Quote: (12-18-2015 04:57 PM)Days of Broken Arrows Wrote:
Sleep paralysis means your brain awakens and your body doesn't. For most people, when the times comes to awaken, the brain sends out signals to the muscles saying "We're ready to wake up!" For the muscles to spring into action, they have to get a signal from the brain which (I think) involved sending out an enzyme.
But when you have sleep paralysis, the brain doesn't send out those signals. It just pops into action while the muscles lie dormant.
As such, you end up with "locked-in" syndrome. You're awake but can't move. As GlobalMan said, it can be terrifying.
Since I am aware of all this (and now you all are), it's less terrifying. When you find yourself in this state and you can at least think "It's my brain being awake but not my muscles," that's the first step in beating it.
Makes perfect sense logically and scientifically. But i think we've been so brain washed into believing there is a scientific explanation for everything, that we tend to abruptly and harshly dismiss anything spiritual or paranormal. Check out that picture Miscbrah posted. That was how countless people and different cultures since ancient times have experienced and described "sleep paralysis". A ghost/demon or whatever literally sitting on your chest attempting to strangle you.
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In Persian culture it is known as bakhtak (Persian: بختک), which is a ghost-like creature that sits on the dreamer's chest, making breathing hard for him/her.
In Hmong culture, sleep paralysis is understood to be caused by a nocturnal pressing spirit, dab tsog. Dab tsog attacks "sleepers" by sitting on their chests, sometimes attempting to strangle them.
In Fiji, the experience is interpreted as kana tevoro, being strangled and "eaten" by a demon.
In Swahili speaking areas of Africa, it is known as jinamizi ("strangled by jinn"), which refers to a creature sitting on one's chest making it difficult for him/her to breathe. It is attributed to result from a person sleeping on his back. Most people also recall being strangled by this 'creature'.
Europeans, Persians, Pacific Islanders and Southeast Asians ... some of which historically have no contact with each other all describe the same phenomenon of something sitting on their chests and strangling them.
I've experienced this before. The scariest part was even before it happened i had a feeling something was in my vicinity. When i tried to wake up and move, i could not and felt the weight of an adult person sitting on my chest. This was not evenly distributed weight ... i remember distinctly feeling limbs and maybe an ass. Moved my left arm a little bit but a hand literally grabbed it and pinned it back down. I'm not a superstitious person but i truly believe that there are so many things in life we can not explain scientifically. Sleep paralysis being one of them.