I think everyone has had this experience: You're dreaming and wake up suddenly only to discover that you can't move. Maybe your eyes are still closed, maybe they are open, but your arms, legs, head, even fingers and toes are immobile. Within a minute, you have regained your ability to move, but it is a very uncomfortable and sometimes scary situation.
This is called sleep paralysis and has happened to most people. At dinner last night, the topic of the ghosts at the Driskill hotel came up (some guests were staying there). This led to a conversation about personal scary experiences, and someone brought up waking up and feeling paralyzed. I thought I had read before that during REM sleep (or some phase around there), the brain signals for some kind of chemical to be released that in effect (affect?) paralyzes the body, allowing for a more restorative sleep. A woman at the table said she had heard differently: at night, our souls leave our body to go travelling around, presumably to the land where they come from, maybe to run around the Driskill and scare people. When we wake up and feel paralyzed, it is because our soul (maybe "subtle body" is more accurate. she didn't say soul, but I can't remember) has yet to return to our body.
Whatever the cause, sleep paralysis is sometimes accompanied by auditory and visual hallucinations that can be quite scary. I found this on a medical definition website (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9810):
Sleep paralysis goes by a number of names, including the "old hag" in Newfoundland (for an old witch thought to sit on the chest of the paralyzed sleeper), "kokma" in the West Indies (for a ghost baby who jumps on the sleeper's chest and attacks the throat), "kanashibari" in Japan and "gui ya" or ghost pressure in China (because a ghost is believed to sit on and assault the sleeper). Medically, sleep paralysis is sometimes called waking paralysis, predormital (before-sleep) paralysis, postdormital (after-sleep) paralysis, and REM sleep atonia.
I like that! Kokma sounds spooky - a ghost baby, holy shit! Actually, they are all pretty terrifying. There is another interesting article on answers.com and wikipedia (I think it's the same one).
8.22.2006
sleep paralysis
8.20.2006
The Chocolate Boycott has ended!
I haven't had any yet, but I've decided that the boycott has accomplished what it needed to, namely ending indiscriminate binging on chocolate and other foods with the cocoa bean. I'm not sure how long it has been, maybe a month? I may have some next time it is offered, and I may not. How fabulous is that?
8.14.2006
Friedrich's results...
| Your Personality Is Like Cocaine |
 You're dynamic, brilliant, and alluring to those who don't know you. Hyper and full of energy, you're usually the last one to leave a party. Sometimes your sharp mind gets the better of you... you're a bit paranoid! |
I think Someone is rubbing off on me...
| Your Personality Is Like Marijuana |
 You're laid back and easy going, so much so that taking a shower is often too much trouble for you! Nevertheless, you're quite popular, and many people enjoy your company. You're rarely turned down. You're prone to giggle fits, paranoia, and forgetting where you are exactly. |
8.09.2006
Must get work done...
It sucks not having internet access at work. As some of you may know, I have a bit of flexibility at work - my job is such that I don't have to commit 100% of my brain power to the task. However, playing a computer game or looking at a magazine is quite different than reading an article on abnormal spindle-like microcephaly associated blah blah. This means, after I numb my brain listening to the tapes and playing diner dash or whatever at work, I have to come home, snap myself out of it and somehow focus on a very difficult (for me) subject of which I know little about. And the words are so big!
I have a meeting with my professor tomorrow. My goal was to have an idea of which direction I want to go in for this year's research/thesis: genetic study or cognitive experiment. I still don't know! I've done hardly anything. I have been very unwise with my time. Deep breath...
I have done some fruitful things. I am beginning to rewrite my proposal and I am gathering a bibliography together to turn in to the honors advisor. I have almost finished a group of related articles on ASPM. But it's so daunting. The voices of self-doubt are so loud. How will I come up with a research problem that is original, within limited budget and facilities, and something that can be answered accomplished in nine month's time?
Any ideas about how to deal with stress or manage my time? Words of encouragement?