Sleep Paralysis - This is Weird

[Kratom23]

I have had this a few times now and each time it is real scary! Thankfully it is rare but seems to happen a day or so after having done a particularly heavy Psych session.
When I try to sleep there seems to be a place between being awake and actual sleep where I am aware of my surroundings but feel I am suffocating but cant move or call for help. Its a bit like the dream where you try to run away from something but cant move. It feels like being completely awake but also inside a dream, freaky stuff.
Has anyone else experienced this and what causes it?

 

[st.bot.32]

I used to get this a lot when I was a kid, complete with hypnagogic hallucinations upon falling asleep and waking (well technically hypnopompic hallucinations when waking i guess) and generally lots of vivid closed eye imagery while falling asleep.

I do think this is largely what led to my eventual interest in psychedelics...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia (There's a section in here on sleep paralysis with the cause)

I still get it... not so much now as an adult, but still occasionally from time to time.. eg it happened to me once last year when I had a fever. I still 'play' with threshold wakeness frequently (without drugs)

 

[Synith]

I have had this a few times now and each time it is real scary! Thankfully it is rare but seems to happen a day or so after having done a particularly heavy Psych session.
When I try to sleep there seems to be a place between being awake and actual sleep where I am aware of my surroundings but feel I am suffocating but cant move or call for help. Its a bit like the dream where you try to run away from something but cant move. It feels like being completely awake but also inside a dream, freaky stuff.
Has anyone else experienced this and what causes it?

There's two things you can do.

One: look at it introspectively. It's a door into lucid dreaming. You may be able to learn something from it.

Two: Stop using drugs and get enough rest.

I personally treat my SP and sleep apnea with Cannabis (As I've had it since I was very young.) I'm a very light sleeper. I'll only get about an hour at the host without Cannabis. SP hits me multiple times in the night. It's very interesting, but I need my 8 hours.

The cause is unknown, but you can read this anyhow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_para ... ble_causes

 

[restin]

I had it once and it scared me to death.

 

[????????]

i think it's a glitch of our brains.

 

[Psyolopher]

Yeah i think its an interesting glitch anyhow.
I've had some experiences like this, and then different ones....
like when another body awakes from my normal one, and my senses are all fucked but i can feel and sense everything.
But then it got to intense and then i woke up scared, or more like pumped.
The other body was white, and had tiny morphing symbols on it.
Pretty cool actually, it was extremely real though. (to me lol.)
So this feeling was there for a good time after i woke up.
And then another time the same thing, just flyin around.
I dont know if thats really sleep paralysis.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Stanislav Grof talks at length about hypnogogia and hypnopompia in relation to unresolved gestalts of badly guided psychedelic sessions, or what we sometimes refer to as flashbacks and other other prolonged or delayed reactions.

Can you describe a typical "heavy Psych session"? Do you typically go inward during the start (lights off, sitting or lying down), or are your sessions kind of externalized (going outside or watching movies etc.)?

 

[magickmumu]

Sleep paralysis.
When the body is asleep but the head is not.
I am familiar with this phenomenon
You want to move, but you can't
The last time I experienced it, I posted it on this forum.

The last time I wanted to stand up, but could not. I tried to open my eyes (it was during daytime)
but the whole room was messed up. I couldn't figure what's up or down.

Other times (during the night) I got up out of my bed and walked around. I tried to switch on the light, but I can not. Then I realized I was not walking around.

 

[FluidDruid]

I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with this phenomenon. I believe it is what you should seek as a psychonaut personally. I've encountered this long before any type of psychedelic sessions. I've found that used right, certain drugs can become a sort of catalyst for said phenomenon. I believe hypnagogia is a bridge to the sleep state and I believe you can lengthen your stay on said bridge by certain techniques. I also believe you can learn valuable bits from these experiences. Train yourself. The human eye has two different types of vision, central, and peripheral. Unfocus your eyes and focus on using your peripheral, things become interesting.

 

[Synith]

Stanislav Grof talks at length about hypnogogia and hypnopompia in relation to unresolved gestalts of badly guided psychedelic sessions, or what we sometimes refer to as flashbacks and other other prolonged or delayed reactions.

