Need some help... Please.

Quest for Lucidity
1

Ok, so I’m new here, as of two days ago, and I’ve been relatively silent because I’ve been trying to find answers to questions I’ve had after trying method after method since February of this year.

But I’ve been having trouble with trying to WILD. I’m not expecting to master it in two days, obviously, but I’ve yet to even enter SP. I’ve temporarily gave up on WILD though because the Chakra “Third Eye” Technique has proved more useful. Still, though, I’d love to be able to learn how to do WILD. But then again, who wouldn’t? I guess both questions apply to both techniques, so let’s get onto 'em.

This is somewhat of a stupid question, but it’s been bugging the hell out of me… How do you deal with swallowing when trying to do WILD? It seems that every time I perform WILD, or at least attempt to, the only thing holding me back from SP or just plain entering a dream is swallowing. Every time I feel like I’m getting deeper and deeper into a “trance”, all of a sudden I swallow, because of the reflex. How do you deal with this? Just try not to think of it?

Also, I’ve been having trouble trying to calm myself down when I feel like I’m slipping into a dream, or at least the early, early stages of one. I’ve tried the Chakra Technique the past two days, and it has been sort of effective, though I have yet to have a dream or a lucid one out of it. However, when I’m focused on the “third eye” and I can feel the sensations, and start to see HI, I start to get very excited and it’s like it’s beyond my control. Even after I sort of calmed myself down and pretty much told myself that I “Shouldn’t be that excited if nothing’s happened yet” I became excited the following two times I tried the technique. And this is all weird to me, because when I was in my first lucid dream, I was completely calm. As soon as I knew it was a dream my first priority was to calm down and it was extremely easy.

Can anyone help or give some sort of advice for my problems? I think the “excitement” is more hindering to my LDing progress than the swallowing reflex.

Sorry for the long post, I tend to type a lot when asking a question. :wink:

2

I can’t help much with the Chakra tech, but you bring up one major point with WILD. Here’s how you get around swallowing: don’t worry about it! If you have to swallow, swallow, it’s not going to break your progress. The thing that will break your progress is laying in bed thinking “must… not… swallow…”

I really wish that WILD guides wouldn’t mention swallowing since that only makes things worse. It’s like if I tell you not to think of a giraffe, you’ll automatically think of one. Just let sleep come naturally while staying passively aware.

3

Thanks for the help Rhewin!

Yeah, it makes so much sense now! I had heard tons of stories on how to “stop swallowing”, from “sleep on your side” to “sleep with your head arched up slightly”, I’ve honestly tried everything. EXCEPT not worrying about it. Wow, THAT’S probably why I’m not WILDing successfully.

Thanks again for the help!

4

Well, for the past few days I’ve been trying non-stop to WILD. I’ve been using the Stop Drop Roll (SDR) technique consistently and it’s had some promising results. I’ve entered SP several times a night for the past four days. (Except last night in which I blacked out before I entered SP. I think I may have found my sleep breathing patterns which explains why.) :grin:

Although I’ve yet to WILD into an LD :sad: I’ve learned a few things.

Like Rhewin said, don’t think about swallowing. I’ve had that problem almost everynight I’ve tried SDR.

And, to quell excitability, exposure helps. While I can’t help with LD excitability, I can help with SP excitability. (having entered nearly full SP multiple times a night now.) And again, the best thing is not to think about it too much, one reason I like SDR. The list of steps Newport gives you (like counting heartbeats) keeps your mind occupied enough that you stay awake and forget about your body, but keeps you calm enough so that your body can go to sleep. :cool:

If you want some exposure to SP a lot more try my link above. You don’t have to watch all the Lucidity 101 videos, but you’ll have a stronger understanding of the process if you do. Sadly, Newport my have a lot of free stuff on their, but he’s still out to make money and the 102 videos arn’t free, but don’t worry about it. Why pay when you have LD4All? I’m not about to open my wallet to something that will only reinforce stuff on the forums. :tongue:

5

Thank you helping me Scipio Xaos.

