My experiences with sleep paralysis.

You might have heard of this thing called 'lucid dreaming' where dreamers are aware of and are able to control their dreams and do things they'd never be able to in real life. However, many of us confuse this with 'sleep paralysis'. Sleep paralysis, my friends, is a whole different and scarier phenomenon. 

When someone experiences sleep paralysis, basically their whole body falls asleep, or shuts down, except their brains. It's like you're dead, but you can still think. You might think "oh it's not that scary, you'll wake up eventually anyway." Dead fucking wrong. Before I explain further, know that sleep paralysis should not be associated with anything paranormal. It is a classified sleeping disorder that occurs amongst many people everyday.

In usual cases, these are the symptoms of sleep paralysis:

• inability to speak/move (except the eyes)
• suffocating or breathlessness (associated with someone standing or sitting on their chest)
• feelings of total fear and terror
• vivid hallucinations
• hearing strange voices

There are a few ways one can escape this terrifying ordeal: falling back asleep or 'forcing' yourself to wake up. I won't go into details, instead I'll briefly share my experiences with you.

My first time was in the school library. I was taking a nap on the sofa and I felt myself being jolted up. I slowly opened my eyes and realised I couldn't move a muscle. Shocked as hell, I tried calling out for someone, obviously to no avail. At the corner of my eye, I saw a white figure floating towards me. By then, I'd already shit my pants and the next thing I knew, I woke up about 20 minutes later.

The next happened a few days later. I was taking a nap in bed and the same thing occurred. Woke up, couldn't move shit, scared as fuck. To my right I did see a figure in white kneeling beside my bed and just smiling. I held my breath (one of the few ways to wake up) and immediately woke up. 

This went on many more times. I grew less afraid of the dark apparitions and weird voices that appeared in my room and learnt to deal with it with less hysteria. Sometimes, I even let these figures do their shit because I was interested in what may happen next. I also grew less afraid because I learnt that what I saw were just projections from my mind. I was in control of what I saw, not the other way around.

If ever you experience something like this, remember that it's all in your head. Wherever you are, sleep well.

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