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!
OMG! i have just had SP i couldnt breath too…so i remembered what u wrote and foucused on breathing and wiggled my toes and i woke up very fast!!! and then it tried to happen again and remembered too that u said we have to get up so i did omg this is really helpful!!! Thank you soooooo much for the advises 😀
I have these episodes at least once a week for as long as i can remember, i am now 31 y/o. They dont bother me as much anymore but are still scary. Wiggling my toes helps alot to get out of them. Ive had alot of episodes where someone is choking me with two hands and i can not breathe at all. Lately ive been having them over and over again in the same night. That can be avoinded by staying up a little while after the first episode, but sometime i cant. Also, my episodes lately are not scary at all. Its wierd, im sleeping in my dream and normal stuff is going on and im just paralized for a while. I always have problems breathing during them, i never breathe normal. I just recently got diagnosed with sleep apnea but i know they are not related. Im really getting tired of them. I know for a fact that you can prevent this or have them happen less frequent if you get more sleep. Sleep deprivation is def. a contributing factor in sleep paralysis. I also think you can use sleep paralysis as a stepping stone into totally leaving your body, i think it is called astral projection…..
That has been happening to me since I was 5 and now I’m 15 its like someone trying to kill me
I’m actually sort of envious of everyone elses SP experiences.
Mine are always the same.
They happen before I fall asleep or before ai wake up.
I find myself being held down by demons that are laughing and attacking me. Obviously, I’m vulnerable and cant move so I call out for Jesus, who comes in and I dont know he just makes them go away and then I wake up and catch my breath.
A few years ago when I was having my SP, it was these ghosts that would attack me and they would shake me, it felt like I was having a seizure.
I always wake up frightened and having a hard time going back to sleep which puts me in another SP.
I haven’t had them lately, I absolutely hate them. I cant breath correctly or move and its the worst feeling.
When I was a kid and occasionally now I will not be able to open my eyes or breath, on my last breath I will wake up.
Its just really strange and irritating.
I actually have the same experience as you compared to the others on this forum. I first had it when I was younger about 11. I always thought they were about ghosts possessing me because when I’m in SP, I would hear ghostly laughs in my ear so I would try screaming so the ppl around me can hear or move my fingers and toes but nothing happened. Felt like falling and could hardly open my eyes. It was very scary. This happenned every so often even through my older years, I’m 33 now. And got another attack last night and decided to look it up and read that it has to do with lack of sleep, tiresome.. All this time I thought it had to do with bad spirits trying to push me down and get my soul, etc. That’s sure how it felt like in the dream. My husband told me I was twitching. It would happen to every place I moved to so I thought it was just a haunting like when I watch scary stuff etc. So now I know that its just a sleeping experience which makes so much more sense. I will try all the tips and hope it works. I will also try the praying because that helped me alot as I was younger.
Hi Ryan,
This is great stuff. My husband suffers from SP and I usually wake him up to help him snap out of it. I have never experienced SP myself and I do a great deal of dream work. These were great tips I can share with him.
Thanks for putting this site together.
Cat
thanks for the tips but i do have another suggestion. when i am in SP i can move my tounge, i try to get my tounge wet and lick my upper lip, this always works for me. I am only 14, but i dont feel like their is anyone else in the room with me. i think this is good technique aswell
I just hold my breath try to go back to sleep or I use all my strength to move
Hey thanks for the tips. altough I have a question if you get to answer. When I get my SP, it gets VERY difficult to breath. I start fighting back (which I won’t do anymore since I read that) so it gets even harder to breath and it’s only when I give up on hope, that I’m sure I won’t make because I’m out of breath. That the adrenaline of survival instincs wakes me up in a blast. This is one of the worsts experiences and I wish that no one here will ever live this. You said that people can breath when they have SP, well not in my case and I would like to know how to be at least able to breath while im in an SP.
You are describing my experience. I lie there knowing I’m not breathing and if I could just take a breath it will be okay. I struggle and struggle until I realise it’s not going to happen this time and I might actually suffocate. Then by some miracle I gasp in a breath at the last moment and I wake up.
Hi there. Ive just had my first 2 SP like an hour ago and I don’t really want to go back to sleep. Can it occur from being over tired ? In the dreams I kept falling over an feeling really tired and could no open my eyes or move (this was in the dream) and then when I wanted to wake up I could not move my body and could not open my eyes. In the end I just thought so hard on waking up and sitting up. I woke up an body aches alot . Did I have an SP ? Please reply .
