The document discusses the author's first experience with sleep paralysis, a phenomenon where one feels awake but unable to move or speak during waking or sleeping transitions. The author researched sleep paralysis and found cultural myths about it, such as Scandinavian folklore associating it with a mare spirit sitting on people's chests. Scientifically, sleep paralysis occurs when one becomes aware during transitions between REM and non-REM sleep, when the body is temporarily paralyzed. The author's terrifying first experience involved feeling a presence and seeing a shadowy figure move towards their bed.

1. I was firstinterestedinsleepparalysis alsoknownasoldhagsyndrome whenImyself experiencedit
for the firsttime,Ineverknewwhatsleepparalysisexactlywas,Iheardaboutit butneverreally
knewwhatit wasand didn’tthinkmuchof it,that was until the dayor nightin thiscase I felthow
trulyterrifyingitis togo throughsomethinglike this,thatwaswhatmade me do some researchon
sleepparalysisevenbefore we decidedtodothistopicforour short film.WhenIdidmy researchI
foundoutthat there are a lotof mythsto do withsleepparalysisfromdifferentcultures,in
Scandinavianfolklore itisbelievedthatsleepparalysis
iscause bythe mare,a spiritual creature relatedtothe
incubi (male demon) andsuccubi (femaledemon),the
mare is a cursedwomanwho visitsthe villagersatnight
time andsits on theirchestswhile the personis
sleepingwhichcause themtohave nightmareshence
the name mare. Sleepparalysisissometimesknownas
oldhag syndrome because itcomesfromthe folkbelief
innewfoundland, SouthCarolinaandGeorgia,itis
believed thatoldhagwholeavesherphysical formand
sitson the chestof the individualwhois awakened by
the feelingof terroradhas difficultyinbreathing
because of the weightof the hag o theirchestwhich
alsocausesthemto be incapable of anymovement...
thisisone of the websitesIlookedatwhenIwasfirst
lookingatSP relatedthings.
(http://paranormalandscience.weebly.com/sleep-paralysis.html)
Scientificallyitisbelieved thatyouexperience sleepparalysisrightbefore youfall asleep
(hypnagogic) thishappensbecause whenyoufall asleepyourstartstorelax whichcausesyouto
become lessaware of yoursurroundingandwhenyoudobecome aware of thisstate yourealise you
can’t speakor move.The othertype isrightbefore youwake up(hypnopompicorpostdormital),this
happensbecause whenyoursleeping,yourbodytake turnsbetweenthe REM(rapideye movement)
and NREM(non-rapideye movement) sleep.Duringthe NREMsleepthe bodyunwindsandit
regeneratesitself,atthe endof its shiftitchangesback to REM inwhichyoureyesstart to move
rapidlywhichcause dreamstooccur as thishappensyourbodyisrelaxedandyourmusclesare
immobilisedduringREMbut if you become aware of yoursurroundingbefore the cycle hasfinished
youwill realise youcan’tspeakormove.
SleepparalysisissomethingthatI wouldn’twantanyone toexperience itbutunfortunatelyitisvery
commonalmosteveryone experiencesitatleastonce intheirlifetime,everyone hasdifferent
experience whenitcomestosleepparalysisforsome it’sdownrightterrifyingandforsome it’snot
as bad because theydon’tevenrealise theirexperiencingit,thisisbecause whensleepparalysis
doesoccur itsdifferentforeveryone anditsrarelythe same.
WhenI firstexperiencedsleepparalysisIthoughtIwas havinga nightmare atfirstbut it wasmore
complicatedthana nightmare, asIstarted tosense mysurroundingsIknew Iwasn’tdreaming
anymore, Iwas fully awake bynow butI couldn’tmove,Icouldn’tliftmyhandsor legsIwas
paralysed headtotoe, beinginthat situationisterrifyingit’slike yourtrapped inyourownbody,you
can see what’shappeningaroundyoubutyoucan’t do anythingaboutit,youcan’t evenscreamout
loudall youdo is screaminyour head.I justhad thiseerie feelingthatthere wassomethinginthe
room,I couldfeel thispresence of someone butItriedtoreassure myself thatthere wasnothing
there andout of nowhere Isawthisshadowyfigure movingtowardsme andina blinkof an eye it

2. disappearedandappeared nearmybedwhichcausedmyheartto speedup,itwas gettinghardto
breathe asmy chestfelt heavy,Itriedto screamor move away butI couldn’tmove soI justtried
closingmyeyesinthe hopesthatI wouldjustwake upfrom thisnightmare andthe nextthingI
knowI woke upwitha joltas I feltlike someonepushedme frombehind.