Can you describe a typical "heavy Psych session"? Do you typically go inward during the start (lights off, sitting or lying down), or are your sessions kind of externalized (going outside or watching movies etc.)?

I'd disagree with Stanislav Grof. I had episodes of SP long before I started taking hallucinogens. SP and lucid dreaming is what got me interested in introspective meditation by the use of hallucinogenics.

 

[Crimzen]

I had it once and it scared me to death.

SAME
omfg, and it wasnt long ago either probably a month at most i didnt see anything but i heard voices which freaked my out pretty bad
i couldnt move which at first i didnt realise but then i heard a very deep scary ass demonic voice come from the corner and i tried to move to get up but i couldnt move anything except my head then it made sum gibberish and i started shaking my head trying to make myself move haha i managed after like a minute to roll over then i think i fell asleep again coz i dont remember anything after that

...was fucked up
oh and this was the night after the day after i did some acid sorry if that was hard to read im stoned
pz.

 

[mrvitorsky]

I hear and read one time(although on wikipedia), that It is completely natural, Its simply your body taking a bit to fully wake up, not caused by drugs, not caused by any mental or personal problem, It just happens. The closed eye pre-sleep hallucinations mentioned, Ive been getting those recently as well(and some times in the past), beautiful scenes of spinning color and pure beauty yet totally formless and colorless. I cant even describe the pure beauty, Its like if you showed me the image/scene/hallucination I could say ya that's it, But I cant describe how it even looks.

Also does this happen to any one? > Digital light in general when it comes to letters or numbers look like its melting when I'm tired or about to sleep no drugs just happens. I have insomnia so I experience this often. I mean Ive done acid(well whatever shit they pass as that nowadays) and shrooms allot (to much to be honest) and this is like that but slower and well scary almost, depressing / scary.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

I'd disagree with Stanislav Grof. I had episodes of SP long before I started taking hallucinogens. SP and lucid dreaming is what got me interested in introspective meditation by the use of hallucinogenics.

I can imagine you disagree with my short summary of his view. The thing is that when he talks about psychedelic experiences, he invariably includes the conscious processing of the forgotten trauma of birth. So certainly Stan isn't arguing that SP is only the result of unresolved psych sessions, as he knows SP have been reported for hundreds of years. But rather the other way around: when psychedelic sessions (or other events that stir the psyche) are poorly resolved, they may give rise to SP. But the sensations common to SP, namely being wrapped, stuck, squeezed, and unable to free yourself, with all the fear and helplessness that accompany these, are very often related to the trauma of birth.

 

[Sumgai]

I've had SP on and off all my life. In fact I just had it again last night! You get used to it after a few decades. These days it only happens once or twice a year, though in the past it has happened as frequently as several times a week. Some people only experience it once in their life and that's it. It's extremely scary the first couple times it happens, most people assume they're dying or already dead.

What causes it? I'm not sure. I've been through a lucid dreaming phase long enough to get bored of it and turn it off (several years). Long before any use of psychedelics too. Sleeping on your back makes it more likely than sleeping on your side. Messing up your sleep habits also makes it more likely. Anticholinergics like diphenhydramine can sometimes trigger it, or even result in acute anticholinergic syndrome if combined with a GABA agonist. This latter state is unpleasant but temporary (most of a day), and a choline supplement will get rid of it faster. Transdermal nicotine also reduces it.

From what I've read, the situation during SP is that the brain still thinks the conscious mind is asleep, and it inhibits the voluntary muscle systems so that you don't thrash around while dreaming and hurt yourself. Normally this is turned off when you wake up, but apparently sometimes it makes a mistake. This may or may not also include hallucinations depending on how much of the brain is still in a REM state. Personally I usually just get the paralysis without hallucinations.

