I got a question about WBTB involving alarms. Is it better to set an alarm that will likely wake you up during REM or is it better to do WBTB when awakening naturally during the night?
I once used an alarm for WBTB back when I did it frequently, but the weird thing was that it was too quiet and I ended up hearing it in my dreams. I think that might have triggered a few LDs before too, but that watch broke and I don’t have it anymore . Since then, I’ve been trying to do WBTB without an alarm, but it seems so much harder to just get out of bed.
So which one? Alarm or natural awakening? The only advantage I see of an alarm is that its more reliable to wake you up and get you out of bed. Doesn’t the whole REM cycle thing have an affect on WBTB too though? What happens when you wake up, interrupting REM? Does that let you fall back into a dream faster?
After you have used an alarm to WBTB for a while, your sleep pattern might adjust. You might wake up by yourself at the same time every night. I wake up every Sunday at 5 am now
Simply telling yourself you want to wake up in the middle of the night could work, too. Some years ago, there was a radio show between 3 and 4 am, which I was listening to every night. I woke up naturally at 3 am every night. And I got some really nice dreams, too!
I prefer to wake up naturally rather than using an alarm. It makes it easier for me to just guide myself back to sleep into a dream. That is just me. There is nothing “wrong” with using an alarm. If it is working for you that is all that maters.
Now that you mention it, right after the watch broke, I did still wake up at 4am every night following. I broke away from that by now and just wake up whenever a dream ends.
I think I’m going to find another alarm and see how it compares to waking up naturally. The past couple months, I was lucky to even get out of bed from not having an alarm. So should I set it to sync up for when I’m likely dreaming or does it not matter?
I have trouble doing WBTB even when I use an alarm. If I wouldn’t use one I’d probably never ever do WBTB But I think using an alarmclock is ok, it can be a bit hard to time it to your REM-periods but I have about 50% chance of if happening. That’s good enough for me.
I know pretty well when I have my REM since I have the data from my NDC. And I guess it’s about the same for everyone else too.
First REM about 1 hour 30 minutes after I turn off the light and try to sleep
Second REM 3.00 hours
Third REM 4.5 hours
After that the data gets distorted
So if you fall asleep within the first 30 minutes those times are pretty accurate to use
After sleeping for 7 hours or more, I can get 15-30 minutes long dreams and wake up between each one. (This is where I usually get LDs) Does that mean the REM periods get shorter again after we get all the deep sleep we needs?
I only need an alarm when I try WBTB and didn’t care to write down my dreams for a while (which makes my dream recall very bad). When my dream recall is good I just wake up naturally early in the night from my dreams, and then it’s rather easy to get up because I’m already motivated to write my dreams down. Even when my dream recall is bad WBTB gives me LD’s very easily. I prefer the natural way though (without alarm).
Siiw I think we just sleep much lighter when we have slept a lot, and this makes we are easily awakened during REM periods.
. Since then, I’ve been trying to do WBTB without an alarm, but it seems so much harder to just get out of bed.
But I think using an alarmclock is ok, it can be a bit hard to time it to your REM-periods but I have about 50% chance of if happening. That’s good enough for me.
