Does anyone have any possible explanations?

[FaerieGothMommy]

This is something that happened to my mom lastnight, she told me this morning, and i'll try my best to re-describe what she experienced.

At about midnight she was lying in bed, kind of half asleep and half awake. She said it was like a dream, but she knew exactly what position she was actually lying in. Anyway, she said it felt as though someone sat next to her and was nudging hert to move up, then as though it lay down on top of her, she said she could feel the pressure of someone lying on her all over her body. The first thing she thought was to call someone, so she called her mom (who has actually been dead for over 25 years), she said though although she thinks she was asleep, she knew she was calling her out loud. Anyway, because her mom didn't turn up she decided to shout for her sister (who in real life lives in wales, we live in birmingham). Then she thought to tell this thing/person to go away, she was saying "get off, go away" and the sensation disappeared! She then woke up properly breathless, but she said she wasn't scared in the slightest.

Does anyone have any explanation for this?

[Mau]

Look into Incubi and Succubi.
I have similar experiences myself, but I cannot move or talk. The more mundane explanation is called Sleep Paralysis.

[cyber_fairie_king]

Does anyone have any explanation for this?

I experience the same sometimes when I do Ouija boards. If a spirit is tangable (can be touched) then there is a good reason for it. So unless your mum was some mad axe-murderer, then I'm 80% sure the spirit was someone close that she knew; her mum?

[FaerieGothMommy]

Look into Incubi and Succubi.
I have similar experiences myself, but I cannot move or talk. The more mundane explanation is called Sleep Paralysis.

YES!!!!!!!!!!! Thats also what she said, i'm sorry i forgot to add it when i was trying to explain what she expeirenced! When she called her mom, no sound came out and she tryed moving her arms to push what was ever on her off, but she couldn't move!
Thanks for the info.

[Light_Faery7]

Sounds like a possession or attempted possession.Either she has a ghost or something visited her...strange, I always hate hearing of tthese experiences.Scarey... :ahhhh:

[Evendusk]

That phenomenon is also called 'night terrors'. Something very similar happened to me on two different nights a couple years ago. I had the sensation of something getting into bed with me and once it got on top of me. I was in that state between waking and sleeping and was aware of it and tried to wake myself up but wasn't able to. My defense was to envision a protective energy field around myself every night before sleeping. Before the night terrors I had been having very bizarre dreams in which I would wake up, realize I was dreaming then wake up a second time only to realize I was still dreaming. I wonder if I could attribute most of this to my landlord who lived below me and had a stroke months later. Maybe the mental stress, physical or emotional, that people around us go through can affect us on the ethereal level?

[FaerieGothMommy]

That phenomenon is also called 'night terrors'. Something very similar happened to me on two different nights a couple years ago. I had the sensation of something getting into bed with me and once it got on top of me. I was in that state between waking and sleeping and was aware of it and tried to wake myself up but wasn't able to. My defense was to envision a protective energy field around myself every night before sleeping. Before the night terrors I had been having very bizarre dreams in which I would wake up, realize I was dreaming then wake up a second time only to realize I was still dreaming. I wonder if I could attribute most of this to my landlord who lived below me and had a stroke months later. Maybe the mental stress, physical or emotional, that people around us go through can affect us on the ethereal level?

Very interesting, thanks. She was saying, maybe it is just down to stress. Thanks though, i'll look more into that.

[Aes Sidhe]

sounds like sleep paralysis to me.

[FaerieGothMommy]

sounds like sleep paralysis to me.
Do you know if sleep paralysis can also include the sensation of someone sitting/lying on top of you? I would have guessed sleep paralysis was just not being able to move in your sleep and being aware of it.

[Light_Faery7]

That phenomenon is also called 'night terrors'. Something very similar happened to me on two different nights a couple years ago. I had the sensation of something getting into bed with me and once it got on top of me. I was in that state between waking and sleeping and was aware of it and tried to wake myself up but wasn't able to. My defense was to envision a protective energy field around myself every night before sleeping. Before the night terrors I had been having very bizarre dreams in which I would wake up, realize I was dreaming then wake up a second time only to realize I was still dreaming. I wonder if I could attribute most of this to my landlord who lived below me and had a stroke months later. Maybe the mental stress, physical or emotional, that people around us go through can affect us on the ethereal level?
Wow....I agree.But I had the EXACT type of dream nights ago except I would call it a nightmare.I was hallucinating sensations like I couldn't wake up and the exact same thing you were saying like aware but you wake up and realize you are still asleep.That happened to me.I felt a baby bump into me (a baby I know) while I was laying there unable to move and this baby is in another state.I felt her crawl tworard my head and put her hand next to mine and by the time I reached up and actually opened my eyes it was gone.I also heard my sister laughing downstairs except she's in jail.
It could be stress that this man brough onto unintentionaly.Wow, very interesting and observant.

[Mau]

#1 night terrors aren't remembered. People who have night terrors may wake after the experience feeling very freaked out, scared, sweaty etc. But don't remember what caused it. My son has had night terrors since he was 1 yr old. I've done much studying into them lol. Typically, he'll sit up, eyes wide open, screaming and mumbling..totally hysterical. It takes a little while to calm him back down..he goes right back into sleep, never recalls anything the next day.

