Have you ever woke up to find yourself completely paralyzed, unable even to scream? This strange phenomenon does happen to a lot of people.
Since history began there have been reports of people who had awakened from a nightmarish sleep only to find themselves unable to move or even make a sound. Typically the person will feel like they had just had a very bad nightmare, but they will not be able to remember what it was about. You just have this feeling of terror and helplessness. Sleep paralysis generally lasts only a few seconds. though it may seem like much longer to the person experiencing it.
I have personally experienced sleep paralysis and I am sure that many of you have either had this happen to you or you know of someone else who went through it.
Modern science calls this condition sleep paralysis and tries to offer a logical explanation of how it happens. The old timers said that sleep paralysis was caused by a paranormal entity they called The Old Hag.
A very good friend of mine has written a very nice introduction to the phenomenon of Sleep Paralysis as well as a background of what is known as The Old Hag or The Night Hag.
Sleep Paralysis And The Old Hag Legends
Once I was sleeping in my house and after some time I felt that somebody is trying to shut my mouth and I was not able to speak a single word. But I spoke loudly to my god’s name with all my energy and I felt that the thing was disappeared.
Are there really ghosts or bed spirits in this present world? If the answer is yes than I would like to know about some real incidents.
I think I’ve had this experience before but I don’t know if it was really SLEEP PARALYSIS…
It was like a year ago & I don’t recall of it that much but I just remember waking up in the middle of the night and feeling that I was blue (as in the color) like I was out of breath or something. I couldn’t breathe for some seconds but then I took a deep breath & then I was fine again.
Can someone tell me what happened to me?
Maria,I read what you said , and I believe what you have is a condition called sleep apnea, I don,t have a lot to go on but when ever you awoke not breathing, you had stopped breathing in your sleep, your body sent a signal to your brain to awaken you , thats a good thing,sometime you can be awaken by a spirit guide, thats a good thing, or angel, thats a great thing. But like I said ;it does not sound like you had a SP experiance, and take my word for it , you do not want to have one, its very frightful, as for sleep apnea, there are many solutions to solving that problem, if thats what it is, just talk to your family doctor, good luck and take care.
I have woke unable to move and I been fully awake and felt a snake sensation moving up my back. It freaks me out to this day when I remember it! I also saw my ex-standing at the foot of our bed when we were still together and looked over and he was asleep.
It happened to me several times, but I dont know if my experience can be called SLEEP PARALYSIS..
Well the last time that S.P. happened to me was just a month ago.
I know I’m awake but I cant move my body (including my head) and it feels like something SO HEAVY is on my head, I can breathe but i can feel the strong blew of the air..
Can someone explain what happened to me?
I had this feeling everywhere, in my dreams/nightmares and when I woke up like yesterday 15/1/08 I had a dream that all weird stuff happend to me on Wendesday then someone told me that it was because of my father as soon as that someone said it her eyes turned into the skull eyes still staring at me, I got paralyzed by that time then my mom was next to me in my dream I tried to call her by : mam(a) ma(ma) my mam(a) !!! (it kinda felt as when your in the dentist and they paralyze your whole mouth to get a tooth out.
It happened to me once, like two or three years ago, I was having what you could call a nightmare, I woke up because I knew that it was really urgent that I told my father what I dreamt, but when I tried to get up I realized I couldn’t move at all, not even my head. It lasted only a few seconds.
I cannot say for sure if we all experience would be in the same realm, as the rest of you described but here it is Many years ago I found myself waken from my sleep I do not really remember any kind of dream, I will even go as far to say I was wide awake, but I felt I was not alone in my room I felt very disturbed and for some reason I had a feeling of terror, I tried to scream out to my grand-Mother, here I was in my mind screaming my head off, but there was no sound, I then tried to move to flee my room, I was not able to move.It was like a state of Paralysis. I am not sure what to think of it.
The next day I spoke to my grand mother about it, she had some weird name for it that I cannot remember it today. but I had never heard any body ever mention until today of any experience similar to it.
I lived with my grand-Mother, so I know it was not brought on by that, and there was nothing new in my life that I had any worried off, so I cannot see it being any thing in my sub-conscience.
maybe your gran called it stagnation of the blood,iv been there three times,each time before my unborn babies died,and each time it happened it was satan and his menions who were trying my faith,as im a catholic,i cryed out to the virgin mary,who i could not see,but knew she was there with me as she placed silver dust in the palm of my hand,i was puzzled but soon realised it was holy water,i threw it at the demon and then woke up and remembering every thing,two days later i gave birth to my unborn son(rip)i believe he sought the innocence of my sons,but the lord had other plans.thank god it has not happened since.anyway maybe thats what your gran called it.
This happened to my father when he was a around the age of 16. He said to me that he was sleeping on his back (facing the ceiling), with his arms folded. He woke up just to see a pale white face. He couldn’t make it out as he practically just woke up. He then tried to keep his eyes open but he was so scared he had to close them for a second. Whilst closing them he felt the movement of his toes and so he wiggled them around and he came out of paralysis. It also happened to my uncle but all he could see was an “alien” type figure in the corner of his room.
-TrueStory-
Evn i had d same feeling as ur uncle. I saw an alien type figure. I tried to shout for help bt couldnt. N den i sudenly fell asleep. It ws scary….
i have suffered this my whole life as of this morning 1-28-08 i had another episode. i awoke totally unable to move i could only half open my eyes it felt as if “the hag” was pushing my face unable to breath i closed my eyes for a sec and when reopened i saw a purple eye of a woman also every time i closed my eyes i heard a sound like a ringing in my ears. i knew i was wide awake cause i saw my husband walk in the room and hope in the shower. as he walked by i screamed his name but so paralized nothing came out . like ive said before ive had this issue my whole life its very scary.feel free to share your stories
Scientists like to justify sleep paralysis by pointing out that when you go to sleep, your brain disconnects all controls to the body so that you won’t act out your dream in real life and hurt yourself. When you wake up and can’t move, it’s because you woke up so fast, that your brain didn’t connect itself to your body.This can explain several instances…
But not all.
I persinally have experienced sleep paralysis several times,in fact i did an experiment and found i could induce this condition on my self.
It is a real medical condition so as far as i know it shouldn’t be concidered paranormal.
But this is just my opinion.
sometimes i feel this s.p when i am almost sleep, but not completely. is the time when u are almost sleep but u ar still aware, i feel like i cannot move but i figth it unil i can sit down on my bed.
Well i wake up every morning to the feeling and thought of someone dead i dont have many nightmares or feel threatened and i remember all my dreams but cant understand why the very first thought is of someone who is dead and feels as if they are in my room.
sleep paralysis is caused by the sensors in your brain communicating as if your are in a dream state, however your receptors arent which is why you are awke yet your body is still in ‘sleep’ mode causing you to see and feel creations that form, the same as in a dream, yet your mind is awake which makes it terifyingly feel more real. There are no ghosts involved unless one is in your brain receptors.
alot of these “bed ghosts” r caused by a loved one departed and is still attached 2 the loved ones heart and every time u go 2 bed it is letting u know that it is there 2 protect u and is not there 2 harm u.
This has happened to me several times, and I am just 13. It’s like someone is trying to sufficate you for minutes on end, and your body feels extremely heavy and you can’t move. It is terrifying for me, but I seem to be getting used to it. This usually happens after I have a nightmare, and I sometimes don’t remember the dream, at all.
Personally, I don’t believe it is Sleep Paralysis.
I had this happen to me when I was 24 years old in my first apartment. This would happen to me several nights during the week. I never slept good. There was always a prescence in the room. I felt as if it were a man trying to take advantage of me. I would be asleep, and feel as if I were paralyzed. I would hear music from my stereo, and know in my mind that I turned it off. I would start to feel somthing trying to take over my soul I felt. It would wait until my most vulnerable moment when I would fall asleep. Sometimes it would be hours after falling asleep. I would use every ounce of energy that I could muster up to wake myself up. Some nights this would happen every time I would fall asleep. I was glad to be away from there when I moved.
I believe i had this happen to me, i was staying with my girlfriend at her house.
Her grandma had just recently died i need to point out.
Anyway, i “woke up” facing the left hand side of the bed looking at the window and felt a huge pressure on my body but for the life of me i couldn’t move or say anything!!
I was screaming on the inside and then just like that it all stopped. the freeky thing is i believe it was her nan that was “sat” on me, i don’t know why i think that but i do.
