Sleep Paralysis: Spiritual vs Medical Explanation

BY NICOLE LAU

What Is Sleep Paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is the terrifying experience of waking up unable to move or speak, often accompanied by a sense of presence, pressure on the chest, and hallucinations. You're conscious and aware, but your body won't respond. Episodes typically last seconds to minutes but feel much longer. While science offers clear explanations, spiritual traditions provide alternative interpretations. Both perspectives offer valuable insights into this mysterious phenomenon.

The Medical Explanation

The Science of Sleep Paralysis

During REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, your brain paralyzes your body to prevent you from acting out dreams. Sleep paralysis occurs when this mechanism malfunctions—your mind wakes up before your body does, leaving you conscious but immobilized.

What Happens in the Brain

• REM atonia: Natural muscle paralysis during REM sleep
• Dissociated state: Consciousness awakens while body remains in REM
• Hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations: Dream imagery bleeding into waking awareness
• Amygdala activation: Fear center of brain triggers panic response
• Breathing restriction: Chest muscles paralyzed, creating suffocation sensation

Common Medical Triggers

• Sleep deprivation: Irregular sleep schedules or insufficient sleep
• Sleep position: Sleeping on your back increases likelihood
• Stress and anxiety: Mental stress disrupts sleep cycles
• Irregular sleep schedule: Shift work or jet lag
• Sleep disorders: Narcolepsy, sleep apnea, or insomnia
• Medications: Certain antidepressants or sleep aids
• Substance use: Alcohol or drug use/withdrawal
• Mental health conditions: PTSD, panic disorder, or depression

Types of Hallucinations

Intruder Hallucinations

Sensing a threatening presence in the room—the most common and frightening type. The brain's threat detection system activates, creating perception of danger.

Incubus Hallucinations

Pressure on chest, difficulty breathing, feeling of being crushed or suffocated. Caused by restricted breathing during paralysis.

Vestibular-Motor Hallucinations

Sensations of floating, flying, falling, or out-of-body experiences. Related to disrupted spatial awareness systems.

Medical Treatment

• Improve sleep hygiene and maintain regular schedule
• Treat underlying sleep disorders
• Manage stress and anxiety
• Avoid sleeping on your back
• Reduce caffeine and alcohol
• Medication (in severe cases): antidepressants that suppress REM

The Spiritual Explanation

Astral Projection Gone Wrong

Many spiritual traditions view sleep paralysis as interrupted astral projection:

• Partial separation: Astral body beginning to separate but stuck
• Vibrational state: The energy shift before full projection
• Awareness without separation: Conscious of the process but unable to complete it
• The solution: Relax and allow full separation, or return to body completely

Spiritual Attack or Negative Entities

Some believe sleep paralysis involves encounters with negative entities:

• Shadow people: Dark figures seen during episodes
• Demons or malevolent spirits: Feeding on fear energy
• Psychic attack: Negative energy from others
• Low-vibrational beings: Attracted to fear or negative states
• The old hag: Cross-cultural phenomenon of malevolent presence

Shamanic Perspective

Indigenous traditions often view sleep paralysis as:

• Spirit visitation: Ancestors or spirits attempting contact
• Shamanic initiation: Call to spiritual work or healing path
• Soul retrieval needed: Part of soul fragmented and needs healing
• Boundary crossing: Moving between physical and spiritual realms

Kundalini Awakening

In yogic traditions, sleep paralysis may indicate:

• Kundalini energy rising through chakras
• Energetic blockages being cleared
• Spiritual awakening symptoms
• Third eye activation

Psychic Sensitivity

Highly sensitive individuals may experience sleep paralysis as:

• Picking up on energies in the environment
• Psychic abilities activating during vulnerable sleep state
• Thin veil between dimensions during sleep
• Heightened awareness of non-physical reality

Cultural Interpretations Worldwide

The Old Hag (Newfoundland)

A witch or hag sits on the chest, preventing movement and breathing.

Kanashibari (Japan)

"Bound by metal"—believed to be caused by vengeful spirits or supernatural forces.

Pisadeira (Brazil)

A crone with long fingernails who walks on the chest of those who sleep on a full stomach.

Jinn Attack (Islamic Cultures)

Malevolent jinn (spirits) attacking during sleep, especially if one hasn't recited protective prayers.

Mare (Germanic/Scandinavian)

A female spirit or goblin that sits on sleepers' chests, causing nightmares (literally "mare-ride").

Dab Tsog (Hmong)

"Crushing demon"—believed to cause sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome in some cases.

Pandafeche (Italy)

A malevolent witch or supernatural being that attacks during sleep.

Bridging Science and Spirit

Both Can Be True

The medical and spiritual explanations aren't mutually exclusive:

• The brain mechanism is real AND spiritual experiences can occur within it
• REM atonia explains the paralysis AND consciousness may be accessing other dimensions
• Hallucinations have neurological basis AND may represent actual non-physical encounters
• Fear activates the amygdala AND attracts negative energies

The Consciousness Question

If consciousness is non-local and not produced by the brain, then:

• Sleep paralysis could be a state where consciousness operates independently
• The vulnerable state may allow perception of normally invisible realms
• What science calls hallucinations might be actual perceptions
• The experience serves both physiological and spiritual functions

How to Respond During Sleep Paralysis

Medical Approach

1. Stay calm: Remember it's temporary and harmless
2. Focus on breathing: Slow, steady breaths reduce panic
3. Try to move small muscles: Wiggle toes or fingers to break paralysis
4. Don't fight it: Struggling increases fear and duration
5. Wait it out: Episodes end naturally within minutes
6. Remind yourself: "This is sleep paralysis. I am safe. It will pass."

