If you’ve ever woken up paralyzed and thought you heard, saw, or felt something pressing down on you, then relax, because you're not alone. Sleep paralysis is what you experienced, and it can happen to anyone, anywhere. Most people who have had this type of encounter describe it as the worst experience imaginable. The terror felt during sleep paralysis is on the same level as being held at gunpoint: you feel like your life is in jeopardy, or like something seriously dangerous can happen to you. 99.9 percent of the time, people wake up from sleep paralysis within five minutes of it starting, so you should never be worried about actually getting hurt.
Sleep paralysis, for those who are unaware, is a sleep disorder which causes people to wake up paralyzed, unable to speak, and, in rare cases, become subjected to hallucinations of frightening entities taunting and straddling them. It’s fairly common among the population; about one in three people have had or will have a case of it throughout their lives. Medically, not much is known about sleep paralysis, or why it happens. However, if your condition is chronic, there are steps you can take to make it less frequent.
The event most frequently occurs during naps or periods of sleep deprivation. Make sure you are getting enough sleep and go to bed at the same time every night so your body’s circadian rhythm isn’t throw out of line. The circadian rhythm is the body’s default timing system for falling asleep and waking up. Basically, the body doesn’t like being argued with, so don’t mess with it or you'll have to face its wrath. Also, people who sleep on their backs seem to get it more than people who sleep on their stomachs. I sleep on my stomach all the time, and I get it more often than practically anyone, so that tip doesn’t bode well for folks like me. Try doing it anyway, because different things work for different people, and hopefully it will work for you.
Screaming, fighting, kicking, and trying to get your spouse's attention won’t help. In fact, you can’t even speak during an episode, and all the energy wasted trying to fight your way out of it can make it harder to wake up. Physically, the best thing to do is to focus on one body part, like a finger or a toe, and try to wiggle it. This aims to focus your nervous system on minute details about the environment, instead of subjecting it to a jerky panic attack that reinforces the surrounding scene and makes you feel more helpless.
If you’re like me and none of the basic remedies work, you need a more advanced strategy. As a seasoned veteran of handling sleep paralysis attacks, my best advice is to try your best to remain calm and not allow any entities to play tricks on you. Whether these entities are actual apparitions or just hallucinations is irrelevant; either way you look at it, ignoring them is the best way to prevent them from making the situation worse. Your emotional state will determine the longevity of the attack. If you are afraid, then it makes the entity or hallucination easier to harass you.
When emotional manipulation doesn't work, what you can do to combat the worst demons is try to visualize angels or use prayers during the attack. Think about an orb of brightness illuminating the space above your bed and whisper a passage out of something like the Bible or Koran. Some people even go all out and put incense, crosses, jade Buddhas, voodoo dolls, and mandalas around their beds (yes, I’ve had to resort to this). Religion seems to be the most powerful force against the worst of these episodes. As a disclaimer, I am not Christian; rather I believe in a mixture of all religions, which is called Bahai, or pantheism.
Whatever you do, don’t let the attacks make you so afraid that you are unable to fall asleep. This is how a demon (literal or metaphorical) can trick you into possessing you; by depriving you of sleep even more, it makes you weaker and more susceptible to their influence. This happened to me once, and I got so psychotic that I was worried I’d never be able to sleep again. The paralysis would occur every time I fell asleep, simply because I was obsessed with it, worrying that it would happen again. If you find yourself unable to think about anything else while falling asleep, consider listening to guided meditation with your eyes closed. It relaxes you and takes your mind away from the apprehension of being haunted.
As you gain more experience in dealing with these pests, it becomes easier for you to combat any spirits. The main thing you want to do is always remain fearless. Train your mind to block the fear, because that’s the biggest thing that empowers your nightly stalkers. Remember, they can only hurt you if you let them. Some people say that the power to tap into other side is a gift from God, but in reality, it's as much of a curse as it is a blessing.
Sleep paralysis, for those who are unaware, is a sleep disorder which causes people to wake up paralyzed, unable to speak, and, in rare cases, become subjected to hallucinations of frightening entities taunting and straddling them. It’s fairly common among the population; about one in three people have had or will have a case of it throughout their lives. Medically, not much is known about sleep paralysis, or why it happens. However, if your condition is chronic, there are steps you can take to make it less frequent.
The event most frequently occurs during naps or periods of sleep deprivation. Make sure you are getting enough sleep and go to bed at the same time every night so your body’s circadian rhythm isn’t throw out of line. The circadian rhythm is the body’s default timing system for falling asleep and waking up. Basically, the body doesn’t like being argued with, so don’t mess with it or you'll have to face its wrath. Also, people who sleep on their backs seem to get it more than people who sleep on their stomachs. I sleep on my stomach all the time, and I get it more often than practically anyone, so that tip doesn’t bode well for folks like me. Try doing it anyway, because different things work for different people, and hopefully it will work for you.
Screaming, fighting, kicking, and trying to get your spouse's attention won’t help. In fact, you can’t even speak during an episode, and all the energy wasted trying to fight your way out of it can make it harder to wake up. Physically, the best thing to do is to focus on one body part, like a finger or a toe, and try to wiggle it. This aims to focus your nervous system on minute details about the environment, instead of subjecting it to a jerky panic attack that reinforces the surrounding scene and makes you feel more helpless.
If you’re like me and none of the basic remedies work, you need a more advanced strategy. As a seasoned veteran of handling sleep paralysis attacks, my best advice is to try your best to remain calm and not allow any entities to play tricks on you. Whether these entities are actual apparitions or just hallucinations is irrelevant; either way you look at it, ignoring them is the best way to prevent them from making the situation worse. Your emotional state will determine the longevity of the attack. If you are afraid, then it makes the entity or hallucination easier to harass you.
When emotional manipulation doesn't work, what you can do to combat the worst demons is try to visualize angels or use prayers during the attack. Think about an orb of brightness illuminating the space above your bed and whisper a passage out of something like the Bible or Koran. Some people even go all out and put incense, crosses, jade Buddhas, voodoo dolls, and mandalas around their beds (yes, I’ve had to resort to this). Religion seems to be the most powerful force against the worst of these episodes. As a disclaimer, I am not Christian; rather I believe in a mixture of all religions, which is called Bahai, or pantheism.
Whatever you do, don’t let the attacks make you so afraid that you are unable to fall asleep. This is how a demon (literal or metaphorical) can trick you into possessing you; by depriving you of sleep even more, it makes you weaker and more susceptible to their influence. This happened to me once, and I got so psychotic that I was worried I’d never be able to sleep again. The paralysis would occur every time I fell asleep, simply because I was obsessed with it, worrying that it would happen again. If you find yourself unable to think about anything else while falling asleep, consider listening to guided meditation with your eyes closed. It relaxes you and takes your mind away from the apprehension of being haunted.
As you gain more experience in dealing with these pests, it becomes easier for you to combat any spirits. The main thing you want to do is always remain fearless. Train your mind to block the fear, because that’s the biggest thing that empowers your nightly stalkers. Remember, they can only hurt you if you let them. Some people say that the power to tap into other side is a gift from God, but in reality, it's as much of a curse as it is a blessing.
