute of my life. I could see my whole room. Even my husband & kids. I started screaming for help that sounded like a whisper & no one could hear me til AFTER the minute was up & I felt the tingling back in my body. I didn’t see anything but did feel a presence around me. I also heard in the episode a whistle like the Indians blow on that went thru my left ear & out the other when it passed. SP?? I do believe that they’re demons however I didn’t see any nor do I partake in movies TV. Etc. In it. Help!!!!
I have experienced it many times. But, only today I came to know that this is sleep paralysis. I’m happy to know that I’m not the only one 🙂 :).
I have few Questions if anyone can clear:
Is it dangerous?
I often get SP when sleeping at eve, do anyone of you also has the same problem?
I was just wondering if anyone may have an answer for me. Ever since I was 13 I would off and on have these weird dream like experiences. Actually, let me try to break it down because I dont think I am dreaming at all. Either right before I go to bed or sometime after I have been asleep I start feeling like my body from my head to my abdomen stiffens and then it feels like my body is swirling especially my head and my eyes are open I try screaming I try moving body parts and I cant its like I am frozen. It gets scary though because I feel like whats around me is evil and frightening. Yet a few times when it starts I give into it because it feels really good and its hard to want to fight it but once it took over those few times that it felt good it turned and got scary just like the other times. The only reason I question if it is sleep paralysis is because I dont have difficulty breathingand that seems to be a key experience for sleep paralysis victims. Any insight would greatly be appreciated.
I have a question about lucid dream, but now that i figured that i do actually have SP and know how to get out of it my self which i just figured while experiencing it, i would like to know if the events that happen in your lucid dreams can actually come true, or is it some sort of sign or a warning, because im a very doubtful person. but i do have basis. i’m really curious because i have numbers of dream that some looked “real?” i guess about my partner cheating with me. and i was able to deal with it, but only in that dream… please reply through this or my email….
None of these things worked for me till the very last. I don’t squint though or scrunch up. I ‘snarl’. Like an animal :3.
Rawr!
I just have to calm myself enough to realize it’s just SP, growl like I’m upset and it lets me wake immediately. Such a blessed relief x.x. Seriously.
I’m so glad I found this page.
I will try your techniques the next time it happens to me.
It’s good to know it’s not just me and that it isn’t anything freaky like spirits visiting me….although it certainly feels like it at the time.
What happens to me is that I start to feel like I am awake and I all of a sudden hear someone coming up the stairs, then I hear my bedroom door open and drag across the carpet and I hear them coming across the room to my bed and actually feel them sitting on it. I don’t feel like I am being held down or that someone is on my chest I just can’t sit up or open my eyes to see who is there.
It is terrifying and also only seems to happen in daylight hours. If I fall back to sleep in the morning for example.
I also get a reoccurring dream where a ghost comes towards me and I cannot move and when it passes through my body it is able to talk through me and my husband says I make this very scary deep moan noise. I can hear myself doing it but can’t do anything to stop it or wake up. It’s horrible. I have told him if he hears me doing this again to please wake me up! I am now 36yrs old and it has been happening to me for at least 20yrs so I am kind of used to it now. But it still scares me.
The latter dream happens at night and the first is like I said in daylight hours. So strange. My husband never gets it. I wonder why some people do and some don’t?
I have had a very traumatic childhood and a lot of upset in my life where as my husband had a very stable childhood so I think this has something to do with it.
Do you think this has some truth?
Thanks again.
Hi Jo, thanks for sharing. In answer to your question, SP is correlated with people with a history of abuse, amongst other genetic factors. Increased vulnerability is the result of trauma, although some people are also highly sensitive without traumatic backgrounds. Vulnerability is the key to many wonderful things, though, like creativity, courage and cooperation — as well as powerful dreams. I just saw this wonderful TED talk on the topic of vulnerability: http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
My friends said that they had where they can’t sleep or anything else she said they looked it up and said your possessed I am scared will it happen to me?
hey Lauren,
I wouldn’t worry about it if this natural sleep symptom hasn’t happened to you. It’s not a demon, it’s the power of the dreaming mind — which, uh, creates demons. Seriously, don’t fall for the hype – sleep paralysis is natural and ultimately harmless.
