Dear Dreamcatcher,
The SILD method was initially based on my own customized WILD routine, which given years of practice has enabled me to WILD at will. It was almost identical to Michael’s technique plus a few extras. In the beginning we simply wanted to create a streamlined version of this WILD routine, but several revisions later we came to a very important realization – it simply works better if we DON’T treat it as a WILD technique!
Before I get ahead of myself, lets look at Michael’s method first. You were correct that the hardest part of that method is remembering to stay completely still upon awakening. In fact, if you finally manage to do this you hardly need any technique at all. Another problem is the method being very demanding on the proper mind/body condition at the time of the execution. Given the right condition, it is not impossible to have a successful WILD within minutes, even seconds! However, when the condition is not perfect, for example, when you are rather wide awake, the method will unlikely do you any good. You can try wiggle your fingers without using muscle but that will feel genuinely fake. You then move on to stare behind your eyelids but you will see nothing but blackness. You then try squeezing your brain but that simply feel weird… Let’s face it, how are you supposed to squeeze your brain? Of course, all of these become very easy and real when you are in the phase or are on the edge of a phase, but the exercise itself is not really designed to move you toward the phase. In fact, the amount of concentration demanded by the exercise will often leave you wide awake!
Now let’s look at SILD. Like Michael’s technique, if you use SILD when you are in the proper mind/body condition, the cycling procedures will very likely result in rapid entry into the phase. However, since it is not a WILD technique, we don’t care so much about producing immediate effect! Being able to WILD is a bonus, not a must. Thus, we do the cycling routines regardless of whether they cause any sensations to occur. Here we see a fundamental difference between the two methods – where Michael’s method requires focus, SILD requires un-focus. With SILD it is fair to say that the only thing you should focus on is how to quickly lose focus. You want to cycle through the senses in the laziest manner. You want to lose count. You want to forget where you are. You want to drag this on and on… Essentially you just want to fall asleep so much you give up on doing the exercise, which is perfect.
SILD then works its magic after you fall asleep. You may suddenly wake up again, due to the motion caused by the cycling, and instead of awakening into reality you end up going into a phase because SILD has already prepared your mind and body into the proper condition. If you combine SILD with WBTB, then your chance of becoming aware within your dreams is greatly increased because the routine somehow is pretty good at messaging that little bit of awareness into your dreams, as noticed by Rhwin.
As for your question, I suggest that upon waking up at night, you can immediately do a few rounds of SILD. This may lead you into a phase, but as I said you should not expect it. Better treat it as warmups. After 5 or 6 hours of sleep you will want to get up, stay awake for 5 to 10 minutes then go back to bed to do SILD. You may want to do a few extra cycles if you don’t immediately feel sleepy. Remember, if you find yourself becoming more awake after doing SILD then you are apparently doing it incorrectly!
I hope this helps 
Good luck and happy lucid dreaming!
but it still seems to help bring some more awareness into the dream. I should remember to do at least one or two full cycles on my back, where it’s more unlikely I’ll just fall asleep.
