What is Sleep Paralysis?

What is Sleep Paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is an experience where you wake up unable to move or speak. It may last only a few seconds, but it can be terrifying because you may feel like someone – or something – is holding you down.

Sometimes it happens when you’re getting into bed or just waking up. You lie in the dark waiting to drift off, and then suddenly your mind wakes up before your body does.

You are conscious but  can’t move or talk for brief periods during waking hours. These episodes are sometimes described as “demon attacks”, which is not surprising considering how frightening they are when they occur. What links sleep paralysis to the supernatural or paranormal is that many people claim that they see demonic entities within their bedroom during these encounters. A person who is dealing with demonic possession can experience these entities several times throughout their life.

What are shadow beings?

Between 8% and 50% of people experience sleep paralysis at some point in their life. About 5% of people have regular episodes. It is believed to have played a role in the creation of stories about alien abduction and other paranormal events.

Shadow beings are often described as dark, shadowy humanoid shapes or apparitions about the size of a human. They are not always humanoid, though. Some shadow people are blurry, amorphous masses that change shape frequently .

Some people claim to have seen shadow creatures made out of rocks, coal and other inanimate objects. Others see them near mirrors and windows — places where spirits can grow stronger and more visible by interacting with their reflections.

Why Do People See Shadow People?

This is one of the most common questions asked by those who experience these visions: why would I be able to see something if it’s between me and the light source? People who see shadow beings usually report seeing them against a wall or from across a room. This is usually many people’s first encounter with spiritual warfare.

Authors Kelly Bulkeley and Stanley Krippner suggest that paranormal experiences are linked to “sleep events” such as hallucinations during dreaming or out-of-body experiences. This is because people often report seeing ghosts during dreams or feeling as if they were floating outside their body. Conspiracy theorists claim that alien abductions are sometimes caused by astral projection; this involves projecting one’s soul outside of their body.

The “Old Hag” Syndrome

The night hag is a generic name for a folkloric creature found in cultures around the world, and which is used to explain the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. A common description is that a person feels a presence of a supernatural malevolent being which immobilizes the person as if standing on the chest. This phenomenon goes by many names.

People have claimed to see an old lady or witch screaming in their faces during these encounters. These phenomena have become to be known as the “Old Hag Syndrome”.

The term “hag” is often associated with witches. This is because of the old English legend which tells of Hag – an evil witch who would sit on people’s chests at night to suffocate them during their sleep.

The first known reference to hags or hags attacks comes from Halifax in 1699. John Freind suggested that suffocation was caused by “an oppression of spirits” together with a sensitivity to being touched at the time.

The first medical report of “night hag” came from Dr David Collins in 1781. He wrote that many locals believed that this phenomenon were brought on by witches or ghosts sitting on victim’s chests as they slept.

Real Sleep Paralysis Story!

When I was around four years old, I can still remember the night that I awoke in my bed to a terrible feeling of the presence of two shadow beings lying on each side of me. The shadows were pinning me down to the bed. Fear crept over me, was afraid and did not know what to do.

I don’t know if I couldn’t speak or was just too afraid to for fear that they would know that I was awake.

The beings had me was paralyzed with fear. Around that same time in my life, I woke up after midnight and walked through the house and walked into my mom’s room. There was a clothes’ basket right past the doorway and the room was dark and in the basket were two red glowing eyes looking at me.

Throughout my childhood, my friends and I were always trying to scare ourselves by hiding from each other and jumping out, telling ghost stories or watching scary movies. Pretty typical stuff, but throughout my whole childhood it tortured me.

Encountering Demons In Dreams

Every time I turned the light off, I was scared, but the even scarier part was when I closed my eyes. Most nights I had nightmares. I had them so often that I learned how to lucid dream to get out of them. Every time I wanted to wake up I would just suffocate myself in the dream, cut my own throat, drown myself, or jump head first into a rock to kill myself or break my neck. It worked every time. I always woke up out of the nightmares when I did this. The scariest dreams were when I was trying to go to sleep and looking around at my room and I didn’t know that I had fallen asleep.

In my dream, I would still be lying there in bed looking around my room and either a demon would come walking in my room, or one would be on top of me and I couldn’t move. This phenomenon was quite different from the experience that I had as a child with the shadow beings lying on my chest.

The Lord didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of love and a sound mind. I just hadn’t learned this yet.

I learned through my studies and personal experiences with these entities that they are sent to try and place fear into the hearts and minds of those who are destined to do mighty things for the light. For many people, sleep paralysis is linked to demonic possession.

Paranormal Encounters

Most of the time, people have encounters with these beings when they are children. These beings come to try and rob them of their innocence.

Many people I know who have had these encounters end up doing great exploits serving humanity and spreading love in their adult lives. It seems as if they are marked at an early age by some type of dark force to try and keep them away from pursuing anything spiritual.

People call these beings witches, shadow people, and even report seeing silhouettes of men standing in their room wearing a top hat and trench coat.

Others have named this the old hag syndrome, speaking about experiences where they wake up out of a dead sleep and cannot move and an old woman is laying on top of them screaming. Scientifically and clinically it is said that sleep paralysis is where a person wakes up consciously and even opens their eyes, but their body is still asleep resulting in a paralyzing stasis of fear.

That could be true, but why are there usually shadow beings, demons, imps and creatures in a person’s room when this is taking place?

My belief is that this is something that is supernatural in nature and may be even feeding off of people’s energy while they are asleep. Waking up in the middle of the night not being able to move or speak is definitely terrifying, but having a scary entity present doesn’t help the situation.

If it is just because we are in alpha sleep, why isn’t it a pink elephant that appears? Why isn’t it something lovely and beautiful that we often encounter in the dream state?

Why is it always some grotesque looking entity that is present when sleep paralysis occurs?

How To Stop Sleep Paralysis

People have testified that during sleep paralysis episodes that the experience would immediately stop when they call upon the name of Jesus. Some who aren’t able to speak during these encounters say that even if they can only “think” the name of Jesus, that that experience would end also.

There is power in the name of Jesus, and every knee must bow to that name. That includes all spirits, angels and demons that have existed or ever will. The name of Jesus Christ is indeed the name above every name! If you have encounter with fear during the night, try speaking the name of Christ.

We also have some amazing Christian Meditations that allow you to have a peaceful night’s rest and soak in God’s presence, even while you sleep. Check them out below.