Startling Sleep Paralysis

[Dr. Condensate]

I have now had a total of four encounters with sleep paralysis. The first time I was about eight years old. I woke up, could not get up. I could feel an electricity passing through my body that squeezed the air from my lungs. I hallucinated sitting up after expending herculean effort, and then hallucinated that an invisible being pushed me back down. I could here a voice saying, "Stay down." It was a creepy whisper, one that sends chills down ones spine. Back then I had no idea what was happening and believed that some spirit was haunting me. After snapping out of it I didn't know whether to think it was real or a dream. Later on I was staying at my older sister's house. It was about a year ago, so I was sixteen. Somehow sleep paralysis had set in before I fell asleep. I felt the same, crushing electricity. This time I was shaking though. I don't know whether I was actually shaking or whether it was a hallucination. I eventually snapped out of it and sat up. I could not get any sleep that night. The third time was about a month ago. I had knowledge about sleep paralysis at the time, but for some reason failed to make the connection until after I snapped out of it. That third time the electricity was accompanied by the feeling of being strangled. I felt like I was being crushed and strangled and found it difficult to pinpoint the sensation. These first three types were genuinely horrifying. And this is from someone who does not get scared in dreams. Thankfully, the fourth time around, I instantly made the conclusion that it was sleep paralysis. Even after figuring this out though, I still felt like I was being strangled and crushed.

I would love to hear your thoughts and about your own encounters with sleep paralysis.
_________________
"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."-Edgar A. Poe

[Dr. Condensate]

Dang, nobody wants to share their experiences?
_________________
"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."-Edgar A. Poe

[Rox]

In that case I'll try.

I tried WILD for a while, waking up and go to the toilet or something, I would return to my bed and relax, let my brain flow and I always get a very strange kind of hypnagogic imagery (I think). I usually get to see different kind of colors, with a strange shape. I see them merging into each other, like you are watching a kind of hypnotic circle twisting around, but in my case it are this cloud shaped colors. Once I think I got a step further. I started to hear sounds, I heard people mumbling and after a while I saw a flash, this is where I lost myself.

My latest experience was strange, I accidently woke up and I wanted to go to sleep again but I attempted WILD, as I relaxed the usual clouds didn't come up, nor did I heard sounds. After 15 seconds (for my feeling) I felt an enormous pressure on my chest, it knocked all the wind out of me and I instinctively jumped up. I am not certain that this is normal.

The moment that you are starting to see things is for me a very exciting moment, to me it feels like I can see into "the depths of my eyes". I see my eyelids with very small twinkles like stars and when I focus I sometimes have a little "journey" across those stars going deeper and deeper the more exciting and vivid it becomes, it's a lot of fun to watch. I don't really know under what kind of category that goes, hypnagogic imagery maybe? I don't know, I just know it's exciting!

[Dr. Condensate]

That sounds very interesting there.
_________________
"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."-Edgar A. Poe

[Kobaja]

My first sleep paralysis happened about a week ago or two.So,while I was dreaming i dreamt of lying in my bed on my back,a bit to the side.I couldnt move,nor open my eyes.It was a horrifying feeling,i felt someone s presence in my room.Since i couldnt open my eyes i couldnt see what it was.Then all of a sudden i heard a chainsaw sound in my room just like in horror movies.That was the most scariest feeling i ever had.After 5 or 10 secs the sound just vanished and i woke up.I couldn`t sleep after that,however I don`t know if this is a sleepy paralysis or just a dream.

[Dr. Condensate]

Hmm.. It seems very likely that it was sleep paralysis. Could have been a dream, but the factors point toward sleep paraylsis:
The presence detected, not being able to move, it going away after a while. The auditory hallucination is also normal.

Was it more vivid than your usual dreams?
_________________
"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."-Edgar A. Poe

[Kobaja]

Well my dreams were more vivid than usual thats true.And suprisingly I remembered more of them.Then after they finished I was found in a sleep paralysis.Don`t know how that happened.

[Dr. Condensate]

Hmm.. Perhaps it was premature awakening. A lot of times that will lead to experiences with sleep paralysis. Waking up in the middle of your REM cycle. I suppose that means that light sleepers are more likely to have encounters with it.
_________________
"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."-Edgar A. Poe

[IrbidProdigy]

[Marloes]

A week ago I had a dream in which I became lucid. When I thought of me being in the dream and my body lying in bed I suddenly felt my 'real' body. My eyes were still closed but my dream had ended! Maybe thinking of your body is a way to wake up fast? This was the first time it happened to me.