The trick to it is, the harder you fight against it, the longer it will take for things to sort themselves out. Struggling is seen as a dangerous situation so if anything it's going to lock down even harder on you so you don't start banging into things. I've found (through lots of practical testing) that the easiest and quickest way to get it to stop is to relax as much as possible and just listen to your own breathing. Don't try to control it, since you'll just panic and think you're suffocating and make it worse. Just sit and try to let everything keep running on autopilot. You don't consciously control your breathing 99% of the time anyway, so it's not going to stop on you. It was doing perfectly fine while you were unconscious so just try to relax and let it run on automatic.

Usually it'll let go in about a minute or less if you're calm. If you fight, it can be as long as 15 minutes, which will seem a hell of a lot longer!

 

[Shamanita]

I often have the feeling i'm really falling down or sometimes just moving away (that's where the falling asleep term comes from i guess)
it's an intense feeling of falling and falling forever, and then suddenly, waking up a bit scared..
It occurs in the stage between being awake and being asleep too, so i guess it's quiet the same thing

 

[sturt]

hey i think you must consult a doctor as this is a disease as from your post it is clear that you don't sleep well!!!!!

 

[Synith]

hey i think you must consult a doctor as this is a disease as from your post it is clear that you don't sleep well!!!!!

Sleep Paralysis isn't a disease, mate. Do some research.

It's a phenomenon which happens to most people at least once in their lifetime. It's also closely related to lucid dreaming.

Some (and I don't know the authenticity of this)--have suggested that SP may be connected to post-synaptic inhibition of motor neurons in the pons region of the brain, or low levels of melatonin, which may stop the depolarization current in the nerves; but it's not a disease, nor a form of sleep apnea unless narcolepsy presents itself in a regular fashion. For the most part, people get SP because they aren't sleeping, or aren't sleeping enough hours, or are just immensely stressed out.

I used to mess around with SP before I got into psychedelics. I'd deprive my body of sleep for 48 hours, have an active and rough second day, come home around noon and take a random nap. By the second time I entered REM sleep, I had an episode of SP. It was quite interesting, but not something to f*k with.

 

[Cortexelus]

I have it about two-three times a week.

For me, the trick is to nod off in an awkward position with the lights on... usually while I'm on my laptop or writing or something.. especially when I'm cuddling with my female.

It doesn't work if I'm waiting for it to happen.. I just sort of have to slip into it. Once you recognize the signs it gets easier.

It's taken a few years to really perfect the art of the experience, but I've been able to go deeper, into more bizarre states of mind, with more awareness, more articulation, more lucidity, and more control.

 

[Tmartwelve]

I've just finished reading "Astral Travel for Beginners" (after several out of body experiences with Salvia and Peruvian Torch), but I haven't been able to Astrally Project at will without the use of entheogens, I believe because I'm not quite able to let go yet. However, throughout the book they emphasize that it is entirely safe, regardless of scary experiences that you may encounter.

This morning I awoke around 5AM. I experienced a discussion with what I would describe as other beings, although I believe this is just how my human brain could interpret the information I was receiving. I was able to ask them several questions, before I started waking up too much. I definitely got the sense that I could have seen them as terrifying, and become paralyzed with fear; I had a brief glimpse of this, but I reminded myself that I would manifest what I wanted to see, and they again seemed benevolent.

From my experiences, I can't help but think that scary SP experiences are the result of confusion about the control being switched from physical to mental.

A friend of mine recently had a SP experience where she was surrounded by malevolent men, but could not reach to turn on the light, and was unable to touch the men, even though she was trying to.

I certainly can't say for sure, as I haven't had recurring SP as some people have, but I have had several lucid dreams throughout my life that have left a big impact on me, and I believe that they could have been terrifying if my consciousness didn't realize that it wasn't reliant on my physical self, and was free to explore.

This may sound like a judgement, but thinking of it as "sleep paralysis" to me indicates a fear, or a negative connotation, or a struggle between mind and body. Perhaps the wonderful liberation of astral travel is a hellish torment when the astral traveller finds her/him-self trapped within the physical.

Someone was saying relaxing makes SP go away more quickly; could these experiences be turned into powerful, enlightening experiences by letting go of fear of losing attachment to the body, and letting your consciousness be freed of your body? To me, this really seems to tie in with Buddhist ideas of letting go of your fears, especially the fear of releasing your consciousness from your body.