Well, it is said that sleeping on your back is probably the best position for WILD’s; but i, and many others, cannot feel relaxed enough in that position. So, generally, any position where you can feel totally relaxed, and your body can fall asleep without causing you any inconveniance later on in the induction, is a good enough position.
As for getting to the HI stage, all i can tell you is to try to keep your (logical) mind alert; counting to 100 while saying “I’m dreaming” and back to 1 and so forth, is a good way. Not too alert that you can’t sleep, but not not alert enough that you do fall asleep.
As for getting through the HI’s, i am struggling with that myself.
Thanks for the link, I may try this tonight and if or when I wake up at night. I sort of always wake up at around 4 to 4 and a half hours naturally, I think I autosuggested it to myself unconciously that I will wake up at that time. I should maybe do that with WILD. So I guess the main thing to do is find a natural balance so you can WILD successfully.
I’ve heard it said that WILD is useless to try when first going to bed for the night, that you are so far off your REM sleep that the chances are very dismal.
Now, as we’ve mentioned, we know that its possible to LD and dream in any stage, it’s just more likely during REM, hence the end of the night, hence WBTB.
This may make a good experiment for the Experiment Section, how are peoples WILD attempts with and without WBTB?
I have been working on WILD for a few months now and what mocha55 said
is the most important.
I lay in bed just like I do when I go to sleep, on my side with one hand up by my head. For some people this makes it impossable for them to keep the mind awake, for me it works. ( at least better then anything else. I do have some very short LD’s this way. ) For me, I can get the best balance between sleeping body and awake mind this way. It is also important to keep the correct balance for you between paying enough attention to what is going on with your body, and not paying attention. If you pay too much attention, you will get excited, or just not let your body get sleepy enough. If you pay too little attention, then you just slip into sleep.
The main point is try to keep the balance, and don’t expect it to work right away. I have gotten my longest LD with WILD, but because of lots of stress in my life right now, nothing else seems to work.
don
And dunlar is good at WILDs without WBTB but I don’t have time right now to find the topic where we were discussing that (it was in the beginning of June this year).
I tried to WILD Last night but I didn’t really concentrate on the thought that I was going to WILD, I basically just told myself that I was going to go to sleep normally while doing multiplications. So I started at 1x1 until 1x9 then moving onto 2x2 to 2x9 and so on in that fashion. Then I reached 12 x 12 and so I moved onto more difficult equations visualizing the numbers in my head so that it’d be easier to multiply. I tried 24x12 and I could vividly see the number but took no notice to this. When I was just about to answer the equation my body became quite numb and heavy, I was wondering if this was what WILD was sort of like, and so I finished my equation but by that time my breathing felt shallow and I tried not to concentrate on it because when I do i try to control it so that I can breath, and so my breathing became longer and deeping and not so shallow. So… that was what happened.
The experience of close to sleep sounds the same, but you may have extra trouble crossing over with too much mental exertion. I changed my counting on inhales to double counting, counting inhales and exhales, to increase my mental alertness. You’re quite a few steps ahead of that, you may need to do something less intensive to cross over.
I failed WBTB WILD today and found out that making out little scenes, like imagining you’re talking to a person is very helpful in falling asleep (for people that have problems with this).
That’s what I do. I found that counting once per breath, especially once breath had slowed down, was too little mental exertion. This seems to keep me involved without too much exertion. Once I hit 100, I start back at 1 and keep going.
Thanks for the advice and I just read your diary and it seems to work wonderfully! How long did you practice it? And how long does it usual take for your body to relax so much that you get SP? pokes questions x3
Actually, I’m a much more proficient DILD’er. I’ve had a few WILD’s, but I still need a lot of work.
Depending on how tired I am (in both directions, over tired and under tired), I usually get HI in about 25 minutes and feel the edge of sleep a few minutes after that. I’ve been practicing LD’ing off and on in general for…13 years. Wow. I’ve been concentrating on my WILD’ing for only the last couple of weeks, just taking any LD’s that came to me before that.
Wow, that’s a long time. Well I tried to WILD/Nap just a couple hours ago and I fell asleep waking up in the dark and trying to get back to sleep again. So I found that After 3 counts fo 100’s I was seeing things and I kept getting sucked into the images and losing count and not remember what I was doing so I return to 1. I’ll try again when I wake up after 5 or so hours after sleep. Dx
Hm, I tried to WILD last week, but again couldn’t achieve one.
However, I got my self a DILD once more and I believe, quite a fatal one. I woke up in my bed (in the dream), when I realized that I must be dreaming, because I wasn’t even at my house in reality. Then I walked out into the hall of my house and that strange feeling came in on me. It’s somewhat hard to explain, it was like someone was coming for me and I was major scared, even though I knew it was a dream. I then went into the living-room and there was a head (yes, a human head) lying on the table, following me with his eyes, so I completely panicked out and screamed. Not out loud (the guys in my room would have killed me in that case), but what’s really weird: When I woke up, I still heard a loud mechanical and echoing sound in my ears.
Just now that I’m writing this down, I realize how ridicolous it all sounds. And it is, but it was just so intense that I feel, the feeling will come back whenever I’m in my house in a LD again.
Could I’ve had too much alcohol that night? I wasn’t exactly drunken. Also, I only watched a single horror movie in my life, because I’m not interested. Childhood traumas are out of the game as well.
Any advices on fears in LDs?
Oh and while we’re at it, whenever I try to do a WILD, I’m having songs in my mind that I can’t push away. I really like them, when I’m listening to them, but during WILDs I’d like to focus on something else. Anyone knowing this problem?
I’m not that experienced but here’s my input: Try to ignore the songs and focus on something else, the mucis may still be there but try to treat them as background music like when you’re at a store. Something that you could focus on is your breathing and counting inhales and exhales. Or just simple counting.
I agree, Mocha55. I think the songs are much like HI, something to be only passively aware of. Don’t force them out, but don’t let it dominate your thinking either.
CampusAnis, to tell you the truth, I never have nightmares and rarely experience fear in dreams, especially LD’s. I’d suggest using your awareness, if you experience it in an LD, ask out loud (in your dream) “Why am I afraid?” The answer could come in many ways: scene change, DC answering you, just plain knowing or the feeling disappearing.
I thought I had a breakthrough in my WILD’ing, having experienced the edge of sleep several times and with accuracy. I’m still having trouble ‘tipping over’ into sleep. I’ve found myself intentionally stopping my counting in order to sleep, especially: a) when first going to sleep, b) after a WBTB when I only have a short time left to sleep, like 1 or 2 hours left. I think I’ll keep trying it when I still have 3/4 hours left… but cautiously.
) For me, I can get the best balance between sleeping body and awake mind this way. It is also important to keep the correct balance for you between paying enough attention to what is going on with your body, and not paying attention. If you pay too much attention, you will get excited, or just not let your body get sleepy enough. If you pay too little attention, then you just slip into sleep.
I’ve had a few WILD’s, but I still need a lot of work.