Ep 134: Embracing the fear
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Embracing the fear
There are several competing theories on how and why sleep paralysis occurs. One of them is that while most of your brain is still electrically and chemically asleep, the circuits involved in hyper arousal—active during states of excitement, anger or fear—switch on. That brings you more or less fully awake, but without the electrical and chemical changes needed to allow you to perform voluntary motions. One day I decided to test that notion, and I deliberately let myself become afraid while half awake and half asleep. I became afraid, reached the state of sleep paralysis, and had an out of body experience. If you have the courage, you can embrace and use your fear.