The enigma of nocturnal immobility: when the body refuses to obey

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# The Enigma of Nocturnal Immobility: When the Body Refuses to Obey

It often begins the same way.

You wake up—but not completely.

Your eyes may be open, or you may sense the room without seeing it clearly. You are aware of your surroundings, aware of yourself, and aware of one terrifying fact: **you cannot move**.

You try to speak. Nothing happens.
You try to lift a hand. It won’t respond.
Your chest feels heavy, as if something is pressing down on it.

Your mind is awake.
Your body is not.

This unsettling experience—known scientifically as *sleep paralysis* and more poetically as nocturnal immobility—has haunted human beings for centuries. Long before neuroscience gave it a name, cultures across the world invented explanations: demons, spirits, night hags, shadow figures, divine punishment.

Today, we know more.
But understanding hasn’t made the experience any less disturbing.

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## What Is Nocturnal Immobility?

Nocturnal immobility refers to a state in which **consciousness returns before voluntary muscle control does**. The brain wakes up, but the body remains temporarily paralyzed.

Medically, this most often occurs during:
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