It is the middle of the night, and you are sleeping. Suddenly, you
awaken, but you cannot move. Your eyelids will not open, and you cannot move
your arms and legs. You cannot even move your fingers and toes. Sometimes this paralysis is accompanied with
the certainty that someone or something is in the room.
Breathing is difficult. If feels like there is something sitting
on your chest and you are certain there is a being sitting on you and making
you feel this way. This horror lasts for minutes, but it seems like hours.
Sleeping is restful anymore. It’s horrifying.
This may seem like a scene from a
horror book, but it is actually a real-life issue for a bunch of people. That
is right. Tonight, there will be people who wake up to the previous scenario.
They will have no clue what is going on, and they will not be able to move.
Quite simply, sleep paralysis is one of the most
horrifying experiences in life, because we feel awake but can’t believe what is
happening to us.
The truth is, sleep paralysis is a biological event
and there is nothing to be worried about. You’re not dying. It’s a hiccup in
the brain’s chemical soup as we transition from sleep to wakefulness. Simply put is that your mind wakes up but your body
doesn’t.
Recurrent sleep paralysis can often
be prevented by attending to lifestyle choices, but making new habits can take
time.
Here are 9 ways to get out now.
Note: Because this is such a
personal thing, some of these tactics will work for you, and others won’t.
Choose the ones that make the most sense to you intuitively. Think of
these strategies as tools in a toolbox to bring out when the conditions are
right. Make a plan and resolve to remember it for the next time you wake up in
sleep paralysis.
1. Don’t Fight
If you feel like you are being held down and you can’t move, do
not fight back. This actually will intensify the experience.
Not only is fighting back likely to increase the feelings of being held down
(so much that it may seem like you are being crushed), but fighting back will
also increase the fear, thus triggering the emotional centers of the brain and
strengthening this lucid nightmare. Controlling fear is the most important
skill during these moments.
2. Surrender and Go with the Flow
Instead, try to
relax when you notice SP starting to happen. Prepare an affirmation like
“This is SP and I am okay.” If you feel pressure on your chest, see
if you can “go with” the pressure rather than against it. It’s like
winning a fight by having no resistance. For example, for me, I often feel like
I’m being pushed into the mattress when I have SP. I let myself go, and
mentally “pull” in the direction I am being pushed. What happens is I
then “pop” into a full-on dream, or I can wake up directly.
3. Wiggle your Toe
Another excellent tactic that works for many people
is to try to move an extremity, such as a finger or a toe. Most of the
feelings of paralysis are in the belly, chest, and throat. So focus all
you attention on the toe and try to move it back and forth. In many
cases, this will break the paralysis.
4. Clench your Fist
This is a variation of the toe wiggle method.
Clench and unclench your fist.
5. Focus on your
Breath
An easy way to stop these nightmares is to do some
control breathing. Controlled breathing does several things at
once. For starters, it lessens the feelings of chest pain that sometimes
accompany SP. Breathing is autonomic like the heart’s beating or digestion, so
it’s not paralyzed like the big muscles in our arms, chest and legs. But
breath can be controlled with attention or be affected by severe fear, which
may be why SP sufferers “forget” to breathe when under attack. If
you can control your breath, you can control your fear. Simply draw your
breath in at a normal rate, and exhale fully, using all of your lung
capacity. Notice that you can breathe fully without obstruction. This
technique will keep you calm as the SP runs its course and then you will wake
up without any trouble. A few moments of focused breathing with a strong
intention to wake up is effective.
6. Lean into Love to
Find Courage
Now is also the time to lean into unconditional
love. For many, the surest path is in religious or spiritual
beliefs. Regardless, focus on a figure that you admire and love. Think of
someone who calms you down—someone who you associate with peace, love and safety.
In my first SP nightmare when I was fourteen years old, I thought about the
love and respect I had for a girl in my class. Embarrassing but true! It
worked: the feelings of oppression and evil dissipated immediately. In this
case, true love really does conquer all.
7. Getting Help from
your Sleep Partner
If someone shares your bed, you can tell them about
your SP attacks and what to look for when you are having a nightmare. For
example, my partner used to shake me awake whenever I began to breath heavily
and irregularly in my sleep. As it turns out, he was waking me up each
and every time from an intense SP nightmare. Now when this happens, I
tell him not to wake me up, because I actually use SP to go into a lucid dream.
You could also have your partner respond to a verbal
request. This only works some of the time, because some people cannot
speak in paralysis. But some can. Choose a short word that is easy
to say. “Help” is a good choice. When you’re in paralysis, focus
your attention on your throat and say “Help.” Don’t try to say it as loud
as you can; what may happen is that your imagination will take over and you
will only say the word in your dream. Instead, say it forcefully but
without screaming.
8. Coughing for Help
A variation of using your voice is to try to cough
into wakefulness. Like breathing, coughing can be autonomic or
consciously regulated. By coughing on purpose, you can jar yourself
awake.
9. Write out the
Plan
The suggestions above all have helped hundreds of
people get out of SP and get some sleep. Not every tactic will work with
you. But having too many tactics in your mind can actually be
counterproductive. So it is important to make a plan, almost like the
fire escape plan you may have for evacuating your family home in case of
emergency. Write it out; this will cement the plan in your mind and make it
easier to remember when the paralysis comes on strong.
10. The
Ultimate Method I know — I said 9
ways, but this is the single best way to wake up from sleep paralysis and it’s
really in a class of its own. When you realize you are in SP, scrunch up your
face. In other words, make a face like you just smelled something bad. Snarl
and squint. Do this two or three times in a row and the paralysis will break
IMMEDIATELY. I’m not sure why it is so effective, but unlike the pinky wiggle,
this method is foolproof.
After you wake up, get out of bed immediately and
turn on a light. Wash your face with cold water. If you just stay in bed, the
chance of sliding right back into sleep paralysis is pretty high.
Source:
DREAM STUDIES PORTAL
Business Insider
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