First Post, Few Questions Very Important :) (Wall of Text)

Quest for Lucidity
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Been attempting LD’s for the last week or so and have yet to have one. No problem with that really, I understand this is a long process. Been working on my meditation, using some guided and unguided mp3’s, also without. Have a dream journal but as of lately, last 4 days, nothing has been added, and for the first 5 days, there was no issue filling it up. I know under times of stress, uneven sleep schedule etc, we can just not remember them. Now nothing has changed from my routine over the last week, and I have done the same thing for about 8 months. The last 10 days or so Is when I started looking into LD’s. My sleeping schedule is a bit off, 1-2 hours give or take from midnight, due to the fact i am trying to get into a WBTB routine or I get stuck reading forums. What I want to know though is a few things.

Dream recall, how can I improve it. Just try to gain composure in my life? ETC get grounded, relieve stress, get sleep normal, eat better. All these things are goals of mine anyways, but do i need to really go at it? I have been doing the self mantras during meditation, they seem to help. Maybe the last 4 days I just havent been diligent enough, or I have other concerns in my subconscious I havent delt with. So first question, What can I do better in terms of dream recall.

Next, swallowing(chuckle)
When I am in deep meditation and am starting to drift off my body almost forces me to swallow. I read saliva build up, so I propped my head up 1 more pillow. Also read tongue placement, but I was not diligent in that aspect. Lower jaw behind teeth. I try not to get distracted and focus on my breathing as opposed to the movement in my body from the swallow. But I can feel it take over and I gain consciousness. Now this has happened 2 or 3 times and It has always stopped my wild dead in its tracks. I dont want my body to learn that swallowing is a reaction to forcing a WILD, if that is even possible, but I feel like it could happen. So question 2 being, how do I suppress swallowing, and verify it is as bad as I think it is for WILD’s.

please read guidelines! necessary edit made.

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slight edit, due to edit in above post

For me, dream recall depends mostly on whether it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up. When I have a lot going on and my mind jumps to the time and events of the day right away, dream recall vanishes within seconds.
Now I always try to think nothing but “was I just dreaming, and about what?” as soon as I wake up. That actually helps me relax, aswell :grin:

About the swallowing: I can’t think of a reason why it would be a bad thing, honestly. I’ve found that the most important part of WILD is to be as relaxed as possible.
Just wondering: Do you try WILD first thing when you go to sleep at night, or when you wake up in the morning/night?
WILD is extremely difficult (again, at least for me) to try without having slept for a couple of hours first.
If you just woke up: 1. you’re much more relaxed and 2. It’s much easier to get in rem-sleep right away. Really, if you try WILD right away you’ll somehow have to skip all kinds of stages of sleep… I don’t know whether there’s been research done on that but I can’t imagine that happening easily.

The best advice I can give you though is to just keep trying, and find out what works for you!

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Try C-WILD after a WBTB, don’t wait 1 hour… wake up, get to the bathroom, drink a small glass of water, write in your DJ, and get back to bed.

Swallowing is annoying if you think about it, if you want to swallow, swallow, but don’t think about it. just do it as natural as possible.

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To whatever mod snipped my post. I was going under the assumption that it pertained to local legalities. Where I am from there are no legal repercussions from choosing to do what I do. And when it comes to how I worded It, I found no issues, and tried to remain as corgial as possible. Now the question still remains because It is a LARGE part of my life, as is dreaming. I need to know how it will effect my quest for lucidity. Kinda unfortunate though, because who else can I talk to about it. I wasnt asking if X would help me achieve Y, I was asking if it had negative effects on lucidity, if anything it is a question that should be answered somewhere in a sticky and left there. Not sure what other community I could ask for help in that topic, not like it is common knowledge.

If anyone who originially saw my post could PM me an answer, or if a mod who has a good answer could do the same, than I would be very happy.

To the people who replied thank you so much, was affraid nobody was going to. 90 views no replies i was getting worried.

Mininiman: Im attempting my WILDS in the morning, and I will take what you said that got snipped into strong consideration. I am trying to make a logical decision and potentially drop something out of my life that has been around for 6-8 years, in hopes to gain higher levels of lucidity. I thank you for making a non-judgmental, non-biased reply. You gave me whatever information you had, and left it at that. I appreciate it :smile:

Faraday: Would a shower take me up too much for a C-Wild? I did one by accident this morning, a C-WILD that is, minus the shower I usually take. Woke up at 3:30 am and made a decision that I couldnt stay away for 45 min, layed back down after id say 5 min, and passed out. I actually had vivid dreams that I could remember, which is the first time in 4-5days. Was very happy when I awoke for work, and had all these things floating around in my head.

Also When it comes to the swallowing aspect, I will take what you said into consideration. I was almost forcing myself not to, and i think in turn it would make me. If i feel saliva buildup, I will just try to let my mind forget it, and let it deal with itself naturally.

Thanks again everyone, and sorry for the giant wall of text v2. Just got alot on my mind and am very excited.

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Well , a hot shower will help you to relax, so i think it’s not a problem.