When that happen hold your breath your body will immediately start to move
Hi thanks for the tips beacause just right now I have a sp and is terrible and this is been happening since I was 13 and I I’m 16.Sometimes I ges panic and scared cause I wash a lot of scary movies and I think is something in there pushing me down, also I talk to my that when ever he hear me whispered to move me or something and he said that is the devil holding you down and stuff and I got scared.
This happened to me once as i was falling asleep. Because I was scared, I didn’t try to fight it and I just went with it; pretended like nothing was happening. I clenched my fists and tried moving my fingers, even scrunched up my face before it stopped. The only thing that bothered me is I heard a loud ringing in my ears. I felt my head was going to pop.
I’ve got the exact same problem, a very deep buzzing sound EXTREMELY LOUD, like bases right next to me, and huge pressure all over my body. It freaks me out..I don’t have this regularly tho, once every 2 weeks maybe.. just had one this morning so I looked it up.
Most of these work good me. Especially the toe or finger wriggling ones. I realised that it only ever happens whilst I’m laying on my
back just as I am dropping off to sleep. If I turn onto my side as soon as I’m able to move from the first SP, it never reoccurs that night.
I noticed the same thing and was just telling my husband…when I sleep on my back it usually doesn’t happen.
just had one and i slaped myself in the face to wake up
Everything ya’ll say makes since but y is it that during my sp i see a certain woman and my step daughter sees the same being? Its not just a condition,we r being harrased.i wanted to believe in sp but sadly its not that simple i have tried the 9 ways none works im scared i dont care what u say fight it thats the only way sorry
Iv had my first 3 SP this summer. Im so glad i found this site to help me understand whats been happening to me. In my case voices whisper to me and tell me whats about to happen to me and i feel a creature with me in my room, and i want it to end. and iv learned on my own to recognize that im forcibly being pulled into it and yes i have used the toe technique! that works well for me.
Thanx for the tips
but when im in SP i cant move a single muscle and i only feel my heart rate increasing
Im only 14 and i cant really manage myself when im asleep
Hi Jose,
one way of combating SP is by relaxing before bed. do you how to meditate? can you find time to spend 20 minutes in bed without cellphone or computer? Here’s a link to a youtube clip — it’s a guided meditation for teens. It’s a bit cheezy, but the voice is very relaxing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHVJ8DPCsPg&noredirect=1
and here’s a link for different kinds of meditation to try: http://www.susankramer.com/TeenMeditation.html
So, I’m 16 years old and have been suffering from SP for about two years. The first time it happened I looked to my left and saw a girl laughing at me, a figure then entered the room said something along the lines of “we have her now” and about that time I moved a toe or a finger and woke up. They got pretty bad for a while, even to the point where I could move almost my entire body and still not be able to wake up. Has anyone else had this problem? I also don’t feel as if I’m being pushed, it’s more of a sinking feeling, as if something terrible is going to happen. Anyone else?
I have that same sinking feeling and I often cant breathe so i fight it because im afraid if i dot i will stop breathing and die. I think i actually did stop breathing once but i was able to wake up eventually. Ryan Hurd do you have tips on breathing while in an episode, in kind of reluctant to go to sleep right now but i am so exhausted. please answer.
Resa,
the trick is to breathe calmly and steadily, or what is called controlled breathing. Don’t gasp for breath — this is what we commonly do when we are scared and there’s adrenaline coursing through the blood — this will result in the feeling of something on your chest. People do not stop breathing and die in sleep paralysis.
I just had this last night. I had it before when I was a teenager. I also have panic attacks and it feels kind of like that. I hope that this never happens again.
I’ve had it since the past two years. Recently, it’s getting worse that I have back spasm and that normally when the SP is over, I would recover to normal, instead now leaves me with tired legs and back ache in the morning.