I can relate with all these other comments. The first time i experienced s.p was right after i began goin out with an a now ex boyfriend almost ten years ago. I got it and i remember a little while after him telling me about it and he was from vietnam, he told me people back there beleived it was some sort of demon (i can’t remember the details) he told me it is more likely to occur while sleeping on your back.
I seemed to get it off and on in the past years. most of the time i felt like i was able to leave my body for a second because it always made me want to scream for help or run away, i just always felt as though i wasn’t alone and whatever i felt was very eerie and scary. like it always came when i was most vunerable. I was a heroin addict off and on for the past ten years or so and i never got it before i was an addict. i’ve been clean for 2 years, now. but the last 3 months or so before i got clean it got almost unbarable.
It got so intense i was afraid to fall asleep and i actually felt something there that was well…evil. every night my mother said id scream and moan in my sleep like i was truly terrified and thats just how i felt while sleeping. though after i got clean and as i became stronger inside they seemed to go away. i haven’t had it for almost a year maybe longer. also my mother began saying a prayer for me asking god to watch over me and protect me at night before she went to sleep and i began doing it too. and that’s when they really went away. pretty intense.
wow… seems like everyone has experienced this sleep parylysis thing…..Except me!!!! Now it makes me kinda wanna. To me it seems like an awesome experience, yet i would prolly be scared because i can’t move and stuff. But then when I move again it will be awesome and I would brag about it to every one!!!!!!!! lol.
I’ve had this sleep blabla thingy happen to me and it is FREAKIN SCARY you dont want to go through this I repeat you dont EVER want to go through this!!!!
I have suffered from this disorder since I was 5 years old , and now its been 14 years and I still experience episodes of sleep paralysis 3 times a week and sometimes within an hour 4 episodes may happen in a row. It seems that I’m so tired I fall asleep again and within 5 minutes it happens again and again until I just decide to get up and stop trying to sleep because I’m afraid that I may not wake up again, even though I know it is harmless.
The experiences I have are very frightening and I always feel like someone crushing my body and my chest it is very painful, and I feel short of breath, and also I see like the death like grim reaper, trying to kill me or something, I hate having to feel all these weird things !!! is there anything that could cure sleep paralysis?
This “condition” happens to me all the time. With each new episode I see and hear different things. I see everything from figures shrouded in black smoke, to a lady dressed in white. (coincedently this is the same lady that has been following me to each of my new residences since i was six years old and now i’m goign to be twenty-five) some may say that it’s just a repetive nightmare, but i always forget to mention the fact that i’ve seen her while i was wide awake in broad day light. Anyhow, the weird thing is that most people experience these things by themselves…but i have share three occasions where the person sleeping next to me had a “dream” about the same thing…i on the other hand got to see it during s.p. a quick example is when my girlfriendf had a dream about a little girl singing in her ear…and subsequently i was sleeping right next to her only to have an s.p. observing a little girl sitting next to me on the bed. If you think thats odd…you should see my dreams!
2 years ago when i was 13 i woke up on my stomache unable to move and i heard whispering right next to my bed. It was really freaky and i get scared that i might get that again…
I believe in magic. i dont know whether to believe in ghosts or the paranormal. ive never had any wierd experiances with ghosts, except for one time when i had a dream that my cousin died and i was chatting with his ghost. i worry that he might die and the dream was prophecizing it, but im not sure. all i want is the truth. could dreams really have anything to do with the real world? if so, is my cousin going to die? or was it just my imagination. i wish someone could just proove that ghosts do or dont exist
About three years ago I was asleep in the middle of the day on my couch. I was taking a nap because had not slept well the night before. I experienced what I guess was sleep paralysis. I opened my eyes but could not move my head. I was facing my television, which was turned off, and I could see my reflection lying on the couch. I felt afraid because I couldn’t move and then I noticed that standing right beside the couch where my head was a child dressed in a yellow raincoat and hat. That sounds ridiculous I know, but I swear this didn’t feel at all like a dream. All I could do was watch it’s reflection in my TV screen and it never moved. It just stood there looking at me lying on the couch. When I could finally move, it was gone.
I get this now and then. When I get it I tend to have it happen several times in a week and then nothing for a while. After the first couple of times I figured out I could make it stop just by wiggling my toes and opening my eyes. I don’t really know if this works for anyone else though.
Sometimes when it happens I can clearly hear people talking about things. Just normal things, like how the weather is or how someone is doing. It doesn’t make much sense to me.
Sometimes after I open my eyes I’ll see some shadows in my room flicker, but then the shadows in my room always look like they’re moving around.
One time I got really creeped out because when I got out of it my light was off and I went to sleep with it on.
I had the opposite happen on another occasion but without sleep paralysis. I went to bed with the light off and woke up with it and feeling like I’d just gotten back in bed. Then I realized the bed was cold. (Like when you just get in it) I wonder if I was sleep walking…
This has happened to me several times. I don’t believe it was anything paranormal, and I didn’t see anything in my room, I simply woke up and couldn’t move. The first time it happened I was slighlty scared, mostly because I couldn’t move. The later times, I simply went back to sleep. Sometimes, I would wake up and couldn’t move one part of my body, like an arm or a leg. Either way, I find it kind of relaxing. It helps you sleep after you wake up ion the middle of the night. I find the best method is not to fight it.
Anyone who has seen anything after waking up like this has probably been in a sort of dream state where they haven’t fully awakened. It may feel like your wide awake, but we’ve all had dreams that feel like we’re awake, haven’t we?
I hope everyone’s doing good…but I just feel I have 2 start telling about my expieriences with the supernatural, There are only few people that I have ever told about it b/c they are the only people who understand what’s going on.
I’m only going 2 tell one thing that has happen recently 4 now b/c I have alot that I could tell and you don’t wanna read all that.
Well everything started when I was 13, I am 19 now. I started having dreams that seemed 2 turn into reality, or sleep paralysis. Now they say in scientific BS that it comes from lack of sleep but I disagree strongly b/c somehow the demons that attack me can actually hurt me if they are trying 2 do more than choke me.
3 nights ago from me writing this…2 weeks ago I was sleep in my dorms and I felt this presence enter my room suddely and it was standing at the end of my bed. So I learned 2 deal with that problem…I turned over on my stomach b/c they usually attack you when you are sleep on your back. But this demon was different, it did something completely new. instead on leaving after a while it immediately crawled onto my bed and put its knee in my back. It was such a sharp pain I stopped breathing 4 about 10 seconds. It grabbed my 4head and leaned me back and whispered in my ear and excuse my french “your ASS is MINE…GOD cannot save you now”. At that moment I could not focus because I was in such pain and all kinds of thoughts went through my head, I couldn’t even think 2 pray and get this demon off me.
But somewhere through all of that the lord gave a sign in all my thoughts that he was there…So I immediately began 2 pray 2 him. The demon was angered by me calling god in 2 stop him…so before the demon departed it screamed in my ear and said ” I will b back 4 you soon so don’t worry” then it hopped of me and went away.
I now have gotten a kanji symbol tattoo on my arm which stands 4 “faith in god” with angel wings attached b/c he has saved me and looked after me no matter what I was going through. I am beginning 2 understand that what he has given me (I guess you could call it a spiritual power) has its advantages and disadvantages.
What I meant by that is that I have something like a 6th sense…I can tell when bad things are going 2 happen sometimes….I can read how some people are w/o even knowing them…dreams are a major part in it also…and being able 2 pick up on spirits being around w/o a problem. Well that’s just a little bit of me but I’m pretty sure that some people will think I’m a liar lol…but honestly it doesn’t matter I am dealing with this but if something like this goes on in anyone else life like this, then I have a believer. If anyone wants feel free 2 comment or ask me a question if you have something you might wanna know (I am not a psychic so please dont ask a question like that because I wont be able 2 help lol). But thanks for reading maybe I will post more if anyone tells me their are interested in more of my experiences
the first time i had this sleep paralysis i just had my baby/ it was real scarey and then off and on throughout the years i would have it happened alot and it was always real scarey like i would wake up and can’t feel my body at all or i would see dark shadows and hear voices shisper and feel a pressure on me suffacating me;
I had the most horrible experience yesterday morning. I had already woken when my boyfriend left our flat to see his family and then I went back to bed for another sleep for an hour. My alarm went off after an hour and I snoozed it and in the next ten minutes of snoozing, I was totally awake but could not move or say anything. I Kept on getting a shiver down my spine as I felt as though my boyfriend was in the room. He closed the wardrobe door then walked towards the bed and then got into the bed next to me. I could feel the duvet moving and hear the creak of the floorboard and this was repeated three times and all the time I knew my boyfriend had gone so I knew that it was someone or something else mimicking this just to scare me. I tried to kick ‘it’ off my bed and was desperately trying to scream ‘get off me’ and I think I managed a yelp and a slight motion as I tried to kick out but I felt like I had been drugged. I finally managed to open and keep my eyes open and I was covered in sweat. I knew I had been awake when it was happening though – I just couldn’t move. A similar thing happened about a year ago when I felt I was being pushed into my bed by a force against my chest and I had to summon up enough strength to ask for angels to look after me as I felt it was an evil presence doing it to me like yesterday morning. Very creepy and very scary.
