need help with sleep paralysis

**zombiesoup** · 09-16-2013 12:38 PM

This may not be the right place for this but if not maybe someone can point me in another direction. But I'm so tired of is sleep paralysis. It happens every single night and it's the scariest shit I've had to deal with. I don't believe in ghost or supernatural things like that but every time it happens that's all that is running through my head! Why is that? I feel like something is in the room with me, I hear people talking to me and I can't WAKE UP! I can't move! And there's been a couple times I couldn't breathe (that was the worst) I went to do a sleep study and of all nights it DIDN'T happen at the hospital. They were just worried about sleep apnea and selling me a machine. Is there anyone who can explain why this happens or how to stop it??? I can even feel it coming and I'll be thinking to myself "no no no, not tonight" and I'll start trying to open my eyes and it feels like I'm just sucked in. Then I have to ride it out as long as it last or until I can force my body to turn over and snap out of it. Once I snap out I have to get up and walk around or else I'll get pulled back in. I'm telling you, it's the worst feeling in the world. Just seeing if someone could help me out with this. Thanks

**Sivason** · 09-16-2013 07:12 PM

I am sorry to hear this, it sounds terrible. Here is a thread you should read, http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...explained.html The thread itself relates to lucid dreaming, but also contains links to pages of papers on SP.
To my general understanding I think that to break it you want to move just the toes on one foot or the fingers on one hand, simply flexing and wiggling them. then move to both feet. If I understand, this will help wake your body up and end it. I am not sure, try it and let me know. I also hear that with practice you can give up on the idea of waking up and instead attempt to dream about something else, and this can lead to a lucid dream.

**SuperOhm** · 09-16-2013 07:54 PM

I have found that struggling against the paralysis anchors me in it. When I give up and relax I am almost instantly free.

Also, avoid sleeping on your back and stop consuming caffeine. I too am a chronic sufferer, but doing these things has managed to minimize the problem and help me learn how to break free when they do happen.

Best of luck to you

**zombiesoup** · 09-16-2013 10:30 PM

thank you both for advice.....superohm, I've tried relaxing to see what would happen and it seems like it will last as long as I let it. It seems like eternity. I've always said that I was gonna see how long I could stay in the paralysis stage just because I'm curious to what would happen next. But I'm always so scared because of the vivid voices and the paranormal feeling that I try to wake up asap. But from what sivason said about going into a lucid dream during this sounds interesting. I am really going to attempt to ride this thing out until I go into REM. I'm sure it'll happen tonight so maybe I'll have a follow up tomorrow. I'm glad I ran across this site tho. I was actually googling if apple juice caused vivid dreams or not and it led me here! I've always been so interested in dreams and how the brain creates the stuff in your sleep. Guess I wasn't the only one! But like I said earlier, thanks for the info., if you ever run across anymore into I'd love to hear and I'll also let you ink know how tonight goes. Wish me luck

**zombiesoup** · 09-16-2013 10:36 PM

Btw sivason, thank you for that link! I've never heard of WILD sleep before. That's awesome. So technically what they're saying is if I could stay calm during this experience I could have a wake initiated lucid dream! That would be crazy. Just for to tell me self, "THIS IS NOT REAL! RELAX AND TRY TO ENJOY"

**Ashikael** · 09-21-2013 03:59 PM

I used to feel the same way about my sleep paralysis! It was terrifying and happened almost every night. I'd always dread it and would see grey aliens often, and when I was little and didn't understand sleep paralysis, I thought I was getting abducted every night.

Now I see it as a good thing and openly welcome it, because I can use it as a jumping off point to enter a lucid dream, and do so regularly. I find when I'm focusing on bringing about a lucid dream, I don't even get scared because my mind's not thinking about terrifying hallucinations or anything.

This is what I do to get lucid from an episode of sleep paralysis. When I feel it coming on after laying in bed for a while (for me it's like a tingly vibration, it's probably different for everyone) I immediately close my eyes and try to relax all my muscles. It's hard to do at first because your instinct is to fight it, to tense up and try to wiggle out of it, but for me that's exactly what triggers the scary things. When I relax, nothing bad happens. Once the paralysis sets in, with my eyes still closed I try to visualize a place I want to be. Sometimes I'll just visualize my room as it would look if my eyes were actually open, or I visualize a clear blue sky or something, though if you're just starting out I'd recommend just visualizing your room as it would be if your eyes were open because that's a pretty easy thing for your mind to do. Keep that image in your mind while the paralysis waves take over, and eventually that visualization you're holding in your mind will become clearer and clearer until it looks just like you don't have your eyes closed at all! When you get to this point, your "dream eyes" just kind of open, and you can get up and walk around your dream-room.

It might not happen at first, but after a while you'll get the hang of it and it is AWESOME.

You should also take up a reality check so you can tell if you're dreaming or not. I use the finger-through-palm RC, once I wake up into a lucid dream, I put my finger through the palm of my hand, and if it goes right through to the other side I know I'm dreaming. If it doesn't, I know I'm just awake and walking around after a bout of SP.