Yipes! Had my first about 30 minutes ago… I wasn’t ready to go to sleep! My eyes kept dropping though, and I plunged into some scary episode, and my audio track started to distort and undistort to a horrid voice. My brain also threw in some words that weren’t in the track, so that seriously increased the feeling of dread. For some reason I was calm, yet also trying to get out of it. Two words I can recall were “…Get away…” Going to make use of this article if it ever happens again.
its the scariest thing ive ever experienced. i havent had them in a long while until recently. i could hear everything just couldnt move. i forced myself to snap out of it.
i always have sp, but i found a way to get out of it every single time on my own. when you are paralyzed you just calm down control your breathing and then sort of force your eyes open. i even used to practice closing my eyes, relaxing and then opening them suddenly and forecfully. It gets you out of the paralyzed state every time.
had an attack again today for the first time in two years. what i have come to realise is that my attacks only happen when there is a mirror in the room and its day time. today i saw an orb looking thing come straight towards me n then i could feel it pull my lips. i was completely numb. couldnt move couldnt speak. n then what looked like a baby demon jumped on my shoulder. i started praying and then paralys was gone. well freaked out
I had one today and it was similar to yours in a sense…. It was during the day and there is a mirror in my room..I think i was asleep but I felt like I was awake… I was trying to move but I couldn’t- even though my eyes were open. I was waving my phone in front of my face- like to show myself that I was awake- but i couldn’t see anything moving even tho I felt like I was moving. I was on my side facing my mirror, but the angle that I was laying I could not see my reflection. I remember being afraid of the mirror and NOT wanting to see myself because I didn’t think it would be ‘me’ looking back. My dream took me closer and closer to the mirror (never saw a reflection), And then like suddenly I felt my eyes were moving around all crazy and I started laughing really really weird and kind of high pitched. I’ve had ‘sleep paralysis’ before and could not move but I’ve never laughed or move my eyes like that. I don’t even know if it could have been heard out loud or what I looked like while this happened… All I know is that it really really scared me and no matter what I did, I could not move until my alarm went off on my phone to wake me up for work.
I have had these off an on most of my life. I am 35 years old and they started out as terrifying occurences. As I grew older they become more of a bother than anything else. I now just shake my head and clench a fist and I’m awake in no time. The only problem is that I’m not getting any sleep. I have mine, mostly, before I even drift off to sleep, I feel my body going to sleep but my mind stays aware. I sit there with my eyes open for a minute thinking that I will finally drift away to sleep fully, which never happens. I always end up just staying up until my eyes can no longer stay open without the assistance with toothpicks. I go to sleep and the process starts over the next night usually.
thank you so much for the tips you gave…. wow, just an minutes ago when i had SP,,, that is so crazy i kept fighting on it til i wake up, then i turn on the computer and try to find the meaning of it and that is SP… but there still bothering me when i have it i heard people are talking and bell ringing.. so any one have an idea on.?? pls. reply
It’s comforting to know that I am not alone. My SP started when I was young and I still remember talking to my cousins about it who apparently experienced the same (runs in the fam?)…we discussed that if we moved our pinky finger first then the rest of the body wakes up. (1..2..3 go…1…2…3…go…!)
Fast forward to present, the pinky technique just isn’t as effective anymore. Maybe because our adult mind is more complicated, at least mine is.
I found that that if I do the following, I am able to shake out of SP:
1. You are right. RELAXING is the key. If I panicked, then I would be dreaming within a dream that I’m in fact moving and have awakened only to find out that I’m still under SP.
2. I try to GO BACK TO SLEEP. Awareness is another. Once I know I’m going through SP, instead of fighting it, I try to tell myself, oh, here’s another one, I will just fall asleep, whatever. Like ignore it instead of make a big deal. Then I wake up.
Lately, the hallucinations have been so vivid…normally like hearing footsteps up running up the stairs, hearing my DVD player’s rack open and close repeatedly, weird electronic beeping noises, or someone next to me. I just IGNORE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT’S ALL A DREAM. and then I savor the sleepiness until my mind falls asleep again.
But yes, it still can be very scary at times. Lately too, I felt some bronchial constriction and/or uncontrolled tremors/shaking on my jaw (whether it was just a dream, I still don’t know) and apparently that too went away just falling back asleep.
Interesting. The two questions in my head are:
1. What really triggers it? Stress, maybe? Talent??? LOL
2. Is it related to some kind of possible astral activity too? Just thinking out loud
Whoops, I put in the wrong website for this forum. Here’s my other “more suitable” one
Seems to be happening to quite a few people. I really do feel like something is holding my arm down and sometimes I am not asleep. Why is there so much pressure if it is only paralysis?