i too have experience sleep paralysis and never knew there was a name for such things. i have suffered from it all of my life. the last sleep paralysis i had was a few months ago while i was babysitting my grandsons. i was laying on my right side with my youngest grandson laying right next to me while my oldest grandson who is eight years old was sleeping at the bottom of the bed on his back. i was facing this door mirror just about to fall asleep when i saw my oldest grandson rise out of his body and come towards me bites me on my neck and goes back to his body. i could not move or even scream out but the most frightening thing was when i got up the next morning there was this big scratch on my neck in the same exact place
where he had bitten me. scary……………… explain this.
i last had them when i was 7, 15 years later it happened again last night. i was having a really nice dream of this boy and suddenly a realized i was dreaming, but the dream kept on, and as he touched me it felt more and more real and so i woke up and this face in front of me looking really evil, looking like he was trying to kill me. i couldn’t breath, scream, or move, i pinched myself and then i really woke up.
i know it is suppose to be sleep paralysis, but i felt him touching me and the warmth of his body on me, which is what makes it scary because, other than that, i know u always snap out of it.
some of these things that have happen are s.p the not being able to breath for a few secs. but others appear to be out of body experiences and still others are what I call visits- visits are mostly take place in the between sleep stage when you are awake but on the edge of sleep. When you are in the stage you are easy to reach out to your mind can be open to anything. when you out of body you tend to go places and see and talk to people some times you here them talking or laughing but you don’t really see them. I have been through all three of these things since I was very young. If you feel scared pray. if it feels fine and you are not scared in anyway go with it. It doesn’t last long and can be very educational and enlighting.
Wow i didnt know this phenomenon was common and even more shocked after reading deons story.. and i too had a similar experience … I was asleep on my stomach facing my tv in my living room when suddenly i woke up but were unable to move my body just my eyes… i knew i was in my living room by looking around but there was a dark figure standing by my head . I tried to get a good look at it out of the corner of my but couldnt cause of the angle .. iam thinking to myself maybe this is one of my sisters or my mother.. however i heard faint sounds coming from IT like whispers , then IT lowered itself like it kneeled and i felt like IT was exzamining my face by how close ITs face has gotten to mine.. when it did that i was able to hear the sound louder and the sound this creature made was like a whole bunch of people whispering at the same time overlapping so i couldnt make out anything IT was whispering,,, NOW i was really Scared .. and i just remember to say a prayer to God and Jesus cause i was frighten and with all my strength and the help of god i was able to only move my left arm up like i was trying to push it away and i said Jesus name again .. The creature suddenly stood up and shierked .. instantly i was awake i got up and looked around Still Scared…. turning all my lights on wondering what just happened.. Thinking back as i write this an old pastor of mine said deamons try to make you do things you wouldnt normaly do,, to possess you by whispering things in your ear when your weak in faith.. maybe that was it
This used to happen to me all the time when I was a kid. I would be awake in my head but my body wouldn’t move. I could hear my parents talking and moving around the house but I couldn’t call for them. Sometimes I would fall back to sleep or sometimes I was strong enough to break out of it. I never gave it a second thought though until now. I think it is just like a malfunction of the brain where it somehow forgets to release you from your sleeping state. I doubt it has anything to do with ghosts.
one more thing.. I think all these experiences of ghosts and their grandson’s rising out of their bodies to bite them (mariam martinez) during sleep paralysis is just you stuck in a half dream. You’re half asleep. Has anyone ALMOST fallen asleep and you start to dream a little bit? Then you snap out of it and know it wasn’t real. That’s all that this is. It’s like dreaming you’re at a basketball game and the game ends with a buzzer… but it’s actually just your alarm clock…
This has happend to me when i was 12 years old and i couldnt move or scream. it was really scary. HAVE THIS HAPPEND TO YOU GUYS?
BYE!!!
This is the TRUTH, I experienced this on 7/9/08…
I was laying on my bed getting ready to take a nap, I started to dose off, but I was not sleep, at least my mind was not sleeo, I felt paralyzed, i could not move. I was someplace between an awake state and a sleep state, I was very afraid, I could stare and look at things I tried to move my arm but I could not move it, I could talk in my mind but I could not talk thru my mouth, was i sleep? I heard voices, men voices, I felt my soul being pulled out of my body…I tried to pull it back in …I was paniking…so scarred…It did not hurt it just felt weird. My soul did not seperate fully from my body tho…I am kinda afraid of going to sleep. Im afraid it might happen again. It has happened brfoe but not this strong…Does anyone know anything about trance like sleep…or outer body experiences
no one was home except my 2 young children and i, , nothing could get me out of that state The only thing that got me out was when my daughter opened her door, she was supposed to be taking a nap…I know I’m not crazy
I have been suffering from sleep paralysis and the associated hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations since I was a small child. They are VERY frightening experiences and at one point it was happening so often that I was terrified to go to sleep at night which just made matters worse.
I watched a programme about incubus, subcubus and the old hag myths where people were discussing their experiences. They were so similar to my own that I was panicking. I was really really scared and would keep myself awake for days. Obviously, this situation couldn’t go on.
I eventually spoke to my doctor. I thought she’d say that I was crazy and was really relieved when she took me seriously and seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. She explained what was occurring and what these hallucinations were.
She told me that she had had a high success rate in stopping it happening in children by teaching them relaxation techniques and getting them to think of the creature and tell it not to come back while they were very relaxed. She also told me to have a look at a Canadian university’s sleep paralysis study and asked me to fill in the questionaire before I read anything else.
I was stunned by the questions. It was as if these people knew all about me. The experiences we suffer are all remarkably similar and by the time I had finished the questionaire and read all their articles (including the history and myths surrounding the condition), I felt much, much better, but I still tried my doctor’s relaxation idea. The result was that it didn’t happen again for years and on the odd occassion that it does, it ‘s no longer frightening.
The university sleep paralysis website is:
arts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html
For those of you who are finding this frightening, I really do think it’s worth a try
whenever i have a sleep paralysis or wateva it is i can see sum black or dark shadow around me… feels like theya re starin at me altho i cant see em prply..
and sumtimes i cant breathe..
when i was an early teen, i had sleep paralysis alllll the damn time. almost every morning as I was waking up. it scared me to death every morning. but it eventualy stoped
guys i will tell you about my experience……i used to sleep a lot but if i slept in the afternoon i could not go to sleep at night….i clearly remembered i was lying on the bed(i was about 16 at that time)…….when suddenly i heard footsteps…in my room….i was with my brother and my mom they were fast asleep…..
i dont know what it was but i counted the footsteps it moved for about 4 times….
and it sounded clearly(i still remember the sound of footsteps)…..
i knew its something else……i dont know what happened to me but i tried to get up and see what was it….and then it happened i was frozen….i tried to scream but failed………..i still remember some voice did come out as i started to scream only the ahh………………….sounded and rest just stayed inside me…..
i used to think that it was a spirit but about a few months back i read on internet about sleep paralysis….and thought may its some sort of imbalance in the body that causes it……but i dont really know the truth……….we are four members in the family and we all of experienced it……….
i started having this happen to me in my early 20s.I thought it was a drug related issue because i have experimented with lots of hallucinogens as a teen, and figured it was a repercussion to the abuse. Is this possible to have SP from drug abuse and or alcohol abuse? Has there been any connection? I havnt done drugs in at least 9 years so i dont feel it could be connected. All i know is that when this happends im scared to go back to sleep for a few days after. I have terrible sonic hallucinations and feel as if someone is standing over the bed. I try to sit up or sream but cannot. My eyes will flutter and i burst out in a cold sweat from the fear. Eventually i just pass out from being so scared. by the time i finally can properly wake up my heart is still racing. is there anyone else going thru this?????
I have had this my whole life, and so have several family members. With sleep paralysis comes hallucinations. I used to see little elf like men peeking over the foot of my bed and around doorways. I learned that if I attempt to hyperventilate, then the movement of my stomach will awaken me completely.
