"The Nightmare" by John Henry Fuseli
I wake up in the middle of the night and try to change positions, but my body is immobile; every muscle completely paralyzed. Panic sets in and thoughts of impending doom scurry to the forefront of my mind. The door slowly creeps open. I see a stout robed demon coming towards my bed; haunting me with every step. I try to scream but only a small squeal comes out. All of a sudden, the demon is choking me with immense pressure. I shut my eyes, assuring myself that this mustn’t be real, yet the pain and terror persists.
As quickly as it began it ends. My fingers slowly regain their mobility. I’m still in my bed although I now lay alone, seemingly safe from danger and without any fear. The terror is over. But what exactly happened?
This may sound like a scene from a horror film but it is a very real occurrence associated with a sleep condition called Sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis (SP) is condition in which your body experiences REM atonia (the natural biological mechanism which prevents you from acting out your dreams) but your mind retains conscious thought. Think of it as your mind being awake but your body is asleep.
The Wikipedia article on Sleep paralysis states:
Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the body paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move. The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes “after which the individual may experience panic symptoms and the realization that the distorted perceptions were false”. As the correlation with REM sleep suggests, the paralysis is not entirely complete; use of EOG traces shows that eye movement can be instigated during such episodes. When there is an absence of narcolepsy, sleep paralysis is referred to as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP).
Sleep paralysis may occur at the onset of sleep (hypnagogic) or when emerging from sleep (hypnopompic). A Sleep Paralysis episode may also be accompanied by hallucinations. These hallucinations tend to be terrifying in nature, often having to do with being attacked by aliens, ghosts, monsters or other creatures of folklore. The hallucinations associated with SP also tend to be very realistic, so much so that sufferers truly believe the hallucinations to be real.
Many cultures have come up with elaborate folklore likely associated with SP. For example, the Japanese refer to this phenomenon as kanashibari (金縛り, literally “bound or fastened in metal,” from kane “metal” and shibaru” to bind, to tie, to fasten”) and in Iceland folk culture it is generally called having a “Mara.” A goblin or a succubus believed to cause nightmares (the origin of the word ‘Nightmare’ itself is derived from her name).
I’ve experienced Sleep paralysis at least 100 times in my life, the first episode occurring when I was about 14 years old. Typically, I’d stay up reading until I passed out with my face in my text book. An episode of sleep paralysis lasting anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute would occur on some nights as I awakened from sleep or went into sleep.
I’d be reading an American history text book and suddenly find myself staring at Ben Franklin, standing stoically by the foot of my bed. He would just stare at me until I freaked out and finally regained control of my muscles.
Or after a long day of school I’d return home for a nap only to find myself “stuck” for a few minutes while a witch licked my body with her ghastly tongue, keeping me completely still with her Medusa-like gaze.
And yes, I felt pain during these episodes. I distinctly remember being able to feel pain, smell odors, taste odd tastes, hear strange noises (lots of hissing and radio static), and of course see what was going on around me.
Needless to say, these episodes would scare the living crap out of me. At that time the information on SP was not as extensive as it is now (I’d argue that there is still a lot more to explore regarding SP than has currently been researched). It was hard to find information on the internet regarding SP that wasn’t just speculation. Still, at this time not much is known as to how sleep paralysis happens.
There is a lot of negativity on internet sleep forums regarding sleep paralysis. This is entirely understandable since SP can be terrifying. I, however, am a staunch advocate of the cultivation of SP in order to lucid dream.
Sleep paralysis episodes are great launching pads for lucid dreams, especially those which allow complete dream control. I look at SP as a blessing to lucid dreamers or those who want to experience an OBE (or astral projection). Every time you experience an episode of SP, you are presented with the chance to go seamlessly into a lucid dream. This requires a lot of practice, especially in relaxation and mental control.
If you experience sleep paralysis, I advise against thinking of yourself as a sufferer but instead as a lucky individual because you have the opportunity to experience fantastical dreams and possibly spiritual events that will alter your perception of life and reality.
[…] I briefly explained sleep paralysis in a previous post, I’d like go into further detail about what an episode of sleep paralysis […]
Hi,
I found your website to be the most thorough and extensive one on the topic of SPs. Keep up the good work! (Incidentally, I checked out stopsleepparalysis.org when I saw it mentioned here – and was promptly turned off – although I respect your objectivity in mentioning them at all. Hey if it works for some…)
Other than to offer praise though, I actually have a specific question regarding SP, for which I can’t seem to find ANY information on. It involves completely forgetting the experience only to recall it later…
Here’s what happened to me in a nutshell: I had your typical run-of-the-mill SP experience around age 15. Scary, creepy, all that jazz, still fell back asleep. But the odd thing is that upon waking up, I HAD NO RECOLLECTION WHATSOEVER of having had the SP. I even woke up refreshed and in a really good mood. Only about 30 min. later, when my father asked me how I’d slept, I started to say, “really well” when I guess that triggered my recollection of my SP experience the night before. Needless to say I was terrified (for a looong time after). But even more so, because I began to question how often this happened to me without my then remembering the incident at all! (Please keep in mind that I had no clue as to what SP was at the time, so I truly thought I’d had a demonic visit – though the manifestation was in the form of witchdoctors for me.)