I don’t have a good explanation for that, Marc, except to say that when we are willing our body to do something, but it is prevented (in this case, lack of motor tone), it results in phantom feelings. something like this also happens to people who lose a limb, they often complain of their hand (that’s no longer there) hurting or feeling coldness.
My experience with this happend when I was 7 years old. I am 34 now and still remember it, only once has this happend in my life thus far.
I was in bed “asleep” Ofcourse, then what seemed like my mind woke up but not my body I could not scream ,move nothing no matter how hard I tried.. what I saw was just a grey/white blur like static on an old tv screen. It seemed like I was in this state for 15 minutes roughly.. all my life I’ve wondered about it and it took till today to research it.
glad you found the site Matt! I have been in that static-y place manhy a time. I write a little about it here, and also include a painting I’ve made inspired by that world between worlds! http://dreamstudies.org/2010/05/13/exploring-the-void-in-lucid-dreaming/
I have had this since my 20’s and I am 38…when this happens I just pray inside of me. And it stops…its totally scarey normally happens when Im extremly tired.
Hi guys.It’s SO good to know that I’m not alone.I’ve had SP since I was 10.They didn’t scare me then.Once I turned 17, they got so bad that I would sleep with my boyfriend on the phone so if anything happened he could here it.He said I was moaning and he heard static at times.Then in person when I napped in his room he said I would start twitching and moaning so he would wake me up.As scary as it was, I still thought it was just a form of seizures.NOW I’m understanding that it’s much more.Last night, I had a SP that was so vivd,I woke up in pain after it with visible scars.I decided to sleep on my side, so I wouldn’t have one last night.I fell asleep watching the Steve Harvey Show.All of a sudden I woke up and a different episode was on a DIFFERENT channel.I didn’t even have the remote in my bed with me so it was impossible for that channel to be on when the episode I was watching was on DVR and I was watching BET prior so I don’t know how it got on that channel.Anyways,that’s when I knew something was wrong. All of a sudden I was lifted out of my bed and thrown up against the wall still in the air.I started screaming for my mom and dad but they didn’t come.I puffed up my chest and jolted my right hand to open the door and I felt my feet fall to the ground.I tried to run out the door then this force through me back up against the wall in the air and said something in a language I couldn’t understand.I could only make out the word “family”.All of a sudden I woke back up in the fetal position I was in and the episode of Steve Harvey Show was back on like the one I had on the DVR.I didn’t go back to sleep and I’m very tired and afraid to even take a nap.I also noticed that I was in my underwear and that my pants were hanging on my right arm.I know this is a demonic attack because I was recently contacting a spiritual guide named Iman.This giant blue guy with white eyes(kinda angel like).As long as I listened to him and followed the acesion everything as fine until I started praying back to Jesus because I was starting to doubt the enlightenment.Now he won’t leave me alone.I”m prepared to fight him in my sleep because I brought this upon myself.I want to caution all of you who are doing something immoral or unclean or evil out loud or in your heart,they will come for you unless you dare to fight them with holiness and purity.I’m not going to live the rest of my life in fear.I’m only 22,and as scared as I am I should’ve just trusted the Word of God and believed in him instead of all those conspiracy theories.Those are Satan’s tools to decieve and trap our subconcious.I’m learning my lesson from all those sexual acts and lustful thoughts I fantasized and even acted out.The thing is there is something that we are doing in your lives that is unclean and ungodly and until you confront your demon,confess it to the Lord,and fight it away with his power, you will suffer as I am.Please PLEASE stop doing it.They will drag us to hell with them if we don’t.Wake up!Tell yourself to wake up!
I kinda found the moving your fingers thing on my own and that’s how I’ve been getting out of sp
I try not to panic and start thinking stuff
Bc then I start hallucinating figures next to me
Or start feeling like I’m being pulled or pushed off my bed
I’m 16 years old and think I’m getting better at dealing with it
I try to roar like a lion and it wakes me up.
