Sleep Paralysis - What's the cause?

[RichGrad]

Hi everyone...

So I have been "suffering" from Sleep Paralysis since my teenage years. As I get older, the condition seems to worsen.

Previously, it's just the normal feeling of not being able to move and sense of helplessness. During the past few episodes though, I began to hear and see things (that seem to be out of this world). For eg. evil laughter, white/black standing shadows... They give me the creeps.

Anybody had similar experience (worsening)? Just for info, I have never consulted a doctor before, just read up on it online... It appears that I will usually have such episodes when I'm stressed.

[cdn2wheeler]

Did a quick search and came up with these:

• Sleep Paralysis - the Basics
• What causes sleep paralysis?

It's often accompanied by feelings of dread, the sense that a threatening presence is near, occasionally a tightness in the chest and a few other things. It's scary, but it's also completely harmless. Nothing paranormal or supernatural about it.

[Erin Pavlina]

I will agree and disagree with CDN. Sleep paralysis CAN be totally physical but there can also be a supernatural element in some cases. I don't think CDN believes in the supernatural so he may not be open to entertaining the idea. But what happens is that sleep paralysis is like opening a door. Sometimes something comes through and sometimes it doesn't and you're just stuck there holding the door open until you can get it closed.

I've gone from a state of sleep paralysis into an out of body experience. And sometimes you get the visit from the Night Hag (google that). Sometimes there's a succubus/incubus involved.

[cdn2wheeler]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

I don't think CDN believes in the supernatural so he may not be open to entertaining the idea.

Fair comment. I'm open to the possibility, though I'm also a believer in the Occam's Razor argument: "one should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything"

It means, in short, that generally the simpler explanation is most likely the correct one. For instance, you see an apple fall from a tree. Two explanations are given:

1. Gravity draws the apple to the earth's surface; or,
2. Invisible beings have grasped the apple, pulled it off the tree and placed it on the ground.

Using the Occam's Razor model, the simpler of the two explanations - gravity - is more likely to be correct.

That's how I see sleep paralysis. The simpler of the two arguments - whether it has a natural, physical cause that can (and has) been measured, or whether it may be a supernatural cause that can't (and hasn't, as far as I know) been measured - makes more sense to me. But that's my bias, and I've been known to be wrong.

[Erin Pavlina]

I like Occam's Razor too. But what if you see little invisible beings grabbing the apple off the tree. Most people can't see them but some can. So those of us who can of course want to bring it to the attention of people who can't see them but we can't make them see what we see, they would have to take our word for it or get new eyeballs or something. Imagine how frustrating it would be if you were one of the ones who could see but could not convince anyone else that you could see them. Plus you start telling people you see invisible beings pulling apples off the trees and they send you to the loony bin, so you stop telling people you can see them and just wink at them while they pull off the apples. meanwhile everyone is going on about gravity and you and the beings share a knowing smile...

I like Occam's Razor but the greatest discoveries are probably made by people unwilling to accept the simplest explanation.

[Cantando]

Originally Posted by RichGrad

Hi everyone...

So I have been "suffering" from Sleep Paralysis since my teenage years. As I get older, the condition seems to worsen.

Previously, it's just the normal feeling of not being able to move and sense of helplessness. During the past few episodes though, I began to hear and see things (that seem to be out of this world). For eg. evil laughter, white/black standing shadows... They give me the creeps.

Anybody had similar experience (worsening)? Just for info, I have never consulted a doctor before, just read up on it online... It appears that I will usually have such episodes when I'm stressed.

I used to experience this a lot.
I remember reading that sleep paralysis was perfectly natural and its purpose was to prevent you from sleep walking while you were dreaming. I used to sleep walk a lot, so there must have been some disruption to this mechanism.

I have also noticed that if I am dreaming and I hear an external noise, it immediately causes a fright in my dream, like some entity is trying to possess me or something. As my consciousness seems to be outside my body (perhaps astral walking), I then try to 'jump' back into it, in order to protect it. If my body is sleep paralysed, this may set up a conflict and I become afraid that I can't get back into my body and that some other entity wants to take over it. Then there may be a moment of panic. I would feel hands pulling at the bedclothes and see figures around the bed.

