I feel a presence in my bed: what it means and what to do

The short answer

Feeling that someone is in your bed (the mattress sinking as if someone sat down, a weight on your chest or at your feet, breathing beside you, the certainty that you are being watched) is a far more common experience than it seems. The most frequent medical explanation is sleep paralysis: the mind wakes up before the body, you can't move, and the brain fills in the scene with a presence. If it only happens in that moment between sleep and waking, that is most likely what it is. If it happens while you are awake, keeps repeating and comes with other signs in the house, the spiritual tradition considers it one of the ways an entity approaches someone who is sleeping.

First, the physical

Before thinking about entities, rule out these causes:

- **Sleep paralysis.** You wake up unable to move or speak, with pressure on your chest and the feeling that someone is in the room. It lasts from a few seconds to a couple of minutes and happens more when you sleep little, keep irregular hours, are under a lot of stress or sleep on your back. - **Hallucinations as you fall asleep or wake up**: feeling a touch, hearing your name or noticing the mattress move right at the edge of sleep. - **What really moves**: a pet jumping onto the bed, your partner, the mattress settling, heat making the wood creak.

If it happens often, you have trouble getting back to sleep or you wake up afraid every night, see a doctor. Ruling out the physical takes nothing away from the spiritual: it lets you see clearly what is left.

The presence that sits on the sleeper

Few experiences repeat across so many cultures. The English word *nightmare* comes from *mare*, a spirit that sat on the chest of sleepers. In Brazil it is the Pisadeira, a gaunt figure who walks on rooftops and steps on the chest of whoever went to bed on a full stomach. In Japan it is called *kanashibari*, "bound in metal". In Latin America, when the weight is felt on the body, people say "the dead man climbed on you". Different names for the same thing: something that arrives when you lower your guard.

What Viresh Kartik says

In his *Energy Protection Manual*, Viresh explains why the night is the moment of greatest exposure: when you fall asleep you shift planes, and if you are not protected, it is easier for something to come near you. That is why his basic practice, the shield, is done every night before sleeping.

He also warns about the bedroom: there should be no mirrors in bedrooms, much less one facing you while you sleep, because mirrors are entry portals.

And he sets a clear rule: don't get paranoid over a single sign. What matters is the whole picture. If, besides feeling the presence, you hear footsteps or noises, you walk into your room and feel bad for no reason, you have nightmares and you wake up more tired than when you went to bed, then it is worth taking action.

What to do

**1. In the moment, without fear.** If you feel the presence and can speak, even inwardly, ask calmly and with determination: "Who are you and what do you want?". Three times. According to Viresh, the entity usually withdraws. Asking it with fear doesn't work: you have to show that you are facing the situation.

**2. If it is sleep paralysis.** Don't fight your body: breathe slowly and focus on moving one finger or one toe. That small movement usually breaks the episode.

**3. Before sleeping, the shield.** Every night, the three shields: Clipeum, Clipeum, Clipeum.

**4. The bedroom.** Remove the mirror facing the bed or close it energetically, and smudge the room with sage, rosemary and rue, especially the corners.

**5. If it keeps happening.** The book's emergency protocol, step by step.

How to make the shield, how to close a mirror and the full emergency protocol are in *The Energy Protection Manual: Defending Yourself Against Entity Attacks*.