so close... yet so far to lucidity :'( - HELLLPP?

Quest for Lucidity
1

Ill set the scene to begin with, its the middle of the night, I’ve woken up as I usually do and I can recall a good portion of the dreams I’ve just had.
I decide I might as well try WILD, seeing as I’m exhausted and I’ve heard it works well when you’re tired. Maybe I’m really not doing it right though, because I start by lying motionless on my back, and counting ‘one… I’m lucid… two… I’m lucid etc’ but after a certain length of time I just feel nothing’s happening. Not wanting to give up, I try by lying on my front, the same thing happens in that, well, nothing really happens…

Then I must have fallen asleep, even though it was impossible to tell, because in the dream I appeared in I was lying in bed trying WILD. I should have realised that mysteriously being on my back again was fishy though… Darn.

Suddenly as I’m on my back I feel a rush of numbness over my body. It feels like I’m being pulled somewhere, but I get too excited and it stops. I calm down, and it starts again, this time I can vaguely see where I am being pulled - a snowscape. I wish for an island instead, and an island is what I begin to fly over. The sensation of flying is quite vivid, and because I’m 100 percent sure I’m dreaming, I am able to ‘control’ where I fly. I swerve left and right above the trees. I definately feel some sensations.

For good measure I shout ‘increase lucidity’ and I accept it has done something even though I couldn’t hear my voice say it.
Once ive landed, I wish with all my might for someone I really want to appear to appear in the dream. I scream ‘make Angie appear!’ The funny thing is I remember vaguley seeing her between two hills, but she definately wasnt there, otherwise I know I would have talked to her.

Then the island changes slightly and for some reason, and its like a super mario brothers game, with all the creatures and the things you have to jump on. I start jumping, but the vision fades, which I accept readily because I know first LDs don’t last that long.

I wake up.
Again I’m lying in bed, and I can’t believe I’ve had my first LD, I’m extatic. I run into tell my mum about my sucess in the next room, and then…
I actually wake up, and realise, as the cliché goes - that it was all a dream.

I can’t tell you the frustration I felt when I woke up, its ridiculous. I remember in my dream knowing I was dreaming, so why didn’t I know it was dreaming. Ahhh!
And also, any tips for WILD? because clearly I’m failing miserably. Although I think my WILD attempts probably induced this whole dream.

2

Don’t worry-you WERE lucid.It’s just that you lost lucidity during a FA.Happened to me numerous times :wink: .It’s probably because you were worried the lucid dream will end,so your SC served exactly that-it’s “ending” .
From now on try to do an RC every time after you wake up,even if you are 100% sure you’re really awake,helped me catch quite a number of those pesky FA.
Yeah and I think that was a successful WILD attempt,you did witness the pulling and the entering of the dream,where you just wished something and it appeared-success for me :tongue:

3

Do you really think I was lucid? Because it really didnt feel like I was. If I had for sure been lucid, jumping aimlessly in a super mario game would not have been my choice scenario hahaaaa.
Actually youve prompted me to remember something! I do now recall willing someone I really wanted to appear to appear in the dream. I forgot that part! Although they didnt come… :sad:
It just really seemed too distant and not vivid at all. I mean, I havent been lucid before, but I cant imagine thats what its like, unless this was just a mild version of lucidity.
I didnt do any reality checks at all either.

4

I’d say you had a FLD. You were dreaming about lucid dreaming - but you weren’t lucid :wink:. At least that’s where I’d categorize such a dream…

5

Yes thats exactly what I thought. And its so frustrating :sad:

6

Well,only you can know for certain,we weren’t there to evaluate :tongue: You were probably in very low lucidity,or a FLD to be more precise…
Anyways,don’t worry,it was like that for me when I started :wink: Next time will surely be better,more lucidity comes with more experience :cool:

7

Im inclinded to believe it was a FLD, because I never had that moment when I realised I was dreaming, I just always seemed to know, which is suspicious. I also never did a reality check, and the actual dream in question was a dream within a dream…
Reguardless of what it was, I suppose it was still an interesting experience haha.

8

Hello.
I’d actually say you WERE lucid.

Well, you did do WILD, and as it seems, you have succeeded (nice work, by the way, WILD usually gives headaches more than other techniques.)

Well, you said you were lucid in the beginning, and you probably were, since WILD starts out that way.

You just lost control when you reached the super mario point.
No worries, I sometimes loose control too.

So, from that point on, you were either lucid, but with a really low level of lucidity (meaning that you were aware of the fact that you are dreaming, but you couldn’t control yourself), or it became a normal dream.

Congrats on this experience :smile:

9

I did attempt WILD, but it was the WILD when I was already dreaming that brought me into the dream. Does that count? I suppose whatever it was it still worked in some ways.
The WILD I attempted physically didn’t really get anywhere though, which is what confuses me.
I’d like to think I was lucid, and I do agree I lost control at the Mario bit.
Thank you, it was a great experience, whatever it was. 

10

Well, none of us (except maybe you) can tell if you were lucid or not.

Simply put, if you just dreamed about lucidity, without actually getting lucid, it was a FLD; if you realized you were dreaming, but couldn’t do anything about it, it was a dream with low lucidity :wink:

11

Of course I understand I am the only one who experienced it, so its hard for others to interpret the dream, although I dont want that to stop people trying because I love getting responses from people on this website. :happy:

I also hoped to get a few WILD tips ^^

12

Well, I noticed that you started being paralyzed while you were lying on your back.
Actually, SP, generally speaking, mostly occurs when you’re lying on your back.
Keep that in mind.

Well, you just have to relax (not too much, or you will fall asleep to early, [probably] not getting a LD) and you have to concentrate on the HH (also, not too much, or you won’t be able to fall asleep).

Just find a comfortable position and don’t move.
You might get the roll over signal, but stay still. This is the mind’s way of checking if you are asleep. Obviously, if you roll over, you are still awake, so the mind doesn’t ‘‘unleash’’ SP.

Well, for more detailed instructions, visit the Knowledge base (the first sub-forums) and find a tutorial about WILD.

Good luck :smile:

13

I did get sleep paralysis, but it was sleep paralysis in a dream, because I was actually dreaming that WILD attempt.

During my physical WILD attempts I did begin to feel numbness, but it was nothing major - I know I didnt experience SP in that instance.

Thank you for posting by the way :smile:

14

I don’t think people understand this so well. Let me get this straight: You tried WILD, you fell asleep and you dreamed about succeeding a WILD. Am I right ? If so, you dreamed that you lucid dreamed. But be happy ! That’s called “p-r-o-g-r-e-s-s” :smile:

15

Yup, I think you got it :smile:

Are you sure its progress? Because its so frustrating that in the dream I knew I was dreaming, yet I didnt conciously recognise it… ughhh :sad:

16

Of dourse it’s progress :grin:

Another possibility is you fell asleep while trying to WILD but a bit of that consciousness went into the dream and you got lucid in the in-dream-WILD. It sure counts as a LD! If you actually got lucid, that is. FLD’s are still progress though :wink: I’ve fallen asleep while trying to WILD and dream I’m trying to WILD. Although then DC’s come in the room and I get mad :sad:

17

Well, like a few others have said, its hard to say anything for sure. But, from what you told us, I think it was actually a low lucid in which you soon lost that lucidity. Ignoring all those fancy terms and acronyms though, in the end its you who can decide whether it was lucid or not. Did you feel like you had control, even a little bit? Did you feel disconnected from the dream? Did it feel like it was just one continuous dream? Did you feellucid? Thats the main deciding factor. Did you feel it? Or did it not seem like a LD to you, even if it was short?

I actually had a similar experience to you the other day. I too, was trying WILD, and ended passing through sleep paralysis for the first time. Just like you, I thought I was in my dream now, and took control, but something felt off. Soon I lost control, the scene changed, and I almost had some sort of FA, and in that FA I ALSO was thinking about lucidity and my previous dream, where I was “lucid”. However, when I woke up and remembered the first part of the dream, there wasn’t exactly a feeling of having had an LD. I actually felt as I had been sort of disconnected from the dream, if that makes any sense? Its a strange feeling, but like I said, I think its the feeling that counts.

As for the WILD experience, from what I read, I actually think you did go through WILD. It seems to have worked for you, and I’m not sure why you’re dismissing it? But then again, maybe its a feeling you got?
I’m not WILD expert (though it is my preferred method), but, if anything, I would say you might have been trying too hard at first. It may be better to just not concentrate on staying awake (the counting and such) but instead, try falling asleep normally, and simply let your conscious remain passive. Of course, everyone’s different, so maybe that works out better for you.

And lastly, frustration! I realize being so close can be disappointing, but you should look at the positives! Like Don Anonymous said “P r o g r e s s”! Knowing that the WILD technique is actually a rather difficult one, and that you may have had a LD (or FLD), and then, on top of that, a FA where you remembered that LD is REALLY, REALLY good! :content: You should remember to appreciate your dreams, whether they are NDs, FLDs, or LDs, because any one of them can turn out to be really great!
Think of it this way: If you got so close this time, imagine how much easier it will be to go further the next time you try! :wink:

And now, I apologize for these long blocks of boring text :tongue:

18

You know, I did feel like I had control a very small amount. It’s hard to say, because the two FA I had, before and after this dream, were the most vivid part of the whole experience. However, I really do remember wishing for an island to appear and then it appearing for me, and when I was flying I was definitely moving the way I wanted to go. Although, could I just have been dreaming this control? I also shouted ‘Increase Lucidity’ and I’m sure that was my choice… Its just I never had the eureka moment when I realised ‘oh, im dreaming’ nor did I once do a reality check… Which is weird.

That’s exactly how I feel, yeah. I know what you mean, ive had that feeling so many times before. I wasn’t as disconnected from this dream as others though, it was actually really vivid, its just ive never had an LD before so I don’t really have anything to compare it to haha.

Do you really think so? Maybe the WILD did work and it just passed into a dream state, I suppose that’s possible…

Thank you, I will try and think more positively :smile: I definitely do appreciate all my dreams, I think its incredible what my mind can come up with!

Don’t worry, I love long posts, everything you wrote was interesting <3

19

Thank you :smile:

I think I could very well have experienced a low level lucid dream. Although, is it possible to become lucid without reality checks and such? Actually in this case I suppose it is, because in the first level of my dream I was WILDing, and I knew I was entering a dream the whole time… hmmmm

The ‘pull’ I felt when WILDing in the dream also felt sooo real.

20

I would say, then, that you were lucid. I too remember clearly controlling my dream and being satisfied with the results, before soon losing control. However, my case was slightly different (in that I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming yet, hence the ‘disconnected’ feeling I had. You on the other hand, seem to easily recognize it as a dream, which is good! :content:)

If you didnt feel ‘disconnected’ from it, then I’d say it probably was. And I understand what you mean by not having anything to compare it to. The fact that it seems to have been a short dream also doesn’t help. However, I think, when you do become lucid, you’ll easily be able to tell, whether or not you’ve been lucid before. I think this one is just hard to tell because it was so short.

Yes! :smile: In fact, I think that’s essentially how WILD is supposed to work. Yes, you are supposed to be aware, but only faintly. You might only barely notice any transition, and before you know it, you are already in SP and about to enter a dream! On the other hand, it can also be the opposite: You’re very aware, and notice all the sensations that go on normally unnoticed. But like I said before, I’m no WILD expert. :tongue:

Thats always good! Just remember its not a good idea to become frustrated when things seem difficult. Not only does it mean that you might be overlooking some important facts (like the real progress you had actually made! :grin:, but you tend to make it more difficult to continue by making it seem harder than it actually is. :content: But don’t worry about it now, I’m sure you’ll do fine! Just keep up your motivation and sooner or later you’ll have reached your goals. :smile:

Haha, thank you! :tongue: