Thought I'd post this in case it helps anyone. I've known 3 other people who have had sleep paralysis, and they all have SA to a degree, so maybe sleep paralysis is more common with people who have SA. Then again I'm basing this on only 4 people which includes myself, so maybe not. Either way. I refer to this as a cure as it has worked for me, although obviously I don't know if it would work for everyone. But I think there is a good chance it can work for a lot of people.
About 2 years ago I was having a problem with sleep paralysis in which it was happening often. I think a lot of it was due to the job and financial situation I was in at the time, as it was very stressful, and that I wasn't able to have a set sleep pattern (the job would rotate 12 hours about every 5 days, so 5 days I would work days, 5 days I would work nights, days, nights, etc., indefinitely). Rotating shifts are crap, and whoever sets up this work schedule seems to not have a clue (or just doesn't care) about the importance of a consistent sleep schedule. I guess some companies do this in order to try to make the work schedule equal for all shifts. Equal for everyone my @ss – ya, equal in that we are all deprived of sleep. Although maybe some people can adapt, I don't know. I was never able to sleep well on rotating shifts, and some days I went to work on no sleep at all. And that really sucked as this job was a hard physical job that required constant attention and speed, or else you were f*cked. And at the time I thought I really needed this job as it paid well and I was in debt. But I digress...
Anyway, to give a brief description (which is basically the way many others experience it from what I have read), whenever I experienced sleep paralysis, I would wake up (or at least I thought I was awake), but I wasn't able to move at all no matter how hard I tried. While in this state, things would sometimes go bad in that my surroundings would suddenly go dark, or I felt like there was some sort of a bad presence in the room in which I couldn't move to get away from it. At some point I would finally snap out of it and was fully awake/conscious and able to move freely again. But it wasn't like waking up from sleeping. It felt more like coming out of a sub-reality, something between being asleep and awake. Turns out when I was in the sleep paralysis state, I actually was asleep (what level of sleep I do not know), but thought that I was awake or at least somewhat awake. The things I experienced while in the sleep paralysis state were just the equivalent of a dream (or a nightmare in this case), most likely the stress I had at the time manifesting itself.
Then I figured out a way to break out of sleep paralysis at will. For me this took 2 steps. When I found myself in the sleep paralysis state, I wouldn't try to move (this just made it worse). Step 1: I just focused on doing one thing: breathing in through my mouth (not nose) as hard as I could all the way from my diaphragm up (sounded like I was gasping for air). This would partially break me out of the sleep paralysis mentally, in that I was actually somewhat conscious/awake now, but I was still unable to move. Step 2: So now I told myself in my head "On 3 sit up and move as hard as I can.", and then I counted in my head "1.....2.....3!" in which on "3" I sat up and moved my arms and legs as hard as I could, breaking out of the sleep paralysis the rest of the way (saying crazy sh*t like "Take that motherf*cker!" since I had broken out of it / beaten it). (I wish I had this on film since it probably looked and sounded funny as h*ll. I would've been laughing for days.)
Now that I had a way to break out of sleep paralysis at will, I faced the fear head on, wanting it / telling it to happen so that I could kill it / make it pay. From that day forward I haven't experienced anymore sleep paralysis. But even if I had I wouldn't have cared since I now had a way to break out of it at will.
So to recap, if you find that you are in a state of sleep paralysis, do 2 steps to break out of it:
1) Don't try to move. Just breathe in through your mouth (not nose) as hard as you can from your diaphragm up (using your whole respiratory system – breathing deep not shallow). This should partially break you out of the dream state and somewhat back into consciousness. Still don't try to move.
2) Now that you are somewhat conscious, tell yourself in your head "On 3 sit up and move as hard as I can.", and then count in your head "1.....2.....3!" in which on "3" you sit up and move your arms and legs as hard as you can, breaking out of the sleep paralysis the rest of the way.
Now that you have a way to break out of sleep paralysis at will, face the fear head on – wanting it to happen so that you can kill it if it does. Now the sleep paralysis might not happen much if at all anymore, since you can now face the fear and beat it. But if it does happen from time to time, it doesn't matter – you can break out of it at will. Just remember the 2 steps, focusing on each one at a time.
"...I'm on my way
Just set me free
Home sweet home"
About 2 years ago I was having a problem with sleep paralysis in which it was happening often. I think a lot of it was due to the job and financial situation I was in at the time, as it was very stressful, and that I wasn't able to have a set sleep pattern (the job would rotate 12 hours about every 5 days, so 5 days I would work days, 5 days I would work nights, days, nights, etc., indefinitely). Rotating shifts are crap, and whoever sets up this work schedule seems to not have a clue (or just doesn't care) about the importance of a consistent sleep schedule. I guess some companies do this in order to try to make the work schedule equal for all shifts. Equal for everyone my @ss – ya, equal in that we are all deprived of sleep. Although maybe some people can adapt, I don't know. I was never able to sleep well on rotating shifts, and some days I went to work on no sleep at all. And that really sucked as this job was a hard physical job that required constant attention and speed, or else you were f*cked. And at the time I thought I really needed this job as it paid well and I was in debt. But I digress...
Anyway, to give a brief description (which is basically the way many others experience it from what I have read), whenever I experienced sleep paralysis, I would wake up (or at least I thought I was awake), but I wasn't able to move at all no matter how hard I tried. While in this state, things would sometimes go bad in that my surroundings would suddenly go dark, or I felt like there was some sort of a bad presence in the room in which I couldn't move to get away from it. At some point I would finally snap out of it and was fully awake/conscious and able to move freely again. But it wasn't like waking up from sleeping. It felt more like coming out of a sub-reality, something between being asleep and awake. Turns out when I was in the sleep paralysis state, I actually was asleep (what level of sleep I do not know), but thought that I was awake or at least somewhat awake. The things I experienced while in the sleep paralysis state were just the equivalent of a dream (or a nightmare in this case), most likely the stress I had at the time manifesting itself.
Then I figured out a way to break out of sleep paralysis at will. For me this took 2 steps. When I found myself in the sleep paralysis state, I wouldn't try to move (this just made it worse). Step 1: I just focused on doing one thing: breathing in through my mouth (not nose) as hard as I could all the way from my diaphragm up (sounded like I was gasping for air). This would partially break me out of the sleep paralysis mentally, in that I was actually somewhat conscious/awake now, but I was still unable to move. Step 2: So now I told myself in my head "On 3 sit up and move as hard as I can.", and then I counted in my head "1.....2.....3!" in which on "3" I sat up and moved my arms and legs as hard as I could, breaking out of the sleep paralysis the rest of the way (saying crazy sh*t like "Take that motherf*cker!" since I had broken out of it / beaten it). (I wish I had this on film since it probably looked and sounded funny as h*ll. I would've been laughing for days.)
Now that I had a way to break out of sleep paralysis at will, I faced the fear head on, wanting it / telling it to happen so that I could kill it / make it pay. From that day forward I haven't experienced anymore sleep paralysis. But even if I had I wouldn't have cared since I now had a way to break out of it at will.
So to recap, if you find that you are in a state of sleep paralysis, do 2 steps to break out of it:
1) Don't try to move. Just breathe in through your mouth (not nose) as hard as you can from your diaphragm up (using your whole respiratory system – breathing deep not shallow). This should partially break you out of the dream state and somewhat back into consciousness. Still don't try to move.
2) Now that you are somewhat conscious, tell yourself in your head "On 3 sit up and move as hard as I can.", and then count in your head "1.....2.....3!" in which on "3" you sit up and move your arms and legs as hard as you can, breaking out of the sleep paralysis the rest of the way.
Now that you have a way to break out of sleep paralysis at will, face the fear head on – wanting it to happen so that you can kill it if it does. Now the sleep paralysis might not happen much if at all anymore, since you can now face the fear and beat it. But if it does happen from time to time, it doesn't matter – you can break out of it at will. Just remember the 2 steps, focusing on each one at a time.
"...I'm on my way
Just set me free
Home sweet home"
