Sleep Paralysis [Paperback]

If you have ever experienced sleep paralysis, then you know how strange and frightening it can feel.

Finally (and I do mean finally), someone has written an intelligent, compassionate and insightful book for sleep paralysis sufferers. Ryan Hurd's new book seems poised to be a classic on sleep paralysis.

Three things make this book unique. First, Ryan Hurd has considerable personal experience with sleep paralysis. He understands what it feels like to sense a three ton weight on your chest in the middle of the night. He sympathizes with SP sufferers because he has been there many times. Better yet, he reveals the successful strategies that anyone can use to break the spell of those sleep paralysis moments.

Then he helps the reader get a sense of the scientific and historical reviews on sleep paralysis. Having this impersonal context for understanding sleep paralysis removes much of the personal angst of the event. You begin to step apart from it and see it as something humans have dealt with for centuries.

Lastly, the author does something special - he shows how sleep paralysis can actually be transformed into a more satisfying and fulfilling lucid dream (a dream in which you become consciously aware of dreaming). This final piece, based upon Hurd's numerous SP experiences, seems the crowning achievement of the book. The reader learns that he or she has more choices than "SP or no SP". Instead, they can transform the experience through their own initiative and insight into something lucidly magical.

If you suffer from sleep paralysis, I highly recommend this very readable and helpful book.

I have sent a lot of my life learning about night terrors and what they are. I have come to understand that night terrors as well as sleep paralysis can be minimized without medication. Ryan's book is the only easy to understand and easy to follow guides to understanding and dealing with these experiences. Ryan not only talks about the disorders in the prospective of a sleep professional but also has first hand experiences of the events himself. He ties in his personal accounts as well as others experiences into his book, making it more meaningful and personal. I have recommended Ryan's book to many different clinical psychologist who deal with sleep disorders and have referenced the book in a number of papers. This book is a must read for those who experience sleep paralysis or night terrors or have children who do. It will give you a new level of understanding that you wont get from a doctor who has never experienced these events.

When it comes to the mysterious side of sleep and dreaming, Ryan Hurd is a true expert and pioneer. As well as being a "dream researcher and life-long lucid dreamer," he undergoes regular episodes of sleep paralysis (SP), and has since his teens. He explains: "Experienced by millions as supernatural assault, [SP] feels like being awake and aware in bed as someone - or something - holds you down." Many interpret these experiences as genuine encounters with demons and evil spirits.

Don't be surprised if this sounds familiar. Around 40% of the world's population report having SP at least once during their lives. A weird and frightening phenomenon, it remains a puzzle to medical science. My own experience of SP has led me to the irrefutable conclusion that it's far more than a dream-related hallucinatory state. (For more information, check out my book Dark Intrusions: An Investigation into the Paranormal Nature of Sleep Paralysis Experiences (2009)).

While acknowledging that some SP episodes have a "'paranormal' air to them," Hurd is of the opinion that these experiences, rather than being caused by something external and unfathomable, have more to do with our own enigmatic minds - even on a collective level. During SP, he explains, we may feel completely awake, but are actually in an REM (dreaming) state, making it possible for our dreams to be "projected, like a 3D movie, into the space of our sleeping quarters." As for `spirits' and `demons', these he refers to as "archetypal entities."

Overall, however, this book is surprisingly nonbiased and open-minded. A practical, succinct, well-researched guide, its main purpose is to help SP sufferers who are having difficulty coping with the condition. Hurd's intelligent advice is based on decades of personal experience and plenty of scientific research. There is, he explains, a strong link between insomnia and SP. "If you can improve your sleep hygiene by getting more and better rest and observing a bedtime schedule, you may be able to kick SP within a couple of weeks," he promises.

Most compelling of all is the second-half of the book, which deals primarily with the spiritual side of SP. Hurd shows us that it's possible to transform this generally frightening and disturbing condition into something positive and beneficial, and he provides instructions as to how this can be achieved.

He suggests that when confronted by an SP entity (which he calls the `Stranger') it's important to take an active and courageous approach. By remaining calm and in a state of acceptance, he says, rather than being driven by fear, these entities can change form into something less threatening. "Instead of a creepy old hag, you may receive advice from a venerable wise woman. Succubi give way to pixies and aliens to angels."

Hurd describes SP as "a blessing in disguise," since it can be used as a gateway to lucid dreaming, hypnagogic reverie and even out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Detailed instructions are provided to help the SP sufferer achieve these states, leading them on a journey of self-discovery. Thankfully, Hurd's approach is a wise, cautious and sensitive one. Since these extraordinary experiences can be emotionally and spiritually destabilizing, he warns, certain precautions need to be taken.

I'm extremely impressed with this book, and I feel that Hurd ought to be congratulated for writing it. Having had SP myself, I found it immensely valuable and interesting. I'm sure, too, that it will prove to be of significant benefit to anyone with persistent and troubling SP. Hurd writes: "The primary focus of this book is on how to prepare the dreamer/visionary to successfully navigate this bizarre realm without fear." His remarkable book has more than achieved its aim.