As a young girl going thru puberty this was a common event,
it seemed that every time I fell asleep on our living room sofa this
would happen I awoke to the panicky feeling of not being able to move,
speak,or breathe. Yet you could hear and was aware of everything and
everyone around you, you knew that if anyone were to touch you you would
snap out of it. Meanwhile it takes every ounce of strength you have just
to move your little finger or anyother part of your body, but once you mannage
you come out of it quickly but you are exhausted. When I explained this to
my mother, she said that it was because my bones were growing and
stretching and that it would stop. Well for the most part they did, but it
still occours from time to time and I am not growing or stretching at my age.
Someone should explain this scary malfunction to me.
yerp same here but i was trying to understand this a little more, especially this one dream that felt otherworldy.
I think i was astral projecting, because I could see my body from a top angle in my room. Anyway in this dream I just keep getting flashes of myself trying to get comfortable in my sleep. (In real life this is highly unlikely because my bed is extremley comfortable)
After a while I feel the presence of something watching me. I turn a few times in my bed and then something that i cant seen starts pinching me around the stomach. The pain isnt apparent like in reality but is stil there. Anyway my hearts starts to beat faster and i start to extremely irritated and scared. I feel the pressure and i cant move. I hear and sense breathing.
Keep thinking ” icant see what is it”. Just go away. I see an image of myself that was trying to sleep take on a parallel presence. On one side I see my body laying there. I go into the living area andthe thing seems to keep iritating me. Then I dont know but the two pictures seem to shift temporarily. I have tricked the unseen being.
I continue into the study and go onto the computer, trying to find a solution and then I come to the realisation that i dont need this “im getting rid of this” I get of the chair and storm back into my room. I see my body again but this time I see the soft white silhouette of a young boy ghost, standing before my bed looking over my body. He seems to be standing over my body.
I shout at him “Get out!, Get out Get out of my room!” and then he just walks straight through the wall and dissapears. (In my mind i know he didnt mean harm, that he was lonely) – Its like I sensed the ghosts feelings.
SO these are my questions:
If this hag themonema is real and it says that you as an dreamer cant do anything , then how come I could get out of this one?
Was I on an astral plane of some sort, in which case do ghosts, etc exist?
I woke up a couple of nightes earlier and looked at the clock facing by bed on the wall. It was 2am and I was wide awake. I wanted to go use the restromm so I tried to get up from my bed. As I was getting up I felt something cold almost like hand grab my two arms by the wrist. I alos felt something sit on top of my chest. Let me remind you i am wide awake and in desbelief of what was happening. I am a very strong martial artist. I was struggling to fifht whatever this thing was. Then all of a sudden I felt something grab be by the ankle and pulled me down the bed. Now that scared the crap out of me. And so as I was struggling all of a sudden it let me go. funny thing was when I finally could get up I realised I had beed draged to the edge of bed with my legs dangling still. ]
This event really disturbed me so I asked around of any other paranormal activities around the apartments. It turns out a guy had shot himself in the same apartment as I was living two years earlier. And when I saw his picture there was a strange familiarity. It was we had met before perhaps that night.
Well I have just had the most terrifying experience literally just minutes ago!!
Its 4.52am and i could feel myself wake up and it felt like something was pulling my whole body off the bed yet i couldnt move….next thing i am back frozen in bed unable to move like something was on top of me.
As i looked up (i was lying on my side and frozen in that position) i could see a shadow figure over me mimicking a stab motion……..believe it or not it kinda looked like the character from scream
Now i dont wanna go back to sleep as i am terrified!!!!!
I have recurring episodes of this Sleep Paralysis for afew months. I wasn’t stressed at the time, nothing dramatic happening in my life…
But anyway most of these dreams consist of me being wide awake but unable to move or speak, seem to be able to see but eyes probably closed-
and like I can feel something in the room
It tries to pull me out of bed by my arms or by my soul being pulled out of me.
I swear IT has pulled me upright but since I cant move I flop down into bed.
These battles last awhile, I don’t know what IT wants me to do or where IT want’s me to go which freaks me out.
I struggle to move to help wake me up and eventually do.
It feels so real, and other dreams consist of a face being right infront of my own or the feeling of being buried or sometimes strangled. Not nice!!!
Sometimes praying doesn’t even stop IT.
Sleep hag is SCARY feeling, had this feeling almost everyday for the past week.
Yesterday I woke up and couldn’t move anything and felt someone pushing me down, and I had a mini dream of trying to grab my cell phone and turning
on the light. After the event was over I realized that I never touch my cell phone. Since I couldn’t move anything, I tired to spit at the ghost or whatever it was, but that failed.
I’ve been getting very little sleep this past week so maybe thats why I’m feeling this. It only happens when I’m sleeping and laying on my back. I really don’t know what to do. I tried sleeping side way but find myself laying on my back.
I HAD FELT THIS THING..THE OLD HAD IF YOU WILL AND THE TERROR WAS REAL FOR I HAD JUST WOKE UP BECASUE MY NEIGHBOR WAS KNOCKING AT MY DOOR. I TRIED TO GET UP AND ANSWER THE DOOR BUT COULDN’T MOVE.
I WAS AT A POINT IN MY LIFE WHERE I JUST COULDN’T SEEM TO CARE IF I LIVED OR DIED, I WAS ON MY WAY TO DRINKING MY SELF TO DEATH AT THE AGE OF27 AND SOMETIMES WISHED I WOULD NEVER WAKE UP.
UNTIL THIS HAPPENED.
I KNEW THAT IT WAS A FEMALE , I COULD FEEL THE FEMININE FEATURES OF HEAR BODY AS SHE LAY AT MY SIDE SOFTLY LAUGHING. . I WAS COMPLETLY PARALYZED AND SCREAMING IN MY HEAD FOR MY NEIGHBOR TO HELP ME BUT NO SOUND WOULD COME OUT AND FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, I KNEW I WAS CRYING BUT NO TEARS WOULD FALL. I COULDN’T EVEN FEEL MY HEART BEAT.
THEN SHE MOVED TO SIT, WHICH FELT TO ME ALMOST CROSSLEGGED LIKE UPON MY CHEST. i COULD STILL HEAR MY NIEGHBOUR AT THE DOOR. i TRIED SO HARD TO SCREAM BUT MY BODY FELT LOCKED DOWNAD AND COMPLETLY INCASED IN CEMENT.
I WAS AT THE POINT WHERE I KNEW THAT SHE WAS NO LONGER ALLOWING ME TO BREATHE.
THEN SHE SOFTLY WHISPERED TO ME IN MY LEFT EAR “SO LITTLE ONE, YOU HAVE NO WILL LEFT AND WISH TO DIE? I AM GIVING YOU THIS CHOICE NOW….DO YOU WISH TO LIVE…DECIDE”
I SCREAMED OVER AND OVER AGAIN A HUNDRED TIMES “I WANT TO LIVE..IWANT TO LIVE”
AND SHE GRACIOUSLY ALLOWED ME TO. THE MINUTE I WAS FREE FROM THE PARALYZATION I WAS IN, I WENT TO THE KITCHEN AND POURED EVERY OUNCE OF ALCOHOL I HAD AND EVER SO QUICKLY STARTED TO LIVE MY LIFE AS IF IT WAS MY FIRST. WITH GRADITUDE AND HOPE.
I’ve suffered from SP and HH for about a year now, yet of this morning I had the worst episode……most times it’s being unable to shout and move……but the one this morning was truly terrifying. i still had SP but i felt the sheets just at my feet being dragged aggressivly and was being pulled from off the bed, dreading i was about to be flung off my bed…it just carried on. (and even i knew my bed isn’t that big.) i was fully concious and shouting out for my mum.
i have had SP and HH every night, and i have found a solution i use myself…….instead of shouting someones name out……talk instead. i did that for the first time ever this morning. even though my mum heard mumbling. She came in just as i was about to have my second episode…..just the sound of her walking from her bedroom was enough to bring me back……….she was about to shake me to wake up……but i was pale and as wide awake as i am now.
i must say…..i’m yet to see the hag
seriously…..try talking.
I actually have experienced the same thing as @pierrre, i felt my bed sheet being pulled from the side and edge (at the feet). Recently i experienced something like Sleep Paralysis, it happened while i was asleep. I remember i was laying on my back and awaken to something touching my body, i couldn’t move my entire body no matter how much strength i tried to summon…
At that moment i felt that something was at the foot of my bed so i looked downward (could only move my eyes), i can’t make out what it was…but i think i saw a girl or whatever and it is trying crawl up from between my legs. I tried to scream but no sound came out…i think i passed out or something because i can’t remember what happened next.
