While watching youtube recently, I watched this video where the guy had explained in detail what sleep paralysis was. I was glad I found the video. I finally found the answer to a question that has been haunting me for a few years now.
I remember vividly what had happened to me. The first time it happened was when I was sleeping at my grandparent's home in my native place. In the night after a few years of sleep, I wanted to get up and found that I couldn't. I couldn't open my eyes nor could I move my hands or legs. I wanted to wake my mom who was lying next to me and tell her about my predicament. I couldn't speak. I got scared. I thought it was some power or energy that had paralyzed me. Thoughts of evil spirits, ghosts came to my mind. This happened for a few minutes and I also felt as if someone was crushing my chest.
After some time, a few seconds or minutes, I was finally able to open my eyes and move my hands. I lay in fear the whole night and could not go back to sleep after that. When I told my mom and grand mother about this, they promptly put in vibhuti on my forehead the next night.
After many months later, I experienced the same problem one night at my house. I went to the temple nearby and then shifted my bed to a different place the next night. I had one last experience after a few months back and then have never had it ever since.
No one in the family had answers for it. We never spoke about it and all I was asked to do was apply vibhuti on my forehead before going to bed. I did that diligently and then stopped after a year.
I wanted to know the reason for it, believed that there must be a scientific explanation for this but was not able to find it.
Finally, I got my answers after all these years and the word is Sleep Paralysis. The explanation is simple - when one goes to sleep, the body makes sure that some body parts do not function to ensure that one doesn't act out the dreams. Under normal circumstances, this ends upon waking up, so a person never becomes conscious of this inability to move.
Sometimes, in very few cases, our brain gets out of the dream state but the other parts of the body are still immobile and that is what causes this.
Phew, Iam relieved to know that many people around the world experience this and it has nothing to do with supernatural power!!!