I’ve actually watched all of Nick Newport’s Lucidology 101 videos already when I was bored one day, so I know a little about SDR. But swallowing is probably why it didn’t work back when I tried it.

You’re right about Lucidology 102, he is obviously just trying to make money out of LDing. I agree, all that info (and more) is here :smile: .

I’ll try SDR again, since what was ruining it was swallowing :grrr: . But now I know I shouldn’t worry about it.

Just a few quick questions for you concerning SDR. Do you follow all of his steps (timer method included)? And also, how did you find or go about finding your sleep breathing patterns? I have yet to try recording myself while I am asleep…

6

Awesome! :woo:

I don’t know about all his steps but here’s what I do:

I do the 16 steps listed for the relaxation on this page.
I use the spoon movement free reality check, and I try to use his sleep starter, and trigger methods. I do not use the timer method because I have not a timer, nor do I wish to leave my computer on all night. And lastly, I’ve had no WILDs yet, but I’ve only been trying for 5 days now.

As for sleep breathing, I think I just got lucky. I tried recording myself, but I got some weird background noises so I couldn’t hear my breathing, but since I’ve tried my current forced sleep breathing patterns I’ve experienced narcotic and blackout breathing so I think I’m on the right track. Also, as I’ve entered SP quite a few times I’ve noticed that automatic breathing click on so I’ve tried mirroring that. Simply, I’m winging it.

7

This is so disgusting that it’s no surprise nobody’s suggested it, but… go ahead and drool into your pillowcase.

Ick? Yeah, okay, the next thing I was going to suggest was not dividing the body and the mind. As long as you’re still aware of your physical body, accept it as part of yourself. It’s not your body swallowing distracting you from your mental “true” self. You are all one. This is the same mental state that one would likely find themselves when they’re doing yoga or tai chi: it still counts as meditation, but it’s moving meditation. When you swallow, accept that bodily movement as an extension of your mind. It isn’t distracting, when it just is. You are the swallow. You are the sleep. You are the dream.

8

@Scripio Xaos

Ok, cool, I think I’ll try the relaxation, thanks for the link!

And it’s cool you don’t use the timer, I’ve been hesitant on trying that ever since I read about it :content: . That’s too much work!

@EllyEve

Thank you! That’s a very good way of putting it. I hadn’t really thought about NOT separating the mind from the body. Maybe that’s another problem of mine.

Thank you for the help!

9

I don’t know why people find this a problem. It didn’t happen too often to me, but when it did I handled it easily. This is what I did - and it worked.

1.When you feel that saliva is gathering in your mouth, let it there for a few seconds. When you feel you just have to swallow, then push all of it with your tongue as far as possible at the back of your throat. You would eventually forget about it as it will “slip” gently down your throat - yuck :yuck:
2.Sleep on a pillow - that would help the saliva flow down your throat easily.

What do you mean by “it was sort of effective” ? What did it do ? I don’t like this method mainly because I simply can’t imagine myself a light between my eyes and I can’t keep watching my forehead with my eyes closed all the time. But I see people find it effective… good for them. :neutral:

There’s nothing you can do about excitement - it’s a natural stage of “happiness” when something new and pleasurable (good/positive) happens. With experience you’ll get over that. :wink:

I tend that too. But you know, when asking something try to remain on the subject and write as short as possible. Additional details should have their place in spoilers or something like it. That’s because, you know, people get bored easily these days… :content:

Good luck ! :smile:

10

Hey Don Anonymus.

Thank you for your help as well, I appreciate all this feedback to my questions.

About the Chakra Technique being “sort of effective”, I mean as though I kind of felt myself slipping into a dream, then there was some HI… but then my eyes opened.

Yeah, that’s understandable, I’ve had minimal results by “looking” at my forehead, but visualizing it is much more effective to me. But still, unfortunately it doesn’t work for everyone, but what techqnique does?

Again, I appreciate your help, thank you for your post, and thanks for the tips on keeping my post length down :wink: , I of all people can benefit from that.

11

Just a fact I learned around the forum. I’m glad you didn’t take it as a reason to argue about - most people tend to do that.

Glad I could help, and hope you’ll achieve what you want to ! :smile: