The Night The Old Hag Visited Me
Source
I never knew about the Old Hag that comes and sits on your chest at night.
It was just a usual night and I was in Winnipeg doing some work for my company. I was staying in a motel and I had just gone to bed. Around three in the morning I started to become aware that something was in the room with me. Suddenly I could feel a weight on my chest and it became hard to breathe. I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn't work. I tried to move my body but it was paralyzed and wouldn't obey me. I tried to scream but no sound came out. I started to panic!
The Legend of the Old Hag
The legend of the old hag can be found over most of the world. She goes by many different names. She comes when you are sleeping and sits on your chest. Even though the sleeper wakes up they are completely paralyzed. They cannot move, open their eyes, or make a sound. The legend has been around for centuries. It is said the old hag brings nightmares to us.
The symptoms are all related; the weight on the chest, the paralysis, the fear and the panic.
I laid there in a cold sweat, my heart pounding. I could feel her sitting on me. It was getting hard to breathe. My voice was screaming for her to get off me, but no sound came out of my mouth. With all my will power I slowly managed to open my eyes and peered out into the room. I saw shadows of a dark figure standing at the foot of my bed. As soon as my body started working I quickly turned on the light. There was nothing there except for my cloths hanging near the bed and this must have been the figure I saw in the darkness.
I didn't know what had happened to me.
Soon after I managed to fall asleep again but it was a restless sleep.
The following days and weeks I investigated this phenomena. Now you have to remember, this was before the internet and researching was done with books and other documents.
After some time I did manage to get some information and also the causes of it.
Here are some things I learned.
Today it is called sleep paralysis. When the human body drifts into the sleep state the brain starts to shut down the body. It is part of the natural sleep process. It is thought it stops the body from uncontrolled jerking movements.
When we are asleep the body is somewhat paralyzed. We can turn over and get comfortable in a different position but we have to be in a lighter stage of sleep to accomplish this. We then fall back into a deep sleep.
What happens is when we wake up there can still be lingering effects as the mind is awake but the body takes longer to come out of this paralyzed state.
This is the time the Old hag jumps onto your chest!
In all my years this is the only time this has happened to me. Well, thanks for that! It was a very scary moment and one I have never forgotten.
All I can say is if you have never had this happen to you don't panic. Just relax and ride it out. It doesn't last long...maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Remember, there are no aliens or monsters in your room. It is a natural phenomena.
But it sure as hell can be a scary 5 minutes or so if you don't know what is happening!