Thread: Heart rate & breathing rate!

Don't even think about your breathing. if you can't help but to think about it, on the inhale push out your gut and inhale with the count 1 one-thousand, 2 one-thousand...... until you reach 5. hold your breath slightly at 5, then release counting back down till 1 one-thousand and pause and your gut should should be in and then repeat.

i had the same problem with breathing. it's just an illusion, though...but even knowing that doesn't help too much. when you find yourself controlling your breathing try to focus all of your attention on something else entirely (hypnagogic imagery, for instance). eventually if you experience this enough you'll stop worrying about the breathing. as for the heart beat, for some reason i really don't like going to sleep if i can hear my heart beat so i have to change positions until its inaudible.

I find that if I don't think about my breathing while i'm doing a techinque, I don't breath at all. Thanks for the help, and sand-since it looks like you haven't posted in months- welcome back

Originally posted by dudesuperior
Hey everyone, I got a bit of a problem that is getting in the way of MILD & WILD attemtps.

How do you regulate your heart rate and breathing rate? My heart rate always gets really slow and pounding (like after a long run), and my breathing rate gets slow and irregular, so I have to consiously control it, which puts my mind off the LDing attempt.

Thanks in advance for help!

Agh! DONT DO ANYTHING! THIS IS GOOD!!!

Slow and irregular breathing and a slow heartrate are CLASSIC signs of a WILD transition. You're VERY close!!! What you've got to do is find something to take your mind off your breathing. Like, hypnogogic imagery, or focussing on your body (the vibrations, not the breathing) or counting, or something.

i struggled for ages with breaking my concentration because my breathing would become irregular, or i would seem to have stopped breathing at all.

like it has been suggested, don't try to consciously control your breath (or heartbeat).

basically half my successful WILDs start when i think my breathing is irregular, or has stopped, but i refuse to break concentration attend to conscious control.

soon after i'm lucid


i know its hard, but you simply have to trust you body to supply you with oxygen the way it always has, without you stepping in consciously....it will...trust me

That's cool, so it's a good thing that i'm having regular breathing rates. I do feel as if i'm getting very close to 'breaking the barrier' of achiveing a WILD. Does it get alot easier after your first WILD, or is it still pretty hard?

Originally posted by dudesuperior
That's cool, so it's a good thing that i'm having regular breathing rates. I do feel as if i'm getting very close to 'breaking the barrier' of achiveing a WILD. Does it get alot easier after your first WILD, or is it still pretty hard?

Good question.

Me, I had my first WILD about one and a half weeks ago, and have been trying to have another since. From what I've heard, once you've "got the hang" of WILDs, they DO get easier, and significantly so. But perhaps it'll take you more than one successful WILD to get the hang of it. It seems to be taking me a while, but then again, I'm not to bothered, cos I know I'm making progress.

IMHO, however, you actually learn a lot more from unsuccessful WILDs than the successes. Once you identify what you're doing wrong, you can cross them off your list, and therefore, with each failure, there's less things you're doing wrong... and so, you get one step closer every failure...

The best advice I can give, is be persistant... once you get the hang of it, it probably WILL get easier, and significantly so.

Originally posted by dudesuperior
Hey everyone, I got a bit of a problem that is getting in the way of MILD & WILD attemtps.

How do you regulate your heart rate and breathing rate? My heart rate always gets really slow and pounding (like after a long run), and my breathing rate gets slow and irregular, so I have to consiously control it, which puts my mind off the LDing attempt.

Thanks in advance for help!

As others have pointed out, no that is not a problem. I think it's generally accepted idea that when one falls asleep, their body recharges or makes up for the energy lost during the day. Well, when you heart rate lowers along with changes to breathing, think of your body as going into a power saving mode.

It's actually a good thing, it does that every night, normally you do not realize it. Do not fight it, embrace it. After your body switches into "power saving mode" then you may experience the vibrations, then that is when the WILD happens.

Originally posted by The Blue Meanie

Good question.

