A good friend of mine, Sean Clarke, shares with me his experience of sleep paralysis:

“Sleep paralysis has happened to me only once in my life about 10 years ago. I still remember it very clearly because it was one of the creepiest experiences I have ever had in my life. I was 25 at the time. I remember waking up at night and finding I could not move. At first, I thought it was a bad dream, however I then realised it was not as my eyes were open but I just could not move my body however hard I struggled. I was fearful because I did not realise what was happening. I stared at the ceiling and around the room for what must have been at least 30 minutes. I could not call out for help. Finally I decided I should just try and go back to sleep again.

When I got up in the morning my first thought was whether I could move my body. Fortunately I could move my body. The whole experience is vivid in my mind even till today. After my association with Spiritual Science Research Foundation, I began to get a better understanding of the causes of these phenomena and the spiritual remedies that I can apply to overcome them if it ever happens again.”

Apparently, research on sleep paralysis by J. Allan Cheyne (Cheyne, 2001) shows the following:

• It occurs frequently among 3-6% of the world population.
• About 30% of young adults experience Sleep paralysis at least once in their lives.
• It is more likely to happen to young adults.
• Sleep paralysis can last from a few minutes to a few hours at a time.
• People also experience, sense or see a presence around them during their paralysed state. Fear grips them and some of them have said that a demonic force was out to possess their soul or was trying to crush or smother them.
• In some cases, people feel pressure or a choking sensation. This is accompanied by breathing difficulties. In few instances, this escalates into sexual molestation or assault.
• A foul smell has been perceived at times during the paralytic attack.
• It is more likely to happen when sleeping on one’s back (supine position).
• People who go through it are embarrassed by the event thinking that something must be wrong with them mentally.

I will be writing more on the causes and remedies of sleep paralysis Sean mentions, in an upcoming post.

Until then, sleep well!

Yours,

GoodSleeper

Welcome to my new blog on sleep, sleeping well, sleep disorders and solutions! I will be posting more very soon.

Yours,

GoodSleeper