Intense, Multi-Layered Sleep Paralysis Episode

I've had episodes of SP for as long as I can remember and I have to say that I'm intrigued by the concept of righteous anger to break them. At around the age of 8 or 9 I found that simple dismissal worked for me "Oh will you just go away and stop bothering me?" / "Oh this is just silly - I need to wake up" rather than having to work my way up to being angry. Although if I understand what you're suggesting I guess that it works in the same way by breaking the fear and not letting it have any power over you.

That was something I discovered after trying calling out for help and even 'dreaming' people I know and who I wanted to help me into SP incidents. Strangely, now that I know what's happening and can control it I find SP a very pleasant and liberating experience.

To the OP: I'd posted earlier in another SP thread before reading your post here but I felt compelled to reply to you because your experiences are so similar to my own. Like you I don't believe in any psychic, alien or astral explanation for this. I think it's a completely natural phenomenon - the human brain is an amazing thing and right now we only have a fairly superficial understanding of the division between conscious/subconscious and dreaming/wakefulness.

I'm new here and not sure what forum etiquette is around cross posting or copying and pasting content into different threads - so rather than repeat myself here I'll put a couple of links to my posts, should you be interested in reading them.

General experiences : www.abovetopsecret.com...
Two specific incidents : www.abovetopsecret.com...

That is a frightening experience, I don't know the cause but I have gone through similar experiences and can empathize. Are you under stress currently and is your sleep pattern regular? Are you a lucid dreamer? Those factors combined tend to cause me to have these dreams. I don't know much help I can offer but remaining calm, blinking in your dreams, and screaming have all helped me in the past.

Suzy0
I've had episodes of SP for as long as I can remember and I have to say that I'm intrigued by the concept of righteous anger to break them. At around the age of 8 or 9 I found that simple dismissal worked for me "Oh will you just go away and stop bothering me?" / "Oh this is just silly - I need to wake up" rather than having to work my way up to being angry. Although if I understand what you're suggesting I guess that it works in the same way by breaking the fear and not letting it have any power over you.

That was something I discovered after trying calling out for help and even 'dreaming' people I know and who I wanted to help me into SP incidents. Strangely, now that I know what's happening and can control it I find SP a very pleasant and liberating experience.

To the OP: I'd posted earlier in another SP thread before reading your post here but I felt compelled to reply to you because your experiences are so similar to my own. Like you I don't believe in any psychic, alien or astral explanation for this. I think it's a completely natural phenomenon - the human brain is an amazing thing and right now we only have a fairly superficial understanding of the division between conscious/subconscious and dreaming/wakefulness.

I'm new here and not sure what forum etiquette is around cross posting or copying and pasting content into different threads - so rather than repeat myself here I'll put a couple of links to my posts, should you be interested in reading them.

General experiences : www.abovetopsecret.com...
Two specific incidents : www.abovetopsecret.com...

edit on thu88140 by Suzy0 because: (no reason given)

edit on thu88140 by Suzy0 because: (no reason given)

Yes the dismissal is a form of righteous anger. They have no right to hold you. When it becomes a choice and the fear is gone it can be quite interesting.

esteay812

Thanks for the information. It's something to consider.

Would you be able to provide a link to the research or studies done that point to this as being fact? I'd be interested in seeing the study.

There are no studies I know of. I have always been able to break the hold and after I began my blog now website and started to get emails from people with SP I began to question WHY I could break free of it so easily. I began suggesting people use righteous anger/lose the fear and they would come back and say it had worked. Not one out of dozens who could lose the fear failed to break the hold.

My suggestion is try it. If nothing else is working there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

ufochick
SP either self-induced (by the body) or induced by an outside source can be instantly broken by will and righteous anger. Switching the brainwaves and losing the fear. Think "YOU have NO right to hold me here!!!". Then move!

If the fear is gone and the righteous anger genuine it works every time. That is what sometimes calling out to a religious entity works because it brings out the righteous anger and the fear goes away.

Try it, it works.

I do appreciate your conviction with this method, but I do disagree to some extent.

If you are an experiencer of SP and you have found 100% success with this method, then, by all means, continue using it! However, it can not always be broken this way. In fact, I'd bet that this doesn't account for the break in SP that it appears to.

In most common cases of SP, the experiencer will begin to exit the episode in 10-15 seconds (some may continue longer, even several minutes, but that is not, at all, the norm). It generally takes 1-3 seconds for a person to become aware that they are experiencing an episode of Sleep Paralysis. Then add another 1-2 seconds for them to overcome the fear and focus on what to do.