The only thing I can suggest is that there may be some stress present which causes a disruption to one's normal circadian rhythms, so it is important to do the usual things - get plenty of sleep, eat properly, get some exercise, take up a hobby, practise yoga, etc, and don't dwell too much on subjects like hell, the devil, etc. No watching The Exorcist late at night!!!

[RichGrad]

Erin, what's your view on the part where I hear and see things such as evil laughter and white/black standing shadows...

[Erin Pavlina]

You could be in a state of intersection with another plane where these entities are dwelling and you could be picking up on their energy. Or they could be attempting to infiltrate our plane by using you and your energy as a sort of open door and trying to slip in.

In all cases where you're experiencing negative energy whether it is conscious negative energy with some sort of nefarious intent or whether it is just bad energy with no consciousness, you want to dispel it by raising your vibration to a state of love, joy, compassion and/or gratitude. They hate that.

[EmilOsterstrom]

I've had sleep paralysis too a couple of times and first I was very frightened by them, but I have gotten use to the negative feelings around it and "don't care" when it does happen and just try to stay calm.
It's also the beginning of astral travel or out-of-body experience for me - but I never seem to make it happen - my chest and head always "weigh" me down... So I'm starting to believe that it's all in my head..

I've also opened my eyes during this "moment" which is kinda cool/weird... Once they are open I can see the sunlight in my room (if it's during a day) whilst feeling all these negative feelings and feeling half my body floating! Hehe...! Did this happen to anyone?

[Erin Pavlina]

In a state of sleep paralysis you can open your astral eyes while still feelign your physical eyes closed.

To escape the confines of your body and go astral, instead of just lifting out of your body you can try the other technique where you imagine yourself outside your bedroom or on top of your roof (my favorite) and teleport your astral body there. It bypasses the body's efforts to keep its soul in the body. It requires a great deal of faith and will because you've got to move your astral body to a new location and believe it will actually get there.

[ChefSalad]

I tend to get sleep paralysis when I am undergoing an usual amount of stress. The last time (a few weeks ago, actually), I experienced a spirit behind me speaking with a saw blade like sound. It seemed to vibrate the universe. He called me stupid because I was interpreting things in a dream a bit differently than he was, I think. Having had many of these experiences, I have gotten good at raising my vibration to get awake. I have also taken the opportunity to go astral a few times. I've seen a few entities. Very few were ever nefarious in any way. In fact, I would say that I've only encountered evil once or twice. Even in real life, I rarely even see (for very long, that is) people with low vibrations. They tend to get annoyed at my not coming down to commiserate and leave.

Anywho, I've found that sleeping on my side seems to prevent sleep paralysis, as does reducing stress, sleeping regularly and enough (biphasic 1.5/4.5 for me), and staying away from too much caffeine. Watching scary movies is out of the question for me in general, but I don't think that they have any effect on sleep paralysis. In fact, I rarely even have bad dreams. Instead I seem to live several parallel lives in my dreams and receive knowledge and advice on a variety of subjects. I just wish I could stop talking about myself so much.

[EmilOsterstrom]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

In a state of sleep paralysis you can open your astral eyes while still feelign your physical eyes closed.

To escape the confines of your body and go astral, instead of just lifting out of your body you can try the other technique where you imagine yourself outside your bedroom or on top of your roof (my favorite) and teleport your astral body there. It bypasses the body's efforts to keep its soul in the body. It requires a great deal of faith and will because you've got to move your astral body to a new location and believe it will actually get there.

Thanks!
With my post I was hoping for an advice from you... :)
I didn't come across this tip before. I will try it next time - to imagine myself in another place. I didn't try this, I only tried to "break lose" from my own body, but didn't work.

[Carl Carlson IV]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

Night Hag (google that).

