PARALYSIS!!!!! Scared? read this

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ryan Macaroni

Hah, so that's what the old hag is.

---

I remember watching some documentary on it.

And I think it had happened to me as a child, and I'm sure I was scared shitless.
So... I was relieved to finally be sure that the "Chewbacabra" (favorite childhood object that scares me, well, shitless!*) wasn't going to eat me.

*This was due to yet ANOTHER documentary I watched on the X-Files (or whatever) about said "Chewbacabra" ... well I guess it was just about the monster in general.

But there were many many many accounts of it coming into peoples rooms, etc.
But yeah, I guess they were just "old-hagging" when that happened. :roll:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by phoenelai

Wow, last night was the first time I got out SP due to dream character assitance. This was pretty cool, check out last entry in DJ

---

Nice phoenelai!! If in fact you had some control. Your waking mind in a dream consciously reacting and communicating to your subconscious. This does not seem that outlandish to me. If this is the case then it may very well be a conscious possibility to rid oneself of sleep paralysis.

I mean really!?!? If this is the case then it should be looked into further.

I can't help but disagree with you erik212. I have heard many things that people say they can or cannot use or do in lucid dreams for multiple purposes and reasons. Why the Big toe? IMHO it is not for some "unknown reason". There is always a reason. The reason is because it has worked for somebody else and that in turn gives the next dreamer confidence that this very same process would work. What I mean by that is, if a lucid dreamer had approached another lucid dreamer and told them that it is your thumb that you move that frees you from SP, then that may very well work. A placebo in one sense. It turns out that this entire method is subjective in nature but carries over into other's psyche to make it a "way." When truly all you need is confidence in any given situation.
If you believe that it will work then our mind makes it so. As it should. Our mind has control over our bodies and if we have confidence in that, then we could do and achieve a lot more things in life and in dreaming.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Howie

Nice phoenelai!! If in fact you had some control. Your waking mind in a dream consciously reacting and communicating to your subconscious. This does not seem that outlandish to me. If this is the case then it may very well be a conscious possibility to rid oneself of sleep paralysis.

I mean really!?!? If this is the case then it should be looked into further.

I can't help but disagree with you erik212. I have heard many things that people say they can or cannot use or do in lucid dreams for multiple purposes and reasons. Why the Big toe? IMHO it is not for some "unknown reason". There is always a reason. The reason is because it has worked for somebody else and that in turn gives the next dreamer confidence that this very same process would work. What I mean by that is, if a lucid dreamer had approached another lucid dreamer and told them that it is your thumb that you move that frees you from SP, then that may very well work. A placebo in one sense. It turns out that this entire method is subjective in nature but carries over into other's psyche to make it a "way." When truly all you need is confidence in any given situation.
If you believe that it will work then our mind makes it so. As it should. Our mind has control over our bodies and if we have confidence in that, then we could do and achieve a lot more things in life and in dreaming.

---

Very true on the placebo affect Howie. Well said! As humans that seems to work for us. I mean doctors use it all the time on patients (giving fake pills). Just like what I described and my episode with SP, it may work for the next individual. I feel comfident we could be making some headway here!

Add scientific American \\\\

Since you bumped this and I don't feel like making a new topic...

Has anyone ever said anything about not being able to breathe during SP? Whenever I enter SP, I feel like I'm not breathing anymore, and then when I notice it, I jump and start to breathe again.

No, I can breath, and it wasn't a documentary, X Files are for entertainment.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slayer

Has anyone ever said anything about not being able to breathe during SP? Whenever I enter SP, I feel like I'm not breathing anymore, and then when I notice it, I jump and start to breathe again.

---

Same! I've had this happen many times, not recently though. I'd like to know why, or how to stop it.

If I was in an SP state... Will I wake up if someone else wakes me up?

No, you'll just feel them doing things to you.
In my case anyway. A chick slapped my arse as I was napping :/

As to the old hag:
The african cultures around here (South Africa) also have some sort of demon that sits on you.
It's also a possible origin of the idea of the succubus

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slayer

Since you bumped this and I don't feel like making a new topic...

Has anyone ever said anything about not being able to breathe during SP? Whenever I enter SP, I feel like I'm not breathing anymore, and then when I notice it, I jump and start to breathe again.

---

I think it may be because your breathing switches into an automatic mode to let you sleep.

Whilst it feels like your not breathing enough, its more than sufficient for an inert unconscious body.

Still, I suppose it could just be hallucinations again, similar to the vibrations and noises.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slayer

Since you bumped this and I don't feel like making a new topic...

Has anyone ever said anything about not being able to breathe during SP? Whenever I enter SP, I feel like I'm not breathing anymore, and then when I notice it, I jump and start to breathe again.

---

Yes there is a good article in Scientific American this month that I would like to add, hence the bump. ;)
Come to find out the magazine is over my dad's. :P

Anywhooo...
During this point you can most likey have the potential to calm yourself down.
Do you feel scared as you enter SP? If you do, this may be why you have a breif experience of not breathing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pyrofrenzy

If I was in an SP state... Will I wake up if someone else wakes me up?