I’m 25 male. Recently bought a used rv cheaply enough and after having it for a week I noticed written on the inside of the storage and closet doors the infamous tripple 6! Kinda freaked me out but I just thought the previous owners were into that type stuff. Idk. I’ve had the rv for about 3 months now and I ise the bedroom part as storage for my sons toys clothes ect. And we sleep on the pull out couch.From night to night when we sleep id hear someone or thing playing with the toys. Id go back there and the room was silent. No big deal just kind of creapy. Tonight I Went to sleep around 1:30 with my 2 year ols son next to me. I had my first sp ever and it scared the every loving crap out of me. I was dreaming for some reason I was in someone elses house sleeping in the fetal position next to a bed and caling out for help and screaming “no no no no…..”and could hear people near by but noone came to my aide. I woke uo in my dream and was back in my rv sleeping. Then all the sudden I couldn’t move my eyes were open and started twitching horribly and a dark presence hovered over me and was trying to make its face visible to me and I literally found myself trying to speak “jesus” after about the 7th time saying I was actually waking up saying it aloud and the presence was gone. Scariest thing in my life so far. I imediatly rose up turning on lights and checked on my son and started to pray. Any thoughts if its just sp or an actual haunting in my rv?
I have SP in school several times and its pretty funny I’m never scared so its never a nightmare for me meaning that i can easily get out of it.If you dont think about something badly its easy to stop it
i had SP today but unlike you guys i can breathe.i cant move, my eye where open and everytime i try to move my stomach hurts like hell. weird thing is when my stomach hurts i can move my arms to hold it..after a while i thought i might be hungry thats why my stomach hurts..i tried to get up and it works, but my movement was so frail as i made my way to our refrigirator, i hit my face on the wallside and without looking i just grab something in the ref and eat it.bad news is it didnt help me at all and whats weirder is that after i eat. i froze in that position with my face on the wall…so a little conclusion for me is maybe on SP we can still move but we need a purpose other than struggling..i had my purpose, i need to eat..my body responds but after i completed the task i was frozen again..and after i awake i grab a real food on the ref and eat alot.
Hi,
I am 45 and have suffered from something very like this. Main difference for me is that the threat of evil is always from a family member or someone I know. I regularly wake up during the dream and thank someone for waking me only to find I am still in dream. A good way for me to try and prevent it is if I can catch it in time before I sleep (I usually can tell if its coming and can sometimes open my eyes just in time). If I turn over onto my other side I am usually sorted for that night.
Used to think I was weird. These discussions help.
Cheers
Mark
hey guys.
just had a sp 6 yes 6 sp’s in a row 5 of them i wake up but it feels like im being bragged out of bed by my leg and when im on the floor i get up and i can see myself in bed clear as the sky is blue i walk down stairs and see my mum watching television and my dog dut she cant see me (obviously) but when i wake up i can distinguish things i seen well i was in that state of sleep so its actually like i did it and i seen a chocolate bar on the table that was their when i woke up…im not in to all this gooly stuff but its really freaking me out!! the first 1 this is number 6 sp i was half in half out of my body and i could heat a scary voice say (you will ride a hoarse) random or what. as i sit her and write this my body is trying to put me in to a nother one even though iv had a really really strong coffee. theirs more to this than people know trust me this is coming from someone who does not believe in all that junk…. iv had this my whole life but only once a year if that and normally when im sick but today was very abnormal. thanks a reply would be nice guys thanks.
Sounds like you had an out of body experience. Some people have claimed that SP is the gateway to astral projection. I don’t know about any of this. I’ve had SP my whole life and never had any out of body type experience myself. But some people claim to.
Lol i dont believe its a simple normal thing and even science cant explain this.. I do believe its from ghost and demoniac things though. Have anyone notice it always “or” most of the time, happens at 3am? Lol .. Its scary pray to god !..
u can never get rid of these fully but u can surely avoid and reduce the frequency. Its a very useful article. even i have had these attacks since i was 14 y/o and i am 26 now i still have these but i am used to them. earlier i had scary dreams but now even simple sweet dreams are associated… my eyes remain half closed… i could never move my toes or fingers… but i can make a groaning HMMM HMMM sound that alerts family members who shake me up.. my breath never felt heavy… it happens usually at dawn or early morn b4 waking up.
THINGS TO AVOID :-
1. too much long hrs of sleep
2. very little sleep
3. stress due to work /insult /job etc.