Hi ive recently (last year) experienced this 5 times or so. every time i see dark shades and i cant move or talk. after the first time it happend i know this is a “dream” but it scares me as there are these shades that always are near me. once i had this and i thought it was my dad fluffing my pillow and it really felt like it was real. tho after having my pillow fluffed for like 30 sec i kinda got annoyed and thought id say something tho couldnt do anything and when i looked there was only this dark shade. only thing that has worked the last time is trying to move my entire body at the same time tho this doesnt work every time.
i have yet to try the things ive read here but i will try it.
i wonder is there any way to treat it so it wont happen again?
I just experienced this. the last thing I saw was the clock saying it was 3:14 . But it felt so realistic because I felt as if I wasn’t sleeping. My eyes we’re still wide awake! Then I. Felt my body pressing into my matress. I felt as if somthing was pushing me down . I couldn’t talk either. I tried yelling because I knew my sister was there. It just got worse. I herd an annoying fly buzzing and then I started to shake. While shaking I felt as if somone was taking advantage and pulling me under the bed since I was frozen. My opinion is that it is not a sleep paralize. There is somthing evil when you sleep and wants to posses u or somthing. I hate these dreams and I wish they would stop. But for now, I don’t think nothing will help me now.
hey ryan I was curious sometimes when I’m trying to sleep it will feel like I myself have to control my breathing and as time passes and i feel myself slipping into a deeper sleep I wake up abruptly and suddenly gasping for breath it feels so surreal and the physical pain my body and my head endure afterwards is all real no dream I’m just unsure of what this is… no one seems to know what I’m going through this is so intertwined with extreme vivid dreams.. Please reply! I could really use some advice it’s becoming more frequent these days and It’s severely impacting my work initiative !~!
hard to say for sure Christo but sounds like “exploding head syndrome” coupled with hypnagogia…. with the breathing difficulties this could be a symptom/sign for sleep apnea. In other words, all these symptoms could be pointing to a more serious sleep issue. Sleep apnea is hard to self-diagnosis and I’m not a medical doctor either.. so read up on it and see if you have more warning signs — if so you may want to see a sleep specialist. https://www.mysleepapneatest.com/
I have suffered from this since I was a teenager (now im 25) and i suffered in silence never telling anyone. I was always scared and had lots of anxiety as a result. As i got older I started to do some research and spoke to a therapist. I also realized things that were triggers such as caffeine (especially towards the end of the day), chocolate and a stressful lifestyle. I was a hardcore caffeine addict and when I stopped drinking it, i went from daily occurrings of sp to a couple times a year! I learned not to fight it and to breathe and wiggle my toes which usually gets me out of it! good luck to all!
I just want to say that this helped alot this whole sleep paralysis thing funny thing is tho with the obe’s my wife has said she has seen me leave my body on one occasion i was at the peak of the eifel tower or sumthing maybe sisteen chapel with my gguardian angel it was the realest most wild beautiful thing ive ever expierienced at the same time at times it is horrrifying the floating to the ceilin alll tht idk man shits nuts
Im 16 and last night I had two sleep paralysis dreams. I couldn’t move and there was a scary looking little girl floating above my bed and I kept calling for my brother but it came out as a whisper and 2 minutes later I went into a dream and later that night I went into another paralysis I felt like I fell off my bed and was gonna get dragged under and kept feeling like I was gonna die but I woke up from this one staring at my wall unable to move
I’ve had this happen to me on several occassions, I will wake up and can’t move, but I can hear everything around me. Yesterday afternoon I took a nap and woke up and couldn’t move, but could hear my t.v. I didn’t want to go to sleep last night, but when I did, I woke up and heard my t.v., but I couldn’t move. I heard someone walking in my hallway (no carpet) and was terrified that someone had broken into my house. I struggled to wake up and when I finally did my heart was pounding. There was nobody in my house, but that was the first time that I experienced hearing footsteps. I did not go back to sleep for a couple of hours. This was more scary than it usually is.
