Hi everyone :)
Sleep paralysis happens to everyone every time we fall asleep. When we sleep our brain demobilises our whole body. The only parts that move are our eyes (flicker during REM, this is normal), heart, and lungs. Everything else is paralysed. Sounds kooky I know but it’s a good thing! If paralysis didn’t occur we would be acting out our dreams and getting our bodies into all sorts of strife. Waking up still paralysed is really scary! But physically it won’t harm us. Often people wake up feeling what feels like a weight on their chest. I think this is because the chest is still moving. So we notice and feel it, subconsciously, first. Sleep walking is when paralysis doesn’t occur. I sleep walk from time to time and it’s usually during a stressful time. Dreams only last for a few minutes each. So if you sleep walk you won’t get the chance to travel any place far.
I’ve had trouble sleeping with panic too. Being afraid to sleep is awful. A routine helped me overcome this. There’s a lot to be said for our body clocks, bless them. Also use your bed for resting purposes only. Eating, reading, watching TV in bed may be fun but our body/mind learns that this piece of furniture is for activity. Which isn’t what you want when you’re trying to sleep. I used to read and watch TV in bed a lot too. If you’re in a share house situation and don’t want to disrupt the household during the night, a good idea would be to get yourself a bean bag or something for those sleepless nights. Just so you’re not using your bed for any activity except rest.
Take care all :)
