Thread: Sleep Paralysis - Have you experienced it?

Sleep paralysis is (if you never heard of it) very, very scary; obviously since you are paralysed. First time I experienced it I didnt know what it was and did not find out for years.

I saw and heard lots of people walking through my room, taking no notice of me, who was trying to call for someone to tell me what was happening.

But since then its been different. Now I welcome a sleep paralysis since it offers a good chance (at least better than mere coincidence) of having a lucid dream. But I really dont think it guarantees you a LD or anything for that matter. You could just panic and wake up, or lose focus and go to sleep. Its all about staying relaxed and remembering your goals.

There are tons and tons and tons of stories and tutorials, you should check them out and start practising

Good luck! You WILL succed when you least expect it

Thank you Malte. It is something I would like to experience at least once. I guess it was worse for you since you weren't prepared.

In my opinion it is much easier to become lucid whilst already dreaming, although I get the impression that, once mastered, the WILD would probably be the most reliable technique. I'll keep practising.

I just had it as i was sleeping, or trying to. Was put into SP 3 times in a row right after 1 left another hit me lol.Once you know what SP is you say to yourself in your head "this is sp" and you just relax to get out of it. My firstof 3 i barely opened my eyes and saw a weird looking room and a face staring at me, wasn't scarey i just though "ok whatever DC" or "SPDC" or whatever they are called for SP.

Sleep paralysis is/can be extremely scary too (even if you know what the state means once you experience it). To me it's like the logic is not there as well and it's not until afterwards I realize what happened

i have SP once and a while, and can say its not scary at all for me, even when i first had it mostly because i prepared for every thing i might experience. If it where up to me I wish I could have SP everynight.

By the way is there a way to willfully induce SP? Like drugs, foods etc

Originally Posted by Wacom

Sleep paralysis is/can be extremely scary too (even if you know what the state means once you experience it). To me it's like the logic is not there as well and it's not until afterwards I realize what happened

It's not scarey once you know what it is. If you're tired it can piss you off. Try forcing yourself to talk, you feel your neck but that's it.

I had it for the first time last night and I thought it was pretty scary. The only weird thing is I felt my heart beats all throughout my body, and it felt like my thoughts were actual noise, but I couldn't control them.

But now I really want to have it again.

I find SP more frightning when its added with feedback that i get sometimes- During one lucid as I remember posting awhile ago- I saw someone with headphones in my dream and tried to "swap realities" lol- I then heard what he heard but the problem was it started to feedback. The ringing got louder and louder so i had to try to wake myself up. Interesting to say the least.

Every time I've had sleep paralysis, I enjoyed it. It was always a peaceful and cool experience for me. The first time it happened I didn't even know what sleep paralysis was. I knew that your body paralyzes its self when you sleep but I didn't know you could be awake at the time. Anyways, I had all the symptoms like room spinning, pressure on chest, couldn't move, ect. I figured out what was happening to me, which is probably why it wasn't traumatic or anything. So I just didn't let sleep paralysis bother me.

I've had two exceptions to this rule, and both were when I became aware of the paralysis when I was already dreaming. Both times scared the crap out of me because scary stuff started happening in my dream and I couldn't move. Both times I forced myself to wake up, though.


It doesn't guarantee a lucid dream, but I think it makes it a lot more likely.

I've had it once before, while at night when I was try for to do a WILD. It didn't last long because I snapped myself out of it, sorta scary. I didn't get any real hallucinations, but I got this crazy weightless / fuzzy feeling all throughout me, and my heart-rate really increased. I could see my room faintly and a faint scene I was imagining in like 1/4 of my viewing feild. It was interesting, but I woke myself up because I didn't want to see anything scary. Before I snapped myself outta it, I felt my back getting a numb feeling, I didn't let it spread throught my body.

hmm...I had sleep paralysis at least 5 times...1st time is I can't move breath I can't do ANYTHING I was very scared but somehow my mom woke up and I spoke inwhispers for her to like oull me cause the room was warping there was like a black hole below me sucking me in...2nd time...same symptoms I'm falling beside a waterfall...fell from an escalator...3-5th time I don't remember all but I'm VERY SURE IT happened cause it was only a few days ago...

You have... You need it to dream..


You do not sleap walk.. Nor, sleep talk..

Guess why?

I never really experienced full SP, only a numbing of my muscles while trying to WILD...until a few days ago.
I was drifiting off in math class during some emergency drill, when I relaized "oh damn, I can't move a muscle" It was both exhilirating and frightening...it took me a few minutes of full-fledge consious effort to be able to regain control of my body.

What would happen if you get slapped around while in SP? besides feeling it, of course. Would you wake up asap? or if someone was talking to you?

