Sleep paralysis can be very frightening ordeal, especially if it is happening to you unintentionally. Is it possible to stop sleep paralysis?
This is the same question many sufferers of sleep paralysis have; one I once had myself. A quick search in google brings you to stopsleepparalysis.org, a website that claims to have all the answers. Here is their introduction video:
(note: see how long you can last without laughing)
I was in complete shock after watching this video. I still cannot tell if the creator of the video is serious or if he knows there is a lack of readily available information on sleep paralysis and decided to take advantage of its sufferers. Either way, the information on the site is misleading.
Let’s break down this video.
For the first two minutes of the video, the speaker talks about the folklore pertaining to sleep paralysis. Nothing too out of the ordinary.
At 2:25 is where things get interesting. The speaker says:
…I know what sleep paralysis is and I know how to stop it and I’ve seen tons of people beat it for good. So bear with me while I explain all this, because I’m sure many of you will not like the truth about this. But this will be all the information that you’ll need to terminate sleep paralysis for good from your life.
Yes, I want to know more!
You may have guessed by now that sleep paralysis is caused by demonic presence in the room.
Wait a minute…. So, you are trying to tell me that each time I experience sleep paralysis it isn’t because of REM atonia and my mind hallucinating but instead because of demonic beings possessing me? I’m going to need a bit more convincing than that.
There is some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that demons are smart and deceptive and very evil…
We’re doomed! Those damn demons. They are so smart and deceptive…and evil.
…the good news is that there is a way to turn the tables on them and make them the victims of your next encounter, as well as end [sleep paralysis] for good.
OK, this guy is totally full of crap. I won’t spend any more time analyzing his promotional video. Bottom line, stopsleepparalysis.org is full of lies. The site is to sleep paralysis science what FOX News is to journalism. It is pandering to those who believe in superstition and giving them false information regarding a medical condition.
I know some people believe in the occult and the hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations associated with a typical sleep paralysis episode are enough to sway your beliefs on the matter, but I must stress that there is concrete science behind sleep paralysis. Not everything is known about the sleep paralysis but new studies are currently being done, which hopefully will give us a better understanding of the condition.
He does allude to one decent point, that being that it is possible to manipulate a sleep paralysis episode with proper techniques.
How to stop sleep paralysis
If you find yourself paralyzed in your bed, the best thing to do is to not panic. Keep yourself calm. Assure yourself that you are only experiencing an episode of SP and it will subside shortly. Try to focus on moving a finger or your facial muscles. These are good techniques that always help me break from SP and wake up.
However, you may find that it is better to “ride out” the episode and instead of focusing your mind on negative thoughts. Try tuning your mind in to something a bit happier (maybe a loved one, a place you enjoy being, a fond memory). This will manipulate your hallucinations and possibly send you into a lucid dream, effectively dodging the negative symptoms associated with SP.
If you want to prevent sleep paralysis from occurring altogether, well, that can also be done.
Change your sleep habits. Sleep paralysis often occurs during periods of extreme drowsiness, from high stress levels, or awkward sleep patterns. Get your proper dose of REM sleep and SP will usually subside.
Sleeping position is also important. Make sure you aren’t sleeping in the supine position (on your back) as SP tends to occur in this position. Sleep on your side of on in the prone position (on your stomach).
Since I enjoy using sleep paralysis and the MILD method as a starting point for lucid dreams, I would advise you to learn to control sleep paralysis first before trying to prevent it from happening all-together. I know that the experiences sleep paralysis can offer can be life-changing (good or bad) and the connotation of the episode depends on your mind state. But if you don’t want to lucid dream and want to be able to sleep in peace, then the preventative measures will be more satisfactory to you.
I stumbled upon that video myself too. I sent a message to the uploader and asked him to share how he obtained these “facts” about sleep paralysis. So far no reply.
I believe the video, been having these since 12 the last one I challenged it told it to show itself I released me and I heard frustrating pacing on my rug back and forth … after I was comepletly released and woke. Don’t post about stuff u hve no experience in and r not a sufferer. I’m a professional sufferer.
I would like to discuss with you my experiences with SP in greater detail. If you are still having these experiences you should know that they aren’t impossible to overcome.
BogMonkey,
The answer: The Holy Bible.
He probably didn’t answer your direct question… well … because… “SHEESH how could you not already know those scientifically valid facts?! Everyone does! Haven’t you read ‘teh holeh bible’ ???”
If not, I guess they’re not shoving it down your throat strongly enough. Bring in the propaganda!
I’ve been experiencing SP since I was a teenager, and up to now it’s still happening even if I’m just elsewhere, like I’m at work wherein I’m NOT sleeping in a supine position (my head is just on my desk). I don’t know the cause of this but I really hate it coz it’s happening like once or twice every month! it’s killing me I swear
no matter how I pray hard or even if I have a good sleeping habits, takin no drugs or whatever, it still occurs! oh my I dunno what to do.
You should try embracing it, remembering at all times that the apparitions you see are not real. Once you overcome your fear of it (as hard as that may be) you will learn to control what you experience and create a positive situation. It takes time but it is well worth the effort. Good luck!
