Today I gave WILDing a second shot during an afternoon nap, I was definitely more successful, in that I didn’t literally fall asleep.
So, this is what happened:
[spoiler]
I was focusing on my inhaling and exhaling… e.g.:
I’d inhale and count “1”, then exhale and count “2”, then repeat over and over.
After a while(maybe 30 minutes) I found that my bed was pulsing with my breath! Then I felt like I was sort of falling/sliding down an insane path on my bed. My entire body was really numb, I could even feel an odd numbness in my face. I kept getting distracted by my chest brushing against my pillow though and ended up waking up again.
So I changed positions and started again, doing the same thing, but on my back rather than my side. It didn’t work at all, and after almost an hour of almost falling asleep, having bizarre hallucinations of my face being pinched/stretched and falling/sliding with my bed and then the hallucinations fading away, I gave up and got out of bed.[/spoiler] And here are my questions about WILDing, any help at all is appreciated! #1. I didn’t have any visual hallucinations, which was just about the only thing I was expecting… Is this normal or am I doing something wrong? #2. I felt like I was really close to dreaming before I changed positions, but my breathing/position kept reminding me that I was lying in my bed, and I found that distracting… I guess what I want to ask is: did my position/breathing/distraction really matter? Would I have been fine had I ignored it?
The hallucinations can come in several forms. The visual ones are nice because they make it easy to just step into your dream, but the non-visual can work just as well. Some people mention that when they get these weird feelings, they just allow themselves to sink into their beds or float out of their real body and into a dream body.
You simply have to ignore it. You’re going to get really annoying signs from your mind and body asking you to change positions. You have to just let it go. The more you think about it, the more you impede yourself.
Having answered those questions, I would like to suggest you try to WILD later at night, about 5-6 hours after you first fall asleep. In this state, you will fall asleep much faster and easier. It can be harder to concentrate, but is generally the best time for WILD.
Also, check out our Knowledge Base. There are some great articles there that will help out a lot, such as the WILD tutorial and the WILD FAQ. Lastly, I would strongly encourage you to experiment with other techniques. WILD is very alluring because of its grand promises, but can be very difficult to master. Many new dreamers get discouraged when they feel they aren’t making progress. DILD and RCILD are great ones to supplement your WILD attempts with.
Anywho, best of luck . Just let us know if you have any more questions.
I think I sort of understand the “sink into their beds” thing, I’m going to try again tonight and this time around I’ll just ignore anything bugging me.
Thanks again, and double thanks for pointing out the Knowledge Base, I definitely should have looked there to begin with…
. Just let us know if you have any more questions.