I’ve experienced this several times over the last 10 years, I’m now 29. My mind is awake, my eyes are wide open, but I can’t move. I can only move my eyes. Usually right upon waking up I see a tall dark non human like thing. It looks more like a dark shadow and it always appears to be leaving my room. I try everything in my power to move or wiggle some fingers, but nothing works. I try to scream for help, but I only manage to get low moans out. What I find really strange is that I’ve never heard of the Old Hag or dark shadows stories. How do scientists prove that this is just Sleep Paralysis and not something else. I’m not superstitious and I’ve never seen anything like the thing I see. I also sometime hear noises of people speaking a language unlike any I have ever heard. Then one day I saw a documentary of people speaking in “Tounges” and I swear it sounds just like what I hear sometimes. It’s so freaking scary. It was different voices men, women, children, people screaming, crying, it was just so loud and unbearable. I’m so scared to sleep sometimes.
On a visit to my mothers cousin in NYC in 2004. I stayed at her apartment in Brooklyn. I slept on the pull out bed in the living room. At aproximatly 5:30am I awoke to hear the recycling guys at work (and talking to each other)outside the apartment block. I was lying on my stomach with the left side of my face on the pillow, kind of in the recovery position, facing the window. I could only open my eyes just enough to see the window and the sun light outside. At that I felt a presence behind my head and then whispering started into my right ear. The whispering was menacing and so fast that I couldnt make out the words. I felt very anxiuos and my heart was beating alot faster. I tried to move my head and body but I could not move at all. The whispering continued and the only thing I could think of doing was to say the Our Father prayer in my head. I said the Our Father really in my head concentrating on the words and trying to blank out the whispering in my ear. When I finished saying the Our father for the second time, the whispering stopped and I became surprisingly relaxed and also got all my movement back. This was the first and only time I have ever had this experience. I hope It does not happen again.
Michael
Ireland
Jenifer from Colorado
Im 33 have 2 boys and happily married! I cant tell you how relived I’am to hear how many people have ex-perienced this!
My experiences started at a young age 3:00 in the morning 9 yrs old laying in bed I woke up looked at the clock and couldnt move total paralysis my eyes could move and the most intense of evil I have ever known! I’ve always prayed,gone to church but was to embaressed to say what has happened!
many years go buy 1-4 episodes a year then I broke down told a friends mom who told to me recite the Lords prayer, its funny because I can hear my self saying go away or leave me alone but when it came to anything Biblical the thoughts didnt come!
As I got older I wasnt as afraid I was mad now I can feel when it is going to happen, not going to lie sometimes its like a alternate state,things feel sense look the same but different almost like you have a sense of awarness and feel things spirits ghost what ever you want to call it!
My recomendations to all of you pray the Lords Prayer before bed,dont be afraid let it know it has no power and the Lord will prevail!
I’m from Tonga(a Pacific Island) and am a believer in this phenomenon! Our island is also familiar with this experience and I too have experienced it a number of times. Each time it happens, I am way past sleeping and am fully awake yet helpless and aware of a force sitting on my chest. Our island is Christian and we would get it off by shouting in our head ” Jesus help me live!” Sounds ridiculous but it works! Ðo not let it feel your fear but rebuke it in the name of God afterwards!
this happened to me only once it was HORRIBLE, i felt useless, i trie screaming for help even though my mom was next to me she did not notice, i felt as if i were sinking in darkness and someone was pushing me down and i was just falling and falling deeper into darkness
Well this one time I was falling asleep and i can always tell when i’m going to have one of these SP,my ears ring and i try to wake up,then My mind is so awake at this time my eyes are closed and boom! I feel heavy in my chest, I feel like someone is holding my legs down and I can’t breath, and it last for a long time,and then i remember to say Gods name and that i am not affraid and then it releases me…
I just wonder how a doctor/scientist would explain so many people having the same “evil” experience… Everything I read says “Sleep Paralysis”. What does it mean when this happens to you? Why you? And what do they want? And who are they? This has happened to me several times, and i always feel or see the “evil presence”, it is either the dark shadows, a scary looking man, someone squeezing an organ inside my body (very painful), my bed moving in wave motions, etc., and everytime the heaviness of someone sitting on me, can hear whats really going on, can see everything but cannot move or speak. And everytime I feel as though i should pray… Its strange because I’m not really religious, but when this happens I get the feeling that I should pray or think of white light to push out the black shadows. I would much rather think this was S.P. but hearing so many people having the same “scary” experiences really makes me want to know why me? Why only certain people? And what brings them in?
I had one time that i was a sleep and i woke up but i could not see!!!
MY EYES WERE LOCKED DOWN!! LIKE SOMEONE WAS SHUTTING THEM DOWN,
I TRIED 2 OPEN THEM WITH MY VINGERS BUT I COULDNT MOVE!!!…MY WHOLE BODY WAS PARALYZED….
thank god for my mom she openend the door,,and put on the lights
she heard me scream but i didn’t!!!
she was like ‘are you ok’? your scream woke up all of the neighborhood…
and then i could see and move!!
until this day i still don’t know what happened….
Happened to me once. It was so cool. I woke up, unable to move at all with the distinct impression that I had heard someone break in downstairs. I couldn’t even lift my head. I felt helpless, and knew that this thing was coming upstairs. I then tried to shout out.
I know I was awake because I then heard my own voice. I couldn’t make proper words. My throat and mouth and tongue were paralysed. I was trying to sound menacing to the unknown intruder who I felt was getting nearer and nearer, and was attempting to say, “F*** off, you c***!”. But it came out just as horrible mumblings. I could only move my eyes, and could see my room quite clearly around me, again I knew I was awake. This was not a normal dream. I felt like the thing was now at my door and had stopped there looking at me. I couldn’t quite see that far beyond my feet to the door frame as I couldn’t lift my head. Again I tried to call out, to alert my parents or scare it or something but, despite my trying to shout as loud as I could, it came out as incoherant, dull moaning.
Then I just suddenly came to myself and “woke up”. I knew instantly that it was a waking dream, or “SP”. But I totally got the intensity of experiencing what classical authors had interpreted as a visit from the succubus, or Old Hag.
The fact that all of those who experience this have the same sensation (paralysis with some threatening person drawing nearer and nearer, more often than not in the shape of an old woman) facinates me and is, I believe, a reminder of the fact that in our evolution, we have not changed all that much from the times when we were all much more closely related. Our dreams are even the same.
I’m 20 and s.p is something that had only happened twice in my life until last October 08′ when I had a near death experience. There after I’ve been extremely hypersensitive to emotions put off by people around me, aka- vibes (chills, burst of warmth, cold, tingling sensations throughout your body for and extended amount of time), and unseen entities (which show up as orbs in pictures). I’ve even been with a number of friends who have seen and felt spiritual entities good and bad in my home and else where around the city I live in.
As for me, I am on no medications, have no medical diagnosis’s, and do no drugs- I used to smoke pot, but quit, because everytime I started to get high after my n.d.e it would literally feel like a gateway to hell was being opened and I always felt like bad energy was trying to possess me (messed up I know!), my friends would even comment on the awful vibe in the room.
But getting back to the subject, I’ve been experiencing s.p. about 3 times a week since October 08′, and once I actually felt myself floating out of my body before I fully woke myself up. I’ve currently came to the conclusion that s.p is a result of your mind consciously waking up before you body does. Just as stated scientifically your body goes in to paralysis so you don’t act out your dreams. So I figured this makes valid sense.
Although, what science can’t prove is the onset of this. When you’re dreaming how often are you acting with free will, and dictating the outcome of your dreams, almost never right?? With s.p you often have a lucid dream upon waking and do have the choice to fully wake up and come out of it or continue to endure the experience trying to grasp and understanding for it. I’ve been perplexed by the idea that maybe is some form of an entity good or bad trying to contact me in and out of dreaming states. Or is it the chance to literally disconnect your mind from your body?
As stated in an above post it is possible to self-induce a state of sleep paralysis, but would that be only possible because of the presences surrounding you? I know that I’ve only been able to induce the feeling when I’ve known there were vibes around me.
Honestly I don’t think that sleep paralysis is necessarily a bad thing, you just have to learn how to control it, as well as develop your own understanding of why its happening to you. If you haven’t accepted your own spirituality in life, then the happening of this event may seem very unnerving to you. Although, if you believe (in whatever religion you adopt) you may find the answers to your questions.