A total of 4-6 seconds have already elapsed before they even begin using their preferred 'breaking SP method'. They will spend another 6-10 seconds repeating their breaking phrase, usually only enough time to repeat it a couple of times.

A person has spent 6 seconds realizing what's happening & what they need to do and another 8-10 seconds trying to break the episode. That's a total time of 14-16 seconds, the exact range of elapsed time an average SP episode requires before ending.

Understanding this, it's easy to see why so many people believe that the things they say or the prayers they recite are responsible for breaking the SP. In reality, it's just the timing of the episode and the prayers. SP begins to dissipate at approximately the same time an experiencer begins their attempt to consciously & manually break the episode. This gives the impression that their prayers, or other methods, are responsible for breaking the Sleep Paralysis episode.


I understand you will probably not agree with my assessment of the experience, but I'd like to ask something of you.

Keep an open mind in an honest approach to testing this. The next time you experience SP, recite anything you want to, except for anything religious. You could even remain 100% silent, focusing on nothing more than waiting for the episode to end on it's own.

If you do choose to recite something, consider a neutral poem... something like: "Sally sells seashells by the seashore".

I believe you will find that the SP will break at precisely the same moment it does when you recite the prayer. The poem and prayer will probably have the same effect on SP - which is none at all, because it is time & consciousness alone that brings about the end to an episode of SP. This is likely to always produce the same result, regardless of the episodes length (10 seconds - 60+ seconds).

If there is any real benefit from reciting a prayer, it would be that it comforts the experiencer and eliminates some of the fear. Reducing the fear may allow an experiencer to focus more and may potentially result in a shorter experience. I do not think it is a supernatural power that breaks the Sleep Paralysis when it is called upon for help. I do believe in a God, but I do not think God hears the prayers and answers them by intervening on behalf of the experiencer to end the SP episode.

Multilayered SP are fun aren't they...?

esteay812

ufochick
SP either self-induced (by the body) or induced by an outside source can be instantly broken by will and righteous anger. Switching the brainwaves and losing the fear. Think "YOU have NO right to hold me here!!!". Then move!

If the fear is gone and the righteous anger genuine it works every time. That is what sometimes calling out to a religious entity works because it brings out the righteous anger and the fear goes away.

Try it, it works.

I do appreciate your conviction with this method, but I do disagree to some extent.

If you are an experiencer of SP and you have found 100% success with this method, then, by all means, continue using it! However, it can not always be broken this way. In fact, I'd bet that this doesn't account for the break in SP that it appears to.

In most common cases of SP, the experiencer will begin to exit the episode in 10-15 seconds (some may continue longer, even several minutes, but that is not, at all, the norm). It generally takes 1-3 seconds for a person to become aware that they are experiencing an episode of Sleep Paralysis. Then add another 1-2 seconds for them to overcome the fear and focus on what to do.

A total of 4-6 seconds have already elapsed before they even begin using their preferred 'breaking SP method'. They will spend another 6-10 seconds repeating their breaking phrase, usually only enough time to repeat it a couple of times.

A person has spent 6 seconds realizing what's happening & what they need to do and another 8-10 seconds trying to break the episode. That's a total time of 14-16 seconds, the exact range of elapsed time an average SP episode requires before ending.

Understanding this, it's easy to see why so many people believe that the things they say or the prayers they recite are responsible for breaking the SP. In reality, it's just the timing of the episode and the prayers. SP begins to dissipate at approximately the same time an experiencer begins their attempt to consciously & manually break the episode. This gives the impression that their prayers, or other methods, are responsible for breaking the Sleep Paralysis episode.


I understand you will probably not agree with my assessment of the experience, but I'd like to ask something of you.

Keep an open mind in an honest approach to testing this. The next time you experience SP, recite anything you want to, except for anything religious. You could even remain 100% silent, focusing on nothing more than waiting for the episode to end on it's own.

If you do choose to recite something, consider a neutral poem... something like: "Sally sells seashells by the seashore".

I believe you will find that the SP will break at precisely the same moment it does when you recite the prayer. The poem and prayer will probably have the same effect on SP - which is none at all, because it is time & consciousness alone that brings about the end to an episode of SP. This is likely to always produce the same result, regardless of the episodes length (10 seconds - 60+ seconds).

If there is any real benefit from reciting a prayer, it would be that it comforts the experiencer and eliminates some of the fear. Reducing the fear may allow an experiencer to focus more and may potentially result in a shorter experience. I do not think it is a supernatural power that breaks the Sleep Paralysis when it is called upon for help. I do believe in a God, but I do not think God hears the prayers and answers them by intervening on behalf of the experiencer to end the SP episode.

