Sleep Paralysis and Nightmares

I've experienced sleep paralysis in the past; however, yesterday was the first time it has remotely resembled the horrific scenarios that other people seem to report. I can say that I think it may have been induced via suggestability, although it was a strange inception-like dream within a dream scenario.

I endured it and am still here, but I can say I now understand why people become so alarmed and hung up on it. With hellish scenarios, I try to learn what I can from them and then leave them in the past. There is no use amplifying an event that has occurred once by carrying it with you into the future.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

a reply to: Nechash

With hellish scenarios…

Do you feel like sharing some of that perspective?

I understand, if not.

originally posted by: Nechash
I've experienced sleep paralysis in the past; however, yesterday was the first time it has remotely resembled the horrific scenarios that other people seem to report. I can say that I think it may have been induced via suggestability, although it was a strange inception-like dream within a dream scenario.

I endured it and am still here, but I can say I now understand why people become so alarmed and hung up on it. With hellish scenarios, I try to learn what I can from them and then leave them in the past. There is no use amplifying an event that has occurred once by carrying it with you into the future.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

When I pray a prayer of protection to God asking that he protect me from nightmares, evil attacks while asleep and to refresh my body with a good nights rest, I never have nightmares or have Lucid dreams and I always have a great night and wake up the next day feeling fully rested. Try it.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

I agree completely. It's the only thing that has ever worked for me and I haven't had one in years since realizing what they were, in my opinion anyway.

Nothing more terrifying. And to be afraid to go to sleep is a nightmare in itself.

Necash I'm wishing you all the best and hope you never have another one.

I was misled believing I had come under demonic attack. I now understand it was only a dream.

a reply to: intrptr

I can go on about that forever really. My grooming began when I was five. Most of the people who have had these experiences are very tight lipped or swept away and insane. I have come untethered from these control mechanisms yet somehow have maintained some semblance of reasonability. I don't know how or why this came to be, but I am grateful it is so.

With hellish scenarios, we are mainly talking about the induction of fear or pain into your state of mentality seemingly to isolate you, dissociate you from reality and to set you off the path of independent intentionality. Ultimately, I think all of these forces are designed to fragment ourselves and to keep us ignorant of any truth.

Are these really creatures feeding on us? Are these aspects of our own consciousness? Are they diseases or are they guiding us towards a higher state of independent living? People hate pain and only see the evil in it, but is pain evil if it achieves rectification? Is a battlefield surgeon who amputates without anesthesia committing torture? I honestly don't think I know enough to have these answers yet, but I am continuing forward and growing everyday. That, I think, is amazing.

Maybe all of that was too generalized. I guess I can go into specifics if you'd like.

originally posted by: gorsestar
I was misled believing I had come under demonic attack. I now understand it was only a dream.

Are you sure about that? My rational mind passed them off as dreams too, until it happened to me in the middle of an airport while wide awake.

originally posted by: Bone75

originally posted by: gorsestar
I was misled believing I had come under demonic attack. I now understand it was only a dream.

Are you sure about that? My rational mind passed them off as dreams too, until it happened to me in the middle of an airport while wide awake.

No I'm not sure at all.

Well, I wrote about the experiences here : thread

Your probably correct about it being induced. It is what you make it.

I had lucid dreams constanly for years when I was younger. The last 10 years or so the lucid dreams declined and I started having sleep paralysis. I have SP several times a week, sometimes several times a night.

Id guess Ive had SP at least several hundred times in the last few years. Was never scary at first. Started out just paralyzed. From there started to experiment with it and started to disconnect from my body.

Eventually completly disconnected from my body but still paralyzed and often felt like I was floating in a no gravity environment. Now have control over body.

Lately theres been a negative aspect to it occasionally. Like someone/thing evil is looming.
Ive been in a negative funk in my life for awhile and believe it completly depends on your frame of mind. Its also completly controllable if you dont panic. I've had a lot of experience and still dont have a solid grip on it. Sometimes I still immediately panic and try to wake up. Sometimes I go with it.

I also truely believe dreams are much more than we think they are. I could go on and on about some pretty wild experiences. I think if I went to some kind of dream study clinic, they'd probably lock me up and study me.

I guess what im saying is...I'm still learning but I've had a lot of experience with it. Stay calm, experiment, control it. Its an amazing ride.

This may be of help. I don't believe that hallucinations are always the product of your mind. Like Terence McKenna said: you KNOW when it isn't you showing yourself those things. Other things can and do influence that dream state--your mind doing the sleep paralysis evil thing doesn't make sense at all. Rather, it might be something negative messing with you. It's happened to me--not recently after I blessed the room--but often and only in one bedroom in one house. Never before nor anywhere else since in my life have I had this occur, leading me to think that it is something spiritual in nature. Perhaps this might help | link |

a reply to: Bone75

which reminds me, I should really start that thread about my experiences soon. I'd love to hear about yours as well. I'm interested to see if we have similarities because of the way you said that. And i'll check out your experiences atm gorsestar. Don't believe that it isn't and let your guard down totally because it could be. But it could also be a dream. Mine were not dreams and I've been wide awake for all of my odd experiences with physical things. And with the sleep paralysis ones I was lucid enough to know the difference and I didn't go back to sleep afterwards ever. I feel lucky because I had two witnesses in one experience (not talking about sleep paralysis things for these) and one in another. I had experiences at age 2 or 3 and then not until about ages 19 through 21. I'm 23 now.

