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    Thread: What happened? Post Your WILD Attempts, Good or Bad, Here

    1. #1076
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sageous View Post
      ^^ Other than the standard "Be patient, be positive, and keep at it," which is valid here but likely something you do not wish to hear, here are some suggestions, in no particular order, that might be worth considering:

      * Keep experimenting with your WBTB times. 6+ hrs of sleep falls well into complete sleep cycle range, so attempting to go back to sleep and dream might run afoul of your body's interest in wrapping up the sleep cycle and starting your day.

      * You might want to incorporate MILD techniques into your practice, so that if you fall back to non-lucid sleep, you will be prepared to induce a DILD, which is just as good as a WILD if it means you got lucid.

      * It can take a matter of a few seconds to drop into sleep -- and to wake from sleep -- so that 3-minute time frame is not a surprise. I would suggest that you did indeed give up too early in this case: if you have a quick snooze during a WILD, I think it is better to look at it as a confirmation that you are indeed going to fall asleep eventually (because you just did), and use that confirmation to return to your WILD with a bit more confidence in falling asleep and getting started with your dream.

      * You might want to consider a stronger mantra, one that holds your focus not only through all that noise but also through those moments of sudden drowse. A mantra that has something specific to your dream goals would probably help; for instance, if you expect to be on a beach during your LD, something like "Awake on the beach" might be in order. This sort of mantra might also make it easier to form the dream as well:

      * Don't forget to form your dream. When all that crazy stuff starts to happen, that means it is time to start visualizing your dream, or at least thinking about nothing but what you will be doing once there (without losing your mantra, BTW). Just witnessing all the noise and continuing to wait fro something to happen to you -- without your input -- is almost a guarantee that you will indeed just fall asleep or fully wake up.

      * Use this class or perhaps other tutorials (like DV's official WILD tutorial, by Gab) as surrogates for your experience until you finally find what works best for you until you finally succeed with your first WILD. We will never know exactly what you need, but we can come close. Until you are experienced, be confident in your knowledge (it does help).

      * Make sure you are working on the fundamentals. The steps in this WILD class (and the tutorials, and, well, any technique) are secondary to having your head in the right place. If you are not doing day-work to build your self-awareness and memory (i.e. RRC's, keeping a dream journal, RC's), building expectation by confidently and specifically anticipating your upcoming LD, or setting and holding your intention when you go to bed at night (as well as when you lay down to WILD), then you might never succeed in your WILD. Yes, WILD's do happen without the fundamentals in place, but those are accidents, and not something you can assume will happen every time, just because you are doing a technique.

      * I think I said this in my previous post, but remember that there is no shame in DILD. WILD is not a better way to transition, just a different one, based more on convenience or timing than quality. If you are having trouble with WILD, spend some time focusing on DILD. Ultimately is is important to be able to do both, so that you can choose which route according to your schedule or mood, so practicing DILD has to be done eventually.

      * And yes, above all, be patient, be positive, and keep at it. The best things in life never come easily, and LD'ing is definitely one of those best things. Give your work as much time as it needs, and try not to establish a limit to the number of tries you make.

      That's what I got; hopefully something up there will be of use to you!
      I always appreciate your input sageous, thank you.

      Here are my thoughts on this.

      I do my best to be as confident as possible always and always have a certain level of excitement and anticipation before each dive attempt. I'm still new to this so I can understand personally that the inexperience is a major factor to not being successful. The biggest thing I find most difficult is balancing my emotions, I mean you go into each attempt with such confidence and anticipation that you can't help but feel like it's a knock to that confidence when the dive fails.

      As for DILD, I do incorporate other LD techniques into my daily routine as much as possible. Here is the thing though, ever since I was young i've had pretty good dream recall. I always remember the majority of my dreams, unless I wake up late for work and i'm a rush or something. This is normally because when I wake up I take 30 minutes to just sit and think about everything that happened in my dreams and have done for a long time that my brain stores my dreams as actual memories instead of being there temporarily. I tend not to write so much in my dream journal until after this process because it distracts me from reflecting upon those dreams. The weird thing is, I believe that dream control and dream stabilisation I am confident with. I am so used to having vivid dreams that I remember all my past experiences of learning to do things in dreams and developing my own techniques to do so. I've done all this non-lucid though, I lived those dreams as if there were a second life and have been so accustomed to navigating my way through them that when these dreams happen I don't stop to notice it's weird when I can fly or walk through walls because it's like second nature. Same with recurring dream signs, I know my reliable dream signs, i've seen them so much that they are normal. I try to tell myself that before I go to bed, that my next waking memory will be in a dream, and I should do a reality check to make sure. However, it doesn't happen.

