How to Wake Up from Sleep Paralysis: 7 Evidence-Based Techniques

If you’ve ever woken up unable to move, feeling like something is pressing on your chest while your mind races in panic, you’re not alone. Sleep paralysis affects up to 40% of people at some point in their lives, and I hear about it often in my practice.

The experience can be genuinely frightening. One client described it as “feeling trapped in my own body while my mind screamed to move.” But here’s what I want you to know: sleep paralysis, while unsettling, is not dangerous. And there are specific techniques you can use to move through these episodes more quickly and with less distress.

What’s Actually Happening During Sleep Paralysis

Understanding what’s going on can take away some of the fear. During REM sleep, the stage where we dream, your brain temporarily paralyzes your muscles. This is actually helpful; it prevents you from acting out your dreams.

Sleep paralysis happens when you become conscious before this natural paralysis has fully released. You’re essentially caught between sleep and wakefulness, aware, but still experiencing the muscle atonia (temporary paralysis) that normally protects you during dreams.

This isn’t a sign that something is wrong with you. It’s simply a timing mismatch in your sleep-wake system. Your awareness has switched on a bit too early, that’s all.

Why Sleep Paralysis Happens More During Stress

In my years of working with people experiencing sleep paralysis, I’ve noticed some common patterns. These episodes tend to cluster during periods of:

• Irregular sleep schedules – Shift work, travel, or inconsistent bedtimes disrupt your sleep-wake rhythm
• Sleep debt – When you’re not getting enough sleep overall, your brain sometimes “crashes” into REM more aggressively
• High stress or anxiety – Your nervous system is more aroused, making it easier to wake suddenly during REM
• Sleeping on your back – This position seems to increase the likelihood of episodes for many people
• Life transitions – Starting university, new jobs, or relationship changes often precede an uptick in episodes

I remember working with a graduate student who experienced sleep paralysis several times a week during thesis crunch time. Once we addressed her sleep schedule and she learned some of these techniques, the episodes became rare and when they did happen, much less distressing.

How to Wake Up from Sleep Paralysis? Techniques That Work!

When you’re in the middle of an episode, these evidence-based techniques can help you regain movement more quickly. The key is staying calm (I know; easier said than done) and gently working with your body rather than fighting against it.

1. Focus on Small Movements First

Instead of trying to move your whole body (which won’t work during the paralysis), focus on the smallest movements possible:

• Wiggle your toes or fingers – These small muscles often respond first
• Try moving your eyes – Eye movements are typically not affected by sleep paralysis
• Focus on your breath – Take deliberate, slow breaths to signal safety to your nervous system

The moment you can create any tiny movement, the paralysis typically releases within seconds. Think of it like gently waking a sleeping computer rather than yanking the power cord.

2. Use Your Breath as an Anchor

Your breathing is usually not paralyzed during these episodes, which makes it your most reliable tool. Try this:

• Take slow, deep breaths through your nose
• Count your breaths: “In-2-3-4, Out-2-3-4”
• Focus completely on the sensation of breathing

This does two things: it keeps you from panicking (which makes episodes feel worse), and it often helps trigger your body to fully wake up. Your breath becomes a bridge between the dream state and wakefulness.

3. Stay Calm and Remind Yourself It’s Temporary

I know this sounds almost impossible at the moment, but your mental response significantly affects how you experience the episode. When you panic:

• Your heart rate increases
• The episode feels more frightening
• Vivid or scary hallucinations may intensify
• The distress you feel can make future episodes more likely

Instead, if you can think to yourself: “This is sleep paralysis. I’m safe. It will pass in a few seconds,” you’ll notice the experience becomes much less traumatic. One technique from ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) that helps: simply observe what’s happening without adding a story to it. “I notice I can’t move right now” rather than “Something terrible is happening.”

4. Try the “Cough or Clear Your Throat” Method

Some people find that attempting to cough, grunt, or clear their throat helps break the paralysis. Your throat muscles sometimes respond before limb muscles do.

Don’t force it, the effort of trying can be enough to shift your state of consciousness and end the episode.

5. Imagine Moving Before Actually Moving

Your brain’s motor cortex (the part that controls movement) can activate even during paralysis. Try this:

• Visualize yourself sitting up
• Mentally “rehearse” moving your arm
• Imagine rolling over

For some people, this mental rehearsal seems to help reconnect the brain-body communication and speed up the natural waking process.