Also, I think I was only able to remember that SP experience because my father, who often had premonitory dreams when he was younger, taught me techniques for dream recall that would enable me to remember more and more of my dreams (pretty much the exact same ones you offer! :-). I’d gotten in the habit of doing this every morning for several weeks until that one morning when I’d had the SP and it “just so happened” I didn’t use the technique that day. But I’m convinced that since I’d gotten in the habit of doing this, it took my mind several min. to force the memory of my SP dream back to me.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to do the dream recall techniques since then. Although I’ve tried, it seems my mind won’t let me and I’m left wondering if I often have SP experiences, only to completely forget them the next day.
What i’m trying to say is, although I understand all the medical and non-medical possible/plausible explanations for SP, I have yet to come across a story/situation that mirrors my own. And I would like to know if you or anyone you know has experienced anything of the sort. I’m sorry for the lengthy explanations, but I’m so desperate to know more about this.
Any response would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Gia.
P.S.: I’m also able to wake myself up from nightmares (although I haven’t had any in many years), and also had an accidental OBE when I was 10, it was wonderful 🙂
Gia,
Thanks for the comment and I don’t mind lengthy comments.
What you describe is very interesting. I haven’t had the same experience per se, however I was recently thinking back to a time when I was about 7 years old. As a child I was terrified of this colorful devil statue my parents had on a shelf (the ones they wear during Carnivale festivals in the Caribbean). I could never figure out why I was so afraid of that statue until recently. I remember taking a nap in my living room and seeing the statue come alive, jump off the shelf and start dancing around! I totally forgot the source of my fear until recently. I have no doubt that this was one of my first SP episodes yet I had forgotten about it for so long.
I think episodes of SP may often go forgotten, the same way we forget many of our dreams unless we actively try to recall them or we wake up in such terror that we immediately recall the experience. That’s the best explanation I can fathom at this time. I will definitely put more thought into this.
Thanks for the reply!
But there’s a reason I’m making such a big deal about not recalling my SP experience… it’s because it’s the only one I’ve had, and I might have never even known about it, yet it seems to be such a widespread phenomenon insofar as most people do remember theirs.
For example although you didn’t remember that one time when you were seven (sounds super creepy by the way), you’ve still managed to remember most of your other experiences though (from what I’ve read in your posts).
How do you usually remember your SPs? As soon as you wake up? Or like I did mine, as a huge shock a 1/2 hr later?
I mean, I understand that it’s an almost nonsensical question, because how can someone know they’ve forgotten an experience since they’ve forgotten it? (talk about a catch 22!)
But since I’ve been trying to to deal with some unrelated repressed memories recently, I feel like understanding that past SP experience could be a big help. Or maybe I’m just grasping at straws…
Either way, glad I found your website! 🙂
Normally I transition from a sleep paralysis episode (awake/asleep state with full consciousness) to the waking state (awake with full consciousness), so the episode is fresh in my memory. It’s like remembering what happened to you 20 seconds ago; there’s really no way you can forget it. However, a lot of time SP episodes occur at the onset of sleep and once it is over you transition straight to dreaming. And of course, many dreams go forgotten.
I really can’t say for sure. Maybe I have had more SP episodes than I remember but they have gone forgotten since I fell back asleep and totally repressed the memory of them ever happening. It seems plausible to me but usually they are so vivid and I immediately wake up from them leaving me no chance to forget.
If there are some specific questions you have for your unconscious self (such as repressed memories), I think the best way to uncover them is during a lucid dream. I often explore situations and ask myself questions while I’m lucid (with great success). I have a few posts up about how to become lucid and I would be willing to give you some tips and answer any questions you have about that.
Thank you so much!
That’s a great idea that hadn’t even crossed my mind! Probably because I’ve never had a lucid dream before. I’ve read your tips on how to LD (and from other sources as well). It sounds wonderful and I’m going to keep trying, tho so far I’m still struggling even with my dream recall abilities (although I think they’re getting better). But I’ll keep practicing, and with this extra incentive I’ll hopefully get some answers soon enough.
Although how accurate of an answer I could get from a dream – I’m just not sure…
Regardless, thanks for the support. It’s much appreciated!
🙂 Happy Holidays 🙂
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