While many people may experience an upsetting but soon to pass case of sleep paralysis, others report an even more terrifying occurrence that happens while in this paralyzed state: the sensation of being visited by some kind of entity. Coined ‘Paralysis Attacks’ by David Hufford, Professor of Behavioral Science at Penn State University, these experiences are described by those who experience it as a visitation by an negative presence.  Hufford has done extensive research, and has been able to identify over 30 common elements to these attacks. The prevailing common denominators are:

• Waking up in bed and realizing one can’t move
• The person can move their eyes, but the body is paralyzed
• Hearing footsteps
• A figure enters the room (often described as dark, not human, intent to harm, some sort of presence but not sure what)
• Incredible sense of fear
• A feeling of weight or pressure upon the chest (sometimes other areas of the body, most commonly the chest)
• A sense that if the person just laid there, they would die.
• The experience feels very real, different than a normal dream or nightmare.

Accounts of this phenomenon are documented in art and literature as far back as we have historical records, and in fact, Hufford doesn’t know of any culture, anywhere, that doesn’t have a tradition describing it. Known by different names around the world: ‘The Old Hag’, ‘Popabawa’, ‘Demon’, ‘Witch’, or just a dark figure or shadow, the description of the experience is the same.

People in this state are able to accurately describe their environment, indicating a state of being awake, yet brain wave recordings taken during attacks show elements of both wakefulness and REM sleep. Victims are usually convinced they are awake and that this was not a dream. They are actually in a mixed state of consciousness between wakefulness and dreaming, also known as a hypnopompic state (when a person is falling asleep, as opposed to waking up, the same mixed state is known as the hypnogogic state).

It would be easy enough to attribute the whole description to a bad dream or nightmare; but that doesn’t explain why so many people – including many who have never heard of this phenomenon – report such similarities in their accounts. While there are variations in individual reports, the similarities cannot be ignored. In fact, the descriptions bear uncanny similarity to alien visitation reports, and Hufford believes these are actually cases of sleep paralysis attacks.

Science as of yet does not have a sufficient explanation for this baffling phenomenon, which does not reduce the suffering of those who experience this terrifying occurance. For more information, check out Hufford’s book: ‘The Terror That Comes In The Night’

http://www.amazon.com/Terror-That-Comes-Night-Experience-Centered/dp/081221305X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321738406&sr=8-1

Here is part two of the article by Christel Broederlow:

Empaths are often poets in motion. They are the born writers, singers, and artists with a high degree of creativity and imagination. They are known for many talents as their interests are varied, broad and continual, loving, loyal and humorous. They often have interests in many cultures and view them with a broad-minded perspective. They are mother, father, child, friend, nurse, caregiver, teacher, doctor, sales people… to psychic, clairvoyant, healer, etc. (That is not to say that any of these categories are all empaths.) The list is extensive and really unimportant. It is more important to notice that empaths are everywhere–in every culture and throughout the world.
Empaths Are Good Listeners
Empaths are often very affectionate in personality and expression, great listeners and counselors (and not just in the professional area). They will find themselves helping others and often putting their own needs aside to do so. In the same breath, they can be much the opposite. They may be quiet, withdrawn from the outside world, loners, depressed, neurotic, life’s daydreamers, or even narcissistic.

They are most often passionate towards nature and respect its bountiful beauty. One will often find empaths enjoying the outdoors, beaches, walking, etc. Empaths may find themselves continually drawn to nature as a form of release. It is the opportune place to recapture their senses and gain a sense of peace in the hectic lives they may live. The time to get away from it all and unwind with nature becomes essential to the empath. Animals are often dear to the heart of empaths, not as a power object, but as a natural love. It is not uncommon for empaths to have more than one pet in their homes.
Traits of an Empath
Empaths are often quiet and can take a while to handle a compliment for they’re more inclined to point out another’s positive attributes. They are highly expressive in all areas of emotional connection, and talk openly, and, at times, quite frankly in respect to themselves. They may have few problems talking about their feelings.

However, they can be the exact opposite: reclusive and apparently unresponsive at the best of times. They may even appear ignorant. Some are very good at blocking out others and that’s not always a bad thing, at least for the learning empath struggling with a barrage of emotions from others, as well as their own feelings.

Empaths have a tendency to openly feel what is outside of them more so than what is inside of them. This can cause empaths to ignore their own needs. In general an empath is non-violent, non-aggressive and leans more towards being the peacemaker. Any area filled with disharmony creates an uncomfortable feeling in an empath. If they find themselves in the middle of a confrontation, they will endeavor to settle the situation as quickly as possible, if not avoid it all together. If any harsh words are expressed in defending themselves, they will likely resent their lack of self-control, and have a preference to peacefully resolve the problem quickly.