Thank God for this site, I just woke up from SP. I felt as though I could not breathe, or move, I tried to scream…nothing. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. SP has been happening to me since I was about 18 years old, I am 31 now…it is the most terrifying experience. I am going to try these methods, hopefully they will work for me.
I am so so relieved i found this website. This is like AA for what I was feeling. I am so relieved to know am not alone. When I go to sleep I feel like there is someone in the room and like most people I feel like something is holding me down and I try to yell for help but no one can hear me. Sometimes I also feel a “tingling sensation” in my whole body, is that normal? or is there a reason for it? Mine can occur during the daytime when i nap but mostly in the night. I loose a lot of sleep over this and I have to wake up early for work because i work as a healthcare professional and its dangerous for both my patients and I. Am just glad to know I am not alone. That alone is a good start.
welcome Priscilla. the tingling sensations are a common symptom. here’s more about symptoms and my approach to get better sleep: http://dreamstudies.org/2010/01/22/sleep-paralysis-treatment-wake-up-cant-move/
I just found this site today, and I found it very interasting because I expeiance this sp thing myself. After reading this article and the ways to wake up from sp, I was tired and just happen to close my eye and next thing you no I wake up tO sP i my dream, some scarey thing and it was in the morning too.I remember everything I read today here I this article and it’s like it gave me a chance to test these ways to wake up from sp, I relax and did mostly everything, and nothing help so I just ended screaming my way out because the pain It gave me was to painful the more I try to open my eyes the painful unexplainable pain i get, it’s always my ribs. when I wake up from sp and my mouth is dry from all the screaming I’ve done and I get sp very often I been geting this since 13 and now I’m 17 is this going to happen my whole life? And I want to no what is that painful pain I get?
interesting Kim thanks for commenting. You know, you may want to take an online test for other sleep disorders, as a dry mouth can actually be a symptom of obstructed breathing at night. most of your screams are most likely mental, not actual, but you really need a witness to know for sure.
I don’t know about the pain either. I can tell you that often dreams show us where we need healing, and this could be true of SP nightmares too. next time you get a physical, make sure to point out the intense pain to your medical provider.
try this link for sleep apnea questionnaires: http://sleepapnea.org/diagnosis-and-treatment/test-yourself.html
Hi my mother in law recently had an experience where she went to bed and woke up in a completely different room in the middle of the night and then she walked back to the bed and went back to sleep. What do you call that?
Hi Tim, probably sleep walking, without memory of the event. sleepwalking tends to come when we are stressed more than usual, leading to more awakenings in the night and brain chemistry hijinks.
hey guys, i had this SP often, i cant wake up! But i can see myself sleeping, even if i f0rced t0 get up its useless.. S0 if i enc0untered SP again and i knew it is SP, i just relax. Cl0se my eyes and then m0ve my fingger.. Bwala!! Y0ur in the real w0rld… H0pe dis helps!
I wake up every morning within the 3 am hour i feel like something forces me to wake up and look at the clock,been doing this every since i was a child now i’m 35,i wake up to something holding me around my waist,it gets in my bed as though its there to comfort me i can hear the heaving breathing and when i try to fight it off me,it gets angry and hold me down,when i start to pray it vanishes..what is this?and what shall i do?
Sounds like you’re doing it right to me, Kimmi. Check out my free Sleep Paralysis report below (scroll to the bottom of page, click the image) for advice of lessening attacks and getting better rest.
I’ve experienced SP for many years now. I still remember the first episode as a little girl, and the fear of not having the ability to move.On a sunny summer morning laying in bed crying out but no one heard. As a child I was afraid of the dark. Also uneasy about my house. Over the years my SP episodes have become more frequent, and frightening. More recently, I have heard hissing, and mumbling while have an episode. When they occur at night, its usually at 3am. I always felt it had something to do with “Dead Time”. I also experience multiple SP episodes. I usually say a prayer, or just repeat “God” over & over again and I usually wake up. Or fight back. But its seems most experience SP at night, I also experience it in the daytime. So, it feels like a lose, lose.This morning I had multiple SP episodes. I felt as if I was being pulled from my bed. Which led me to don’t some research. Your website has brought me a lot of comfort, knowing that I am not the only one. Because the subject is not talked about, because of the fear of being labeled crazy. So Thank You!
thanks Patrice for adding your voice to this ever-going discussion! Early morning SP is pretty common – probably because we have more REM and more awakenings in the second part of the night. I’ve used prayer myself but am more likely these days to wake myself up if I don’t like who has shown up!
I am so thankful for this website. I truly thought it was demonic possession of some sort. Because of this, I never sleep with it fully dark (which I now know exacerbates the issue) and with no doors open. This morning I was having a very lucid dream and at the end there was a loud sound and the SP occur. I usually pray it away but this time I tried to fight it and actually felt like I was being suffocated. Just as I started to pray, the alarm on my phone went off and I awakened immediately. I’m glad to know there is a reason for this and a large community of support.
I’m so glad to finally have a name for this!
I’m 37 years old and have had SP for as long as I can remember. I just came out of it about twenty minutes or so ago. But, it seems to be quite different than what everyone else experiences! I am not afraid. It is not the least bit scary.
I think of it as being so asleep that when it is time to wake up, not all of me is agreeable to it. I cannot move at all or make a sound during these times. Sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe, but I remain calm…this could be because I have asthma and learned long ago that panicking just makes it worse. Each time, I basically make a choice….do I want to wake up all the way or go back to sleep all the way? If I decide to go back to sleep, it happens almost instantly. If I decide to wake up, it’s more of a battle. I focus all of my energy on moving a toe or a finger. Once I can move it, I try to increase the range of movement. Eventually I can move the whole arm or the whole leg and then I start working on another body part. Well, sometimes I just give up and go back to sleep because it’s so exhausting and sleeping is so cozy. 🙂 But, if I keep working on it, I can eventually open my eyes. That makes it all easier. Once I have managed to move my whole body, I can sit up. From there, it might take a few more minutes before I feel like I can walk without falling. It sometimes takes even long to clear the “fuzz” out of my mind.
I remember that when I was younger, it often felt like something was pressing down on my chest, but I don’t get that anymore. I don’t remember if I ever sensed a presence. I’ve always been aware of sound and can later repeat word for word conversations that were going on around me. Yeah, sometimes I sleep in public, like on an airplane, a bus, a train, or in the living room with family watching TV.
However, considering that none of this is frightening to me, is it really SP or something else?
Same for me. I don’t hallucinate or get chest pains or anything like that lol. And to wake up I just move my fingers until I jolt awake.
It used to scare me only cuz I thought I might start hallucinating or getting the pushing feeling or feel like I couldn’t breath like I’ve heard happens, but after countless instances I know that never happens lol. The most hallucinations I’ve ever gottin is distortion of things in the room.
Well one time I did have an instance where a black figure walked into the room but for some reason I wasn’t scared o.o
It only happens to me when I’m suuper tired and it started a few months ago…when I was younger it was hard for me to fall asleep and I had to be really out of it so I never experienced consciously falling asleep. So one day my insomnia just disappeared and I sleep so much better now, but the first time I fell asleep while conscious of that I was like wtf? so I opened my eyes and was in SP. It didn’t click at first but I remembered seeing something on tumblr about it so I was like wooah cool. Then I closed my eyes and could feel myself drifting into dreamland it was soo weird.
I had a dream where i really wanted to wake up because i was scared. In the dream i remember my room being very dark and i couldnt find my way to my moms room. After a while i finally find her room. Im terrifyed, and rapidly knock on my moms door. I tell her im scared to let me in, but she shoved my face. Crying to her, and then she says, “I know what to do, Lesly WAKE UP!” An it sounded so real when she said that, i even looked around to see if she was in the room. But ive been having dreams like this latley where i want to wake up but i cant.