4. too much sex or masturbation (that leads to total fatigue or muscle atonia / cataplexy)
5. anxiety about anything
6. prone position (face chest downwards) of sleep
7. sleeping pills and too much liquor
8. fatty greasy foods
THINGS TO FOLLOW :-
1. eat something sweet b4 going to sleep
2. go to bed in a cheerful mood (watch gags, talk with someone u love etc.)
3. dont panic and focus on breath control, just relax
4. mild exercise that burns body fat and reduces stress (yoga, mild jogging running etc.)
5. find time at least 2wice a week to do something u have a knack or passion for… live for yourself that gives u pleasure
to conclude i can say BE CONFIDENT and keep ur spirits high and follow healthy living, dietary and sleeing habits… you can overcome this disorder by 80-90%
Sometimes when i’m sleeping next to my boyfriend and i want him to realize i’m in sleep paralysis, i try to chatter my teeth. for some reason even when i can’t move the rest of my body, i can manage to do that. if he sees me, he can usually tell that i’m chattering my teeth and he will shake me awake.
Hii i just find out that i have SP. I been having SP When i was probably 10y/o. I just turned 18. And i never knew what was this problem til now. When i have mine SP i couldnt breath, cant move any muscles either my toes or fingers, i would hear loud stuff like trains any transportation b/c im scared of any that uses gases. But i would do is fight back but now i know i shouldnt do that. When i have SP i get panic attacks and very bad anxiety too. so imma try all your tips if i can move my toes or fingers. But i will try tho.
This is my secong time coming to this website. The 1st was 2 weeks ago cause I had a night terror/SP back to back and wanted to find out how to stop this. I used to get it once in a while when I was a young single girl, now i’m married and 30. They used to be a feeling of being held down and I couldn’t scream or move. The one I had 2 weeks ago was a bit different because this time I saw hands holding me down and the shadow of a figure at the end of my bed. I’ve noticed it happens when I am laying flat on my back and my arms are at or above my head, never when I’m asleep on my sides or stomache. So of course I pray more before bed. Well last night I had a really BAD SP that even 6 hours later I am still scared. Again I’m being held down, full pressure on my body & my hands being held down. I remembered the steps I read above, but everthing I tried got tighter. Then I started to pray and think of Jesus and heaven and thats when I felt the nails being stabbed into my hands!! I couldn’t believe this was happening, it scared me more, but I still tried to relax eventhough I felt these nails in me. Finally after what felt like 10 minutes, I really woke up and the first thing I did was check my hands for scratched and marks, but I saw nothing. WTH is that!???? How can prayer make it more physically worse?? I feel I’m psychologically messed up or something worse, I don’t know who to turn to about this. I don’t want to take any sleeping pills or medication for fear of having a heart attack from everything at once. Any advice or thoughts are appreciated. Thank you
I had this happen to me badly for the first time ever last night. I found it so very very scary. I was laying on the couch next to my bf and it was late at night about 11pm and we were watching a movie. I fell asleep, and when I woke up I couldnt move. I remember being able to see everything around me, I could read the time on the clock which said 11.20, I could see the picture on the tv, I could feel/see my boyfriend beside me but I couldn’t move or breathe. So much so that I started to freak out in my head, I remember trying to move my toes immediately and trying to kick and scream out but nothing was happeneing. What freaked me out more was this insanely loud laughter in my ears. I could hear the tv and movie, I could hear the fan, but over it all was this loud cluttery laughter sort of like a cafeteria or room full of about 10 people laughing in my ears. It was ringing, and this combined with not being able to move or breathe but yet be so widely away made me freak out. I must have been awake for atleast a minute or more because I had time to actually freak out and my brain started racing wondering if i was going to die , or that I was possessed or something, I remember trying to scream out to my boyfriend to help me. It was the scariest thing I have ever experenced. I eventually concentrated on my breath and came out of the state gasping. My boyfriend said that all of a sudden I began panting like I hadnt taken a breath in ages. I have never expereinced anythign like this, but reading up on it it makes sense because I hadnt gotten barely any sleep night before and was so exhausted I felt really floaty as I was falling asleep, althought I am not ruling out the possibility of a ghostly encounter as I cannot get that laughter out of my head. The freakiest thing I have ever expereienced and I wish to never have it again.
