In the past hundred years, science has come up with attempts to explain what sleep paralysis is. You can read it all online. I, being true to my statement from my opening post, speak only about things that I have experienced first-hand, and I insist on that for the sake of true understanding of consciousness.
credit: louish
The situation is as described in the title. You go to bed, you lie down, preparing yourself to sleep, and suddenly, instead of the regular process you find yourself wide awake, your body is a bit stiff, and when you try to feel it, let alone move it, you are horrified to realize that you simply cannot. It seems that there is no connection between your mind and your body, that you lost control of the basic operations. The immediate thought that comes to mind is: "Am I dead?" And if that's not enough, you feel a strange presence in the room, you roll your (ether) eyes to scan the place and lo and behold, you see a dark spooky form approaching towards your feet, and in a few seconds will surely grab them and take you away, or so you think.
This situation would scare even the bravest of men.
But it should not. And in this article, I will shed light on the issue, hoping to relax your concerns and by that lower the shields that your mind currently puts on.
What happens when we fall asleep
As soon as you lie in bed, your mind, your ego personality, begins to back off. There is no longer a need to operate in the physical reality and the mind knows it. It slowly "shuts itself down" allowing other portions of your consciousness to take control, the parts that know to operate in other worlds where different sets of rules govern. The next moment your consciousness leaves the physical body and drifts to the dream world. A constant, stable connection is kept throughout the night between the wandering consciousness and the body's consciousness (not the mind) who is left here to monitor the status of the physical body. Upon the slightest danger the body calls upon the consciousness and within a split of a second, it returns to take control. This is the normal process called "falling asleep" that happens every night. Most always you are not aware of it. And by the way, this same process happens when we die. The only difference is that then the consciousness disconnects from the physical body for good. Therefore, it is true to say that every night, when we go to sleep, we die a small death. And this process is natural as your breathing.
Sleep paralysis explained
Under certain conditions, the mind may not back off completely and remains alert during the process of falling asleep. Since it is accustomed to the rules of the physical world, everything it witnesses from now on is deciphered by its set of preconceived assumptions. Few interesting phenomena can be felt when the mind remains to watch.
- First thing is the paralysis. As explained, the mind is taking the second seat and therefore the body is not being controlled anymore. It no longer can operate the mechanism of the body. This does not mean you are dead. It only means that you are falling asleep.
- The next phenomenon is the shaking. The mind will feel that the body is aggressively shaking, from left to right and a strong noise as if an engine is operating, is heard. This is the way the mind interprets the consciousness leaving the body, the detachment of your light body (which is the body that travels in the dream worlds) from the physical body as if it is an airplane that takes off. As soon as the light body leaves the physical, you will feel that you are moving up, ascending, floating in the room, above your sleeping body. From here you can begin your nocturnal travels.
This is a process that happens every night, each time when you go to sleep.
There is nothing to fear, nothing to be concerned about, you are not dying, it's not a sickness or any of the kind. You are simply being aware. Congratulations!
credit: higherdensity
Dark entity explained
The other worlds, the near earth realms, where our dreaming consciousness travels to when it leaves the body, are flooded with entities. Look around you now, the place you are at is packed with entities. You simply do not sense them. But they are here, harmless, watching, minding their own business. When we fall asleep and enter the dream world we encounter those entities. As soon as the process of falling asleep happens, the mind, if stays alert, senses the presence of those entities in the room. Since it is unfamiliar to them, the mind (ego) is startled. Imagine you would see, right now, standing next to you, a stranger. Would you not be afraid? What does the stranger want? Is he a treat? The ego interprets that entity in the same way and puts itself into a state of alertness, which results in coloring that entity in dark shades. If that entity makes a move, as innocent as it may be, the mind sees it as a treat to our safety and entices the only mechanism it knows to guarantee our survival – the fear.
However, there is nothing to be afraid of. This is a natural process. It happens every night and for most of you under the radar.
At some point, if not already, you will be more confident about your identity, comfort in your own skin, and then you will want to allow the dreams journies to be conscious. When that time comes you will be readier, knowing that there is absolutely nothing to fear.
I wish you safe and enjoyable travels.
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