The reason I post this is that I did not wake up in SP. My body was tingling, just like if you have been lying motionless for a long time (which I had), but one movement and it was gone.

Has anyone an idea why this happened? It seemed like just a second between thinking of me lying in bed and being awake and moving. Can you dream while not being paralysed?

[Dr. Condensate]

Well, I have always had the natural ability to wake myself up anyway. I really don't want to wake myself up though. I save it as a last resort if I have too much trouble controlling a dream. Sometimes I have to go through a series of false awakenings before truly waking up.

As for the feeling my real body, here is a dream in which that very same thing induced lucidity: http://www.lucidipedia.com/dream-journal/view/11908/2010-08-19/1/
_________________
"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."-Edgar A. Poe

[Dreamwell]

I remember the first time a had woken up in sleep paralysis. I was about 5 or 6 years old, and I was sleeping in my moms bed. I had a dream about Sully from Monsters Inc. (the big blue guy). And even though I knew I wasn't scared of him, in that moment, I was. And all of a sudden, I hear this booming noise, that starts getting faster until I wake up, I feel like my eyes are squinted and I can barely see. I can't move my body and I can barely move my mouth. I try calling out mom, but I can't. And then I wake up. My latest SP that I can remember is my being in my room and I wake up, same symptoms, and the feeling of someone sitting on top of me, crushing my chest. And then a sudden hallucination, my door opens, and I think someone walked in. I thought it was my sister. So the next morning I ask my sister if she walked into my room the last night and she denies it. I'm pretty sure ive had a SP lately but I don't rememeber, but whenever I am in one, I just lay down thinking, "well, this sucks", and wait for my body to "wake up".

[Dreamwell]

I remember the first time a had woken up in sleep paralysis. I was about 5 or 6 years old, and I was sleeping in my moms bed. I had a dream about Sully from Monsters Inc. (the big blue guy). And even though I knew I wasn't scared of him, in that moment, I was. And all of a sudden, I hear this booming noise, that starts getting faster until I wake up, I feel like my eyes are squinted and I can barely see. I can't move my body and I can barely move my mouth. I try calling out mom, but I can't. And then I wake up. My latest SP that I can remember is my being in my room and I wake up, same symptoms, and the feeling of someone sitting on top of me, crushing my chest. And then a sudden hallucination, my door opens, and I think someone walked in. I thought it was my sister. So the next morning I ask my sister if she walked into my room the last night and she denies it. I'm pretty sure ive had a SP lately but I don't rememeber, but whenever I am in one, I just lay down thinking, "well, this sucks", and wait for my body to "wake up".

[46&2]

Sleep paralysis happens to me frequently even when I'm not trying to WILD. The last time it happened a week ago I think. Whenever I'm not expecting it it still freaks me out a bit. My mind just gets so caught up in the feelings and sounds. My mind seems to halfway drift off to sleep and then I will hear like a loud pop usually. I've also hear sounds like dishes breaking, gun shots, people yelling, even once it sounded like a frickin airplane was landing on head. These sounds wake my mind up and I try to get up but no matter how hard I try I cant move a muscle. I use to get intense anxiety when I couldnt move. Especially when I hear what sounds like someone moving around in my room. Breathing heavily, whispering, laughing, all sorts of creepy stuff. Now I don't even try to wake myself up, even though I'm still creeped out. As long as I don't feel something touch me I'm good. I've only had that happen one time and it felt like a real hand was touching my chest, I've never got out of sleep paralysis so fast when that happened, I think I almost hit my head on the ceiling too

[Bernadine]

About 4months previous:
I had no knowledge of sleep paralysis at this stage.

I had awoke in my bed to a strange buzzing sound which at first I thought was coming from the computer. There was also a bright light shining through the window. At first it felt quite peaceful.
Next I could feel something pushing down on my chest which was very alarming!
I then heard footsteps coming up my stairs and a strange, deep voice calling my name.
I attempted to turn my head towards the door, but failed. I was completley paralysed and did NOT know why! From the corner of my eye I could see the door slowly opening and a black figure floating up beside me into my ear whispering my name again.
I tried to call my brothers name but the words wouldn't come out, the buzzing sounds got louder and higher in pitch which completley frightened me!!

In a flash:
the light was gone
the sounds were gone
I could breath again!

I sat up quickly and looked about. The door was closed again and I didn't understand what had happened.

and that was my first experience of sleep paralysis