So I’ve been having some trouble lucid dreaming. I use to try a lot, and then it didn’t happen so I gave up on it. Basically, all that would happen when I’d try was that I’d feel really tense, twitch a little, get annoyed and reposition myself. And then if I did end up dreaming, I would dream about lucid dreaming but have no control over the dream whatsoever.
Anyway, a few day a friend of mine found out about lucid dreaming and oobe when he was trying to find a way to sleep easier. So he found out that educing sleep paralysis could not only make you sleep faster but would let you lucid dream easier. So he done it, was all successful, and told me that all you need to do is relax all your muscles, keep constant breathing and lay perfectly straight. So I did that and then I got all that tense feeling and stuff again, but I thought maybe if I follow it through, I’d be able to lucid dream, so I did. Started badly convulsing, first my legs and then like my whole body. Needless to say, the fact that I jumped off my bed and while extremely twitching the second time it happened shows I definitely wasn’t in any type of paralysis (and also, the fact that I talked to my friend when I woke and he pointed out it was two hours later when I did this shows it wasn’t paralysis as the paralysis is meant to be a fast way to sleep). (I should mention I was already looking into the possibility of me having sleep seizures due to other signs 
) So I’m probably never going to try the old hag method again.
The thing is, now I really want to lucid dream but every time I get into any sort of relax state, I start twitching or tension starts building. Obviously that’s not normal but I really want to have a lucid dream and don’t wake during sleep to do M.I.L.D and never have time to do W.B.T.B. I can already remember my dreams and do reality checks so I was wondering, is there another way to pull off W.I.L.D or am I doomed not to LD because of these twitches? 
Your friend’s advice is sound, you just need to complete it with some more precautions:
- Take a position where you easily fall asleep in (usually is the one you often wake up from)
- Stretch all your muscles first! Take a deep breath, stretch them all, keep for a few seconds, and relax. It helps them relax more, and faster.
- Stay calm! Everything that you are feeling in the process is really something that your body undergoes every night, you usually just aren’t aware enough to notice. So it’s all perfectly natural
and you only have to endure the process a little. With time, you get even used to it, trust me 
Good luck with your Quest! ^^
Aye. The thing is, I would stay calm but I don’t think convulsing in a “sitting up and down” way is something the body undergoes every night. Also, I tested my theory of it not being sleep related by allowing myself to fully relax again, and the twitching started to happen until I shook it off. So shrugs
Well, people tend to change positions when falling asleep, so there should be no real problem if you change it once or twice to stop the twitching (although doing it more is not advised, at it would only keep you awake). Plus one other way to stop the twitching (or at least ignore it until it stops) would starting to focus on different signals, like the buzzing in the ears, or the blackness behind the eyelids.
I was trying not to focus on the twitching, but when a large tension just started pulling in the small of my back, I thought about how good it would be if it’d go away and just after that I started convulsing… I know paralysis is meant to be an easy way to do it, but aren’t there other ways to pull off WILD that aren’t extremely hard? I have this feeling that I would be able to find out the reason for this twitching in my dreams. O_o
I mean, how many times have you tried? I had twitching in more than one occasion when attempting WILD, but either moving about a little did the trick, or all it took was waiting until it stopped. You shouldn’t be be so harsh with yourself, it was the first time you tried afterall
Plus I assure you, the transition gets smoother and smoother each time you try, cause you get more accustomed to it, and know a better way to do it each time.
On another note, if you want to try another technique, there’s always different methods to WILD scattered around the forum, like C-WILD.
I have tried quiet a few times. Well, quiet a few for me. It happened when I tried having an oobe too. So probably like 10-15 times between the two. I’ve read though that the way to pull of WILD is like basically going into a meditation state while laying down. Though, ironically, that’s like the same thing as inducing sleep paralysis.
Well, not everyone goes through SP when they attempt WILD, mostly it depends on how early they focus on internal stimuli (those that will eventually become a dream, like HI). For one, I rarely experiences SP in my attempts.
SP is really an optional checkpoint when attempting WILD, some can use it better than others, and there’s plenty of other techniques that do not require entering it consciously, so fell free to look around (a good starting point would be the FAQ & Tutorials section).
Hm. Well, thank you for your help. I’m going to try the non seep paralysis way tonight and hope it works.
One other thing that can really help get rid of the convulsions is trying WILD 5-6 hours after first going to bed rather than at the beginning of the night. In fact, I rarely get anything unusual when I do it at this time. It all has to do with how quickly you fall asleep, you see. At the beginning of the night it can take quite a while, where as later on you go back much faster. If it takes you a while to fall asleep normally then early WILD attempts can be rough.
I know you said that you don’t wake up during the night, but what I’m talking about isn’t a huge inconvenience. Am I saying do a full WBTB where you get up and stretch or whatever? No, just set an alarm, shut it off and go right back to bed doing WIlD. It won’t take up more than a few seconds of your time.
You can also try some auto-suggestion to wake up instead of an alarm.
Also, I’ve had success with MILD without WBTB. After lying down and relaxing a bit I repeat my mantra 3-5 times until I feel the message stuck and then go to sleep normally. It might take a bit of practice to get it working, but it is possible!
Yeah, I dunno. I did try WBTB with the WILD it didn’t work. In fact, I tried like 5 times last night to lucid dream and nothing happened. Kinda more frustrating then anything. I don’t think paralysis or counting to 1000 does anything for me.
You have to keep trying, there will be many nights of no success. If you’ve been trying for quite a while and feel you’ve made no progress, then change around the way you’re doing it. You on’t have to count, you know? Try repeating “I’m dreaming,” that’s what works for me. Heck, you don’t even have to repeat the same stupid thing, just keep your mind aware and focused on being lucid. Otherwise, try a different tech.
RCILD isn’t very reliable, but if you do regular RC’s every day you will eventual start to do them in your dreams. Autosuggestion is even easier, just tell yourself when you fall asleep that you are a lucid dreamer and you will remember to do an RC.