Hi everyone
Are you, like me, the less than 20% of people who experience sleep paralysis? How do you cope with these experiences, what are your beliefs about them, and are you able to share with family and friends and get unconditional support?
The first time I experienced sleep paralysis, I was 19. The last time I remember experiencing this, I was 24. However, I often find myself jerking awake as I am falling asleep and I wonder if this is not a subconscious mechanism I have developed to stop these terrifying experiences from happening.
I have been thinking about these experiences because I found a very interesting interview with David J Hufford. Here's part 1 of the 10-part interview:
I never saw anything. My experiences happened as I was falling asleep, and when I woke up to that presence in the room, I was paralysed, so I could not open my eyes (I also chose to not try to as I was too terrified to see what was there). I was always lying on my right side when these experiences happened, and the presence was behind me. I never heard anything. I never felt anything other than that there was a menacing, terrifying presence behind me that was evil, there to do me harm and projected darkness and heat (the presence did not touch me but I felt the emanations of darkness, heat and evil). I was lucky in that the first time it happened, the idea came to me that I must move, so I focused my will on moving a finger. It took forever and was so much effort, but once I could get a finger to move, I would snap out of the paralysis.
I did tell my friends about that first experience, and I was mocked in such a horrible way that I retreated into silence, at all levels, for many years. It was only when I found Project Avalon that I found people who are open-minded, sympathetic, interested, informed and respectful.
According to this Wikipedia article, my experiences are because of Narcolepsy. Huh? I'll have to do more research!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
Simply physiology (some kind of malfunction in the brain) as per science, alien abduction, demon possession, psychological disturbances, some kind of inter-dimensional spiritual experience? I don't subscribe to a one-sided belief about these experiences. I am trying to understand a more holistic, multi-perspective view. I found this interview with Hufford very informative and interesting because he does seem to be open-minded.
Most people see some kind of entities during these experiences. How do you see if your eyes are closed and you have sleep paralysis? If you do open your eyes, then you break the paralysis. Is this some kind of third-eye seeing (I can sort of see with my eyes closed so I do accept that a human being can see when the eyes are closed.)?
One thing I note about my experience is that logical/analytical thinking stepped in very quickly for me and got me out of the experience, not by rejecting what I was experiencing, or rationalising it, but by choosing my reaction to it (being able to move is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself). I can, in dreams, meditation ... experience something and be an analytical observer of me experiencing. I'm not sure if I am making sense, but I can be both the person experiencing something and also be the person observing myself having the experience. There is even a third me that anaylses and chooses a reaction to the experience. Alas, it is during dreams and so on that I can be all three versions of me and so I have not found it useful in my daily life! It is very useful when I have a nightmare or get into some kind of trouble in a dream!
If anyone has had or does have these experiences, I would be interested in reading about what happened or happens to you, your beliefs about these experiences and what coping mechanisms you have developed (and if you have ever spoken about them and received very negative and negating feedback).
Hugs!