Woke up at 1pm today after only being asleep for a few hours so I figured I’d try a WBTB through a WILD. Got into bed and became motionless for over 45 minutes but never entered SP so I eventually just rolled over and slept. As soon as I had rolled over, hypnagogic images filled my mind and I entered the dream world. I found myself in an oversized bathtub in a crouched fetal position underwater and was immediately lucid. Just to double check, I did a RC when I tried breathing through my nose and found I could. Overjoyed at my first Lucid dream, I rubbed my hands together to remain focused on my dream upon exiting the tub. Walking out into the hallway I found it enormously difficult to move. Soon after this, I woke up.
So after this experience I have a few questions.
Did I actually enter sleep paralysis?
Why didn’t my hand rubbing make my dream more lucid?
Why did it end so quickly?
Why was it so hard to walk?
Any answers to these questions would be appreciated.
It doesn’t sound like you entered SP, and SP is not necessary for WILD. In fact, I’ve only entered it twice, one of which happened after my LD.
Rubbing hands will help stabilize the dream, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be higher lucidity. Lucidity just means awareness, nothing more. Now, higher vividness can lead to better control, but that can take some practice.
It’s not uncommon for early LD’s to be shorter. Part of it can be excitement, and it can also simply be you not being used to the fact your aware in a dream. With the pre-frontal cortex activated, your mind may have simply assumed you were waking up. But that’s getting a little detailed. Again, the more LD’s you have the easier it gets
Finally, having issues walking is common in both ND’s and LD’s. Why, exactly I’m not sure. I recall having this issue on one of my first serious LD’s. It almost felt like something was holding me back. Frustrated, I gritted my teeth and said “no,” using sheer will to make myself walk normally. It broke as soon as I took my first normal step. This is one of those things that’s best not to worry about as it thinking about it in a dream could actually cause it to happen XD.
Anywho, I hope that helped. Let us know if you need us to expand on any of this
Wasn’t aware of that, I suppose that’s why I entered my LD so quickly despite not having a WILD.
I thought that by rubbing my hands together, I could overcome the mistake of first time LDers and I wouldn’t wake up or get too excited; I guess that didn’t work. But that will come with time and more LDs.
My walking problem felt like I was moving, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. Then it ended like all my other dreams do where the same action repeats until I wake up and I just keep trying to walk ad infinitum. So I don’t think it was a lack of ability to walk but rather it was just ending.
I’m going to actually plan out waking up tomorrow instead of an impromptu thing like today’s was. Will likely use WBTB as that’s what seems to work. Any tips for my dip back into my dreams?
Edit: I should add that I didn’t write the lucid dream in my journal which I plan on doing tomorrow if I achieve lucidity.
To me it sound like you did have a WILD. You don’t always have to be fully conscious throughout the transition. I do it on accident sometimes, and slip into a dream without even recognizing the difference between that and a daydream. That’s how the DEILD works, you might wanna give that a shot too.
SP happen everytime when we dream. It’s just not always noticeable. If you don’t show too much attention to SP, there’s a chance you won’t even feel it. However, it’s still there, to prevent you from acting out your dreams IRL.
