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Sleep Paralysis 101: Waking Up And Being Unable To Move
by Steven Bancarz
Spirit Science and Metaphysics
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night terrified and been unable to move? Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon that occurs when a person wakes up from a sleep being unable to move, speak, or react. It usually occurs as a person is about to fall asleep or as they are about to wake up out of sleep, and is usually accompanied with breathing difficulties.
This may not sound like a big deal for those who haven’t experienced it, but it can be terrifying at times. You are totally paralyzed and unable to wake yourself up. When you are in a state of paralysis, it is the brains natural response to think that you are under attack, so your brain naturally enters into a state of “flight” mode.
Sometimes, sleep paralysis is accompanied by hallucinations or the feeling that there is an intruder in the room. Some people even claim to sense the presence of demonic entities that sit on their chest, or aliens that stand over top of them. In fact, the Chinese used to call this experience “Gui Ya” which means “ghost pressure”, and they believed that a ghost would come sit on your chest as you sleep and paralyze you.
What is the scientific reason reason this is happening? Well, there isn’t any confirmed theory out there yet. The most plausible scientific explanation is that it is thought to occur when the mind wakes up out of REM sleep while the body is still in a state of atonia to prevent sleepers from acting out their dreams. I would agree with this for the most part, but I have experienced sleep paralysis with my eyes open as I was sitting up in bed after waking up from a sleep, so I know for a fact my brain was not in a REM state of sleep because I had already been awake for several minutes.
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Every Day is Earth Day
Source: http://www.riseearth.com/2015/06/sleep-paralysis-101-waking-up-and-being.html