Empaths are sensitive to TV, videos, movies, news and broadcasts. Violence or emotional dramas depicting shocking scenes of physical or emotional pain inflicted on adults, children or animals can bring an empath easily to tears. At times, they may feel physically ill or choke back the tears. Some empaths will struggle to comprehend any such cruelty, and will have grave difficulty in expressing themselves in the face of another’s ignorance, closed-mindedness and obvious lack of compassion. They simply cannot justify the suffering they feel and see.

People of all walks of life and animals are attracted to the warmth and genuine compassion of empaths. Regardless of whether others are aware of one being empathic, people are drawn to them as a metal object is to a magnet! They are like beacons of light.

Even complete strangers find it easy to talk to empaths about the most personal things, and before they know it, they have poured out their hearts and souls without intending to do so consciously. It is as though on a sub-conscious level that person knows instinctively that empaths would listen with compassionate understanding.

Here are the listeners of life. Empaths are often problem solvers, thinkers, and studiers of many things. As far as empaths are concerned, where a problem is, so too is the answer. They often will search until they find one–if only for peace of mind.

Written by Christel Broederlow Copyright (c) 2002 Christel Broederlow Shortened Version from The Empath Report 101

About this contributor: Christel Broederlow is a natural born empath and author of numerous articles about empathy through personal experience and continual research. Her Web site, The Empath Report, previously hosted at Geocities is no longer active.

To read the original article, go here:

http://healing.about.com/cs/empathic/a/uc_empathtraits_2.htm

Have you ever wondered what empathy truly is, or who is an empath? Here is a great article by Christel Broederlow, part 1 of 2:

Empathy is the ability to read and understand people and be in-tune with or resonate with others, voluntarily or involuntarily of one’s empath capacity.

Empaths have the ability to scan another’s psyche for thoughts and feelings or for past, present, and future life occurrences. Many empaths are unaware of how this actually works, and have long accepted that they were sensitive to others.

Empaths Sense Deep Emotions
Empathy is a feeling of another’s true emotions to a point where an empath can relate to that person by sensing true feelings that run deeper than those portrayed on the surface. People commonly put on a show of expression. This is a learned trait of hiding authentic expression in an increasingly demanding society.

An empath can sense the truth behind the cover and will act compassionately to help that person express him/herself, thus making them feel at ease and not so desperately alone.

Empaths experience empathy towards family, children, friends, close associates, complete strangers, pets, plants and inanimate objects. Empathy is not held by time or space. Thus, an empath can feel the emotions of people and things at a distance. Some are empathic towards animals (ie: The Horse Whisperer), to nature, to the planetary system, to mechanical devices or to buildings etc. Others will have a combination of the above.
Empaths Have Deep Sense of Knowing
Empaths are highly sensitive. This is the term commonly used in describing one’s abilities (sensitivity) to another’s emotions and feelings. Empaths have a deep sense of knowing that accompanies empathy and are often compassionate, considerate, and understanding of others.

There are also varying levels of strength in empaths which may be related to the individualís awareness of self, understanding of the powers of empathy, and/or the acceptance or non-acceptance of empathy by those associated with them, including family and peers. Generally, those who are empathic grow up with these tendencies and do not learn about them until later in life.
Empathy is Inherited
Empathy is genetic, inherent in our DNA, and passed from generation to generation. It is studied both by traditional science and alternative healing practitioners.

Empathy has both biological/genetic and spiritual aspects.

Empaths often possess the ability to sense others on many different levels. From their position in observing what another is saying, feeling and thinking, they come to understand another. They can become very proficient at reading another personís body language and/or study intently the eye movements. While this in itself is not empathy, it is a side-shoot that comes from being observant of others. In a sense, empaths have a complete communication package.
How Empathy Works
While there is much we don’t yet understand about how empathy works, we do have some information. Everything has an energetic vibration or frequency and an empath is able to sense these vibrations and recognize even the subtlest changes undetectable to the naked eye or the five senses.

Words of expression hold an energetic pattern that originates from the speaker. They have a specific meaning particular to the speaker. Behind that expression is a power or force-field, better known as energy. For example, hate often brings about an intense feeling that immediately accompanies the word. The word hate becomes strengthened with the speaker’s feeling. It is that person’s feelings (energy) that are picked up by empaths, whether the words are spoken, thought or just felt without verbal or bodily expression.

