

The terrifying feeling of being held down after just waking up or going to sleep is called sleep paralysis. Almost everyone has experienced that unpleasant moment, when you can’t move or scream, and sometimes this paralysis is accompanied by the certainty that someone-or something-is in the room.

This is one of the most horrifying experiences in life, because we feel awake but we can’t do anything and we can’t figure out what is happening to us.

The logical explanation is that sleep paralysis is a biological event and there is nothing to be worried about. It’s a hiccup in the brain’s chemical soup as we transition from sleep to wakefulness.

What causes sleep paralyses?

REM atonia is the basic cause of sleep paralyses:

-REM stands for Rapid Eye Moment (the sleep phase linked with dreaming)

-Atonia means lack of muscle tension

The electrical nerve impulses are cut off between your muscles and your brain as you fall asleep each night. Your body will not respond even your brain is still telling it to do stuff (such as run away from Saruman’s dark army in yet another arc-fueled nightmare).

So How Do You Wake Up From Sleep Paralysis Tonight?

Read the following 6 ways how to get out from the horrible feeling.

Note: Some of the following tactics will work for you, but others won’t, because this is such a personal thing. These strategies are very useful tools in your toolbox which can help you make things better. Make a plan and resolve to remember it for the next time you wake up in sleep paralysis.

  1. Relax your body into the paralysis. You should not fight forcefully. If you do this, you create panic and you will increase the chance of having scary hallucinations.
  2. Try gently to move your finger and toes. In this way, you will send signals directly to your brain which are saying that your body is awake and to stop the atonia.
  3. Try to move your eyes by blinking and looking around the room. Try to establish waking-like movements to fully awaken your brain and body together.
  4. Move your lips and facial muscles.
  6. Try to maintain a calm and positive mental state. Focus on relaxing thoughts and imagine a beach in the sun, a million miles away from the darkness of your bedroom.
  7. The Ultimate Method We know-we said 6 strategies, but this is the single best way to wake up from sleep paralysis and it’s really in a class of its own. Just try to scrunch up your face. Make a face like you just smelled something bad, snarl and squint. You will immediately break the paralysis by doing this two or three times in a row. We are not sure why it is so effective, but unlike the pinky wiggle, this method is foolproof.

When you wake up, get out of bed immediately and turn on a light, wash your face with cold water. Don’t stay in bed, because the chance of sliding right back into sleep paralysis is pretty high.


Source: Healthy Recipes Home

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