Oh I agree that is a possibility. None of us know everything. Talking and sharing ideas helps everyone.

I would add that once this is practiced and the person instantly switches to the righteous anger without any thoughts needed the hold is almost instantly broken, it's within 2-3 seconds for me at least.

reply to post by ufochick


Yes indeed, if you're not afraid they can be very interesting indeed . . . even sort of fun!

reply to post by esteay812


I'd also be willing to give that a try next time I experience SP, just out of interest.
My only issue is that I'm not sure how to measure it. I don't know about anyone else who experiences SP but personally I have absolutely no concept of the passage of time when I'm in that state.

To be perfectly honest, now I've become accustomed to this and don't find it frightening it's become a very pleasant, relaxing and liberating experience. More often than not I'd prefer to prolong it rather than break out of it. Going with the flow and fully waking up gradually is also MUCH more pleasant than suddenly being jolted out of it.

I had an experience about 6 months ago and have been wanting to ask someone if it was SP because I never had anything like that happen to me before. I wasn't sleeping ... I had just laid down to try to go to sleep, and I believe I had only been there for maybe 30 seconds or so, when all of a sudden I got a very, very loud buzzing sound and found I could not move at all, not even a finger. I tried to speak but couldn't. I just started thinking, "Stop!" And it went away all at once, very quickly. I don't dream... well, I know that I do just because I've been told everyone dreams, but they just don't remember them. I never, ever remember any dreams, and I know I wasn't dreaming when this happened because I hadn't even been to sleep yet. Is that SP even before you drift off to sleep?

reply to post by hebegbes


Yeah, sounds like you were having a type of SP.

Our bodies have a check list of things to do as we prepare to fall asleep. They must be performed in a specific order, otherwise we will not enter into a healthy sleep state. In order to induce an 'Out-of-Body-Experience', the sleep pattern must be altered. This is because, by design, we consciously fall asleep moments before our body enters Sleep Paralysis. Entering SP before conscious sleep would not be pleasant. I believe the intense fear that accompanies SP is a sort of alarm system. It is used to frighten us awake and allows the sleep pattern the ability to 'reboot'.

There are several distinct characteristics commonly reported, when inducing an OBE. Audible hallucinations are of those characteristics commonly reported. Sometimes it sounds like shattering glass or the noise made from one of those 'rain-sticks' (a hollow tube with pegs and pellets on the inside that produce a rain sound effect when turned up).

You may have also experienced a sensation that can be best described as a heavy lead blanket being slowly draped over your body, starting at your toes and ending at your head. You will be unable to physically move or speak, except you will probably retain the ability to move your eyes.

When ever you feel the 'lead blanket' has been draped over you, you are ready to enter OBE by separating from your body. This simplest way to do this is to remain calm and try to roll over or sit up. It feels like trying to separate 2 magnets, but, with consistent effort, you can separate from your body and begin your OBE.

It should also be known that visual hallucinations do occur, as does the overwhelming sense that a force of absolute evil is present.

You are likely to have entered SP inadvertently. Since it had only just begun, you were probably able to break it with ease.

If it happens again, remain calm and let it continue. After a few moments, try to roll over or sit up... you won't regret what happens next (flying over your city, walking through walls, etc.)



reply to post by Suzy0


As in the above post, instead of waiting to wake up, you should attempt to sit up or roll over. Doing this during SP often allows the experiencer to achieve OBE.

Also, I don't mean to give the impression that I do not believe there are aspects of OBE tied to something outside of our own material bodies. I think there may be a sort of link to a 'collective consciousness', accessed during OBE. However, I do not believe it is as extensive as some claims made about the 'astral plane'. I don't think there is a literal existence of another dimension in this sense. I think it is more of an intellectual connection to a universal, or collective, consciousness. A place where we can mentally tap into information about our existence. The Akashic Hall - or the Akashic Records, or the Akashic Hall of Records.

reply to post by esteay812


Hi esteay,

I have experienced something very similar to you. I called it a nightmare within a nightmare within a nightmare.

I have only had one episode like this, it happened around 18 months ago.

I was in bed and drifted off to sleep, i was having a nightmare , i cant really remember about what, but i was terrified and wanted to wake up badly. I woke up and tried to sit up in bed but was having trouble mustering the strength, I was managing the wriggle in the bed as i was attempting this, i tried to shout out for my boyfriend who was in the living room, but everything seemed to be happening in some kind of weird slow motion, and my screams were like whispers. I carried on struggling and managed to wriggle off the bed and hit the floor with a thud (OUCH) I was lying right next to the door where the landing light was shining through. Things were starting to look a little clearer now and I felt I was regaining my strength so with a deep breath i shouted to him again ......... then

I woke up back in my bed terrified then ^^^ repeat word for word ^^^

This scenario repeated 3 times in total ... then I woke up !!!