6. Make a Sound (If You Can)

If you sleep with a partner, attempting to make any sound even a small grunt or moan can sometimes:

• Help break the paralysis yourself
• Alert your partner to gently wake you

One client developed a small humming sound she could make even during paralysis, which became her signal to her husband. Just knowing she had this “escape route” reduced her anxiety about future episodes significantly.

7. Surrender to It (The ACT Approach)

This might sound counterintuitive, but sometimes the most effective approach is to stop fighting the experience:

• Acknowledge that you’re having an episode
• Remind yourself it’s temporary and harmless
• Stay curious rather than scared: “What does this actually feel like?”
• Let your body wake up in its own time

Fighting against the paralysis often creates more distress and can actually prolong the episode. When you relax into it with acceptance, it typically passes within 20-60 seconds.

What NOT to Do During Sleep Paralysis

Just as important as knowing what helps is understanding what doesn’t:

• Don’t try to scream or thrash – This creates panic and won’t work anyway
• Don’t catastrophize – Thinking “What if I never wake up?” only increases distress
• Don’t hold your breath – This triggers more panic; keep breathing steadily
• Don’t fight the experience – Resistance often makes it last longer

The more you can approach sleep paralysis as an unusual but harmless experience, the less power it has over you.

Explore more (complete guide): Understanding Sleep Paralysis: A Comprehensive Guide on Causes, Symptoms and Management

Preventing Future Episodes

While you can’t always prevent sleep paralysis, you can reduce how often it happens:

Consistency is key: Going to bed and waking up at similar times even on weekends helps regulate your sleep-wake system. This doesn’t mean being rigid, but establishing a general rhythm makes a difference. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) focuses heavily on sleep schedule consistency as one of its core components.

Manage your sleep debt: If you’re consistently not getting enough sleep, your brain becomes more likely to experience these REM intrusions. Most adults need 7-9 hours.

Try sleeping on your side: Many people notice episodes happen almost exclusively when sleeping on their backs. It’s worth experimenting with sleep position.

Address the stress underneath: If you’re experiencing frequent episodes during a stressful time, this might be your body’s way of saying it needs more support. Working with stress and sleep anxiety through CBT-I techniques can help reduce episodes over time, effectively breaking the cycle of anxiety and poor sleep.

Avoid sleeping when extremely overtired: Counter-intuitively, going to bed desperately exhausted can trigger sleep paralysis. Your brain may plunge into REM too quickly.

You Can Change Your Relationship with Sleep Paralysis

Here’s something I’ve observed over years of working with people: the fear of sleep paralysis often becomes more problematic than the episodes themselves. You might start dreading going to sleep or waking up, creating anxiety that actually makes sleep problems worse.

Using these techniques can help you feel more in control when episodes happen. But beyond that, learning to see sleep paralysis as a quirky glitch rather than a crisis changes everything. It’s uncomfortable, yes. But it’s also temporary, harmless, and something millions of people experience.

The graduate student I mentioned earlier? After learning these techniques and addressing her sleep schedule, she told me: “I had an episode last week for the first time in months. But instead of panicking, I just thought ‘Oh, this again,’ wiggled my toes, and it was over in seconds. Then I rolled over and went back to sleep.” That’s what’s possible when you have tools and perspective.

When to Seek Support

If you’re experiencing sleep paralysis frequently, several times a week or if the episodes are significantly impacting your quality of life, it can help to work with someone who specializes in sleep issues.

Sometimes frequent sleep paralysis is connected to:

• Disrupted sleep patterns that CBT-I techniques can address
• Underlying anxiety that responds well to ACT-based approaches
• Other sleep disorders (like narcolepsy) that benefit from assessment

In my practice, I work with people using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) combined with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles. We focus on creating the conditions where your sleep system can function smoothly, no pressure, no forcing, just practical changes that support better sleep.

Better sleep isn’t about perfection, it’s about having tools when you need them and building trust with your body’s ability to rest.

Explore our 6-week Gently to Sleep program based on scientific evidence and take the first step toward restful nights and energized days or contact us to schedule a free sleep consultation today!