Spiritual Approach

1. Call on protection: Invoke angels, guides, or divine light
2. Visualize white light: Surround yourself with protective energy
3. Assert authority: "I am sovereign. You have no power over me."
4. Send love: Transform fear into love energy
5. Use mantras or prayers: Recite protective words
6. Attempt astral projection: If comfortable, complete the separation
7. Ground yourself: Visualize roots connecting you to Earth

Combined Approach

1. Acknowledge the experience: "I'm experiencing sleep paralysis"
2. Regulate breathing: Calm the nervous system
3. Invoke protection: Use whatever spiritual practice resonates
4. Release fear: Fear feeds both the neurological and spiritual aspects
5. Choose your response: Return to sleep, wake fully, or explore the state

Prevention Strategies

Medical Prevention

• Regular sleep schedule: Same bedtime and wake time daily
• Adequate sleep: 7-9 hours per night
• Sleep position: Avoid sleeping on your back
• Stress management: Meditation, exercise, therapy
• Healthy sleep environment: Dark, cool, quiet room
• Limit stimulants: Reduce caffeine, especially afternoon/evening
• Avoid alcohol: Disrupts sleep cycles
• Treat sleep disorders: Address apnea, insomnia, or narcolepsy

Spiritual Prevention

• Cleanse your space: Sage, palo santo, or sound clearing
• Protective crystals: Black tourmaline, amethyst by bedside
• Before-sleep protection: Visualize white light shield
• Prayers or mantras: Invoke protection before sleep
• Raise vibration: Positive thoughts, gratitude practice
• Clear energy: Salt baths, energy healing
• Set boundaries: "Only beings of light may enter my space"
• Ground yourself: Connect with Earth energy before bed

Using Sleep Paralysis Productively

Gateway to Lucid Dreaming

Sleep paralysis is an ideal state for entering lucid dreams:

1. Recognize you're in sleep paralysis
2. Stay calm and relaxed
3. Visualize a dream scene
4. Allow yourself to transition into the visualization
5. You'll enter a lucid dream fully conscious

Astral Projection Launch Pad

Many astral projectors intentionally induce sleep paralysis:

1. Accept the paralyzed state
2. Feel the vibrations intensify
3. Use roll-out, rope, or lift-out technique
4. Separate from physical body
5. Explore the astral plane

Spiritual Exploration

Use the state to:

• Communicate with guides or higher self
• Explore consciousness beyond physical limitations
• Practice facing fear and transmuting it
• Develop psychic abilities
• Access non-ordinary states of awareness

When to Seek Help

Medical Help Needed If:

• Episodes occur multiple times per week
• Significantly disrupting sleep or daily life
• Accompanied by other sleep disorder symptoms
• Causing severe anxiety or fear of sleep
• Associated with narcolepsy symptoms (excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy)

Spiritual Help Needed If:

• Feeling of genuine spiritual attack or oppression
• Episodes accompanied by poltergeist activity
• Persistent negative presence in your space
• Unable to clear the energy yourself
• Experiencing spiritual emergency or crisis

Seek experienced energy healers, shamanic practitioners, or spiritual counselors who understand these phenomena.

The Gift in the Terror

Facing Fear

Sleep paralysis forces confrontation with primal fear. Learning to remain calm during episodes builds courage and mastery over fear in all areas of life.

Consciousness Exploration

The state offers unique access to liminal consciousness—the boundary between waking and sleeping, physical and non-physical.

Spiritual Development

Many spiritual practitioners, shamans, and mystics report sleep paralysis as part of their awakening or initiation process.

Empathy and Understanding

Experiencing sleep paralysis creates compassion for others going through frightening or misunderstood phenomena.

Personal Empowerment

You Are Not Helpless

Whether you view sleep paralysis through a medical or spiritual lens, you have agency:

• Medical approach: Improve sleep hygiene, manage stress, treat disorders
• Spiritual approach: Strengthen protection, raise vibration, set boundaries
• Consciousness approach: Use the state for lucid dreaming or astral projection
• Integration approach: Combine all perspectives for comprehensive understanding

Transform Terror into Tool

What begins as a terrifying experience can become:

• A gateway to lucid dreaming
• A launchpad for astral projection
• A practice ground for facing fear
• An opportunity for spiritual growth
• A window into consciousness itself

The Mystery Remains

Science explains the mechanism but not the full experience. Spiritual traditions explain the experience but not always the mechanism. Perhaps sleep paralysis exists at the intersection—a phenomenon that is simultaneously neurological and metaphysical, physical and spiritual, brain-based and consciousness-based.

Whether you experience a malfunction of REM atonia or an encounter with non-physical entities, whether you're hallucinating or perceiving another dimension, whether it's purely medical or profoundly spiritual—the experience is real, the fear is valid, and the opportunity for growth is genuine.

Sleep paralysis is a teacher. It shows you that consciousness is stranger and more mysterious than everyday awareness suggests. It reveals that the boundary between waking and sleeping, physical and non-physical, is thinner than you thought. And it offers you a choice: remain terrified of the unknown, or become curious about the vast mystery of consciousness itself.

The next time you find yourself paralyzed between worlds, remember: you are safe, you are sovereign, and you are experiencing one of the most fascinating phenomena at the intersection of neuroscience and mysticism. Breathe, release fear, and perhaps—just perhaps—explore what lies beyond the veil.