Or did I?

I screamed for my boyfriend, got up and ran into the living room, at this point i'm shaking and in tears.

I was still weirdly fuzzy headed, scared and thinking, is this it ? am I really awake - this time ?

I was sitting on the sofa next to my boyfriend, (he knows only too well about my strange, tempestuous relationship with "the sleep") I was trying to calm myself down when I turned to him and said, "baby, i'm really awake now aren't I ?" He very slowly and diliberetley turns/tilts his head to face me and with a wicked warped smile on his face says "Are you awake?" ... I swear I didn't know weather to laugh or slap him !!!!

I think that's when I knew I was really awake, he has got a wicked sense of humour !! kinda broke the ice a little but I still wouldn't go back to sleep for 3 hours afterwards.

I can be the most scary thing ever when it happens.

I do have SP around 2 - 4 times a week. Its become the rule rather than the exception, but, i'd say in the last 2 years my dreams are just nightmares more often than not. When I was about 10 years old i had the most beautiful Dream/OBE ever. I was so moved by it that upon waking I immediately wrote a poem about it because I knew it was a very special experience and I wanted to remember it forever.

As ive gotten older my dreams seem to have a darker themes, i have my own theories as to why this has occurred.
I'm working on it ..

Any suggestions will be warmly excepted.

Namaste

hebegbes
I had an experience about 6 months ago and have been wanting to ask someone if it was SP because I never had anything like that happen to me before. I wasn't sleeping ... I had just laid down to try to go to sleep, and I believe I had only been there for maybe 30 seconds or so, when all of a sudden I got a very, very loud buzzing sound and found I could not move at all, not even a finger. I tried to speak but couldn't. I just started thinking, "Stop!" And it went away all at once, very quickly. I don't dream... well, I know that I do just because I've been told everyone dreams, but they just don't remember them. I never, ever remember any dreams, and I know I wasn't dreaming when this happened because I hadn't even been to sleep yet. Is that SP even before you drift off to sleep?

I would call it SP.

I used to have these experiences, but in mine it felt like I was getting dragged out of the bed. After thinking I'd got myself out of it, I'd get dragged out of the bed again. Usually around three or four times before I actually woke up, hyperventilating. Occasionally I'd see a shadowy figure sit on a chair to my right just before the onset (there was no chair there in reality), and hear what sounded like tuneless rave music banging in my ear. Scary stuff and I'm definitely glad I don't seem to get them anymore.

reply to post by esteay812


Thanks, esteay, for the response. I've been wondering ever since it happened if that's what I experienced. It really was frightening. While I didn't feel like I had a blanket being draped over me, I did just lose all motor functions all at once. Like you said, I believe I could move my eyes, although I was so frightened, I'm not even sure about that. I just remember the incredible buzzing sound with my body feeling like it was vibrating along with it. I can't imagine having to deal with something like this on a regular basis. Hope you're able to work through yours and stay safe in your astral travels!

reply to post by idontfitinandidontwantto



Based on your description, you are a very 'active' sleeper. That may not be the proper term, but what I mean by it is that you seem to remember the experience of your sleep patterns more than the average person. I say this because you mention having SP on a very regular basis and, I'm assuming, you often remember your dreams.

I have a sneaking suspicion that we have nightmares for a reason, at least some of them. I think our body can recognize when we are exiting sleep too soon, before SP has been 'turned off'. I feel like the nightmares are part of an alarm system that frightens us awake, helping us to avoid episodes of Sleep Paralysis. If the dreams are pleasant and we enjoy them, then we may become too lucid and wake while our bodies are still in SP. I've also mentioned before that I believe the incredible feeling that an entity of pure evil is present during SP is also an alarm system, designed to shock us awake in the event of becoming conscious during an episode of SP.

I'm sure there are other nightmares that have nothing to do with conscious SP, but I think some of them are tied together.

I would suggest a couple of things that I would try, if I were in your position;

You seem to sometimes realize that you are dreaming. If this is indeed the case and you do frequently become aware of your dream state, then you have a very nice opportunity to take it a step further - lucid dreaming.

Some people confuse lucid dreaming with OBE, but they are very different. Lucid dreams take place in a dreamscape, while OBEs take place in an identical reproduction of the place you have fallen asleep in. During OBE you will notice that everything is basically identical to the place you fell asleep, but there will be subtle differences, like the color of paint on the walls, the type of shades on the windows, etc.

