Comfortableness (is that a word? lol)

Quest for Lucidity
1

The question at hand is that of how much being comfortable has to do with chances of having an LD. Here i speak of actual physical comfort in real life.

Personally, i think that the more comfortable, the better the chances are. For too long have i tried to project and pull WILD from laying flat on my back soldier style, but would get frustrated and just turn on my comfortable side and give up, fall asleep. One day i decided to try pulling WILD from this comfortable state, and lo and behold it worked like a charm. Nowadays its not the back but the side that i sleep on (right side preferred but thats just me being weird i gotta face the door). :shy:

It makes sense, i guess, that being more comfortable physically will allow you body to fall asleep faster. What i find however is that the mind falls just as fast, getting lulled by the body.

The counterargument is that in a state of slight discomfort, the mind is forced to keep awake, and that the body perhaps is made to be worn down to the point where it will fall asleep, while your mind is still awake.

So basically it is a tradeoff of speed or the subconscious capacity (unintentional) mind staying awake. Laying in comfort will have you fall asleep faster. Laying in discomfort will keep your mind awake. Problem with the first is that your mind is more likely to fall asleep too. Problem with the second is that with your mind awake you may keep your body awake as well. (for me its not a ‘may’ but a ‘99% of the time’)

Personally i think the method to develop here then, would be to go to sleep through comfort, and start to practice keeping your mind awake. I mean, my first try with a WILD it seemed to have a bit of mnemonic in there as well like my own intentions seemed to be stronger while i was comfortable. I also find that hypnogogic imagery tends to onset a lot faster in comfort state.

The comfort method requires mental discipline and control (conscious/intentional keeping awake of as the body falls)

The discomfort method requires the limited focus (like meditation?) and the forgetting of the body so that it can fall asleep, more control of the body than mind.

I am interested to hear about someone who has good success with both forms. I wonder if the LD’s are different (may due to physical discomfort) but i wonder in what other aspects they are different? :happy:

Anyways any other thoughts and perspectives and proposals i am eager to hear :smile:

2

I’m the same. I always try to project and WILD on my back, which is very comfortable but can easily lead to restlessness. Also I can’t usually fall asleep on my back at all.

Times where I succeeded on my side (after failed or successful on back) it just happened, and trance was much deeper and lucid dreams much more vivid. Too bad my shoulders hurt and breathing not as clear sleeping on the side so I can’t really attempt on the side.

3

Sentient I couldn’t agree more! :cool_laugh: A few days ago I had my first ever WILD. It was the first time I was sure it wasn’t an FA-WILD, and I did it while sleeping on my stomach - my favourite position. So it’s not necessary to do WILD on the back. Maybe it is better when you fall asleep easily on your back, if not just get comfortable and try it in the position you like :cool:

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Woa congratz Brainhacker on your first WILD! :content: Yeah, the comfort side i believe is the way to go for me personally. My dreams (LD/ND) seem a lot more vivid as well, i guess maybe because there is less brain focus on how uncomfortable the body is. I used to find the back comfortable but nowadays it just wont come. Diff people, diff tastes. The stomach is nice too, but i dont do it too often. OMG i think that the stomach may in fact be the most comfortable for me…

LOL this may sound kind of funny but im kind of scared of stomach position. I used to sleep in it all the time but got traumatized when i had a weird OBE and then woke up to find myself suffocating with my head trapped between my pillow and sort of headboard thing of my bed. I dont know how that happened but i was probably OBE’ing cuz i was dying or something, i woke up gasping and heart pounding after struggling in confusion to wrench my head free in a panic. The OBE was weird, like my consciousness was not all there i was just observing the back of my body (head mostly) like i was floating just 3 inches above and it would get blurry and not blurry, etc.

5

Yeah I would have to agree. I listen to some presets with bwgen and i have high quality headphones which are big and bulky and I can only really sleep comfertably on my back or on my stomach, put I prefer my side. I find I fall asleep and can relax much more on my side. I’ve been thinking about getting some of those ear bud headphones so i can roll around easily in my sleep but I’m afraid that it would cut down on sound quality and screw up the preset. shrugs.

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In my opinion it does not mater what position you sleep in. Everyone is different and some people say that they can not do WILD unless they are sleeping on their back .But for me, I can WILD in any position. In fact, if I sleep in a position where I am too uncomfortable I find that takes too much of my attention and will keep me awake.

I think you should sleep however you are most comfortable. With just a little practice you can learn to keep a small amount of your consciousness awake while you body falls asleep.

Happy Dreaming