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Sleep Paralysis or Paranormal Experience?


Myster D

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I had an experience once awaking in my bed I could not move and it felt like my throat was being squeezed. I could feel this weight pressing down on my chest, my arms and legs. No matter how I tried physically to move from this grip I could not and the only way I can describe how I eventually got free was with the power of thought or mind for I fought or thought this thing in my head i will say that "I thought myself free" if that makes any sense?

(and I would buy the whole sleep paralysis explanation if it where not for what happened next)...

Eventually I was free and stumbling through the dark reaching for the light switch and door, but as I flicked the switch again and again the light would not come on and as I pulled on the door handle it opened but with great difficulty like someone was pulling on the other side. Then as I stumbled out the room into the hall again I reached for the light switch and this one also again and again i flicked, but no light came on. So in fear and sweat I slid down the wall from which the switch hung and at 20 years old I screamed for my Mother who came running out from her room and switched the light on first time hey go figure. I told her what had just occurred though she did not believe me. Do you? maybe having had a similar experience.

http://en.wikipedia....Sleep_paralysis

http://paranormal.ab....g-Syndrome.htm

280px-John_Henry_Fuseli_-_The_Nightmare.JPG

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First part sounds like garden variety sleep paralysis. Second part is where it gets interesting. I assume nobody was, in fact, holding the door shut or had shut down the power. I would suggest this is two separate events, and something odd happened in the second.

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This happend to me a few times scared the crap out of me

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...and as I pulled on the door handle it opened but with great difficulty like someone was pulling on the other side. Then as I stumbled out the room into the hall again...

You were pulling on the door, and it wouldn't open, then you stumbled out into the hall? Is that correct? Does the door swing both ways? Or did you finally manage to pull it open, THEN stumbled through the open door into the hallway?

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First of all, is this your first experience of sleep paralysis? Is it recurent?

The second part doesn't fit with common sleep paralysis experience know as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP). Usually, one is pinned down to his bed, feeling a strong pressure on his chest, has difficulty breathing and in some cases can see figures move by, considered to be hallucinations.

Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis (RISP) though much rarer, have been demonstrated to produced in some rare cases, episodes up to half an hour.

As the name suggests, recurrent isolated sleep paralysis is a chronic condition. The individual suffers from frequent episodes throughout their lifetime.[2] One of the major differences between ISP and RISP is duration. RISP episodes can last for up to an hour or longer, and have a much higher occurrence of perceived out of body experiences—while ISP episodes are generally short (usually no longer than one minute) and are typically associated with the intruder and incubus hallucinations. RISP episodes can, however, persist for up to half an hour.[2] With RISP the individual can also suffer back to back episodes of sleep paralysis in the same night while this is unlikely in individuals who suffer from ISP.

Source: http://en.wikipedia....Sleep_paralysis

Now the only rational explanation that comes to mind is that you were desoriented, and actually lost sens of your environment. Maybe you thought that you were forcing the door open or swtiching the light on when you didn't actually do it properly, in your confusion.

It doesn't appear to be the case though according to your description, as you seem to recall exactly you experience in detail.

Edited by sam_comm
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Once or twice I woke myself up fighting my bedcovers because something frightening happened to me in a dream. I am not even really sure why it was that frightening. It was really strange at the time because in many of my dreams there is a lot of action involved in my dream and yet I seldom even turn over in my sleep. Once I fall asleep I pretty much stay put for the night.

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I've awoke swinging fists before because of bad dreams, very bad dreams. Those are the times I can remember anything close to these "experiences". Never slept-walked, never hallucinated--at least that I can remember.

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I also have had several episodes of sleep paralysis/hypnagogic states. They can indeed be terrifying. I have had no visual stimuli, only the sense that I am being restrained and am unable to speak at all. I have never had the extenuating circumstances of the OP including fighting with a door, etc.

I tend to agree with other posters that this may have been a sequel to the original sleep paralysis. I can envision my own disturbance and disorientation had I ever awakened in the midst of one of my episodes. It might resemble what has been described here.

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You were pulling on the door, and it wouldn't open, then you stumbled out into the hall? Is that correct? Does the door swing both ways? Or did you finally manage to pull it open, THEN stumbled through the open door into the hallway?