The next time you become aware of a dream, I'd suggest you attempt to take control. Once you realize it's your dream and you are aware of your ability, you can control every last aspect of your dream. Once lucid, everything in the dream becomes incredibly real and you will have the power to manipulate anything you see. It's like being an artist, you are capable of controlling every last detail - you can change everything in only a couple of seconds.

After you're accustomed to becoming lucid in dreams, you will have a much higher chance of successfully inducing OBEs from your SP episodes.

The next time you have an episode of Sleep Paralysis, try to remain calm and tell yourself you're in control. Then close your eyes and try to roll over or sit up. Be patient and persistent and you will probably roll right out of your body and into an OBE.

The more you achieve successful OBE inductions, the more control you have during the experience and the longer they will last.

I've had many OBEs now, but the one thing that still amazes is just how awesome our mind is in creating a near perfect replica of our waking world. Many times the experiences even feel as if they are more real than waking reality!... and it's always cool to fly around town and walk through walls. (If the neighbors only knew how often I spy on them! haha, j/k)

I've had a long day today, so if anything I wrote doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to explain it better.




reply to post by hebegbes


No problem, I like to talk about it when I can.

I think the difference is that I love having the experiences on a regular basis, because of what they lead to for me.

The buzzing/vibrating feeling you mention is a very common characteristic of pre-OBE SP. Many people describe it as sort of like a mild, full-body shock. When I feel it, it's like a mild, full-body shock/vibration, with the sounds of shattering glass or rain falling on a tin roof. Add the feeling of a warm lead blanket being draped over me then moving into an OBE and it becomes quite a sensory load!

reply to post by esteay812


Hi Esteay,

Many thanks for your reply, it meant a lot.

I would say I am a very active sleeper yes ! I will definitely take your suggestions onboard and try to turn what is and can be a very scary event into something rather beautiful and liberating.

I think I can lucid dream. (If that's what to call it) Only sometimes though. Like I said when i'm having nightmares it's sometimes very hard for me to disassociate myself from the terror i'm feeling . .

Example:
Last night I was having a nightmare about being stuck in some kind of weird asylum/hospital/institution , but , it wasn't myself and the patients who were crazy (so to speak) but rather the doctors and nurses. They were all very sinister and evil, I was trying to escape but every turn I took I was going deeper into the building finding myself more lost. The floors in the rooms were like sort of . . made of jigsaw pieces

Doh !!

Having trouble posting the rest of my story !!

continued ..

Hard to explain but very surreal ! anyhow I came to the realisation that I was dreaming and thought "this is my dream/playground, my rules!" I told myself "ok at the end of this corridor you will turn the corner to find an unlocked door from which to escape , and did so.

Is this what you mean by lucid dreaming? Where do I go from there? How do I get from this to an OBE? What sorts of things should I be trying to do in my dream state? Have you any suggestions for further reading on this subject, websites books for instance?

Many many thanks for your input.

X

reply to post by idontfitinandidontwantto


Yes, the dream you describe seems to be a mild lucid dream. Lucid dreaming isn't usually categorized as mild, intense, etc. You are either lucid dreaming or you're not. The reason why I point it out as mild is because it seems it weren't in control for an extended dream session, just a few moments toward then end. If you continued to dream and be in complete control of that dream, then it would be easier to label it as a lucid dream experience.

A better description of your dream state would be to say that you were having a waking dream with lucid characteristics.

A waking dream is the sort of dream where you realize you are in fact dreaming, but you have absolutely no control of the dreamscape or your actions within it.

A lucid dream is when you realize you are dreaming, the same as a waking dream, but, instead of no control, you have absolute control over the dreamscape and your actions within it.

Lucid dreaming is an incredible experience that almost rivals an OBE. It is such a cool experience that many people believe it must be an OBE, that is; until they have a true OBE.


If your dream experiences interest you - and it sounds like they do - then you should embrace the chance to experience waking & lucid dreams as well as OBE. They all have their differences, but they can all be entertaining and enlightening in their own way.

The more time you spend learning about your dream cycle and reminding yourself to recognize a dream when you are asleep, the more likely you are to be successful at experiencing one, or all, of the different types of dream states.

I hope you become 100% aware and lucid in your next dream, or maybe even have an OBE sometime soon. They are very addictive and I think everyone should get t experience a lucid dream and an OBE at least once in their lifetime. People who have never experienced Lucid Dreaming or OBE tend to think others are exaggerating when they hear their stories. Having a true OBE would blind-side a lot of them... I'd like to see the look on their face moments after their first OBE

Good Luck!!