Have you ever wondered how it was like to be awake in the middle of the night just to see a shadow of a man on top of your body while being totally paralyzed?

            She’s ‘Ana’, not her true name, an 18 year old lady who has been experiencing Sleep Paralysis almost every night for a couple of years already, she says it started when she’s 16 as her family move to her grandmother’s house.

            Episode 1: Man and its shadows

            “ Nagsimula sya kasi nung lumipat kami ng bahay ni mama, hiwalay na kasi sila ni papa, so bale lumipat kami sa bahay ng mama ni mama which is si Lola nga, dun na nagstart na tanda ko, halos gabi gabing ganun yung sitwasyon ko, noong una hindi ko sya pinapansin, kasi baka guni guni ko lang or what.” Ailleyam says.

            Fighting her nightmares almost every night, she chose not to tell her mother about what she were experiencing, she says that in every episode that she has been through, there is always a shadow of a man near her bed or sometimes to her horror when she opened her eyes, she will saw ‘it’ floating on top of her body.

            Episode 2: Unusual and Sensual nights.

            “ Eto yung mas nakakatakot eh, dumating dun sa point na parang ayaw ko na lang matulog, minsan kasi parang hindi ko alam, hindi ko maipaliwanag ng maayos, pero alam mo yung parang may kamay na lumilibot sa katawan mo? Tas minsan parang may naririning ako na kung ano pero hindi ko naman maintindihan, that time, all I did was to pray, and pray and wait kung kelan matatapos yun, and then it did.” She added.

            Ana also says that sometimes her body seems to move a little bit on its own, even though she knew to herself that her body is paralyzed and the only part of her body that she can move is her eyes.

            “ Aware kasi ako, that my body can’t move during my episodes, so nagtaka ako, kasi alam ko namang… yun nga, and that time wala talaga akong magawa kundi ang magdasal, to the point na I can feel my tears strolling from my eyes.” Ana says.

            There are countless of nights that Ana can’t sleep well at night, and as what she said, she was having a hard time waking up in the middle of the night.

            Episode 3: A friend to lend help.

            When your parents were not always around and you have no one to lean on, where would you go?

            fearing on what her mother was going to say if she tell her, she chose to tell her friend on whats going on with her every night.

            “ So ayun nga, dumating dun sa point na desperada na akong matapos yun, sinabi ko dun sa bestfriend ko, nung una pa parang nahihirapan akong ikwento sakanya kasi syempre nakakahiya, pero siguro nga desperada na, sinabi ko sakanya lahat, then suddenly she mentioned about sleep paralysis, sabi din nya na nararanasan din nya yon and that it is also common and yeah I’m super thankful na siguro kung hindi ko sinabi sakanya, hindi pa matatapos lahat ng hirap na pinagdaanan ko.” Ana says.

            Episode 4: Sleep Paralysis and the demon in bed

            According to the internet, If you've ever woken up in the middle of the night feeling as though you're being crushed by a demonic being, you may have just experienced what's called the incubus phenomenon: an "attack" by a male demon.

            The so-called attack usually occurs during an episode of sleep paralysis, a condition in which you can’t move, hear, speak, and can have a hard time breathing, it can be scary but it is said to be harmless, hallucination is also one of the symptoms of Sleep Paralysis.

            Experts also says that Sleep Paralysis happens when your body alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. During NREM sleep, your body relaxes and restores itself. At the end of NREM, your sleep shifts to REM. Your eyes move quickly and dreams occur, but the rest of your body remains very relaxed. Your muscles are "turned off" during REM sleep. If you become aware before the REM cycle has finished, you may notice that you cannot move or speak and that’s where hallucination may occur.

            Epilogue

            “ Noong nalaman ko sa friend ko yung about sa sleep paralysis, sinearch ko  kaagad, then dun ko nalaman na common pala talaga yun lalo na pag stress ka and somehow, parang narelieved ako kahit papaano na hindi lang pala ako yung nakararanas ng ganun, na dulot lang pala ng stress yun kaya ko nararanasan, and since then I’ve tried so hard na umiwas sa mga bagay na nagpapastress sakin, up until now since pa graduate na ko,” Ana says.

            For the time being, Ana is focus on her family, she decided to take up Architecture in College following her father’s dream, she’s also reminding herself to stay away from things that may lead to stress and do things that can make her and her family happy.