Most people find it scary... But I find it extremely fun.... Yeah... I do hear screams... Feel weird sensations... And see weird images... But it's a crazy experience... Once I enter SP I pretty much got a guaranteed WILD... Did it this morning ... Don't be scared of it... It's all in your head... Enjoy it.. Ride it out... Learn something!


Peace, Jamal

Sleep paralysis is pretty crazy at first. I've only done it a few times (unsuccessful wilds) but it was fun! I remeber once I was sleeping on my side near the edge of the bed and it felt like I was being pulled off. The feeling was so strong that I swong my arom across the bed to grab the other side (this took a bit of concentration becuase atfirst I coudln't move at all). When I was laying on my back I got a really werid feeling suddenly come over me, and then it felt like I was falling. Really weird, but definitally something I'm going to play with.

Jamal, you say you find SP fun. Do you get it often? How long did it take you to get to this stage?

Do you think everyone has the potential to experience it provided they stay still long enough, or is it more about state of mind?

I experienced it last night, and I recognized the feelings from before, but they werent as strong. I snapped myself out, just as last time because I didn't want to be frightened.. I was faintly seeing some extreemly monstorous jaws/teeth in my vision. I'm definatly playing too much metroid prime 3 lol.

I find it when I get really confident and somewhat neverous/excited about going to bed (because I know it will work) it usually works . It took about 20 minutes to do last night and the time before.

Oh, and Spiek, to answer your one question, it is not how long you hold still. If that were true, then it'd be so easy . Staying still is required, but state of mind is needed most of all. Just let your mind wander, DO NOT force your subconsious it to think about something it doesnt want to. All I did last night was try to imagine something, but Halo 3 kept on popping in (due to me playing it that day), so I just went with that and started to see stuff and get the feeling.

You really need to know what to do to experience SP (unless your lucky and get it automaticly), so read up, ask questions, and be confident. The 1st time I tried, I experienced SP, but that is mainly because I knew what to do, and truly beleive I could do it (even though I never had and people say its hard)

My sleep paralysis was quite possibly the scariest thing that ever happened to me. I am still freaked out till this day about it.

I could not move, my mind and heart were racing and it took me FOREVER to wake myself up.. well what felt like forever anyway. I was praying the 'Our Father .. I thought I was possessed!!

The worst part was that it was my very first time, and it went straight into a lucid dream. All of a sudden I was flying around my room! Thinking back it would have been cool if I knew what was happening and tried to control it but I didnt even know what a lucid dream was until I googled it the next day.

I wont go into the dream but everything was very real and looked the same as reality EXCEPT it had a scary vibe to it.. almost like a horror movie vibe.

its a shame because now when I slip into that sleep paralysis(never trying) its always unpleasant. I think as soon as I feel that paralysis it triggers bad thoughts of being scared that I won't be able to wake up like the first time and it ruins the whole lucid dream part. The only euphoric feeling for me is flying but it feels like im trying to get away from something.

I think I have a problem with negative association to SP as well, FreakedOut... (see the link in my signature)

Maybe it helps to 'install' a positive association. Think about going into SP BEFORE you actually do. Imagine it being nice and relaxed and that you can end up in a dream scene that YOU can choose.
I also take a small aspirin, to (placebo, shhhhh, brain, you didn't see that ) prevent the headache-effect that comes along with it.

To answer Spiek's questions:
I 'fall' into SP very regularly, mostly when I'm very tired
It is not pleasant at all! I used to force myself to wake up by breathing rapidly. If I decide to 'go with the flow' I get a terrible pressure in my head, which forces me to breath harder.
One time I managed to get into a short LD (see signature) but this was not a very pleasant experience.

Every night!

I have.. The feeling is kinda electrical and you may feel pressure, but then it turns into lovely floating feeling.

When I was young I got SP all the time. It scared me beyond belief back then. It's like you feel a presence and just know you cant move. Once I was on my stomach and some kind of tree monster with the face of a dead dog started strangling me in this state, I cant sleep on my stomach to this day and I'm 25. I spent years avoiding the felling of oncoming sp until i realised in an 8th grade science class that this state is the steeping stone to lucid dreams, so I spent years trying to no end to bring the state back. and I cant.

I just experienced it once in my life. It was spontaneous anyway.

I was lying on my bed with my eyes closed trying to sleep as I think we all here do. Suddenly, I felt like I wasn't really tired to sleep so I tried to stand up to turn the TV on, but I couldn't. Literally, I couldn't move. I didn't feel dizzy or hear something. I just can't move. I was really scared, but I calmed down and 'regained' control over my body.

I breathed a sigh and tried to sleep again, and without any transition I got paralysed. After a few minutes, I could move again to turn the TV on and after 10 minutes, finally sleep.

Honestly, it wasn't scary at all, but it freaked me out.