Yes, " I pulled on the door handle it opened but with great difficulty LIKE someone was pulling on the other side. Then as I stumbled out the room into the hall " i struggle to believe it myself mate and I know i could easily have just have been skimming the light switch in panic and panic itself can make even the simple act of opening a door seem harder than it is under normal circumstance. I am not so proud as to not realize that my own delusions or hallucinations could explain the later part of my experience due to the stress of the original sleep paralysis. I understand and accept this as a more likely possibility than the paranormal. I'm just looking for similar experiences had by others and the same answers we all crave
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Yes, " I pulled on the door handle it opened but with great difficulty LIKE someone was pulling on the other side. Then as I stumbled out the room into the hall " i struggle to believe it myself mate and I know i could easily have just have been skimming the light switch in panic and panic itself can make even the simple act of opening a door seem harder than it is under normal circumstance. I am not so proud as to not realize that my own delusions or hallucinations could explain the later part of my experience due to the stress of the original sleep paralysis. I understand and accept this as a more likely possibility than the paranormal. I'm just looking for similar experiences had by others and the same answers we all crave

If you already think it's paranormal and people have told you about hypnogognia and yes, it could be just part of SP why even pose the question?

You look like you just stepped out of the '60's, like one of the Hollies or summat. Cool.

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Despite the huge spend on research into sleep (generally) we don't actually seem to be anywhere near understanding it. I have experienced this sleep paralysis myself twice in the last year. It's a very uncomfortable feeling and although it hasn't lasted a long time it is nevertheless very difficult to endure. Lying there not being able to move arms (in my case) feeling pinned down is disturbing. However no after effects. As a child I had nightmares, and also sleep walked. I would go to bed and then an hour or so later fully asleep I would return to the living room, sit there for a few minutes then go back to bed. This was a regular occurance which I had no recollection of and my parents just accepted. It's probably more related to stress that anything else.

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  • 2 months later...
 

My experience although experiencing silimar things are a bit different. I used to get these quite often but it seems to have calmed down to about three times a year -thank God. Its really a terrible and scary feeling, no one can understand unless you experience this - even though when this happens i am totally aware that i am dreaming - but i cannot snap out of it. Usually this happens because i go to bed not really tired but knowing that i have to get up early for work or meeting - (this is why i dont like to go to bed unless i am really tired, thanks TV - she really helps) - just as i feel I am getting sleepy i get this shock through my brain - hard to explain - not painful - but like a jolt - this is usually my first sign that the **** is about to hit the fan and its imminent - so you have 2 choices, either get up (which i might add is very difficult as you feel so tired and to actually roll yourself out of bed is an achievement - if i manage this - drink some water, have a smoke, do anything to snap clear) or close your eyes and hope for the best. So my sleep paralysis generally consists of me being totally paralysed - i can move my pinky or i can wiggle a toe - i can grown or moan (anything to try and wake up my wife but this is usually futile as she is also not a light sleeper) - thats it, this is usually accompanied by dark/scary tones - not music as such - could also just be the bad feeling that makes one think its a horror movie sound track and then if you dont succeed in waking yourself (this i have managed by telling myselff over and over to wake up), if i am facing my wife - i can see her sleeping...sometimes she has her eyes open (also a hallucination obviously), then there is the sense of a bad thing in the room - now i have luckily woken myself before the shape that lifts out of the duvet or from the curtains reveals itself - but i can promise you this - i do not want to be introduced to this thing. I have never seen it, but i know it wont be good. So yes i know that its a bad "hallucination" but its the closest thing to real you can imagine because you are trapped in your own room.

So even though i know exactly what is happening to me - this doesnt make one feel better because the horror of the situation is never diminished even though you have experienced it 10 times - there is always something new, tweeked or pimped up and different and the feeling of unknown - its freeken scary.

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hi

i just got to know that there was actually a forum on the internet for sleep paralysis so i joined. Ive been experiencing this since many years and it happens every other day, sometimes multiple times in one night. Sometimes it does not happen for weeks but at times there are episodes every other day.

The weird part is that sometimes before going to bed i can actually tell that such an episode is going to take place and it does !! does this happen to somebody else too ??

Anyways i wanted to share my experiences and there are many of them, im going to quote a few but if somebody is interested in knowing more about the experiences i can share more.

Ive heard many times that if you do not sleep on your back, you do not have an episode of sleep paralysis but somehow i experience it in whatever position im sleeping.

One time i was home alone on a weekend and was planning to sleep in late, suddenly i woke up n it was light in the room, i looked at the clock and it was 9 a.m. I tried to get up but realized that i could not move-my body was totally paralyzed but i could move my eyes. Then suddenly something caught my attention ...there were three kids peeping through the bedroom door at me and they were giggling ... the moment they saw that i was looking at them they came in and sat on the floor. there were two boys and one girl and the girl had some kind of white veil on her face and i could see right through it ... they just sat on the floor, giggled and talked in whispers and pointed at me ... there was nothing innocent about those kids, there was pure evil in their laugh and something sinister in their eyes. It was like they could feel my fear and were enjoying it, there was something particularly evil about that little girl.

