narcolepsy and sleep paralysis

[Guest guest]

Satnam to this lovely group! I've just been chatting

with my brother's girlfriend, and she has been

experiencing sleep paralysis about once a month for

the last six months. It affects her deeply, usually

leading to days of disorientation and tiredness. She

understands that she is not actually 'awake' during an

episode, but in a state on consciousness where she

merely believes herself to be awake and unable to

move. The sensation is so frightening that she now

becomes anxious before going to sleep at night.

 

She can trace these problems back to her childhood,

where she was taken to the doctor for repeatedly

falling asleep in class. Looking back, she feels she

was suffering from narcolepsy. Unfortunately, it was

not diagnosed and so the reasons behind her

disposition to fall asleep often have never been

looked into.

 

I feel that she may be affected by having been

unemployed for a long time. She is really looking for

direction in life but is yet to find it. I'm hoping

the group may be able to help her understand why one

is affected by this particular disorder? In terms of

the psychological mindset that may trigger it?

 

She does not practise yoga, but would be very

receptive to all suggestions. I'm so looking forward

to receiving thoughts on this. Thank you to all of

you. You are a wonderfully supportive presence in my

life,

 

Emily ;-) XX

 

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[Guest guest]

Emily,

   This response is by no means definitive, without further info

about/from her. Generally speaking, it is the Vata dosha that is out

of balance when sleep is getting strange. Vata must be eliminated and

one means for doing so is to make sure one moves the bowels, moves the

limbs and moves the breath. The sedentary, modern life doesn't give

much opportunity to clear Vata, but with of its franticness will more

often feed it.

She should at least do 20 minutes of walking everyday, breathing

deeply with arms swinging.

Kundalini Yoga would be great as there are so many sets for different

needs.

Bridge Pose is a classic posture to do just before sleep. 3-5 minutes

is good. Let the head hang back.

To even go to bed exhausted is not proper. The body should be inert,

but the mind alert.

She could also check out Shabad Kriya

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[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Emily,

narcolepsy is a physical condition so it's not caused by a mindset.

Just because something happens in the brain it doesn't mean it's

psychological. Nracolepsy and many other brain disorders are

neurobiological and then there are psychological symptoms (meaning the

issue starts with the physical brain and the psychological effects are

symptoms not causes.)

 

There are other possible reasons she fell asleep in class as a child

(like possibly having an interupted sleep for some reason) so without

a proper diagnosis it's hard to say if her sleep paralysis (which is

sometimes called night terrors) is a result of that or something else.

Sleep paralysis is quite common. It's kind of like a neurobiological

glitch...you actually are awake and conscious but you're just not back

in control of your body. When we sleep our bodies go into a bit of a

diconnected state so we're not acting out everything we dream. Usually

our bodies come out of that state when we wake up, in sleep paralysis

the "on" button just gets stuck and takes a bit longer to kick in.

Stress can effect sleep paralysis so lowering stress may help her

(which regular yoga would help to do). Also taking a lighthearted

attitude towards the condition could help simply because if she's

scared of falling asleep and having it happen to her she's kind of

setting it up by going to bed stressed and afraid. It does feel

supernatural and as if your body has been "taken over" simply because

for a couple of seconds one can't move but if you understand that it's

not an "attack" from "outside" and it's a relatively common glitch in

your own neurobiological system then some of the fear can be

diminished. If your friend is suffering from a lot of stress, fear or

anxiety from some other aspect of her life (or is repressing this and

not aware of it) then working on diminishing those feelings should help.

blessings

ovasoul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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