I just realized that the first paragraph makes it sound like I’ve been IN SP all my life. I meant that I had just come out of another episode prior to writing that. Did I mention I don’t always think all that clearly afterwards? 🙂
It is so comforting to know that I am not alone! I’m 18 and I’ve had sp off and on. I’ve only had it about 5 times but I just woke up from it now and decided it was time to find some answers. I had the first 4 every night off and on I’d wake up and actually have my eyes open and I’d see shadows and figures move across my room, I’d feel like my whole body is strapped down and someone was watching me. Eventually it would go away and I would just stay awake for the rest of the day. This all happened while I was going through conformation at church. I wonder if it was related to that? That was about last year. Just this morning it happened again, I went to bed around 10:30 and woke up at 5, I then messed around a bit on my iphone and watched some TV then around 7 I went back to bed and woke up at 8 because my alarm, I hit snooze and went back to bed, but then I felt asleep and kind of awake? I remember my dream vaguely, I was in another room with this figure it looked like a policeman and he had just murdered someone then I followed him out a door into a lobby full of people and they where all congratulating him for something and I remember saying “This man just murdered someone!” He then looked at me with a blank face and we made direct eye contact from across the people filled lobby and I woke up with sp, I was facing my wall and I could open my eyes but I couldn’t move I tried struggling but it only made it worse and I couldn’t yell for help, I realized I was breathing tho so I took a deep breath and released it then about 3 seconds later I snapped out of it and immediately got up and out of bed! I’m not sure if this has something to do with me graduating from high school the day before. It seems to happen when I’m going through strong life choices or something. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to whats going on. Also I’ve been reading some of these comments and I’m not sure about what all this Astro travel or out of body experience stuff is but it sounds fascinating can someone please give me some insight?
Ryan when ever I go into SP I can’t move, talk, and can barley breath. Could you please help me? Example: Once when I had SP I was at my dads house and my dad asked my brothers to come help him with something ( they are 21-22 and live somewhere else) and after they got done working my dad let them stay for the night so one of my brothers went up stairs to sleep and the other down stairs on the couchs with me he slept on one I on another and when I woke up randomly in the middle of the night he was up on the laptop and said he couldn’t go to sleep so I accidentally passed out because I was really tired and I just woke up then when I passed out I went into SP and like I said I could barely breath, couldn’t move, or talk so when I came out of SP I asked him if I was breathing hard and he said i was so yeah ( oh and I see shadows of a creature or humanoid come towards me so yeah please help me and send me what you say to my email please!)
I’ve had sleep paralysis for almost a year now. I can only tell you what I know that led to it and how I deal with it today. The moment I heard of this new day meditation stuff, where it completely relaxes you of all stress I thought “awesome” and I did it for about a month or two. And thats when I had my first sleep paralysis ‘episode’.
Im not sure if they were connected, Ive just read in some research that others started to do the same thing when they got into meditation.
One thing to NEVER do is sleep to much. I mean you need at the very least 12 hours between each time you go to sleep, if you try to take a nap in the middle of the day youll be fine during that nap, but during that night its almost a 100% chance your going to expereince SP.
That could just be me, but thats what happens. To wake up ive always prayed, when you pray you know if anything evil is trying to hurt you, it will be gone. To most people praying makes them feel safe anyways. Another method is to not acknowledge the being of anything there. Whether you believe it IS there or NOT, if it isnt there your brain will start to create a scene where it is and you will be fulfilling a self made prophesy. If something is there, well yea your just going to anger it, obviously it dosnt like you anyways lol.
But no matter what know it cant hurt you, I hope ive helped. I use to have SP every night, till I figured out the trick to it. Now the only times I have it is when im feeling brave and start taking naps in the day lol.
Good luck ! Good night!
Thanks man I hope your advice is going to help thank you!