I know all of this obviously makes me sound literally crazy for those that haven’t been through it.. but honestly with the way things are going in the world today, I think it would be a mistake to let today’s social norms of society try to crush the reality of spiritual happenings. Because honestly, hasn’t only realized how more and more supernatural things have been reported in the last couple years?? There’s a reason for all of this.
I had it happen it is not cool just couldn’t move ever time i fell asleep vampires bit me on the same shoulder like 20 times in a row i fell back a sleep i learned better i believe you all its not cool.
related subject I have had two seizers the second one i was staring at my clock everything started to shake and i was on my side and something pushed me on my back then i fell arms reach arond me and pull me down though i wasn’t moving i felt it was evil but only like they were doing there job i came out of it and sat up in the dark scared and could not even run to the light i was like 17 or 18 a guy for pete sake ive seen stuff and been close to GOD < real GOD is real mircles do happen ye of little faith it said and ask and ye shall receive it does not mean it will happen in 2 seconds it might take like 2 years but will happen
i heard a spirit at guess what a cematery with a friend so i know it was real he heard at the same time and we both turned around before we left we saw light blue orbs in the sky way up in space and i say a red comet with a wave tail freak huh also heard a voice in a cave once put my arm in a worm hole or something of the sort not lieing i put my arm in a brown floating cloud of like smoke i guess and it tryied to pull me in no drugs no alcohol these things happen and when you want to see them just look for them like i bet you did not know that demons may have had you wright your s.p. stuff or led you to the page about ghost in all the time that demon have been around do you seriously think that not one sound just like you and may in fact talk for you but trick you into think you are doing it and you think you are i think its called sicology or something seeing thing hearing thing may in fact be demons ghost spirits we don’t make the rule who said we did.
we just beileve that they are not real its like being with ghost all your life and saying they don’t exist if there is no proof it still doesn’t mean weird crazy can happen all thing are possible though god the bible says it and i beileve it.
Hi there,
I see alot of people questioning how science can just explain away something of this nature. Now I just want to let everyone know. I am a believer in the paranormal, and my experiances is what lead me to become a professional paranormal investigator on Trueghost.com. Sleep paralysis is a a sleep disorder. What happens is during REM (rapid eye movement) a chemical in your body triggers you to wake up….however your body is still deep in the “dream state” where your body is paralized. This is because our body excreates a chemical to paralize us after a certain point of sleep has been reached. This chemical is meant to protect you from acting out your dreams, or hurting yourself. Which is why some people sleep walk, or have fits because their body lacks this chemical.
Now in accordance with the paralization comes an intense fear of impending danger…or a feeling of a presence in the room. This is because your mind isnt fully awake, nor asleep….this causes hallucinations of MANY things. you name, Ive heard it. People report seeing aliens, demons, shadows, an old hag and even hearing evil laughter and ghostly voices. HOW can you hear voices if no one is making them?….your ear drums have tiny vibrations during sleep and dreaming. When you are hearing anything in your dream….thats because your ear drums are vibrating making out sounds or voices. Its all natural.
Sleep disorders have alot to do with chemical imbalances in your brain….and the big one….STRESS. People who are high stress have this problem more than other people in general. Trust me this is a disorder….if you don’t believe the facts than take it from someone who has sleep paralysis regularly….ME!! Thats right…I have had sleep paralysis my whole life since the age of 9 and i’m now 24. When I was younger i thought it was paranormal, and now that I have spent a lot of time researching it I conciously know when I am haveing it. So I have become very good at convincing my body during my sleep disorder to relax and it then slowly wakes up. Sometimes I drift back to sleep and other times I wake up. When I was little I would experiance that un describable fear, hear evil voices and laughter….and even feel a wheight on my chest that was so heavy I thought I would be crushed. It is scary but if you look into it, you may be able to conciously help yourself reduce the rate it happens at. As for my other experiances that lead me to be a investigator….those were in a full wakeing state at all hours of the day….lol.
I was sleeping in a room with my sister and her boyfriend.
They were on the other side of the room, and I was on my side. Something shook me out of my sleep, and it scared me to death. I was sleeping on my right side, left arm wrapped over and under my body, My right arm wrapped around going up. My knees were bent in like a fedal position. I tried to sit up and started to feel pain all over the parts I moved. If I went to move my right arm it would nudge then feel like it was being burned. After a few moments I tried to push myself up only to get my neck craned and fell back.
So I tried to cry for mom couldn’t talk. Nothing came out. So I started shiving my body again and it started to break up from whatever the hell it was pushing me into a ball. I went back to bed because it started to hurt to much. Then I woke up again not long and started crying for mom. Came out like “M…o….o..i….m.” Dry, slow and quiet.
My soon to be bro in law heard me crying but he knows I talk in my sleep, so didn’t think much about it.
Bout a year later I had a dream about this old hag who was outside my now dead, demented, cloudy, bodies floating in the water, I walked up to her because she was the only thing that seemed living in the world besides me. She then pointed to the river where this middle aged man who had half his flesh RIPPED off and body demented and colored moldy. “Don’t scream, or you shall disturb them.” She said. I did scream. It was horrible! And the body disapeared from the water and was behind me, towering over. “I’ll be watching you.”
I was in my partners house at the time and felt really tired during the day ( as it turned out I was in the early stages of pregnancy ) but no-one else was in the house. I fell asleep and after a while I heard somebody calling my name I tried to answer them but couldnt get any words out of my mouth or move my body. I thought I was dying. I could see around the room but for some strange reason I thought that my eyes were closed. So with all my strength I tried to get my right hand up to push up my eyelid. I knew I had a hold of my eyelid but it felt like it didnt so I started squeezing. When I eventually came around out of it I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror and my eye was black and blue from where I had been squeezing it. I lost my baby soon after that so maybe it was someone trying to tell me something?
Recently I was in my friends apt and I had another experience but this one was different. I woke up to the sound of my friends voice but I knew in my heart and soul that he was in work. So I looked over to the door of the bedroom and he was standing there but when I looked at his face it was all disfigured like smudged, It sounds so weird but it was really terriffying.
I would not wish these episodes on even my worst enemy. They are horrible.
yea i figured i wasnt the only one who went through all this weird things. I have been expirencing this for the past year and a half or so. And they seem to get worst. I cant breathe i cant talk, i feel someone is choking me ive even felt being raped. eyes slightly open, saw a dark shadow on top of me. Everytime i want to scream but since im so used to it that i know no one will hear. i pray in my head but one time i prayed it didnt work, all i can feel is the presence get angry and choke me even stronger. the more i prayed the more angry he got then he finally gave up and i finally woke up. AWAKE i was and yet i was quiet thinking, playing it back in my head what had just happened…i literally cried myseld to sleep that night. WTF? scary!. its weird ive even heard chanting or talking in my ears or close to me, i dont know but what ever it was, seems to alwasy freak me out. And when i know im about to go in to these weird episodes my ears being to pop on and off on and off my body beings to tremble, (seizure type) my ears hurt with all the popping. My grandma came from my country to visit and i told her about my situation that she would pray in my room every night and when she was here i didnt expirence anything but onces she left, it came back. i call them “it” becuase i know its something. i used to convince myself its due to stress and lack of sleep and abnormal sleeping cycles, BUT this is more then that. i know, i believe its out of the ordianry thing…i think all this is sooooo weird, but since its happend so much. ive gotten used to it. that sometime i wonder, am i gonna have one tonight? thats my story ppl. please believe.
hello there
i have had this all my life and to this day I sleep with my bible under my pillow this has helped me a lot. When I do not have my bible under my pillow I feel all sorts of things. One time i was sleeping with knees up and I felt something poking me on my knee and I woke up and there was no one. In this episode I did not feel like I could not move or scream I was just sleeping.
I assure everyone here, all these night terrors are absolutely nothing to do with ghosts. They are all a product of the human body, a machine far more mysterious, far stranger than ghosties, ghoulies and long-leggity beasties could dream of being, and, moreover, a machine that, for all its intricacies, still has a few design flaws.
Sleep paralysis, feeling like you’re being poked, feeling a presence in the room – all normal. When the body and mind are shutting down – shit goes down! It’s one powerful, complex machine. Truth is, we all have sleep paralysis, every night – it kicks in just as we switch off and power down. The body goes into hibernation and several key parts are switched off, like movement, for both lower energy consumption, and our own safety.