Ok first of all im not christian but I do believe there’s a God. I also believe there’s a devil. Why do you say there’s no such things as demons? How do you explain the peoples stories of seeing scary creatures? I mean come on why do they all talk about basically the same scenarios where they see a creature? Ok so you make fun of the author of the video but if science is sooo smart how come we don’t have an eexplanation for something as simple as the human soul? I for one believe that SP really is caused by demons, I mean there simply cant be a scientific explanation for something like it
I have been experiencing what you would call HSP since i was about 6 years old. It was terrifying then and 39 years later it is sometimes still terrifying. It occurs for me sleeping on my back or stomach or side and even sitting up… (explain that, since everything i have read claims that it will not occur on your stomach and doesnt address the other positions) I dont only get the “held down” sensation, but i also experience a pushed out of bed or off a chair sensation as well as sometimes i am awakened with a very loud banging on my door( 3 or 4 knocks, thats it) … (when i had a doorbell, it was my doorbell ringing, 3 -4 rings thats it) and no one is there…. what do the studies have to say about the pushing, knocking and ringing? I bet they do not have an answer any of that…..
I guess more sufferers would tend to believe the video. Being a sufferer myself, there really is no comfort with the scientific facts since they really don’t EXPLAIN anything. I’m sure a lot of us are searching for the truth.. the real reason behind this horrific events. How can science explain the sights.. the experiences ? the feeling? We all want answers. And we want skeptics to stop thinking that we’re crazy when we just can’t settle with the scientific facts.
Ive been goen through SP a long time, Growing up I always told people that I still rememberd a dream from when I was a baby. 3 characters a old women, a man in a costum i always said, an a angel, came up to my crib with a small box opened it up an said hello Nicholas. I didnt know what it was untell I started goen throuh SP around 18 as far as I know thats when it started agean. I woke up couldnt move an the same old hag was standing at my door she suddenly started choking me. After that it started every day sometimes multable times a day basicly every time id try an sleep. I got very interested an wrote all my lucid dreams down an SP exprenses an started figuring out alot I really beleve I know what it is theres 4 parts to our mind the old lady is the evel that resites in our minds the shadow man is our restrant to evel hes the part of our mind that hold us back from acting on evel impulses that why he hold us down during SP. An there the good part our guardian angel who you dont usally see because that part of our mind is at rest, we get woke up from usally dieing or getten killed in our dream before goen into sp so the only part of ur mind that wakes up in defense impulse. the left side is the evel part with evel comes its restrant the old hag being evel an the shadow man being her retrant with out him holding us down the evel will take over an we would go do some crazy horrible shit basicly like ur possesed untell u snap out of it, the old hag is who u should be scared of the shadow man is jus doen his job trust me ive been in sp state before i got held down it was scary i jus started remembering what happened luckly I snaped out of it jus at the right time or shit woulda been bad I kept getten up from lucid dreams trying to avoid sp an i guess she hooked on to me one time when i got up i was found running into my dads room after some crazy shit happend not knowing what happend or how i got there. if u have any questions, need help or can help me please contact me thanks peace
Glad to hear about your experiences with SP, although they sound rather negative. First off, let me say that SP should not be feared even if it seems extremely frightening at times. Nobody has ever died from SP (at least no records I can find show this). So don’t be afraid of it.
I am not sure if during SP you really believe that there are “old hags” actually in your room or that they are only hallucinations. It sounds like you’ve done some reading on some other websites and believe this to be true (correct me if I’m wrong). To me, this approach can cause more problems because the apparitions you see while experiencing SP are completely subjective and just figments of your imagination. If you focus hard enough you can actually change that “old hag” into a lovely young woman who means no harm. Try to do this and let me know how it goes.
I’m not really sure what you are getting at here. Maybe you could elaborate?
I used to have SP on what seemed like a nightly basis when I was a child, and I had all but forgotten about it until it started up again last week. I’ve had a couple of episodes in this last week, and the first one terrified me. It wasn’t until after it was finished that I remember that I used to experience them when I was a kid. I’m not religious by any means, and I can’t help but laugh at all the demon and spirit talk, but it does “feel” like something is in the room, and I get that prickly “oh shit” sensation. The second time it happened this week, I literally started laughing (mostly in my mind because I couldn’t really talk lol). Now I am reading this all of these posts, I’m becoming genuinely curious about what you said about the relationship between SP and lucid dreaming. I am rarely able to dream lucidly, but I have a great time when I do
Are you able to induce SP, or do you just wait for it and ride the wave? If you have any insight, feel free to email me at the address I left. Thanks Admin 
I have been experiencing sleep paralysis ever since I was a child. I am now in my Twenty’s n still experience it. I feel pain in certain parts of my body. There are times when I felt that Iv woken up just to realize that I am still in the state of paralysis. There are times when Ive felt a presence in my room. But there is one thing I have noticed. SP takes place only when I sleep alone in my room. If there is one or more person sleeping in the same room or sharing the same bed with me, I have a peaceful sleep.