      I try to visualise which dream I will fall into, but I think i'm overextending a bit here. Trying too hard to focus on it that it is actually preventing it from happening. I have an idea though, generally I will see something similar to a dream, but its very tiny and looks like it far off into the distance. So the plan is to visualise that im actually looking at a birds eye view of a city really high up and I'm going to fall downwards into that city. To keep it simple and work with what I know appears. Also, maybe you are right about the mantra, I kept it simple to be able to repeat over and over but it's not very specific, I will try others to see if it helps.

      Anyway, yeah, thanks again Sageous.
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    2. #1077
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      A new year can only mean one thing, trying for WILD resolution!

      First off I would like to get your opinion on a LDHSW technique I've formulted. What I've lacked in WILDing success I've more than made for in getting to know how I fall asleep, and what I've noticed is that I will frequently see through my closed lids in the later REM cycles (6 or more hours sleep) - I've even WILDed accidentally once when I was able to merge with what I was seeing, though I was promptly woken by my roommate as soon as I had transitioned - so my current efforts are on seeing my room through my eyelids and sleep mask (just so there can be no ambiguity about the nature of what I'm seeing).

      Here is my technique:

      WIP WILD Tech - Seeing through closed eyelids

      - Lie down on back and do flex-freeze relaxation
      - Then focus on the feeling of sinking into mattress
      - Judge it by ear when to start mantra
      - "Here and now, dream, hands" (for possible MILD if WILD fails) "Emptiness" (for maximum zen)
      - When the first "sleep wave" comes roll onto side
      - Start mantra now if not already
      - Start "flash" visualising bedroom (ie. a quick snapshot with each breath, a constant visualisation makes maintaining wake/sleep balance more difficult and, in theory, this way I will "catch" the transition at just the right moment)
      - Maintain until transition

      I tried this out this morning and it went almost exactly as I expected (minus transition, which I put down to being slighty late in my sleep time - already 8 hrs slept). I lay down, did the relaxation, and then focussed on feeling like I was sinking into the mattress ( this was particularly interesting as I feel like I have always neglected relaxation as a part of the dive). After a while I started getting random thoughts, followed by fantasy scenarios that were more of a mingling of concepts than anything visual - classic HI for me - but I kept on relaxing. After some time of this I experienced a lapse in attention and the snapping back to alertness was accompanied by a rushing warmth from toes to head and an electric static feeling in my limbs. This seemed like a clear indication that I was going to fall asleep in spite of my 8 hours prior sleep, so I rolled onto my side and started reciting my mantra, ocassionally creating a strong impression of my bedroom in my mind's eye. I spent some time like this, and I'm sure I could have transitioned if I had taken a bit more waking awareness on the dive with me, because I remember at one point a crystal clear image of my own face as if reflected in my phone when the screen is off and most definitely a dream image. At this point I lost consciousness and woke up around 2 hours after I had started.

      But I think I can take a lot from this. Not least that it was an enjoyable experience in its own right! Ever since I started LDing I have taken a lot of interest in the hypnagogic states and I think it's possible to appreciate even unsuccessful attempts in their own right. I also feel as though I am becoming familiar with how my body and mind fall asleep and the signs were quite promising this time. I'm quite excited about this tech and I think I could start having success with it quite soon.

      As always thank you for your time and your continued attention to this thread, Sageous, your advice is always a help.
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      Always, no sometimes think it's me,
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      I think I know I mean a yes
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    3. #1078
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      ^^ That seems an excellent technique, Ctharlhie. I think it might work well for you, since it is very well organized, refreshingly simple, and is fueled by your strengths and interests. About the only downside I can imagine from it is the occasional FA, false lucid, or full-NLD taking place in your room, but your day-work (aka, mindset, MILD) ought to make that sort of dull dream just a low hurdle rather than a wall before lucidity.

      Thanks for sharing, and good luck with it!
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    4. #1079
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      Quote Originally Posted by ThreeCat View Post
      I've wondered whether or not our perspective on what it might mean to have an energy body is too limited, in the sense that we say, "It's all in your mind"; well and good, but what does that actually mean? What are the limits of a mind, and does a mind actually take up space, or can it overlap with another mind? Anyway . . . . I also try to keep an open mind, as dreams are so enlightening and strange, that I feel I learn something new all of the time. I'm still coming off of my first "days long dream," where I felt I was carrying out my normal life for several days. Quite discomforting to wake up in bed after that!

      We might get this thread pulled into Beyond Dreaming . . . .
      actually APs are real. Some days ago one of my close relative had an AP. seen her own body laying on the bed and also seen the silver cord connected with her physical and Astral body. The most interesting part is, she never knew about the AP. after she shared her experience to me, I told her about AP.

      Spirituality is more broad than the science is. Good day

    5. #1080
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      So i've been continuing my WILD work, getting varying results, but never full successful. My HI has started producing effects like I am quickly flying among trees/people and so I have tried to imagine my flying right into the dream, didn't work.

      However, something worked. I had 6 lucid dreams in a row. Each about 10 mins in length. I kept having to wake myself up because it felt like a constant battle with my dream scene, during those lucid moments was not how I imagined it to be, while I had control the nightmares I've been having recently still continued to play. So controlling the dream took effort but because of my fear it kept slipping. It was strange though, things I had been used to doing in dreams didn't work the same. Flying for example, I thought I knew how to fly, but when I was in a non-scary lucid dream I decided to fly down to the harbour near my home, but as I was flying my body was stuck as if i was in a cable car. Which isn't normal, typically I would wake up as I became more lucid or something crazy was going on in the dream. In that harbour dream, even though I had realised I was dreaming in my other lucid dreams, It wasn't by reality checks, because I couldn't get them to work. It was mainly due to dream signs or just being aware, like I tried to stick my finger through my hand, and it wasn't working, I was like "this has to be a dream, I don't even live in this house anymore" and I would look out the window and the moon is out in the daytime and has a face and bright red lips. In that harbour dream I flew right into the sea, and instantly tried to breathe, everything felt weird, but it was ok and that next level of awareness woke me up.

      Overall, disturbing and interesting to say the least. Will still keep my wilds up as much as possible though, determined to make that work. By the way, I changed my mantra to "I WILL lucid dream tonight". I figure I had to encapsulate determination with the actual theme of lucid dreaming, it's a bit basic, but it seemed to help at least.
      Last edited by 11Greg; 02-05-2015 at 05:28 AM. Reason: some spelling and grammar
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    6. #1081
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      First time!!


      And it was so easy that I almost wondered if it was a WILD, but it was. And I took my bed with me!

      Being tired, I lay down for an afternoon nap and got quite lively HHs. Just been watching them, and from time to time imagining doing something physical in the scenery, but I did not get to feel that or enter these HHs, so I just watched dispassionately. When I started to do some mantra self-suggestions twice, the HHs went away, so I stayed without words. It felt as if I could look through my eyelids couple of times, seeing my room, but upon trying to see if it's a dream, I opened them for real, closed them disappointedly and continued.

      And then suddenly (sorry, if that isn't very informative, I know it no better...), suddenly I was still in my bed, nose dug in blanket, but the bed was "standing" in space and an amazing trip began:

      Spoiler for Galaxy Birth and Collision incl. Being a Galaxy shortly:
      Oooh - first of many I soo hope!!

      Did I say that this was the most spectacular LD of my life? It was!!

      Edit: Making galaxies collide was a lucid dare Hukif gave me for one thing - for the other - I was in full access to my real life memories, no problem at all, and I thought of asking myself, but at the same time knew, that I knew it already and anyway.

    7. #1082
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      ^^ That's great news, Steph; congratulations!

      And yes, this did indeed sound like a WILD to me...and what a first one at that; thanks for sharing!

      Looking forward to hearing about that all-important 2nd WILD, now (no pressure)...
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    8. #1083
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      Just to keep the success stories rolling, here's a update on my progress with the dive technique posted above.

      I found with my first couple of attempts that even my effort to pare WILD down to the basics was too complicated. Now my technique has only two stages: body relaxation using yoga nidra and, when at the brink of sleep, meditating on the brow chakra.

      Here is my experience from this morning: http://www.dreamviews.com/blogs/ctha...ntional-64223/
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      Always, no sometimes think it's me,
      But you know I know when it's a dream
      I think I know I mean a yes
      But it's all wrong
      That is I think I disagree

      -John Lennon


    9. #1084
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      Thank you Sageous!!
      I believe I told you about this before - esp. the first time a HH was really realistic, I had this strong physical alarm reaction again - like fear, but without actually being afraid, or maybe I was a bit. I needed to calm down and the next time I could take it a bit less severely. As said, I did not enter them, even while they had an immense draw to them for maybe three times.

      The transition happened suddenly and it was not entering a HH. Funny thing was this taking the bed along, but I also took my full physicality with me. Bit like an OBE, where you land in your dream bed and room, it seems to me to have been a variant of that.

      In the beginning I was reluctant to leave my bed, but it disappeared at some point, and later even my body disappeared to transform to being my swirling star-cloud. Both without willing it - I was only concentrating on the show.

    10. #1085
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      congrags StephL! i was exited when reading your experience specially watching those pictures. very nice! I never thought HH can be that amazing!
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    11. #1086
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      Quote Originally Posted by StephL View Post
      The transition happened suddenly and it was not entering a HH. Funny thing was this taking the bed along, but I also took my full physicality with me. Bit like an OBE, where you land in your dream bed and room, it seems to me to have been a variant of that.

      In the beginning I was reluctant to leave my bed, but it disappeared at some point, and later even my body disappeared to transform to being my swirling star-cloud. Both without willing it - I was only concentrating on the show.
      Not so funny, to me. With WILD you are doing two things that are quite different from your normal wake-to-sleep-to-dream process: You are staying self-aware, which we all know well, but you are also asking your unconscious, your dreaming mind, to assemble a dream very quickly and perhaps a little off-schedule. So, due to a temporary lack of spool-able data, your dreaming mind grabs whatever it can. And, so very often, what it grabs is your most recent waking-life environment. FA's come from this break in the process schedule too, I think. So in your case your dreaming mind "left" your body in bed, probably out of expediency. It was a good thing you had that galaxy challenge in your head (even if you didn't realize at the moment), or else you might have wound up completely in your room... which probably wouldn't have been a problem thanks to your high level of lucidity.

      It was a good decision to get out of that bed as well; best to leave the transition litter behind and get on with the dream!

      Again, Steph, nice work!
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    12. #1087
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      Thank you Sageous, yep - like this!

      Quote Originally Posted by yaya View Post
      congrags StephL! i was exited when reading your experience specially watching those pictures. very nice! I never thought HH can be that amazing!
      Ah - but the HHs were different things, these space visions were in the LD, and I didn't enter the HHs before directly. I tried, but I couldn't, so I just watched, like a kitchen and a little path in a forest and such. Then me sort of false awakening with my bed and in space, just I knew it was a dream. Shame I can't really say how it happened.
      And thank you!

    13. #1088
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      Well, I guess my SubC got jealous looking at all of this success. I WILDed the night before last during my micro WBTB. I finished my short MILD, and then tried to fall asleep but couldn't. Lied there for 30 minutes because checked my watch. Then rolled onto my back. Difficulty remembering my train of thought (can't remember technique, but think it was just a sense of "being aware"--not very helpful) but I moved seamlessly from the waking state into a roll-out style transition. No vibration or HH. Congrats everybody! Guess it's a been a "WILD" week . . . .

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    14. #1089
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      Looking behind my eyelids, I saw some yellow specks so I tried to make the ringing in my ears as loud as possible. As soon as I did this, a dream scene of my room formed within a couple of seconds. Hopefully this works consistently! I've been often been seeing HH lately but didn't know what to do with it until now.
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    15. #1090
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      Quote Originally Posted by dolphin View Post
      Looking behind my eyelids, I saw some yellow specks so I tried to make the ringing in my ears as loud as possible. As soon as I did this, a dream scene of my room formed within a couple of seconds. Hopefully this works consistently! I've been often been seeing HH lately but didn't know what to do with it until now.
      Hey, I experimented with trying to intensify tinnitus to bring on the transition before. Didn't know it actually works, huh.
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      I think I know I mean a yes
      But it's all wrong
      That is I think I disagree

      -John Lennon


    16. #1091
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      Gave your technique a try, dolphin. Almost WILDed. HA increased: sound of screen door and my dad approaching the bed, telling me to wake up. For a moment I thought the dream was set, and thought about opening my eyes. This, I think, distracted me and the transition ended. I'll give it a shot again, since audio is my primary form of HH. Thanks for the tip!
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      It worked again for me last night. I got a DEILD.

