Araknida seems you should take a break from thinking too much about LD’s, when you go to sleep just sleep and dont push yourself wanting LD’s too much. If I were to advise a technique you could try without too much effort it would be MILD. Do that for let’s say 10 minutes and then quit and go to sleep.
EDIT: Apparently I posted this on the wrong board, sorry mods, I’m really groggy
I went to sleep today at 9:30.
I slept for 60 minutes it was great, and then my mother came home, she turned off my fan, turned on the lights, and started watching television… right when I’m sleeping right next to her.
I had a feeling that I slept for much longer then 60 minutes which is a very good sign, but I can’t get to sleep now.
Well, I asked her to take it into her room and she did, but now I’ve been laying in bed for 90 minutes not being able to get to sleep.
What can I do?
I tried doing the relaxation techniques and it didn’t work.
I have suffered from periodic insomnia for a long time, and have found out that there is little use in trying hard to fall asleep. What works best for me, is to make the time in bed less boring by for example imagining interesting scenes. They have to be far from real life, to not start distracting trains of thought. More often than not, I fall asleep in the middle of that.
Something else that works for me is to pay attention to the feeling of lying in bed, how comfortable it is, and how hard it would be if i had to get up now.
It seems like 90 minutes is the “magic” time…it usually takes about that time for me to fall asleep again if i wake up at an unwanted time. It might have something to do with the length of the sleep cycle?
Probably… Often when I wake up for WBTB I only fall asleep after around 90 minutes!
Those returning periods of insomnia still bother me. Usually I miss a few hours of sleep but when I’m in a stressful period of life (like now) I will have no sleep at all. I usually know this early in the night, and I go do something else when I feel such a night coming. And then I just survive the day without too much complaining 
lol nuclei i have that as well if i cant get to sleep with in an hour, i useually try and wear my self down by thinking of alot of different stuff at the same time, it works now and then or i trya self bondage technique were i jsut lay face up in my bed face up for ages and dont move any part of my body after a while i feel like im apart of the bed and like sunk into it even tho im not lol, well that helps me sleep.
First: sometimes you think you’re awake for several hours, but in fact you sleep sometimes for a very short period without noticing it.
And advices? Besides not taking any drugs like ritalin (yeah of course you can’t sleep after taking that super speed thingie) or whatever, having a bit of excercise during the day, not sleeping in the afternoon, I suggest not to worry.
It will pass, I had it myself some years ago. But now, I close my eyes and I sleep. I can’t even do WILD because I feel like sinking a bit away (say 15% sleeping) and the next thing that happens is that I awake during the night or day.
But if you can’t sleep, just stay calm. If you get nervous, you won’t be able to sleep at all. Just stay calm, you’re awake, so what? Just rest a bit, and sooner or later you will sleep. You HAVE to stay calm if you can’t get asleep. Do some relaxation excercises to stay relaxed at that moment.
But I have also a question: I get asleep very fast, I sleep deeply, but I always wake up very early. Yesterday, I got in my bed at 2:00. And I woke up this morning at 7:00. And when it would be 4:00, then maybe I’ll wake up at 8:00 or so. And that’s really: to wake up. I didn’t snooze anymore or so, I was completely awake. Relaxation doesn’t help, I felt like I just don’t need any sleep at that moment. But when it’s 15:00 or so, I get very tired. Please, is there a way to continue sleeping in the morning?
I just can’t seem to get to sleep. It takes me ages, and that’s especially bad at the momnet because it is my exam week. Does anyone know of anything that will get me to sleep quickly? Preferably something that doesn’t require lots of time to train the body.
Try reading something that is really boring to you at the time. If you are not technical, look at the instruction manual to the microwave or something. If you hate spiritual stuff then try to read some boring scriptures that you do not want to understand. The logic here is it has to be uninteresting.
Have you ever tried sleeping with your eyes open? Works for me.
does RC
Can you sleep with your eyes open?
