I’ve been trying to get to lucidity using the WILD technique for 2 days now.
I basically lie down, relax and concentrate on the HI. After a while, my body starts to get all tingly and this tingly feeling stays throughout the process. Now, after a while my eyelids suddenely start to shudder in place and I can’t really control them. This lasts for a few seconds and then I end up going out of WILD.
So my question is, did I just get to sleep paralysis using this technique? If so, how do I keep myself in WILD and enter the LD? If not, what the hell is going on?
No you were not in SP and believe me when you do finally reach SP there will be no doubt about it. What you experienced with the tingly feeling and the eye jerking was a state of relaxation.
First, here is a simple progressive relaxation technique you can use. It is very good for beginners and I think it is better than the 51 point relaxation technique. ( that is just my opinion BTW)
Step 1: lay in bed and get comfortable. Close your eyes. Gently take a long slow deep breath through your nose (you should feel your stomach rise not your lungs.) Count silently to 4 then gently and slowly exhale through your mouth. Do that 2-3 times. Now turn your attention to your right arm. Tighten your right arm and again inhale as above count to 4 and as you exhale release the tension in your right feel it relaxing. Do the same thing with your left arm. Then do the same with both arms and finally do the same thing with your hole body. (Your body may feel heavy and relaxed at this point and may even feel a little tingly)
Step 2: at this point you should ignore your breathing. Let your breath find it’s own pace naturally. Turn your attention to your toes imagine that a wave of blue energy is forming at your toes feel the energy relaxing all the muscles in your toes. Then the feel the energy moving up to your ankles and now imagine your feet are relaxing. Now move the energy up to your shins, then thighs, abdomen, and chest. Then imagine the energy moving down your arms all the way to the tips of your fingers. Now imagine the energy will move back up your arms to your shoulders, then to your neck, and the top of your head, finally imagine that the energy is leaving the top of your head taking with it all your tension, fears and anxiety with it. Take a moment and enjoy the relaxation.
You do not want to worry about getting into SP. What you do want to do is induce a trance state, and SP is just one symptom of that. It is possible that you may be in trance already after competing the above exercise. Now you have to start to let go of your consciousness. You want to have just one thing to concentrate on. That can be: counting, visualizing on object, breathing, falling or spinning sensation, anything else you want to try. ( feel free to experiment)
Now you have to let go of all your other thoughts. You will get a thought trying to sneak its way into you head now and then. Gently push it away and return to what you are focusing on. Once you are at the point where thoughts are no longer interfering you want to go even deep and let go more to where you are just aware of what you are focusing on but, you are not thinking about. Keep letting go until you feel yourself being pulled into the dream or see the dream forming around you.
I know this all sounds like a lot but, with practice you will learn to go through it very quickly. Also, you might want to learn about meditation or self hypnosis. Both are great tools for you to use however, they are not required to do WILD.
No you don’t have to go into SP for a WILD though many people do. I often do as well but, not allways. However, I have heard people say that they never enter SP when they do WILD. Every one is different and experiences things differently. It could well be that some people go through the stages so quickly that they just don’t remember or feel the SP.
According to my experience it’s the way you choose to WILD that determines if you reach SP or not. If I focus only on HI I don’t get SP at all but if I focus on my body I usually first get SP and later I get HI. And sometimes I think I only dream that I get SP and then I realise that I’m dreaming because someone is sitting on top of me, but it’s usually hard to move in the dream. But if I “forget” that I can’t move I can move just fine
When I relax I don’t really use any relaxation techniques, I just relax and try to make my body feel really heavy. But that usually takes 30-60 minutes before I start getting SP. But one thing that really works for me is to slowly count numbers from 1 to 100 and also visualize them vividly while counting. If I do this I can usually reach a trance state in 15-20 minutes if I do it during the day. But if I do it during the night there’s a big chance that I could fall asleep since I’m not aware of how my body is.
Well I tried the technique that milod told about, but I couldn’t get past the “relaxation” phase. My body sort of shut down, I couldn’t really feel my hands or my legs, but I never got out of that phase. I was in this position for around 40 min. but nothing happened so I gave up.
So what is HI like? Are you supposed to be aware while the HI is forming or are you supposed to be in a trance? Oh and another question, what kind of feelings would indicate that you’re in a trance?
