I think I died in my sleep, but it’s ok, it’s just sleep paralysis

This is what happens when you’re trapped in your own body while sleeping.

Here I am, lying in bed on a breezy night. If you walk in now, you’ll think I’m sleeping. Yes, my eyelids are shut but I can feel your presence in my room. The only problem is I can’t move. Deep down, I know I am conscious; my body is just completely paralyzed, I repeat, I can’t move!

I am trying to shout out to you to tap me to wake up, but this is only vocalized in my mind. I can feel a weight pressing my chest down and squeezing the breath out of my lungs. I start to panic. The more I struggle to jolt myself out of sleep, the harder it becomes for me to breathe. I start to wiggle a finger, flicker an eyelash, it seems like I am making an effort but, all you see is a lady sleeping.

This is an extreme sport. I am scared I might be stuck like this forever, so I tell myself to stay calm, and I repeat the jolting process all over again till I snap back to life. Now I am awake, hyperventilating out of fear. I survived this one…. until I try to take a nap or sleep another day and I can’t move again.

I share this experience with at least 6 out of 10 people around the world. This terrifying experience is different for everyone; some even see shadows or ghosts. What we have in common is the diagnosis, it’s called sleep paralysis.

Sleep paralysis is a state of being awake before your body does. It’s a feeling of being conscious, but you cannot move or speak. You’re simply trapped in your sleep. According to sleep foundation.org, sleep paralysis is caused by what appears to be a basic brain glitch at the interface between wakefulness and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. During REM, you have intensely lifelike dreams. To prevent you from acting out these realistic dreams (and hurting yourself!), your brain has a clever solution: it temporarily paralyzes your entire body.

The first time it happened to me, I was 11 years old. I would take a nap and struggle to wake up while lying there conscious that I am no longer asleep. My body didn’t just get the memo. I remember complaining to my parents about it, but they were equally clueless about my situation. I felt scared to close my eyes at some point. But when you experience it 2 times a week, you learn to master your frequent episodes of sleep paralysis. Back then when I told my spiritual father, he diagnosed me with having demons around me that’s why I felt a heavyweight pressing me down.

I think there is a thin line between science and spirituality.

Till now, I don’t fully understand the cause of sleep paralysis. Some medical articles say you experience sleep paralysis when you sleep in a certain position or suffer from stress or post-traumatic disorder. What I know of is how to take control of it.

Next time you find yourself trapped in your sleep, calm your mind. It’s important to trick your mind into ease. The next step, pinch yourself or try to make movements. I understand this is hard but it eventually works after a few trials. Also, you might want to have a couple of alarms set up before you sleep because sometimes you need any element around you to snap you out of it. Most importantly, talk to a doctor, I heard there are medications for this.

If this is your first time learning about sleep paralysis, I found an article that can help your understanding, click here.

Has this ever happened to you? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comment. Don’t forget to clap if you enjoyed reading this and tap the follower button to read more interesting content from me.