This has been happening to me and it truly scares me. They have been happening a lot lately and now its to the point that I’m scared to sleep. Why does this happen? What causes the sp? I just want it all to stop and just go away! :”(
It happen about 2 days ago, My breath went really hard and my heart beat getting so fast, I feel like Im awake.I feels like someone put something on my chest and back.I screamask to stop it,then I open my eyes like a people wakeup from nightmare in movie,and I feels like someone touch my hand and stand watching me..nobody help me.,is this call as SP? Thanks
I have sleep paralysis and it always happen to me and I don’t know why but when I am sleep I can’t move my eyes can’t open but I can hear and it also feel like some is stepping on my chest to where I can’t breath and it last for about 10 minutes some people tell me that the devil in on me and even when u wake up I still can’t breath
Damn it SP. occurred just now. Around 3.30 am (went to bed at 3) and now is almost 4am. I cannot move, breath quite difficult. Very scary experience, feeling so vulnerable. And I also dream of my sister came to my room with my brother, and I manage to talk to them asking for help. But then after I woke up from my SP they were nt there. I hate SP. scary. I’ll try to follow these tips.
As for me, it usually happens when i sleep during the daytime. It always starts like this: i feel like i woke up and slept again. so the second time i fall asleep that is when i start to get the paralysis. i cant seem to move at all though i try very hard. it seems as if i can see around the room. i can see the exact scene of the room at that time and if anyone’s around, i can hear them talk as well and am well aware of the surroundings. but no matter how hard i try to move or scream for help nothing happens. i start feeling very heavy on my chest and cant seem to breathe properly. and suddenly i wake up without even realizing but feeling very exhausted and breathless. it started last year. when i was small howver for a month or so, i used to get it every night. but that time i used to be wide awake. i could see everything but just couldn’t move and talk. then it stopped for a long time but suddenly again appeared last year. it happens to my mum as well. so i’m really scared to get those again. it suffocates me. please tell me the reasons and any ways i can get rid of this habit. thank you 🙂
that happened to me. but i had this horrible dream about jury duty and someone was on tial for murder and when the trial was over they went outside and this little girl got shot on the steps and i was holding her and when i woke up my eyes were still closed i couldnt talk or move not even my toe or finger it got hard to breath so i focused all my energy on trying to move and i felt my pointer finger kida twitch and suddenly i openmy eyes and sit up and cant catch my breath. i was so freaked uot
I am 72 years young. Active,running a business for years.have had sp for many years. The last few months,a few times a night it could start.i hear a bell, a ding, a noise, different sounds before drifting either back to sleep or going to sleep.its a warning.i then do not allow myself to go to sleep right away. I can vocally make a noise and my husband will touch me or wake me. It’s horrible feeling. I will try all your methods tonight.squinting, trying to wiggle toes, etc. if I take my zopediem(ambian), I most of the time avoid them? I have been overly stressed and I still feel that sp is a way to act out that. I would love to speak to someone about sp. thank you
I had an experience last night and I’ve had them before where I’m sleeping and it feels unsafe. I try to open my eyes to scan the room for danger, and I can see part of the room buy my eyes won’t open. Then at some point there is always a terrifying thought of ‘Oh my god, I can’t wake up!’
Last night I thought if I scratch my arm I’ll wake up, and I tried my hardest and finally I woke up. The desire to go back to sleep is really hard to fight, but I know if I go back to sleep it will happen again.
There are other variations in these “dreams”, such as fighting to wake up and then thinking I’m awake, but realizing I’m not because I still can’t move. This may sound more like false awakening dreams….
Sometimes I try so hard to move that it feels like I’ve left my body. The weird thing is I can actually see some of the things in bedroom, but I can’t see them well.
Can anyone tell me whether what I’m experiencing is SP or false awakening dreams?
Hi, im 25 and ive had SP maybe 5 times in my life. It is the scariest thing. One night a few months ago my fiance has his arm around me and i went into SP and felt like his arm was suffocating me even though it wasnt but i couldnt breathe, couldnt scream, and finally i was able to move my hand and pinched him really hard and he woke up and i immediately woke up shaking. For the handful of times ive had SP ive never been able to open my eyes and see anything or speak, going to try these tips next time if there is 1. Also for the people that are speaking about mirrors, ive been to a physcic and she told me never have a mirror directly facing your bed because mirrors are portals, thought id share.
When I have sp its like my body is numb but my mind is awake so I count to 3 and I’ll jolt myself awake but mentally and I just wake up.