Thanks man your advice helped thanks man
What I experience is a little different, as I’m falling asleep, I feel lifted at a fast pace, as if my soul was moving rapidly in all directions, I try to move, scream, but I cannot, it feels very real to me, it lasts a good 30 second and then I’m awake. I don’t hear voices or see anything unusual, I’m just lying in my bed paralyzed while it is happening.
Hey Yuni kinda the same with me too and also, when I was during it in my first message it seemed 100% real lol and I saw my brother to so yeah.
Im 13 years old and recently this happened to me I WAS SCARED SHITLESS i thought i was gona stay like that forever but when i realized wat was happening i just kinda relaxed or sometin and tried to sleep and i woke up quickly The second time was at My school i could hear all of my classmates and teachers talking about how i was sleeping the second i heard them say that, I woke up instantly with an urge? to prove them that I was not sleeping. Actually that was the third time it happend second time was really like the first one. I kno that im not the only in which this has happened to and thats really helpful to kno that im not alone but if u guys have some other tips on how not to have them in the first place i would really love that thanks alot BTW this is kinda embarissing but im just kinda scared 😛
Hey Fredo, I got SP for the first time when I was 14 so I can relate. Check out this article on ways to prevent sleep paralysis:
http://dreamstudies.org/2011/04/12/10-ways-to-prevent-sleep-paralysis/
The best general advice is to get more regular sleep, and find ways to relax after stressful days. Listening to music with headphones, a good walk, playing music, etc. Everyone has their own ways to calm down.
Also, if you find yourself having problems staying awake in school and general symptoms of daytime sleepiness for longer than 2 weeks, it’s a good idea to talk to someone who could point you in the right direction, such as parents, counselors and coaches.
Hey I’m 14 years old and i just had ‘SP’ (i think) last night. It happened to me once before so this was the second time. I remember it very clearly since it was just last night at around 1 in the morning. I’ve been trying to go to sleep for about two hours and then i thought i was dreaming but when i opened my eyes i was in my room and i tried speaking but i couldn’t. I felt this tremendous weight on me like it was crushing my body down and only my eyes could move around but i felt like something was watching me so i closed them. One word was in my head and it was echoing over and over again and i could hear it getting louder like something was mocking me. It was extremely scary and i couldn’t get out of it. But as soon as i did, i calmed down a little and when i tried to go back to sleep i slipped into SP again. It happened about three times until i got out of bed and went to go sleep with my sister. It stopped after that. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has this.
I get it very often, and it is very scary. I cant move my whole body, and my brain feels like I am drifting away, but like I am going to die if I let go, so I will myself over and over again to wake up and little by little I can move just a little bit more until finally I can move and shout. On many occasions i shout but no-one can here me. I also had the duvet over my face when I fell asleep the other night and I got SP and I needed to take the duvet off my face because I couldnt breathe but i couldn’t move to get it off 🙁 Finally I could move and I took it off. Worst was when I had SP and i thought my partner climbed on top of my and started strangling me! I woke up and I was shouting at him but actually he never did anything. My mind was just trapped between reality and nightmare world! Glad I am not alone, will try out the tips next time!
I have these exact symptoms although rare they are nothing short of “lights out” situation feels more like your a dead corpse for a few minutes. Its an interesting sensation as for an OBE I have never had that. I think an OBE is nothing more than a reality between mental and subtle thoughts, a part of you that is awake and a part that is asleep. Nothing more nothing less, has nothing to do with demons and religions. Its called neuroscience.
SP happened to me when i was in my teen days. Usually is due to growth, stress with school life (sleeping late, like 2am). I will start to ‘hallucinate’ while sleeping and could not control the dream, if felt so real. Somehow i can control my erection and use that to wake myself up or identify that this is not real. Most for the time my brain will feel ‘tired’. Sometimes it happens a few times. So i tried my best to sleep early, or listen to calm music before sleep. Good to listen to Binaural beats either from iphone, android or pc apps.
But if it is long term, you may want to try using this:
In Jesus name i bind all evil forces that is troubling me. In the name of Jesus, i will have the peace.
Hope this helps