Don’t panic. 

That’s my first piece of advice, just like if you’re drowning in water, don’t panic.

Recognize that the paralysis and hallucinations are just sleep paralysis. In the moment, we tend to forget that. Nothing is real, and it will be over sooner if you remain calm.

Try not to open your eyes. 🙂

I added the smiley to lighten the mood. Alright, so once you’ve recognized that you are experiencing sleep paralysis, try to keep your eyes closed.

At least for me, my eyes want to immediately open up and look around the room because my brain is in panic mode. Again, keep yourself calm. Try to regulate your breathing, especially since you may feel a weight on your chest.

If you feel like you’re having trouble breathing, do not panic. I know this part freaks me out, but I’ve learned to just accept the uncomfortable weight and focus on controlling my breathing.

If you open your eyes, you could end up seeing one of the hallucinations and it’s pretty hard to stay calm after that.

If you can’t wait it out, let yourself fall asleep! 

I don’t know about you, but when I get sleep paralysis it sort of feels like I’m in between passing out and trying to run away from my bed. It feels like I could easily fall asleep, but the scary sensations and hallucinations make me panic and I try to will my body to move.

So, if you can’t wait until it’s over — just let yourself fall asleep. Nothing will happen, I promise.

If you are able to wait out the sleep paralysis, and can move your body, get out of bed immediately. 

I always fall back into the paralysis once I’ve wiggled my way out of it (I do this by staying calm and focusing on wiggling my toes). If you want to avoid that, stand up the second you’re able to and walk into another room.

Wake up one of your parents/guardians if you can, tell them what happened. If you can spend the night in a different room, that would definitely help. I don’t know why this is, but it’s helped me.

Maintain a healthy diet.

If you do a quick Google search on diet and sleep paralysis, quite a few articles pop up about eating healthy. Also, exercise regularly. This will help your body to regulate your sleep cycle, and reward you with better quality sleep. I find S.P. hits me on restless nights. When I exercise, I get to bed faster and it helps me avoid S.P.

AVOID WATCHING HORROR MOVIES! 

This one seems obvious, but I it’s hard to say no to a good horror movie. I still watch them when I have an excuse, but if you really want to keep further scary images from entering your head and affecting the hallucinations – don’t watch those movies.

I think that covers everything, send over any questions and I’ll have them answered.

Hope this helps, and good luck!! Xoxox <3 😀