Here is a simple idea for learining to stay awakeat the hypnagogic level. Using a set of comfortable headphones, a press down switch and a buzzer or some sort wired to the headphone jack and a pot for volume control. The switch is pressed as you go to sleep. When falling asleep the switch is released triggering the buzzer and waking you up. Question: How long will you last before throwing it across the room? 
Answer: Not very long at all. 
I actually have a really strange advantage on this topic. For my entire life, I’ve been unable to fall asleep when laying on my back. It’s that simple, there is no way I can sleep until I roll on my side.
However, while laying on my back I can experience hypnagogic hallucinations after a relatively short period of time. That’s as far as it goes though, at least until I roll over and instantly lose consciousness. It’s certainly fun being able to use your imagination at such a powerful level, but I still prefer a nice long LD 
I’ve actually tried this. I didn’t use headphones. It was a buzzer that would sound once my hand relaxed. I would release the button and it would activate the sound.
How many days did I use it. About 1 or 2. 
While it is a good way to catch yourself right before sleep, it doesn’t let your body fall asleep. You cannot enter a LD with this device, just practice catching yourself fall asleep. So it could be good for “hypnagogic training” … but not LDs.
Atheist, OMG! I’m the exact same way. You describe it perfectly. I can lay for hours on my back and not fall asleep. It is a good way to see HH, but then I’ll roll over and instantly fall asleep.
Add another one to that list Atheist and DreamAddict
This is why I can’t do WILDs. Because the only way I can be conscious falling asleep is by lying on my back, but I will never actually fall asleep on my back
I’ve tried WILD on my side but most of the time I’m out like a baby.
~ceavou~
I too am a side sleeper. At first I found it discouraging when people would say… “For this technique, lie on your back and relax blahblahblah…”
Then I just started realizing that I will lie on my side and do the same things and what does it really matter? If thats the best way that I can relax then so be it. I doubt very much whether there is a fundamental difference between the two postures that would block dreaming or becoming aware during dreams.
chalk one more up for the side sleepers
well i can fall asleep on my side or on my stomach with my arms folded under the pillow and having my head sideways, but never on my back.
i also tryed this buzzer thing, but instead of a buzzer its the remote control hitting the floor when i fall asleep watching tv, my hand relaxes and the remote falls and hits the flor waking me up, mind you though, i dont mean to do this 
Yet another side sleeper… cept i still have probs w/ hypo watever images, like sumtimes i’ll see a totaly random scene like a lot a brown beans sliding down a wooden pipe (lol really its true) so i cant really enter a LD from beans and it dosn’t seem much more powerful than a day dream. And when i give up, and get up, i always feel extreemly(sp) light-headed and dizzy…
And bak to the side sleepers thingy, i fall alsleep on my side, yet i wake up on my bak…
The idea though, Neo, is that if you keep payign attention to those beans sliding down that pipe… you will be keeping your conscious mind alert as you enter into the dream state.
another for the side sleepers!
took me a while to figure out aswell 