I’ve been trying the WILD approach too. I really would like to be able to have an LD at will, instead of hoping that I will catch the fact that I am asleep and dreaming.
Last night I started my wild by tensing up and relaxing every part of mt body one at a time, and then I keep my head alert by looking for imagery, counting, thinking about previous dreams etc. Got to a point that my body awareness faded and all I sensed/felt was (for lack of a better description) a humming/vibrating cocoon of energy. It’s like I turned into a big blob. 
My head was clear though, and I was digging the way this felt, when my daughter’s cell phone rang and I could hear her talk (it was almost midnight GRRRR). I lost the feeling just like that.
It took an hour to get to that point, hopefully the more I will practice the faster I can get there. Not sure where that “there” is, but it felt as if I was going the right way.
I do however have trouble keeping my eyes closed, to really relax my eyes seem to want to pop open. Unfortunately my room is never totally dark, because of the streetlight (even with lined curtains) so the second I see something the feeling fades.
I know that problem too, when I try to take an afternoon nap, it’s obviously still bright in my room. I was already at a point where I seriously was thinking of wearing sunglasses. But once all the funny feelings start happening, they distract me from my eyes. Up to then it’s a real test for the willpower though.
If the light really bothers you a investing in a sleep mask should be the easiest solution.
I think I might just let my eyes open and see if I can continue that feeling while having some light. It is not very bright, and it might work as an advantage cause it does give some sort of surreal feel to my bedroom, a bit like a dream. I do have a sleep mask, but it’s uncomfortable.
I’ve never tried it with my eyes open, but I think I just wouldn’t be able to fully relax like that.
However, I start feeling my dream body more and more, I think I was already as far as wiggling my dream toes! 
It’s almost how people describe an OBE, the feeling of the real body fades away as you slowly start feeling your dream body. I tried to imagine my dream self emerging out of my sleeping body but I felt like still being stuck - I really physically felt that! I’m not fully there yet, but it’s just a huge motivation boost! 
Yep that is a good motivation boost, hang on in there!
It seems my body is now automatically waking up 6 hours after falling asleep. I actually managed not to move once I woke up. I was really stoked about that one! 
Then I tried WILD because my body was still half asleep, but I found that my brain was as well, and I found myself unable to focus on anything. I couldn’t even remember what to do in order to clear my mind a bit, I was too groggy. I’ll have to tell myself before falling asleep tonight to start counting, maybe that will wake me up enough to watch for images or listen to sounds.
I think wakinf yourself up is, as with anything in WILD, just a matter of practice. As far as I can tell, the WILD technique is one of the hardest out there, but also, once you get goon enough at it, its the most reliable and rewarding method.
I’ve been trying to WILD every night for nearly a week now (I know that’s not that long in the grand scheme of things) and I have yet to come close to being successful. This is for many reasons (lack of concentration, laziness, etc.) but only one that I haven’t been able to avoid at all: swallowing. I suspect it’s partially because I pay attention to it now, but I can’t help from swallowing, and I’ve heard that it ruins WILD attempts.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
If you have such problems, Graech, than I’d suggest you take it in steps and observe yourself falling asleep first, once or twice during the next nights. How does your body manage that issue by itself when you just let it do its work?
Then why should awareness should change anything about that? Like breath, even if you’re aware of it, it can go on by itself, so if you can fall asleep just fine every night, you shouldn’t have any of those problems with WILD’ing either 
I have the same issue, though I never knew that it ruins WILD attempts (though I kind of figured). For me it’s either auto swallow or drool everywhere. Somehow, I always auto swallow. Someone actually told me once that I make loud swallowing sounds while I sleep. -_- Another one I face is having to breathe heavily every few breathes. Yay stuffed up breathing. 
But I don’t know how much normal patterns are meant to ruin chances of WILDing.
It is only an issue when one thinks it is. If you ignore it, it takes care of itself. That’s all there is to it, really.
Yeah. It’s just a normal part of life for me. I’ll try to think about it less. XD
Hey! i was just trying WILD and i got to this part where i felt really uncomfortable and all i wanted was to shift in my bed, i think i read somewhere that thats the way your body checks if you are unconscious before entering sleep. But my question is: is there any way to make it easier to endure that part of WILD?
Topic merged with “First Steps to WILD” 
I think the only way is to ignore the bad feeling and concentrate on somethings.
One of the best things to do is to try WILD 5-6 hours after first going to sleep. It will make things a lot easier since you fall asleep faster, and generally you won’t have as many uncomfortable feelings 
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