I dont mind bad dreams.
When you wake up, the dream fades away.
What utterly terrifies me, though, is when my brain wakes up but my body cannot move.
Thats sleep paralysis, and it affects anywhere betweensevenand40 percentof us.
In that sense, paralysis during sleep is totally normal.
It can happen as you are falling asleep, or as you are waking up.
Although sleep paralysis is terrifying and can happen at night, this condition is no relation tonight terrors.
In sleep paralysis, you are awake but cannot move.
My most vivid memory of sleep paralysis falls into the third category.
I became able to fly, hovering a few feet above the ground.
It was fun, until I realized I was flying faster and faster.
I woke upsort ofbut still felt like I was flying and could not stop.
A Dutch woman in the 1600sdescribed her visitorsas a devil, a dog, and a thief.
However scary the intruder may seem in the moment, nobody is actually in your bedroom threatening you.
For example, episodes are more common if your sleep is disruptedlike mine was after an all-nighter.
Frequent sleep paralysis is also one of the symptoms ofnarcolepsy.
When it comes to stopping sleep paralysis in the moment, astudy in Behavioral Sleep Medicinegives a few suggestions.
Focus on something other than the hallucination, like a happy memory.
attempt to relax your muscles, rather than attempting to move.
This technique might work, but again, it hasnt been tested in a large group of patients.
Sincemeditation is good for you anyway, it doesnt seem like it could hurt.
Illustration by Angelica Alzona.