As you can see, I’m still confused about this whole LD thing
That is the tricky part. It is sometimes so hard to just keep a constant focus. I find that if im in a almost trance, it can be easy to drift out of one as easily as it is to fall into one. it’s a fine line. Also, when i try to do this at night it seems to never work or it takes a very long time.
Trying this tequnique after a day of work is far easier then before bed.I Wait 10-15 mins after i get home and i can almost do it every time. Seems after a hard work day the body can relax quicker then any other time of the day.
-im having the same issues, just remember. You cant force LD’s to happen. it’s a skill you have to aquire.
Well I guess when you start lucid dreaming a lot, you will see that being conscious is independent of what is being percieved. Since even in lucid dreams everything looks incredibly real, there’s almost no way of distinghuising it from waking life, then you may begin to wonder if the reality that you experience is also some kind of dream.
Yes, that is the tricky part. The slightest thought or emotion could snap you out of the trance. Also, remember that you not only want to focus on something but, you also want to let go of your consciousness as well. You want to let go of almost all your consciousness to cross over into the dream. I often experience a brief blackout just before I enter the dream.
I agree Practicing with WBTB, WBTS or napping can help people a lot. If you master that first then doing WILD at bedtime will become easier to do.
I know it seems hard but, keep practicing and you will learn to feel your way through it. Letting go of your thoughts is not an easy thing and takes some practice. You won’t learn it over night but if you stay with it the payoff in the end is huge. Anyway, it sounds to me like you need to let go of more of your thoughts. Have you considered using the WILD / WBTB method. It is much easier than WILD at bed time. If you cannot, for what ever reason, do WBTB don’t be discouraged You can do WILD at bed time you just have to have patients and keep practicing. Consider recording the relaxation exercise to a tape that way you do not have to think much about what you are doing. Also, learning about meditation or self hypnosis can be a big help (but not required).
Check out this free online resource Treatise On Astral Projection.It is about OBE but, has some good information about entering a trance and it also talks about lucid dreams.
Are you new to lucid dreaming or just to WILD?
Although everyone can WILD, you may want to start out with another technique until you become more acquainted with the world of lucid dreaming. The people who are naturally good at WILD are usually people that fall asleep quickly. If you fall asleep pretty fast… then by all means keep trying.
Or even if you take a long time to fall asleep, don’t let me discourage you if you’re determined to use this method…
I’m totally new to LD’s in general. I know about the other methods besides WILD (MILD, WBTB, etc…) but I like this the best because people seem to view this as the method that provides the most consistent results and doesn’t necessarily require as big a commitment as WBTB or other methods.
Also, I’ve heard that the best time to WILD is right after you wake up in the morning? Anybody have any first hand experience with this?
Yes it’s best to try WILD when you wake up in the morning. The absolute best is if you wake up from a dream and then you don’t move at all and don’t open your eyes. After a few seconds you will start seeing an image and after a while you will hopefully be able to go into the image. And now you’re in a lucid dream But it works even if you don’t wake up from a dream, it just takes longer before you get a image and it also takes a while before the image gets stable. When you wake up from a dream it might only take a few seconds to go from no image to being in a dream.
Yeah JaRoD is right, the easiest way to WILD is not to move right after you wake up from a dream, but the way it works with me most of the time is I start getting vibrations and then I just get out of my bed and I know I’m dreaming. Do you notice how in the morning how you easily keep drifting in and out of dreams? It only takes at most 5 minutes to enter a dream in the morning, that’s why it’s easiest.
Wow. waking up without really waking up… I dont think i have dun that and doing that seems like it could be diificult, due to the fact you cant open your eyes when you wake up
Well you just have to notice when the dream ended. Like when having a lucid awakening; in that case it would be very easy to WILD.
I’ve had LDs that are a few seconds long, and LDs that seemed to last like 20 minutes. But usually they seem to last about 5 minutes, and personally I find it hard to remember in a LD that lasts more than that, but it’s just me.
For me LDs usually last from a few seconds up to several minutes. The longest one was about 10 minutes or so. And it does seem to get harder to remember the beginning of LD the longer they get, but not always. I seem to have the hardest time remembering the beginning if I re-enter a dream several times.
And if you fail to WILD after waking up from a dream you might forget the entire dream since you most likely go through NREM later and that seems to be a dream reacall killer in general.
But it works even if you don’t wake up from a dream, it just takes longer before you get a image and it also takes a while before the image gets stable. When you wake up from a dream it might only take a few seconds to go from no image to being in a dream.