My heart started racing and i thought i was going to have a heart attack, i said all the prayers i knew n kept trying to move, after a few minutes, movement returned to my fingers n i could move my head. i started moving my head violently while trying to make a sound at the same time... and then it was all over ...

Edited by Aroob
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Another time i woke up in the middle of the night and noticed through the window that there was a full moon, suddenly the moon started getting bigger and bigger ... i realized it was going to fall outta the sky and then i tried to scream. At that very moment i realized i cant move or make a sound. I stared wide eyed as the moon came down and crashed onto the ground, suddenly there was soo much light that it hurt my eyes. Then the moon bounced back up but now it was broken into two pieces, it came down and crashed again onto the ground and then bounced back up now broken into many pieces ... i tried very hard to move and then as always movement returned to my fingers and toes first and then i could move again... i jumped outta bed with my heart thudding very loudly and ran to the window, the moon was still in the sky and it wasnt even a full moon :S

Edited by Aroob
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My thought is that you were still asleep, in a way.

The light switch worked but your sleepy brain didn't acknowledge it.

Kinda' like sleep walking half-awake.

That or shadow people but i'd think the former is more likely. ;)

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I do know when iam able to wake up I jump up runing out of my room yelling lol

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I had an experience once awaking in my bed I could not move and it felt like my throat was being squeezed. I could feel this weight pressing down on my chest, my arms and legs. No matter how I tried physically to move from this grip I could not and the only way I can describe how I eventually got free was with the power of thought or mind for I fought or thought this thing in my head i will say that "I thought myself free" if that makes any sense?

(and I would buy the whole sleep paralysis explanation if it where not for what happened next)...

Eventually I was free and stumbling through the dark reaching for the light switch and door, but as I flicked the switch again and again the light would not come on and as I pulled on the door handle it opened but with great difficulty like someone was pulling on the other side. Then as I stumbled out the room into the hall again I reached for the light switch and this one also again and again i flicked, but no light came on. So in fear and sweat I slid down the wall from which the switch hung and at 20 years old I screamed for my Mother who came running out from her room and switched the light on first time hey go figure. I told her what had just occurred though she did not believe me. Do you? maybe having had a similar experience.

http://en.wikipedia....Sleep_paralysis

http://paranormal.ab....g-Syndrome.htm

280px-John_Henry_Fuseli_-_The_Nightmare.JPG

Hi, I had a similar scary experience when I was sleeping over in a friend's spare room that didn't have any curtains or net curtains and I left the window ajar because it has been a clear blue summer's day. I've found other cases where the individual was sleeping next to an open curtainless window. Is this the case with you by any chance?

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  • 1 month later...

Greetings,

After stumbling across this topic I felt compelled to sign up and share my experiences also.

As a child I experienced these outer body events regularly, I would dream of flying over my home town at night and sometimes visiting friends then return to my sleeping self moments before I woke.

I would often have flashes of events in these dreams only to have daja voo some 5 to 10 years later of the same events occurring in reality.

I talked a lot to my father about these very realistic dreams and intern was taught the first basics in the possibility's of controlling your body's energy in many ways, example: To ultimately control your own destiny- To protect and place fire walls in your mind and body - ect = endless possibility's!

Over the next twenty years I developed my own practice and training exercises to break into and learn about this side to ourselves we all take for granted.

then these events slowed and stopped for a time manly because of life and work becoming more demanding witch my thoughts were now directed to paying the bills and study.

In the last two years it started to happen again only this time it was far more intense!

Like the others I found my self frozen awake sitting up looking at my sleeping body with no control over my self.

the fist time this happened I did get a bit worried due to the brief loss of control with my body, I then understood what was happening to me and started the thought process on how I would get myself out of this situation.

it was simple from here, I imagined and felt a course of energy between the two of me using the third eye and I immediately returned and woke up normal.

Ok so this started to happen again and I began to explore and test limitations , I found that a blue crystalized piece of petrified wood from brazil that a friend gave me amplified the effects majorly.

This is where I want to get a little serious and explain the potential dangers :

in these events I felt as though I was no longer in the same reality but in another that I know nothing about!

I felt the presence of not being alone and on two occasions I felt threatened by a presence that I thought was trying to get into my head. ( which is why a small amount energy training is vitally to putt up some defence on what I concluded as a attempted possession! ),

I have found that these events are controllable and the learning is fun.

I am still unsure weather what is happening is safe ? so I take a very cautious approach when they do.

well I guess its like a new child ( need to crawl before you can run.)

Oh yea be strong confident and don't give em a *snip* inch!!! :)

pardon the French.

thank you all and lastly please if anyone eles has or has had this happen , please share,

ALL HAIL THE UNIVERSE!!! :)

Edited by rashore
removed attempt to bypass profanity filter
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