I became aware that I was slipping into an altered state of awareness, but must emphasise that throughout my experience I was completely conscious and not sleeping or dreaming. As I ‘fell inside myself’ I could hear the presence of a sinister person at the end of the bed near the door. I realised I was not only unable to move any part of my body physically, but I wasn’t able to wake my girlfriend, sleeping next to me, by calling out, since it was an enormous effort to get a sound from my voice. I continued to go deeper, feeling compression on my stomach, hearing the ‘person’ getting closer, and also a humming noise getting louder in my ears, to the point of starting to hurt. I found myself in a cave with a crystalline roundabout structure and a figure made of similar material standing on top – like a Mirlin character. I simply recited mt own protection mantra and gradually resurfaced. I eventually managed to wake my girlfriend and came around more fully moments later, to tell her what had happened.

For a number of weeks after this experience, I deliberately tried (at different times of the day and night) to recreate the experience to discover more about it. However, despite getting to the first level of altered state, I never managed to experience the full paralysis and falling inside sensation.

A number of months later, I happened to attend a talk which included mention of ‘raising the kundalini’ energy – the coiled serpent at the base of the spine. The speaker read a passage from a book and it described perfectly, my experience. It was only months later that I came across the term ‘sleep paralysis’ and realised this was how science had decided to interpret the kundalini experience.

Here are a couple of definitions from the Internet:

“Kundalini is described as a sleeping, dormant potential force in the human organism. It is one of the components of an esoteric description of the “subtle body”, which consists of nadis (energy channels), chakras (psychic centres), prana (subtle energy), and bindu (drops of essence).”

“In Hinduism, Kundalini is a form of divine feminine energy believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the muladhara. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power associated with the divine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess.”

So from my perspective, I’m not sure that ‘sleep paralysis’ really covers the whole experience. Yes, you are certainly paralysed, but really, there is more going on.

Thank you so much for clarifying this for me.

Hi Christine, many people report realising the heavy breathing or sense of presence they experience in sleep paralysis is actually themselves. SP is associated with transitional stages of sleep, so we experience the weirdness of feeling trapped in our physical body unable to move, due to the muscular paralysis. It’s always a relief for people to understand the physiological aspect of SP. I wish you pleasant dreams!

I eventually came across the term and it was explained that your spirit wakes up before the body and the sense of someone else in the room was yourself, this was such a relief and it stopped soon after this and has not returned for several years. It would be interesting to know if this is the correct explanation. Blessings Christine.