Hiya everyone. I’ve been experimenting with WILD recently and gotten to the point where my body goes numb–like a wave from my toes to my head. The problem is, I don’t normally sleep on my back, so I find breathing awkward.
Whenever I get the numbing sensation, I instantly get semi-excited and focus on my breathing. Once I start paying attention to my breathing, and make myself breathe instead of letting my body naturally breathe, and I trap myself in reality.
The only solution that I can come up with is to try and sleep on my back for a couple of weeks so that my chest doesn’t feel weighed down and I don’t have to concentrate on breathing in and out. You see, I normally sleep on my stomach (the most comfortable position for me), and I don’t find breathing an issue at all. The problem with trying to WILD on my stomach is that I fall asleep.
Does anyone else have this sort of problem, or ways to counteract the nervousness and excitability of oncoming SP? All help appreciated.
Well i like your idea of sleeping face up for a few weeks, that should probably do it. But, maybe you should just try it face down. Is there something that prevents it from working when you are face down? Also, i think that in time you will just get used to it and know not to get exited. Just… relax? That’s the only advise i can give right now, i usually dont encounter SP while trying WILD (aka, i’m not verry good at WILD)
You may want to try and cut out all sensory inputs from the waking world. I use ear plugs and eliminate all light sources prior to trying to have a WILD. I also use the WBTB method with out getting up and attaining full consciousness. It seems to be very hard to get back into the dream world once I have started thinking about my waking life. Also you may want to “allow” your self to watch the HI that start flashing around once you near the transition. It is a careful balancing act and I am far from perfecting the WILD, but my meditation practice over the years seems to help me clear my mind and allow the transition to take place without a major jolt.
Overall, remember not to force anything. It will come with time. Also remember to practice your reality checks in the real world.
I don’t think anything prevents me from doing it face down besides falling asleep because I’m so comfortable–I will try it tonight. I’ll also set my alarm for a WBTB, and see how that goes. Thanks for the suggestions.
Oh, and by the way–what kind of meditation do you practice xyzzy? I’ve been looking for a kind of not-too-exotic meditation technique online, and I really haven’t been able to find any that are in depth.
I have this same problem, (except SP doesn’t excite me since I figured out how to parlyze myself at will,) and I think I’ve figured out how to fix the breathing problem. Someone else came up with an induction method involving making a small constant movement that doesn’t require much energy like tapping or fingers or moving your tounge back and forth. Well I’ve just been tapping my fingers in a slow rhythm in harmony with my breathing and as long as I keep that beat I’m fine, otherwise I feel like I’m suffocating. Now, if only I wouldn’t get so distracted and drift to sleep most of the time…
Well, this may be off topic for inducing WILD’s, but I use the breath counting method after the muscle relaxation technique. Essentially, I begin laying on my back and start a flex/release muscle routine starting at my fingers and working muscle by muscle to my toes. You can find this as a yoga technique in many places. Then once I am completely relaxed, I count my slow breaths in and out. Inhale “1”, exhale “and” - Inhale again “2”, exhale “and.” So the idea is to count your breaths from 1 to 4 then restart the count. The goal is to clear you mind of all thought. Only concentrate on your breathing. If you start thinking about something other than the counting or your breathing, gently acknowledge the thought and then bring your self back to your meditation. You can do this for as long as necessary. Once you are totally relaxed and breathing on your own. Start to watch the HI and don’t force anything. The idea is to practice quieting your mind. In the long run, this should help you to see HI and HH and allow a gentle transition into a WILD. Hope this helps.
I’ve been having similar dificulties as the original poster, and since I’m starting my practice routine now (my goal is astral projection, but I wouldn’t mind an LD!) I need to focus on something consistent.
Here is a breathing technique that I usually use: Inhale to the count of four (“1…2…3…4…” don’t count too fast), hold to the count of four, exhale to the count of four, hold to the count of four, and then start over again. After about a dozen breaths like this I feel pretty relaxed and the breathing comes naturally.
Rattler, You might also want to try one of the WILD techs that use some method to keep you awake while you sleep on your stomach.
Some possibility’s are:
holding your hand or arm in a position so that when you go to sleep, it falls and wakes you up again. This could be holding your hand, or forearm up at a 90deg. angle while going to sleep.
listening to music, or some sound that is not too loud to keep you completely awake, but loud enough to keep your mind awake.
don
Yeah, your body is used to the face-down position, so it’ll take a while to get used to being face-up. Just bear with it for a while and everything’ll be alright.
Okay, so I found what was last night. When the numbness comes, I get nervous or whatever, and pay attention to my breathing. It’s kind of like when you think about blinking or swallowing. You make yourself do it instead of letting your natural bodily functions do it for you. It’s tough to think about other things besides breathing when you’re laying down for bed waiting for the onset of dreaming.
I’ll try and relax my mind and not think about it as much though. Thanks for the help, guys (and gals).
I was just wondering how you’re dealing with the “temptation” of switching your pre-sleep position back to normal? i.e. I normally sleep on my side, on my stomach (looks a bit awkward) but I found that lying on my back seems to be more conducive to dreaming in general - BUT I’m frigging lazy and end up on my side and blissfully drift off into sleep (within seconds !!!)
If I’m really serious about practicing, I usually just stay on my back for an hour or so until I can’t stand it anymore and go back to my usual position (on my left side) and drift happily to sleep.
I’ve fallen asleep on my back a few times, but I was really tired so that’s probably why.
I think most of my lucid dreams have happened after I’d already fallen asleep (on my side) without even trying to have one. Since I want to be able to induce the lucid/OBE state at will rather than have it happen spontaneously, I’m returning to my practice routine of trying to reach the HI state while on my back. (Because I know I will immediatley fall asleep if I try doing it in my regural sleep position.)
I think proper relaxation and some breath (or heartbeat or whatever) focus techniques could help you prolong the session.
It can be tough not to think about anything else, but try next time to make your thoughts or sentences in your mind smaller and smaller. So “what if I said something else to this guy today?” becomes “what if…?”, just cut the sentence - and go back to counting your breath. And try not to be annoyed by the other thoughts. Just cut it every time, shorter and shorter, so you end up with “what…?” and “…?”…
And don’t wait for you to sleep, it will surely come, just concentrate on breathing.
yea the first time i did wild it was actually in a FA but it seemed hecka real so then i got SP in my FA and got scared do i couldnt go in my dream then it happened again but this time i didnt do anything i jest closed my eyes and concentrated on the HI and all of the sudden i saw a light and felt that i could go in it so i reached out for it and went into a dream…
!!!)