---

More times than not you will wake. That is if it is a real person shaking you or trying to wake you.
A lot of the time we have auditory and visual manifestations that are not real, but we would swear to it that it is and was real >> Why, because to our brain it IS real during that time.
The auditory sounds and hypnopompic hallucination often will not wake us up from SP.
In some cases, like Slayer's = "I jump and start to breathe again." would snap most people out of a state of SP.

No, I don't feel scared, I actually like the feeling of SP. It's that when I notice that it doesn't feel like I'm breathing I quickly break out of SP then start to breathe again.

What is sleep paralysis, and is it rare?
—Mark Fischetti, Lenox, Mass.

Psychologist Christopher French of Goldsmiths College in London explains:
Attacks by demons, ghostly visitations and alien abductions: some people are certain they have experienced such paranormal events. In reality, many of these victims probably had an episode of sleep paralysis.

Sleep paralysis, a momentary inability to move one’s limbs, trunk and head despite being fully conscious, may occur when someone is either drifting off or, more rarely, waking up. During rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, the muscles of the body are paralyzed, presumably to prevent the dreamer from physically acting out the dream. Researchers are not sure why this normal paralysis happens during consciousness for victims of sleep paralysis, but psychophysiological studies have confirmed that attacks are particularly likely to occur if the person enters REM sleep quickly after hitting the pillow, bypassing the stages of non-REM sleep that usually happen first.

Other factors that make sleep paralysis more likely to occur include drifting off while lying on the back, feeling stressed or experiencing a disruption in normal sleep patterns, such as from shift work, jet lag, caffeine or alcohol.

Although sleep paralysis is a symptom of narcolepsy, it is also common in healthy people. Surveys from different countries show a wide range of estimates: 20 to 60 percent of the normal adult population has experienced sleep paralysis at least once. Around 5 percent of the population has experienced one or more of other disturbing symptoms associated with the disorder. The most common effects include visual hallucinations, such as shadows and light or a human or animal figure in the room, and auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices or footsteps. A person often also feels pressure on his or her chest and has difficulty breathing.

Hmmmm.
He concludeds that it is a disorder.
I dissagree.

I think it is safe to say that those of us who practice lucid dreaming would have a higher percentages of experiencing sleep paralysis than those who do not.
My reasoning. Look at the reason that the article gives for general causes for experiencing SP. They all have some things in common. Mainly things that are associated with the wakeful state. Factors such as drifting off while lying on the back, feeling stressed or experiencing a disruption in normal sleep patterns, caffeine or alcohol. All likely causes that would have an effect on our conscious mind being more susceptible to being aroused

Those of us who study and practice lucid dreaming are consciously trying to wake while we are in a dream. It is therefore not a far stretch to consider that we would also find ourselves interlaced between what we could consider a medium of half conscious and half awake. Again as we attempt on our own accord to reach a state of lucidity during our dreams a mesh between these two states would seem more probable.

I find it odd that they consider this a disorder and call them attacks. It is the acknowledgement of lucid dreaming that can brings this state of paralysis to light.

Those were my initial thoughts as I read this article.
I would love to here more feedback from fellow dreamers

about how long does sleep paralysis last?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pyrofrenzy

about how long does sleep paralysis last?

---

Much like dreams themselves it is difficult for us to perceive "real" time perspective.
Usaully only seconds. Many times it seems a lot longer.

Wait, so your saying that it IS possible to stop breathing when you enter SP before falling asleep?

this is all strange, ive only ever been paralysed once and that was on waking up. i believe it was because i woke up very early for some reason (was still dark), so was still in the middle of a cycle.

Welcome to the Dream Views Aj!

Yeah, I think it's normal for people to enter SP once or twice in their life without trying.

trying?? ive never tried to do it, its not something i want to happen. waking up and not being able to move a thing, as hard as you try, is not a very nice experience. i think i could move eyes *maybe* and thats about it. If i tell my body to do something then its supposed to do it, not just sit there in neutral! :P

That doesn't always happen :P

Most people would enter SP before they fall asleep to get their attempt at a WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dream).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slayer

Wait, so your saying that it IS possible to stop breathing when you enter SP before falling asleep?

---

Very possible.
It is your thoughts that send a signal to the brain which would increase your heart rate. (I don't know this as fact)
In my own experience I have had a few Sleep paralysis episodes that seemed to last very long. Even though I was conscious enough to realize what state I was in, I began to get frightened. I had to calm myself back down. While doing that, my breathing became labored, just as it would had I been awake.

Hence the sensation of a demon or 'old hag' sitting on your chest choking you.
Only happens when you stress about it, as I understand

Ok well, now I don't want to enter SP :(

All this talk of the "Old Hag" reminds me of Thief: Deadly Shadows. (If you've played the game you'll know what I'm talking about... otherwise, look it up and read about the plot.)

Now that I think of it, the entire game takes place at night...
And in one part, you enter the memories (dreams?) of some spirits...
And the game does have a kind of surreal, dreamy quality to it...

Interesting... very interesting...