Wow, does that ever sound fun!

[Floridagal]

I wanna say that B-6 and Magnisium dosages can be increased and let' see what the results will be. It is happening in a particular stage of sleep. Not sure which one but electric vibrations of brain can be measured pretty simple these days.

As soon as the stage will be determined it can be much shortened by some basic meds and as a result the occurence of such disturbing things will be significantly reduced.

[RichGrad]

Has anyone seen a doctor about sleep paralysis? What do they usually say?

FG. I don't think we need to resort to medicine or drugs. as Erin implied, sleep paralysis is not necessarily a bad thing.

[RichGrad]

OK it happened again yesterday but it was strange...

Strange because I don't know whether I dreamt that it happened or it really happened. Previously all my experiences were pretty clear... This is a very blurry one.. Hmmm...

[Billy]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

I like Occam's Razor too. But what if you see little invisible beings grabbing the apple off the tree. Most people can't see them but some can. So those of us who can of course want to bring it to the attention of people who can't see them but we can't make them see what we see, they would have to take our word for it or get new eyeballs or something. Imagine how frustrating it would be if you were one of the ones who could see but could not convince anyone else that you could see them.

I like Occam's Razor but the greatest discoveries are probably made by people unwilling to accept the simplest explanation.

I totally agree with you 100% Erin. What can we do when we discover that these prescences are real and that they operate within an area that can only be seen by some? I was totally taken aback when I first experienced sleep paralysis and observed two beings who were definitely up to no good performing some kind of activity on my body. I wanted to tell everybody about these things but realised that I would for the most part be alone in my knowledge. Occam's Razor seems to work fine in the physical world, but it would be a stretch to say that anything in the higher and lower planes is simple or obvious.

[Acting Like Godot]

This is a little creepy, but I thought I would share this story.

There were two people who were brothers. They lived in the same house. Their father died. A few days after the funeral, both these guys did something which in their culture is considered disrespectful to the dead. They didn't mean to be disrespectful, they were just not superstitious people and therefore didn't see any harm in doing what they did.

That night, BOTH these guys had sleep paralysis at the same time. Neither had ever had sleep paralysis before. But that night, BOTH had sleep paralysis and both of them sensed a presence which they identified to be their father's (who evidently wasn't very pleased with them for the disrespectful act). This by the way was the outright terrifying kind of sleep paralysis.

Okay, what are the odds of sleep paralysis being a mere physical illness / symptom of some kind, and BOTH these guys getting sleep paralysis at the same time? And after that disrespectful act?

... Anyway, these two guys are now my brothers-in-law (I married their sister).

[MyEyeIsOpen]

Thanks!
With my post I was hoping for an advice from you...
I didn't come across this tip before. I will try it next time - to imagine myself in another place. I didn't try this, I only tried to "break lose" from my own body, but didn't work.

Yes, it's a good idea, but I think Erin may have forgotten what it's like to start out doing this -- you can do this, but it's a bit of an advanced trick. When you first start to project, you still have a strong mental model of what "space" is like, so you have to sort of travel through it linearly. Later, as the feeling becomes more commonplace for you, you realize that it's more of a "thought space" than a "physical space," and you can move at will to anywhere within it.

That's what Erin is talking about doing. Very possible, but don't feel bad if you can't do it right away. Just remember that space isn't really there, it's just a mental arrangement of ideas that you have, and can therefore manipulate.

[obie]

thanks i have been reading about sleep paralysis i have had it for as long as i can remember.... its one crazy thing what i find amazing it the most people sence a presence whats with that???? i consider my self not to be frightend by meny things bit sleep paralysis can be verty frightening i cannot look at what ever is present i have tryed to play with it its strong what ever it is i find in certen places in the world its stonger (eg bali; india; south america) were i had lots of diffrent experences with difrent entitys strange but true most times sleep paralysis accures i have the feeling someone is there i wish i could just look but i just cant have tryed lots of diffrent things but still gettin this same thing over and over
peace obie