Yep, i always used to do it, my dream is just projected onto the ceiling, like a movie!
cool, i had that once, it was weird, i woke up with my eyes open once for some reason:P
Don’t know if this applies to most, but i’m a thinker and i can’t sleep for hours after going to bed because i constantly think. After getting certain strange stomach pains i realised i actually had an axiety disorder… Being a normal teenager, under lots of stress via girls, university and such, it’s not hard to blame one for developing anxiety… The doctor placed me on Temazepam to help me sleep (on nights where i became frustrated) and it helped a lot. However benzodiazapenes seemed to knock me so flat into sleep that i didn’t dream full stop.
Dont know why im writing this, maybe someone can get something useful from it!
Hmmm, I might give that a go at work. 
Though I’m no expert by any means I have done some research into insomnia treatments for a university assignment (see the link in my signature), and have applied some of the techniques which I found to be quite effective. Basically regular exercise, good diet (plenty of fruit and veg), regular sleep schedules, and even meditation can facilitate a good nights sleep. All of the above I personally practice with diligence every day, so I can tell you it works! On a side note, I haven’t had a headache in about a year either…
As somebody already said, spending too much time in bed if you can’t get to sleep is a bad idea, as you build up an association with stress/worry and wakefulness as opposed to sleep and relaxation. A better idea would be to get up and watch tv for half hour. In any case, for insomnia a multifaceted approach is most effective - don’t try just changing one variable in your life, change them all. If you’re committed you would see drastic improvements by adding 30 minutes of exercise, a bowl of vegetables, quitting caffeine, and practicing 20 minutes of meditation everday.
BTW Garlic, I’m in Sydney too!
i have headaches all the time. I only worry about my health when i haven’t had a minor headache for about an hour.
Insomnia, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Man, I can’t sleep for anything. TV off, no comp, eyes closed, in my normal sleeping position, no games or books to distract me, and I still can’t go to Lala Land before 5am! 
You probably all hate me for saying this, but I kind of miss my insomnia. I really like the feeling it gives me, it’s like a natural/free high and I’m a big pot smoker but have been completely broke for ages. But I’m also a really really lazy person and the only time I get any inspiration to do anything is in the middle of the night when I’m really tired.
I just wish it was easier to control. Sure I can make myself stay up all night without much problem, but that’s likely to spiral out of control and mess my sleeping patterns right up and may cause a relapse into the massive bouts of insomnia I’m prone to.
Also whenever I try WBTB, it is nearly impossible to go back to sleep and actually is impossible to go back to sleep if I’m intent on lucid dreaming.(or intent on anything for that matter) Usually the only way I can get back to sleep is to find a boring movie or tv program that isn’t so boring that i choose to ignore it completely. And this never seems to result in any lucid dreams.
From what I’ve read WBTB is supposed to be the most efficient lucidity inducer but if i can’t get back to sleep it’s not gonna help much. Anyone have any suggestions? Maybe try it earlier? How early is too early to be in REM sleep?
if you have trouble going back to sleep, it would probably be best to keep the period you are awake during WBTB as short as possible. Some just wake up with an alarm and then go back to sleep right away…
I find you have to experiment heavily with the # of hours you sleep, when trying WBTB. For me, four hours of sleep simply doesn’t work…I wake up too much and have difficulty going back to sleep. I am definitely one of those who does better in life on 4 hours than 6 hours of sleep, so, if I set my alarm for 5 hours, I wake up far groggier than 4…and stand a good chance of going lucid if I sit up in bed for 10 minutes, turn on the light, get a drink of water, and then fall back asleep. Which is easy to do because I’m so groggy.
Then I set the alarm for forty-five minutes later…almost never fails as far as producing an intense dream, if not lucid. However, I would add that this method has produced some of the most frustrating “dream interrupted” moments I’ve had. Don’t know why this would be.
Also I’ve had good results for LD with trying a 45 minute nap during the day, when I’m feeling just a little tired. If I’m exhausted, this doesn’t work. But 45 minutes of light sleep at about 2 or 3 pm has given me some of my most intense lucid experiences.
Also, timing music to go off about twenty minutes before your alarm in the morning can have some good results. The key is finding the volume, and the gentleness (ie. probably jazz or ambient) that will enter your mind but not wake you.
Last thing: when quite tired in the afternoon, drink a cup of coffee, then fall asleep. This can have some good results.