Well for what its worth and probably nothing,
If you get trapped in a paralyses again and cant get out, call out to Jesus.

Yeah it sounds stupid to those who havnt had the terrors but it does work.

Its worth a try

a reply to: Nechash

Maybe all of that was too generalized. I guess I can go into specifics if you'd like.

Yah. I realize it just happened and be quite frightening for you to relate those details.

I will share mine if you share yours…

a reply to: Nechash

Welcome to my world. Although for the past few years it's been really tame, right after my Army stint it was particularly bad.

Nothing like every other night full of dead people crawling in bed with you, things you can't quite make out creeping around in the bedroom, giant rats watching you sleep and the like.

a reply to: intrptr

Lol. Good tactic. I'm probably not as afraid as I should be, but from what I can gather fearlessness has been the purpose of my life for awhile now. I guess it is kind of hard to take these things seriously when you can no longer suspend your own disbelief about the world around you.

a reply to: Nechash

I guess it is kind of hard to take these things seriously when you can no longer suspend your own disbelief about the world around you.

Which world, the one we see with our eyes? Thats not the real world.

And I know your dreams took form. But its okay I don't want to relate mine either. After all, talking about the spirit world usually spawns ridicule from somewhere.

Remember their only power over you is your fear of them.

Sleep paralysis happens to everyone. Every single night when they enter REM sleep. It's a chemical secretion that keeps us from acting out our dreams. Sometimes we wake suddenly and the chemical is not completely out of the muscles and we experience the paralysis. More often we wake with the shakes if suddenly woken from a dream. Sometimes the dream stays with you when you start to wake.
Once I scared the living daylights out of my young son when he came into my bedroom one night to tell me he didn't feel good. I was half asleep and when I looked I didn't see my little boy standing near the bed I saw a strange man and I screamed. That made my husband asleep beside me jump up and scream and the poor kid screamed and ran from the room. In retrospect it's funny but not then. I never really liked those nightmare on Elm St.movies either.

There is nothing supernatural going on. It's perfectly normal natural and happens to everyone every night like I said. Most people just wake after the chemical is out of the muscles and are not aware of its effects. . a reply to: borntowatch

originally posted by: AutumnWitch657
Sleep paralysis happens to everyone. Every single night when they enter REM sleep. It's a chemical secretion that keeps us from acting out our dreams. Sometimes we wake suddenly and the chemical is not completely out of the muscles and we experience the paralysis. More often we wake with the shakes if suddenly woken from a dream. Sometimes the dream stays with you when you start to wake.

I don't make supernatural claims about 'sleep paralysis'. But, some people remain paralyzed for minutes, eyes open. Combine some hypnopompic hallucinations with that, and you're just not scared, your terrified. I wish there was a better name for these events, since as you said, we experience sleep paralysis every night during REM sleep.

So, I've been dealing with this my whole life. It's gotten much better since I got older, but one very memorable event sort of stuck with me.

I was in my mid-20s. I open my eyes, I'm in my bed, lying on my side. I can see my clock, it's somewhere in the 4AM hour. I'm suprised to discover that I left my bedside lamp on. I try to move, I can't. Since this is the umpteenth time this has happened, I start waiting it out. I watch a minute or two tick-by on the clock. Of course, through all of this I can hear the noises you hear when this happens to people. For me, it sounds a little like Darth Vader breathing. Anyway, I see the black shape enter the room, it rushes up to be and breaks my neck. And, like that, I'm out of it. The room is dark (the light was never on) but the clock is the same time as when the event was occuring.

What makes 'sleep paralysis' so interesting is that I never even knew other people had these hypnopompic hallucinations until I found people talking about it on the web in 1998. I found the similarities of the stories of people experiencing this very interesting. Almost always, there is an "evil" presence in the room that you can sense. Not Adolph Hitler evil. Not even a bear is about to eat me sort of fear/evil. That the very personification of evil is in the room with you. I don't believe that I am being haunted by demons, but I do find it interesting to consider it from a neurological perspective, given the commonality of the stories which seem to be independent of culture.

Now, I've had other hypnopompic sorts of hallucinations that are mundane. Seeing "ghosts", weird writing floating in the air in front of me, hearing voices, thunder... but the 'sleep paralysis' ones? They've redefined terror for me.

a reply to: borntowatch

I've found that trying to wiggle your toes or fingers works the best.