The original article can be found here:

  http://healing.about.com/cs/empathic/a/uc_empathtraits.htm

I have been waiting for this day! Here is a fascinating article by Jesus Diaz. I would LOVE to watch my dreams played back on a video some day! Of course, this won’t capture the feelings/emotions, sounds, smells, tastes, etc. that happen in dreams, but the visual component of dreaming is huge. How fun would this be? Read the article to learn more:

Scientists Reconstruct Brains’ Visions Into Digital Video In Historic Experimenthttp://gizmodo.com/5843117/scientists-reconstruct-video-clips-from-brain-activity

Scientists Reconstruct Brains’ Visions Into Digital Video In Historic Experiment
  UC Berkeley scientists have developed a system to capture visual activity in human brains and reconstruct it as digital video clips. Eventually, this process will allow you to record and reconstruct your own dreams on a computer screen.
I just can’t believe this is happening for real, but according to Professor Jack Gallant—UC Berkeley neuroscientist and coauthor of the research published today in the journal Current Biology—”this is a major leap toward reconstructing internal imagery. We are opening a window into the movies in our minds.”
Indeed, it’s mindblowing. I’m simultaneously excited and terrified. This is how it works:
They used three different subjects for the experiments—incidentally, they were part of the research team because it requires being inside a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging system for hours at a time. The subjects were exposed to two different groups of Hollywood movie trailers as the fMRI system recorded the brain’s blood flow through their brains’ visual cortex.
The readings were fed into a computer program in which they were divided into three-dimensional pixels units called voxels (volumetric pixels). This process effectively decodes the brain signals generated by moving pictures, connecting the shape and motion information from the movies to specific brain actions. As the sessions progressed, the computer learned more and more about how the visual activity presented on the screen corresponded to the brain activity.
An 18-million-second picture palette
After recording this information, another group of clips was used to reconstruct the videos shown to the subjects. The computer analyzed 18 million seconds of random YouTube video, building a database of potential brain activity for each clip. From all these videos, the software picked the one hundred clips that caused a brain activity more similar to the ones the subject watched, combining them into one final movie. Although the resulting video is low resolution and blurry, it clearly matched the actual clips watched by the subjects.
Think about those 18 million seconds of random videos as a painter’s color palette. A painter sees a red rose in real life and tries to reproduce the color using the different kinds of reds available in his palette, combining them to match what he’s seeing. The software is the painter and the 18 million seconds of random video is its color palette. It analyzes how the brain reacts to certain stimuli, compares it to the brain reactions to the 18-million-second palette, and picks what more closely matches those brain reactions. Then it combines the clips into a new one that duplicates what the subject was seeing. Notice that the 18 million seconds of motion video are not what the subject is seeing. They are random bits used just to compose the brain image.
Given a big enough database of video material and enough computing power, the system would be able to re-create any images in your brain.
 In this other video you can see how this process worked in the three experimental targets. On the top left square you can see the movie the subjects were watching while they were in the fMRI machine. Right below you can see the movie “extracted” from their brain activity. It shows that this technique gives consistent results independent of what’s being watched—or who’s watching. The three lines of clips next to the left column show the random movies that the computer program used to reconstruct the visual information.
Right now, the resulting quality is not good, but the potential is enormous. Lead research author—and one of the lab test bunnies—Shinji Nishimoto thinks this is the first step to tap directly into what our brain sees and imagines:
Our natural visual experience is like watching a movie. In order for this technology to have wide applicability, we must understand how the brain processes these dynamic visual experiences.
The brain recorders of the future
Imagine that. Capturing your visual memories, your dreams, the wild ramblings of your imagination into a video that you and others can watch with your own eyes.
This is the first time in history that we have been able to decode brain activity and reconstruct motion pictures in a computer screen. The path that this research opens boggles the mind. It reminds me of Brainstorm, the cult movie in which a group of scientists lead by Christopher Walken develops a machine capable of recording the five senses of a human being and then play them back into the brain itself.
This new development brings us closer to that goal which, I have no doubt, will happen at one point. Given the exponential increase in computing power and our understanding of human biology, I think this will arrive sooner than most mortals expect. Perhaps one day you would be able to go to sleep wearing a flexible band labeled Sony Dreamcam around your skull. [UC Berkeley]
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You can keep up with Jesus Diaz the author of this post, on Twitter or Facebook.

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Albert Einstein

“Doubt means don’t”

~Oprah Winfrey

Watch the clip of my recent interview on TV show ‘New Day Northwest’, talking about dreams!

New Day Northwest interview with Mimi

On January 26 I will be a guest on the TV show ‘New Day Northwest’ with host Margaret Larson. It will air from 11am to 12 noon, on King 5 Seattle. Tune in if you get the chance, and listen to us talk about dreams!

I have recently converted the format of my ‘Event’s’ page.  To give you a sense of some past events, here are some examples:

• Radio Show guest spots
• Introductory talks about dreams
• Dream Interpretation for Special Events, 1:1 or roaming
• Dream Group Facilitation

Speaking to groups on topics such as:

• Dreams 101
• Dreams and Relationships
• Nightmares and Paranormal Dream Phenomena
• Romantic Dreams and What They Mean
• Dreams and Life Purpose

Feel free to approach me with your Dream Event Idea!

This morning I was dreaming of gusting winds and pelting rain. I woke up and actually heard those sounds outside my window  – it turns out there was a pretty bad storm going on out there. My dreaming mind heard those sounds, and incorporated them into my dream, which is a very common phemomenon.
Have you ever woken up to some kind of noise or sound, or even a song on the radio, only to realize that you had also been dreaming about it?