Have you ever partially woken up, known you were in bed, but not been able to move or open your eyes?

Question

This has happened to me several times and it seems quite strange.

I read somewhere that there is something in your body that shuts down your motor skills when you fall asleep, and I was wondering if there is a way that you can wake up before this "thing" allows your body to move again.

I also have had several horrible dreams where I was partially paralyzed and had extreme difficulty moving freely, and actually felt stress/pain etc. I'm assuming that these feelings were imagined, because my body felt fine after I woke up.

In one of these nightmares I was tied to the back seat of a city bus, driving down a curvy country road in a lightning storm, and the bus driver kept turning around and smiling at me. The bus would stop and let strange monstrosities on that just sat in the front seats and stared and grinned at me as well.

Any information on either instance of paralysis would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Yes. It was Recently.

In My dream I Walked into my room and sat down all of the sudden this ghost looking thing grabs me and holds me down And I was Half awake trying to move and open my eyes and i couldn't. My Whole body felt Numb like when your leg falls asleep but it was all over my body. I Tried talking and I Couldn't but then i just woke up and the numbness went away. but the weird thing was i was in the same position i was in my dream. Turned to my side with one hand in the other [like holding hands; and one leg over the other]

Ahh! It was Scary! LoL XD

Answer 2

yes, i didn't know what it was

Answer 3

I've had dreams like this but one of them was me in a classroom, alone with a test paper in front of me and the sound of the clock ticking was intensifying every second. I wasn't able to move or anything.

Like that other person had said, it's probably stress. Stress could show in unusual ways in a person's dream. Yours in particular might have something to do with traveling or moving on with something in your reality life but you aren't ready because something about it is stopping or nagging you?

But it could also be that you are suffering from things that are beginning to come back to you or that you remembered something from your past that was very traumatic and you are very rigid and stressed that you can't move on?

Answer 4

Hi there,

There are three things you can do to reduce stress in your life.

1)  Remove the things that stress you

2)  Reduce the effect the things that stress you have on you

3)  Change the way you feel about the things that stress you so you aren't stressed by them any more

These are relatively simple to do - the first can involve some significant life changes.  The others involve some introspection and thinking about who and what you are - which can be hard work for some people.

Write out a list of everything that stresses you and then notice over a course of a month or so what other triggers there are in your life.

Then sit down and work out a plan about how to get rid of or reduce these stress triggers.

If your relationship is stressing you then you need to talk to your partner or even walk away if it is that bad.  If your finances are stressing you then you need to sort them out - reduce your spending, consolidate your debt or earn more money.

You have complete control over your life and whatever is causing you stress you need to change.  Stress really can kill you - it increases your likelihood of heart attack, stroke and a whole host of potential problems.

Take control of your life and get rid of the sources of stress in your life.

Answer 5

Many people have variations of your dream.  I know I have had the same experience where I can't move or reach something.  So has my fiance.  In fact, the only repetitive/reoccurring dream I've ever had was one where I couldn't move whilst rollerblading and I was trying to get away from someone.  I experienced the dream a lot when I was pre-teens/teens.  I haven't had it since.  I still have crazy dreams though.

I'm seriously dead when I wake up in the morning.  It takes me ten good minutes to wake up.  My speech almost sounds like I'm drunk and I feel like I'm waking up from an anesthetic - horrible headache, blurred vision and all.  Ha, my eyes are so hard to open that sometimes I can only open one eye halfway so I look all crazy!

If you want more information, I'd go with NiceyJones suggestion to google sleep paralysis.

Answer 6

I've experienced sleep paralysis, haven't for years though.  Its actually fairly common.  There have been myths about it in all sorts of cultures.  My old roommate used to have it happen all the time.  Just google sleep paralysis, you'll find all sorts of stuff.