Not being able to move during sleep is a logical evolutionary solution to the problem of dreaming: In a dream, your mind is happily working away while you’re asleep, telling you, “wow, you’re running through the forest, there’s, like, a massive, fuck-off bear-monster chasing you – better run harder”, but, unlike when we’re awake, in sleep the mind cannot control our function, because movement is switched off. So that way, we don’t, in our sleep, jump out of bed, run across the room, and smash straight through the upper storey windo, screaming some guff about a bear-monster… unless you are a sleep walker, which is a condition caused by you not having the oh so useful and beneficial sleep paralysis.
Problem is, the body is awesome, but not perfect. Just like we almost all suffer from bad backs when we got old, because the skeleton of a Great Ape is not really fully designed to walk upright, which takes its toll, some of us unfortunately wake up during sleep with our healthy sleep paralysis still switched on. The mind, meanwhile, is still in dream land. So panic sets in; you’re not thinking straight; you can’t move. Bad times. I’ve had it once; to be honest, because I knew it was fake, I quite enjoyed it, despite thinking an intruder was going to kill me (see my post a little higher up)!
But, it’s far easier for us to believe that there’s a ghost touching our knee, or demons sitting on us. “The body couldn’t be at fault, could it?” But think about it, all those ghost stories, all those shadows in the corner of the room, all those things we catch out of the corner of our eye, moving. 99% are at night. At night, not only is it dark, but the mind, something wilder and weirder than the supernatural, is powering down. Would you score as highly in a maths exam at midnight as you would at midday? No. Because the brain works in cycles, with greater performance at different moments every day. At night it’s not all that trustworthy. If it’s an American mind, it’s not trustworthy at all. (I’m joking, please don’t all get stressy)
I don’t know if ghosts exist. What I cansay is that sleep paralysis, and all associated night terrors, are not proof that they do in the slightest.
I have woken up once in midair….HELP?
You guys are so lucky. That is not what happened to me. On Friday the 13 it kept on happening to me from 12:00 to 12:03. I woke up after a nightmare , staring at the wall. I tried to scream, but all i heard was air moving around. Then i went to sleep. Again i woke up and saw my cloc moved over somewhere else. I could not move, so i was unable to see where it went. Then i went to sleep. Again it came, but this time, i could not move, but i could scream. Because the clock was on me!!!! It was so scary, And i dont know what happend. Oh, and i saw a figure in the conner of my eye looking at me with those creepy eyes that glow in the dark. It is weird to belive that it all happend is three minutes. TRUE STORY
Another one encountered to me. I woe up from a nightmare. And boy i felt like i was in hell. Everything in my body was dry. I wanted to get up and get a glass of water but then once i treid to get up< i fell on the ground. Luckly i hade sheets on so i did not fell much pain. But unluckly, I hit my book shelf and books fell on my like crazy!!!!!! My sences came back Because i went to sleep again. When i finnaly got pout of that mess, while i was cleaning it up, the first book i grabbed was “crashing into books at midnight” That freaked me out. TRUE STORY
I have had two significant experiences. Once when I was about 18 and the other when I was about 22. In the first, I was watching TV and suddenly could not move a single muscle. I could, however, move my eyes. It was really very, very scary. The most scary feeling I have ever had…ever. I was having a hard time breathing. I could sense a presence in the room with me at the time and it was making a strange shuffling sound on the floor. I was afraid to look at it and the next thing I know, (I know this is going to sound crazy), I am no longer in my body. I am looking down on my body on my bed and I am somewhere near the ceiling. Here’s the craziest part. I go through the ceiling and find myself in this round room that is dimly lit. There are windows around and it is kind of dark outside. It looks like there are curtains on the windows but I am not for sure. There is a “podium” in the middle of the room and I am moving toward it. I place my hands on the podium and begin falling – like into a bottomless pit that is so dark I can feel it. I keep falling and falling and in my mind, I call out to Jesus and immediately, I mean IMMEDIATELY – I am back in my body on my bed and can move. I ran into the living room to tell my dad but he just shrugged it off as a bad dream. I was not asleep.
The next time it happened when I was in college. I was again watching TV and it happened – I couldn’t move. Same song, second verse. Except this time, I could hear lots of little feet shuffling around behind me (there is a wall behind me!). They are very close and I hear lots and lots of little “whisperings” that are downright evil and FREAKING ME OUT!! I am scared spitless and in my mind scream out to Jesus and the episode immediately ends.
I believe that the scientists do not have this diagnosis cornered. I believe that there is a spiritual dimension that is unseen and at times, we are opened up to it for some reason or another. For me, it is more reason to believe in God.
My teacher had an experience while in Japan.(she was a flight attendant and she was in a hotel.)She went to sleep and woke up and felt like something was in the room with her on the other bed.Then it got closer and closer and was on top of her.Then she thought in her head “leave me alone…i will pray for your soul just please don’t scare me” then the thing went away and she prayed.In the morning she found out that the room she was in was haunted because the other flight attendants told her.Thats it.
In 2007 at the age of 13 i was dreaming that, my older brother and i were walking and then we ended up by the stop sign by my house. from there on, my brother was gone from the dream and at the stop sign, there was a old man in brown standing. i saw him right when i was about to enter my house. but i ignored him. i went downstairs (where i was actually sleeping) to go sleep. (in the same bed). there the old man was in the same room. (in there room, there’s two beds and i was on the far left.) on the right side of the bed, i could see the old man’s half body only. (cause it looked like he was standing right through the bed) so i made hand movements, showing him the way out. and i even said “go away, you don’t belong here” (i was tired supposly, so i just didn’t really care what this old man would do) he just stood there, and suddenly he kind of like walked/floated his way toward me, and he covered my mouth (it looked like he did it really gental) but when he had his hand over my mouth, it felt like 20pds. i used both hands to pull his hand away, i think i tried screaming but i was so tired and it was so heavy. i thought it was strange, because i could still move my hands. but since i was tired since i used most of my strength to pull his hand away, i ended up knocking out. and this was all a dream, but im pretty sure the old man was with me that night.
Last night i woke up and i couldnt open my eyes, couldnt move my body, but i could hear weird foot prints. And it felt as it someone was lying in my bed with me, and they were squishing my arm. It was weird, but it felt like someone was at the foot of my bed touching my toes and looking at me, i tried soo hard to yell and i couldnt. It was def the scaryest thing that ahs ever happened to me. I was so afraid to go back to sleep, so i stayed awake the rest of the night.
Im glad im not the only one who has experienced it, its scary, i woke one night on my back with my head facing the door way i cold see clearly but cold not move, i was so scared because i knew or it felt like someone was in my house headin towards my room, i tried to yell to my girlfriend but could only make mubbling noises, i stayed like that for what felt like a minute or so, realizing i could do nothing i closed my eyes and went back to sleep and woke up alive and fine, it was the wierdest sensation ever.
I HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE, BUT IT HAPPENS TO ME WHEN IM SLEEPING AND I FEEL THAT SOMETHING HEAVY IS ON TOP OF ME AND I FEEL LIKE IS A SHADOW, AND IS SUFFICATES ME AND I CANT BREATH.AND IN MY DREAM I TRY TO WEAK UP BUT I CANT SO I TRY TO PRAY AND THEN I FINALLY WAKE UP,BUT WHEN I WAKE UP I FEELL LIKE IT HAPPEND FOR REAL I FEEL LIKE I CANT BREATH LIKE MY DREAM
This has happened to me also, my mother said “the hag” was riding me she said that it happened to a lot of members of her family back in the day. I felt like something was holding me down and I could not move or yelled I said a silent prayer and it went away but the strange thing was I was not scared.