#2 here's a snippet from a page on sleep paralysis for ya-

"In some cases, when hypnogogic hallucinations are present, people feel that someone is in the room with them, some experience the feeling that someone or something is sitting on their chest and they feel impending death and suffocation. That has been called the “Hag Phenomena” and has been happening to people over the centuries. These things cause people much anxiety and terror, but there is no physical harm."

here's the link- http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html (there are links at the bottom of this page, not all of them work though)

here's another- http://www.angelfire.com/co/SleepParalysisLucid/moreInfoPar.html

and one more- http://www.angelfire.com/co/SleepParalysisLucid/index.html

[Mau]

here's an interesting find-

Paralysis while asleep is the normal condition. The body secretes hormones which relax certain muscles and prevent you from acting out your dreams. If it didn’t you would be in quite some danger every time you went to sleep.

The process of waking up might seem quite simple to you. But it’s actually a complex process involving many physiological changes. One of these is the reversal of the paralysis. People experience sleep paralysis when the hormone doesn’t wear off fast enough as they wake up. They remain paralysed though conscious. Because they have little sensation from their body, if they are lying on their backs, it can feel like someone is sitting on their chest. Eventually the paralysis departs and normal functions can be resumed.

There is an opposite disorder where people don’t get paralysed enough as they go to sleep. In a minor case this results in twitching and kicking while dreaming, but in a major case they can get up and walk around.

A side effect of this paralysis is that your bed feels a lot more comfortable in the morning when you wake up than it did when you first got into it. It hasn’t changed, your body is just less sensitive.

None of this should be considered evidence of anything paranormal.

MP.


(from http://www.aufora.org/discuss/messages/6465.html )

[dreamingmystic]

When this happens to me, I astro project! But I only get as far as the ceiling. It can be attributed to sleep paralysis. In these situation, there is a peculiur body sensation, which I can only describe as like the feeling of shock waves surrouonding the body. What happens is that you are in what is known as kind of a twilight sleep, not fully asleep and not fully awake. Some may call this a waking dream. Many feel a sensation as if someone is sitting on the bed or a heavy sensation along with the feeling of someone else being there. Usually by telling it to go away will work as that part of your conscious mind is still working.

[FaerieGothMommy]

wow, thanks for all the info everyone. I really appreciate it

[number_the_dead]

Hee Hee That happens to me when I sleep through my alarm. I wake up and turn it off then I realize I'm dreaming so I wake up and turn off the alarm then I realize I'm dreaming and I................................................

[Janelle]

Very interesting, thanks. She was saying, maybe it is just down to stress. Thanks though, i'll look more into that.

I noticed that I suffer from sleep paralysis when I am stressed and need more sleep - and I'm always sleeping on my back when it happens (I'm normally a side or stomach sleeper). I experienced frequent episodes when I was home on maternity leave with both my kids. I've gotten to the point now where I recognize what's happening and can talk to myself - reassure my brain that I'm hallucinating. I'd like to work more on lucid dreaming....

[Secrets Flame]

Do you know if sleep paralysis can also include the sensation of someone sitting/lying on top of you? I would have guessed sleep paralysis was just not being able to move in your sleep and being aware of it.


Sleep paralysis can affect someone fully awake as well, when their brains are completely awake, but their bodies are still "asleep". The opposite of this is sleep-walking. (Body awake, brain asleep).

Irrational fear regularly causes the feeling of someone "crushing" your chest, fear being the brain's most common subconscious reaction to ANY unknown situation. It might be something more, but I doubt it.

[zehava]

freaky. the same thing used to happen to me on a regular basis during my teens. i also got to the point that i would just 'talk' myself through it and back to 'sleep' and then wake up again fine. it definitely felt as if there were someone in the room with me and also that i was being sat on, layed on, something heavy was on me...

i also tried calling out to people for help, but no sounds actually came out of my body.

i wish i knew back then what it was! i'm glad i read this thread.

it hasn't happened in YEARS, but i'm still freaked out at the thought of it ever happening again.

-z

[Janelle]

it hasn't happened in YEARS, but i'm still freaked out at the thought of it ever happening again.-z
Absolutely relate to that!. Even though I know what's going on, I hate the thought of these episodes ever happening again. When I do finally wake up I am exhausted. I say I think it would be the perfect time to play around with my dreams, but I usually just want it to be over!

[DragonSeer]

I have a very plausible explanation for it. It's called astral catalepsy. It occurs when a person's spirit body leave the physical body, yet the physical body becomes somewhat consciously aware of the fact that the spirit body isn't in its "rightful" place. The subconscious mind (I think) begins to panic, thinking that death is occurring (since the bodies are removed from one another, connected only by what most psychics call the silver cord). Since the mind believes that the body is dying, the physical body is unable to move.

I've experienced astral catalepsy twice; once I thought I was being watched by a ghost/ spirit (I felt simply terrified--at that time unaware that astral catalepsy can cause the sensation of abject fear). Another time, I knew that I was waking up but was unable to open my eyelids or move any other part of my body. For those few seconds, I was in a panic. And, on two other occasions, I heard a cacophony "rushing" at me--sounded like mix between an out-of-tune brass section and an oncoming freight train. NOt a pretty sound by which one should be woken. It was very scary/ disorienting. I later learned that such "sounds" can be perceived when the spirit body rushes back into the physical body (the change between planes can cause several various symtoms). It is also possible to hear a loud popping sound when this "snapping" occurs.

Hope this helps.

[Mizu no Tennyou]

I have had something like that happen to me as well. It happend when I was 16. I woke up around 6 in the morning. I was suddenly crying. I knew I was awake as well. I suddenly felt this strong ringing in my ears. (I get that often, even to this day) Then I felt some one's body press against mine. And thier hand touch mine. It felt like they were holding me close. I cannot explain it even to this day.(not to mention the previous night was a horrible night for me I can remember...)