Me, I had my first WILD about one and a half weeks ago, and have been trying to have another since. From what I've heard, once you've "got the hang" of WILDs, they DO get easier, and significantly so. But perhaps it'll take you more than one successful WILD to get the hang of it. It seems to be taking me a while, but then again, I'm not to bothered, cos I know I'm making progress.

IMHO, however, you actually learn a lot more from unsuccessful WILDs than the successes. Once you identify what you're doing wrong, you can cross them off your list, and therefore, with each failure, there's less things you're doing wrong... and so, you get one step closer every failure...

The best advice I can give, is be persistant... once you get the hang of it, it probably WILL get easier, and significantly so.

I'm hoping to have a WILD in the two weeks i've got (easter hols!). And yeah, I think i've learnt a bit from my unsuccesful WILD attempts. I'm trying to go WILD with music in the background. I did it last night and I was experiencing a wierd spinning tumbling sense and HI from the second song. Unfortunately I got itchy, hot and uncomfortable, and try as I might couldn't get back into the zone.

As for the being persistant- I find it relitivley easy. I mean, what else have you got to do whilst trying to get to sleep?

Ive also had trouble with breathing. I figured everything slows down while your sleeping and when you wild your body is asleep so it has to slow down to WILD.Maybe im wrong but I dunno. I've never WILDed before but ive got close. I find everytime my breathing get irregular and I feel like a need to take a breath I just try to fight it. Basically I hold my breath, or thats how it feels, but I think my bodys still getting enough oxygen that it needs. Anyways after or certain point of fighting the breathing thing I find my whole body instantly goes numb. This is how I think of it. Just try to fight it and expect to pass out, youll hit that numb stage and your body will take over breathing before ever passing out. Just dont actually HOLD your breath, just restrain from manually taking one. Sorry if this post it confusing.

Originally posted by vhrocker
Ive also had trouble with breathing. I figured everything slows down while your sleeping and when you wild your body is asleep so it has to slow down to WILD.Maybe im wrong but I dunno. I've never WILDed before but ive got close. I find everytime my breathing get irregular and I feel like a need to take a breath I just try to fight it. Basically I hold my breath, or thats how it feels, but I think my bodys still getting enough oxygen that it needs. Anyways after or certain point of fighting the breathing thing I find my whole body instantly goes numb. This is how I think of it. Just try to fight it and expect to pass out, youll hit that numb stage and your body will take over breathing before ever passing out. Just dont actually HOLD your breath, just restrain from manually taking one. Sorry if this post it confusing.

Nonononononono! DONT try to fight it. If you have to fight it, then you'll end up not making the transition as you'll be concentrating too much. The LAST thing you want to do is "fight" or "resist" anything during a WILD.

The key is to not NOTICE the breathing, etc. This is what hypnagogic imagery, or counting, or focussing on your body (note: your body, NOT your breathing) is for. If you're having to fight an impulse, you're doing something wrong: you shouldn't notice the impulse in the first place. If you've got the impulse to take a deep breath, it means that you're TOO conscious, and need to relax more.

Last night I figured I needed a break from WILDing, as I was a bit fed up and tired. I'll try all the new advice tonight, and generally just go with the flow of things.

Cheers everyone!

Edit: Cool new avatar by the way TBM!

I felt the same, that I don't breath
It happened when I waked up after 2 dreams, and wrote it down. It was around 5, so I thought I want to try WILD-ing (maybe I shouldn't I never had a lucid dream )
So I was trying to relax, and then I felt that I'm not really breathig, and couldn't get my mind off this. But it might happened also becouse I read this topic before going to sleep.
In the end I had enough after about 3-4 tries, and went back to sleep
I also wanted to ask this happens before any images, and sounds or during that period? Becouse I haven't seen/heard anything such....

i have the same problem which has kept me from luciding and obe's and astral projections, but when i ignore it, it gets worse and i have a really dificult time breathing and start to over heat and all that stuff....any advice for that?