This happenes to me all the time im 13 years old and i wake up 2 or 3 times a night and
feel like my bodies tingling and i can’t move or talk ive never seen any one or herd anything besides what sounded like my eardrums busting and running water if some one could tell me what i can do to make this thing go away can u please do so
HMMMMM… I HAD ONE OF THESE EXPERIENCE A WHILE AGO AND I T WAS DIFFERENT I WAS IN A TOILET AND I WAS SCREAMING BUT NO VOICE CAME OUT AND THEN I WOKE UP ? COULD ANYONE EXPLAIN THI S?
scientist seem to have an answer for everything!!What about god? When i was 19 i had a paranormal experience i was sleeping at a friends house, when we were sharing the same bed and the fan was on cause it was hot out. Something of a black shadow entered the room and came to my side of the bed. Floated above me and came down on top of me and i couldnt move. It felt like i was paralyzed and i couldnt move but i could still hear the fan running. I was trying to call out to my friend but no sound would come out. I was terrified. After it let me go i sat up quickly and she woke up and i told her what happened. After that i couldnt sleep without the light on for months. Before any of this i used to have dreams about me going to hell. And what hell was like. So now i turned to god. It’s the only way.
i belibe in sleep paralysis because it happene to me ones you feel that you can,t move end that you can,t breath i don,t know what causes this but it scary
I’m not sure if what I experienced was this, but it was really scary. I usually fall asleep fairly easily. But a few months ago I was feeling kind of strange, like there was an evil presence. I “fell asleep” on my back, and “woke up”, with a wierd feeling going through me. The reason I use quotes is because I’m not really sure of if I was sleeping, i felt like that feeling you get after you get really high. Like that muggy feeling. Anyways, I was hot and shaking, like hot shivers. I looked up on the ceiling and there was a body laying above me, looking at me. It was like a black shadow. I flipped it off, until I realized I couldn’t move that well. Something was moving my arms now, and I knew it was the shadow. I couldn’t talk, but I was trying, like the words wouldn’t come out. Like I didn’t have the strength. I was fading in and out of reality, it seemed.. in and out of consiousness. (sp?) Finally I broke out of the hold, and rolled over and fell asleep.
Within the same week, it happened again. Exactly the same, except this time it was a face at the end of my bed…I don’t really remember what it looked like, but when I saw it, it was like I zoomed in on it – really fast, I can’t even explain it foreal. and my facial expression must have been pretty out there… I had the hot, shivering feeling again until I snapped out of it.
btw this isn’t bullshit, it’s what I felt. I’d like to think I was imagining it, but it seemed so real. What the rest of you have explained is totally different from what I experienced.
About three or four times a month I wake up not being able to move or breathe. I feel as if someone is holding me down and not wanting me to get up or say anyhting, or even breathe. And me being a very reglious person I’m scared that it ould be something other than sleep paralysis. I would love some answers becasue me being a high school student I need my sleep, and since its been happening my grades have been slipping and I’ve been EXTREMELY tired. My teachers have been asking questions and I don’t have the answers and their starting to get suspicious, and asking me all these questions. Im just worried and would love some answers.
hi hey sup im just wondering how does one get sp i want to see what it is like 1 time plz some 1 tell me it my birthday plz tell me!
I have been experiencing this feeling for over 19 years now. The first time it happened to me, I was so terrified and was trying to resist, but my effort was all in vain. I cannot speak or utter a word, unable to move. The only thing I can do is repeat the 23rd. Psalms in my mind.
It is like a force, a pressure, a heavy weight, like I am trapped within my own body, like I am paralyze. It was not until I begin talking about my experience that I discovered that it happen to many people, so it was a kind of relief to know that.
Some people say that it is when the spirit leaves the body for a while, but the spirit only leaves the body when you are dead, not when you are alive. I am not sure it is the same as out of body experience, but it is the most frightening feeling in the “World”. a child would be afraid to sleep alone and would never leave their mothers side.
Just last week, a different feeling happen to me, I felt someone holding my ankles, it released me, then happened again and again and again. I got extremely angry and called my boyfriend in the night and turn on my other side. I then left my radio on, but could not find a gospel channel.
Something is just mystrious and horrifying.
I believe that it is some kind of a Spirit, or Ghost if you will, no one wants to hear that, but what else can it be. It obviously can see us, but we cannot see it.
I was sleeping one night, and having a nightmare as i usually do and when i woke up i could not move. I could not even open my eyes. My breating was slow and uneven and i would not shake it for at least 30 seconds. It has happened to me multiple times and it scares me.
Does anyone have and ideas to what could be going on, i have rosary beads on every door and window in my room yet i still feel unsafe when i cant wake up.
Make no mistake, I have been a practicing magician for many years and have much experience with enities, many, no longer of this world. I can tell you with absolute certainty that just as you find good and bad people in life, they also exist in death.
Like some psycopaths or evil living people, there are many, many evil spirits that lurk around us every day. Night is the easiest time for the ‘old hags’ to attack you because your consciousness is temporarily away from the body on astral visitations. They know this and use this time to attack you.
Sleep paralysis is a real medical condition, it is a result of chemicals in your blood parayzing you at night when you sleep so that you don’t act out your dreams, its there to protect you while you dream. people with sleepwalking disorders lack some of this chemical. However, in the psychic realm, when you are attacked, your mind quickly becomes aware of it and returns to the body. Your consciousness is again present but, your body is still under the influence of the neuromuscular blocking chemical that allows you to move, so… in a sense both medical science AND psychic mystycism are correct.
paranormal lore tells you what is happening, science explains how it happens. And if you want to avoid being attacked, there are many psycic self defence techniques you can use before you sleep. I personally like Franz Bardon and Dion Fortune, they are both well worth a read.
Good luck friends
4 yrs ago I experienced this situation if anyone out there can possibly explain why, please tell me.
In the same yr that this had happened I had 3 deaths in my family (great-grandma, aunt and my unborn child) also my ex had a death in his family (his grandma – whom despised me). My ex and I broke up and bout couple months later I was laying in bed on my stomach bout to fall asleep when I felt something like a cat walking up my legs and then pawing on my butt to get comfy, when I try to turn my head to see what is going on, I cant move, it feels like something is holding me down, I try to scream for my kids I know my mouth is open but nothings coming out. I slowly move my eyes toward my bedroom door cuz I cant lift my head and all of sudden I see this white light get brighter and then it stops I can move again and the light disappears. I never slept in that bdrm again as a matter of fact I have moved and never had the problem again.
Some people say I had a witch riding me or the spirit of the one whom didnt like me was trying to take my happiness and the white light was my great- grandma or my aunt protecting me. Can anyone please help, I just want the real reason.
i have expirence this before, i was in my bed sleeping, then i woke up, i couldnt breathe felt like i was gettin choked, by someone, but i couldnt see anybody choking me, i couldnt move eihter, i couldnt talk, tried screamming but my mouth was close shut, then another time was kinda more scary same all stuff that happen to me in the other incident but this time i felt like i was being lift up form my bed like, like i was floating up, this happen to me maybe bout 2-3 years ago, havent experience any since then, and it only happen to me a couple of times, it still a weird, but somewhat interesting experince kinda wanting to have it again so i could observe it
It’s weird ive had this thing going on. Im asleep and all of a sudden i feel as if something very heavy is on top of me. I try to move i try to talk or yell but i cant i fight hard to move but i still cant at times i can move my fingers alil but not really. After that happens this feeling as if im falling starts. I fall and fall and never reach an end. Ive had this thing going on for awhile its happend to me more than once idk what it is but its scary. When this usually happens i say a prayer and it goes away!
Look I’ve been dealing with this problem for a while. Best advice I can give is to get angry. Don’t get scared use everything you’ve got to get pissed off, turn your fear into rage and wiggle your body.
I had the dream where the old hag is strangling me and I can’t breathe. My body is rendered into a paralyzed state. I can’t wait to one day dream of strangling her.
Anyone see/feel these things before or waking from sleep?
-Blue lights rotating in circles when your eyes are closed?
-Closed eye hallucinations before you fall asleep or open your eyes from dreams?
-Lucid Dreams, where you’re flying and in control of wherever you go?
-Dreams of familiar people surrounding and talking to you frequently.
-Dreams that feel like you are awake, and you think you are awake, but you’re still sleeping and you can’t wake up right away?
-Someone talking in your ear?
-A loud bang before you wake up?
-Feeling like your tripping out once you come out of a lucid dream?
-Idol commentary..
Yeah, this is all stuff I’ve dealt with in the last 6 months. lol.
I know most medical practitioners would diagnose this as schizophrenic symptoms.
But then again, its seems like all doctors are looking to do is throw people prescriptions to make their money now days.
& too be expected, I’ve noticed that good and bad presences definitely affect how good or bad the dream experience is. Is anyone on this thread hypertensive, because when you are, it changes the whole way you go about life, that’s for sure.
wow I didn’t know that this was so common! I really thought I was the only one. Well I was about 16,17 when it first happened. I was sleeping and all of a sudden I feel something trying to pull like my soul up towards the ceiling. It was so strong and all I can do is try to hold on and squeeze my body tight to stay on my bed. Then out of nowhere this huge super bright white light rushes in IT WAS SERIOUSLY BLINDING!! All I could do was pray because I couldn’t move or talk although I did try to scream. Well then the light left and I woke up in shock. I do believe that the blinding light was an angel. I thing something evil was trying to take me. Before that I was have dreams of the devil chasing me and I would run and finally be at the feet of God and then woke up. At that time my faith was weak because my grandma