Is Sleep Paralysis Dangerous? – A Lucid Dreaming Problem
In this post I will be answering a very basic lucid dreaming question i.e “Is sleep paralysis dangerous?” because it is something that often worries a lot of people when they begin their lucid dreaming journey.
What will you do if you wake up and you find that your body is not moving, you can’t open your eyes, but you can move your eyeballs, you feel it hard to breathe and to make such a dreadful situation worse, you also feel a ghostly presence near you?
Sleep paralysis is the state when the body is asleep whereas mind is partially awake, this results into a dream where a person finds himself paralyzed at the same place where he is actually sleeping.
This may seem as something very dangerous and it can really scare the hell out of you when it happens. But sleep paralysis can cause no harm to you because it is a natural phenomenon.
It happens due to the biological mechanism that prevents people from acting out in dreams, so when you are partially awake you become aware of this and feel like you have lost the control over your body.
What Causes Sleep Paralysis?
Unfortunately, it has not been possible yet to predict when one may have to face sleep paralysis.
However, the probability of sleep paralysis increases when a person: –
-Is sleep deprived
-Consuming excess of caffeine or alcohol before sleeping
-Has irregular sleep cycles
-Sleeping in an unfamiliar environment
-Trying to induce lucid dreams
Is Sleep Paralysis a Lucid Dreaming State?
Sleep paralysis is a dream state because we are not physically awake when it occurs.
It could be related to lucid dreams because in both the cases we become conscious that we are actually sleeping.
But unlike lucid dreams, when sleep paralysis happens it becomes a bit difficult for one to accept that it is a dream because he can feel his real environment.
Just becoming conscious when you are asleep cannot wake you up every time, so our subconscious mind creates a real world like conditions during this state.
Hence, the truth is that sleep paralysis is nothing but a lucid dream. That’s why it is not a very scary thing for experienced lucid dreamers and they use this opportunity for inducing a lucid dream.
How to Stop Sleep Paralysis?
First of all, knowing about this state alone makes it much easier for you to deal with it.
Sleep paralysis is considered as a demon attack or near death experience by some people due to lack of knowledge, so having a proper awareness makes it a less frightening experience.
These 3 simple steps can break sleep paralysis: –
1- Relax, and convince yourself that it is just a dream.
2- Imagine that you are able to move while trying to move your fingers.
3- Concentrate on your breath and try to take deep long breaths.
They key here is to calm your mind, when you will stop making a big deal out of sleep paralysis it won’t bother you much.
My First Sleep Paralysis Experience
Sleep paralysis has become a tool for inducing lucid dreams for me now, but when I first experienced this state, I had no idea what was happening to me.
I became conscious and I knew where I am, so I tried to call my roommate, but I was not able to speak or move, I felt a strong presence near me and I thought it is my last day on this planet..lol..
I tried my best to move, but I was not even able to blink.
I started to pray and luckily my friend woke me up to show his new mobile phone that he just bought. It sounds funny now, but that day I was so scared thinking that I was having some supernatural experience.
Since you are now aware of this dream condition, I am sure that you are prepared to deal with it if it ever happens to you in the future.
I hope your enjoyed reading this post. I have also provided some more tips on how to lucid dream without having to face sleep paralysis, which you may like to read.
If you are struggling to induce lucid dreams then the meditation I use for lucid dreaming might help you.
I hope you liked this post. I would love to hear your views about this so please do leave me a comment in the box below.
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