Hey all, I’ve been trying LDing off and on for the past year, with no real luck yet, I have awesome Dream Recallection now, and usually scratch down some of my dreams on a sheet of paper. I’ve tried both WILD and MILD, and so far MILD seems like will be the better one for me as I can get fairly deep into WILD(complete sleep paralysis or whatever you want to call it, and occasionally seeing flashes of color, but I can’t keep my focus long enough to stay aware.) From the little I’ve told you do you think WILD or MILD is best for me?
Also, on a slightly different topic, in LDs is time similar to real life time? As in if in my dream It seems like an hour passes, has an hour passed in real life?
Hey with regard to dream time, for the most part it is not the same as real time. It is often faster than real time. You may have seen posts on this message board about people spending entire days, years and lifetimes in a dreams, when really it all occurs in one night.
Since you are getting pretty close with WILD, you should probably keep trying until you finally get it. At the same time, you can continue to do reality checks and mantras, allowing you to get MILDs.
Alright, I usually try WILD right when I go to sleep, and if I’m unsucessful I’ll go to MILD. What’s a good way to staying aware and conscious during WILD for someone who usually takes on average 20-30 minutes to drift off to sleep? I usually imagine something like I’m falling through the air, or sinking into my bed like quicksand, should I repeat a saying as I do this to? Like counting or repeating “I’m dreaming”?
It’s really hard to do the WILD technique succesfully when you first go to bed. Mainly because it takes 4-5 hours before you get into the stage of sleep that dreaming occurs. I’ve tried it, and at most I get is sleep paralysis and a feeling of sinking or motion.
I recommend trying WILD after you’ve had 4 - 5 hours of sleep. Wake yourself up (or set an alarm), remain up for 30 minutes or so then trying your WILD technique.
To stay aware while performing the WILD technique, try counting backwards in your head from 100 or so. You may want to repeat a mantra like: “I am dreaming – I will be aware that I’m dreaming”. Also you may just want to trying focusing on your breathing.
Although it does not take 4-5 hours to get into the dreaming stage, bzteam is right in that it is much easier to WILD when you have already slept like 4 - 6 hours or so. Try to wake yourself up during the night (no alarm is best), and WILD as soon as possible. Because you are still so sleepy (brain is in sleep mode still), WILD is a lot easier then.
Alright, last night I tried WILD again, and I don’t know if I had success or not. I could still feel my numb sleep paralized body, but I had a semi interactive hazy, what seemed like a HI. I dunno if it was a lucid dream or just my mind making up a scene(I was walking down a street behind 2 men wearing red flannel, and for some reason they got mad and we got into an arguement, then it faded away and I was back to just sitting there with my eyes closed feeling numb. Was that really a really hazy LD or was it just an HI or my imagination running away? After that I decided to just move around and free the sleep paralysis and MILD as I was going to sleep, and though I did have 2 or 3 big dreams that I remember, none of them were lucid.
Reaper HI’s and dreams flow into each other, there is no clear boundary. So if you WILDed and you interacted with DC’s while you were lucid, I’d say you got pretty far already. Not a stable LD yet perhaps but close!
Gah, still no LDs yet, I tried VILD right as I was going to sleep last night but that didn’t work, then I woke up at 4am went to the bathroom, got something to eat, then went ad tried WILD(still can get to sleep paralysis and HI similiar to that when I rub my eyes, and my ears started to ring soon after, but I had to give up because my calf was cramping up bad. Then I went back to sleep for another 4 hours, and still nothing. In all I had 6-7 dreams that I recall from last night(alot easier now since I use a tape recorder instead of writing it down, then typing them on the computer later). Anything else I can try? I feel I’m getting so close with WILD, but cramps and itches drive me crazy, and force me to move to get rid of it, and lose my sleep paralysis.