When it had just started, I was terrified. But as time has passed by, I have gradually started to take control by doing my best to stay calm and take the name of Jesus in the process to help me. The only way to overcome it is face it and stay calm. Whether health factor or demonic presence, the best way is not being scared. As mentioned earlier by personal experience, having your loved one, friend or family member in the room to sleep near you is also helpful. God bless all. Stay strong!
First of all I would like to start by clearing up this whole “demonic presents” theory tha everyone is talking about, most of your arguments that are pro-demons sound like “what else could it be?” Or “I swear I saw and felt the demon” or “If everybody has the same demonic story then it must be demons”. Let me tell you that is the most obsurd, repulsive, and ignorant excuse I’ve ever heard. I’ve been hasing sleep paralysis over 5 times a month either because I purposly to it for lucid dreaming or because it involuntarily happens, I have experienced the presents of “demonic being” but that doesn’t mean they exist. When your hallucinating in SP you need to understand that you brain is naturally releasing DMT this is the strongest hallucinogenic (spelling is wrong) known to man, DMT Is also a drug that I have well experienced with and can tell you its very similar to sleep paralysis. When SP Occurs you instantly go into a state of shock there is no way to right off the bat tame yourself from being awake and having no control of your body. The brains first reaction is heavy fear for the instinct of any animal is fight or flight in death defying moments and so you become in a “fight” mode for your unwillingly frustrated and confused, ontop of this your experiencing the strongest possible hallucinations as they are rapid changing like a dream is, because your dreaming. The presents of a demonic figure is out of the question as that is your brain attempting to conseal the situation wich is impossible since you cannot move your in consistant panic, the hearing also plays a major role and your hearing become strongly impared during sleep it can either be very sensitive or def, either way your inner voice will be amplified to screaming points and that can induse more fear. Please stop thinking that demons control this, it is simply lucid open eye dreaming (very very scary ) infact, if you were to film your dream in some form of a brain memory playback moduol and you were able to watchb your dreams I can garuntee that every single person would be scared off their asses by the time the 5 minute dream burst is over, there’s a reason your brain goes unconsious while dreaming its too prevent you from heartattacks (lucid dreaming alters your dream into a peaceful realm)
im 13 and i just recently had sp ! i felt like there was a demon holding me down and it wouldnt let me move ,but i couldnt see it so then i tried to say jesus but nothing came out, ive always been scared of demons could it accually be a demon causing sp ? i am a christain and every thing but still! then i had it a few more times and i got to were i felt like my room was haunted im scared to go to sleep and even kinda scared “of the dark ” now… not really scared of the dark but im scared of demons any advice?
i feel a little better knowing im not the only one going through this ..
Well my moms always told me it was the spirit of opression and she a chrisitan if you couldnt tell. But mine are painful sometimes I get like a extremly hard pressure on my brain. One day i thought i was gonna die it was so bad. And i usually get them when im the most stressed out. But yeah.
Wow!! I also thought that I was the only one having this problem. I have been getting sp for years too. And to (Hank) I can very much tell that the cause of this is from demons. Only one time I actually raised my up my eyelids far enough to see and I saw this tall dark figure standing at the foot of my bed and it had white glowing eyes. I just couldn’t believe it but that was real. I actually even had sp early I the morning not even 10 seconds after I closed my eyes to go back to sleep. Its ceazy, I have been having sp for years and years. I used to be very scared of them Im still am a lil bit but I always try to stay calm and say my prayers in my head. There was this one time where I was actually talking to this demon sounding voice and I when I was saying my prayers it told me to shut up and said something and started laughing, then I started laughing and called it a coward because it it didn’t wanna show itself and I woke up after that. There were other times where I had to make it go away in the name of Jesus Christ and God. I had a sp yesterday morning and for the first time I had it when I was on my side. I hate it
I’m 15 but I remember my sister would tell me she had tht and I was like no I never had tht and all confused but just in 1 month ( this month) I’ve had it three times. The first 2 times I was just frozen, felt pressure on my body and ears and I was freaked out! But this last time was extremly scary and longer than usual . I woke up and I was laying on my belly and like always I felt pressure on my ears and body but then I started hearing whispering. It was a guys voice but I corny understand what it was saying. Then I started to hear something coming up the stairs ( my stairs creak) and then I heard it open like ky brothers room or something. Thn I started to hear loud airplanes and the scariest part was tht I saw a face! It was imprinted on my bed back thing when I looked up. It was a young guy. With ” Beatles” type hair, and big round eyes but he looked sad Andhra was just looking straight ahead. I looked down then I looked back up at my bed and thn the face was looking down all sad. Idk what’s happening but my friend said she had it too but she thought she heard someone laughing softly. Guys I’m not crazy and making this up ! She said she was just swearing at “it” in her head thn it stopped . I tired that and it didnt work. I remember my mom told my sister to pray and claim the blood of Christ or something. So I was like please God help me please and just saying things like tht and it stopped.
I meant NOT making this up. It really happens to me