Tips and Advice for Avoiding Sleep Paralysis

[MooNiNite]

Meditation is often connected with sleep paralysis.

 

This a thread aimed towards preventing sleep paralysis. 

[thelerner]

If you recognize you are in it, sleep paralysis can be a very nice relaxing experience.  Pretty much like getting in to a deeply hypnotic state.  

 

Guess my advice is if you find yourself in bed and can't move.  Don't think paralysis, think deeply relaxing hypnotic state, good chance for healing and deep breathing.  Go with it, no worries.. unless you've suffered a severe spine injury lately.

Edited March 31, 2016 by thelerner

[steve]

Sleep paralysis is associated with drug and alcohol use and physical and mental exhaustion - anything that interferes with a natural sleep cycle.

I used to experience this fairly frequently. I found that a regular meditation practice helped it to happen much less frequently.

Ever since beginning to practice dream yoga, I sleep and dream better than ever and find it to be very rare.

Edited April 1, 2016 by steve

[Kubba]

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Edited May 6, 2016 by Kubba

[子泰]

I usually get sleep paralysis if my body was tired enough to fall asleep but my mind was intensely focused on something else. So if you find your mind being overactive or tight, then maybe it's time to go out to do some physical activity. Incorrect meditation practice can lead to it too, if the mind has been tightly focusing on something (breath, etc).

[steve]

I had it when a child 10-13 years old. No drug no exhaustion accompanied.

I would not say this is something bad, yet people called it paralysis of-course and probably invented dosens of pills and reasons for that.

Its not comfortable , like comming back home to early and finding out that your parents are having sex. A little secret, yet natural thing.

 

It's also common in children and teenagers. 

I agree that it's nothing bad although I used to find it a bit unpleasant, most of the time.

[RyanO]

Lots of good advice here.  In my experience sleep paralysis occurs most during daytime napping, so that would be something to avoid if you're looking to avoid it.  

 

Also, I think that a lot of hypnogogic states have an element of sleep paralysis and thus the actual experiences may vary widely. Sometimes it is fun can be associated with lucid dreaming.  The most painful sleep paralysis experiences, on the other hand, are associated with night terrors, in which case there is a strong element of fear and can include a feeling of a demonic presence.  For these cases, practicing the inner smile or similar meditation such as loving kindness can be a powerful antidote, in addition to healthy lifestyle and spiritual practices in general.

[steve]

Most of my sleep paralysis experiences have been night terrors.

Through practicing dream yoga, I have had 2 occasions of becoming lucid during these episodes and was able to transform them.