      I didn't know the ringing was called tinnitus. Now I can look it up!
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      Today I made my first “real” WILD attempt, though it was a bit of an on-the-fly decision.

      A bit of background info: For some years, it actually hasn't been too uncommon for me to somehow become conscious while still in a sleep state; on a small handful of occasions I have managed to go into a LD from it, though most of the time I have trouble staying in it and ultimately end up waking up. I usually get a rumbling, “underwater” sound in my ears, and rarely, have some occasional light HH. But none of these are really planned—I just try to take advantage of them when they occur.

      An hour or two before the end of my sleep period today, I wasn't falling asleep very readily, just drifting in and out of dreamlets, and was about to consider myself finished and get up. First I spent a while observing the dreamlets and attempting to retain self-awareness during them (usually they derail my conscious train of thought and cause me to forget my state).

      At some point (perhaps after a brief period of sleep) I found myself awake but on the edge of sleep. I wasn't experiencing dreamlets for some reason, but my breath was starting to sound a bit “foreign” or external to me (something I also sometimes experience near sleep onset). Something told me this might be a good opportunity to attempt a WILD dive, so I started to relax while attempting to retain awareness.

      A few seconds later, the familiar “underwater” sound hit, and I was fascinated that it came on abruptly, like turning on a light switch. But I was starting to pay too much attention and felt myself waking back up, so I quickly told myself to relax and save the excited thoughts/analysis for later. I did so and started sinking back into sleep, and quite quickly, it seemed, faster than my previous “conscious sleep” experiences.

      What happened next is a little unclear; after what felt like a brief moment or two, I was still lying in bed attempting to WILD, but I suddenly noticed that it was brighter in the room, and I was looking at some sort of unfamiliar device like binoculars or a phoropter or something. Finally, it dawned on me that I might have already entered into a dream, and a quick RC confirmed it. (I was perhaps a bit surprised it had happened so quickly.)

      I was a bit excited and went straight for the front door to go outside and fly, then stopped myself when I remembered that I wanted to slow down, check on memory, and consider more carefully what I should do. I saw that I remembered what I was doing in bed just moments earlier and eventually decided I might try listening to music while flying outside (I've listened to music a few times in LDs but haven't yet tried taking it with me when exploring). Unfortunately, the dream wasn't very long, and I woke up while trying to grab my headphones back in my room.

      That was pretty cool, though.
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    19. #1094
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      ^^ Pretty cool indeed; thanks for sharing!

      A couple of things you wrote, namely that you "suddenly noticed that it was brighter in the room," and "Finally, it dawned on me that I might have already entered into a dream," suggest a DILD transition, because there seems to have been a lapse in consciousness. But who cares, right? It was mostly a WILD (and nicely done, at that), and it ended in a LD, so all is good.

      With the tools you've already got in place, I imagine WILD's will not be difficult for you, especially when you plan ahead on a WILD dive, rather than attempting spontaneously (it can make a difference).
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sageous View Post
      A couple of things you wrote, namely that you "suddenly noticed that it was brighter in the room," and "Finally, it dawned on me that I might have already entered into a dream," suggest a DILD transition, because there seems to have been a lapse in consciousness.
      I actually thought something like that could have happened, though it was hard to say for sure. It would seem a bit unexpected to lose consciousness in such a short period of time when I felt pretty aware, but I would imagine it's possible. In my few previous LD transitions, it was much more clear and obvious when it occurred, so I thought this was a little bit odd. But, yeah, it was still cool that I made it anyway, and remembered what I had been doing. If there was a lapse, perhaps it was a very brief one.

      I suspect my biggest challenge might be my dreamlet-thoughts/daydreams that normally form as I drift off. Even when I'm repeating a mantra, one comes along and corrupts it or makes me forget what I'm doing, whether I want to or not. If I don't happen to notice when that occurs, loss of consciousness follows pretty quickly.
      Last edited by TravisE; 02-26-2015 at 10:04 AM. Reason: Added a paragraph

    21. #1096
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      Quote Originally Posted by Travis E. View Post
      I suspect my biggest challenge might be my dreamlet-thoughts/daydreams that normally form as I drift off. Even when I'm repeating a mantra, one comes along and corrupts it or makes me forget what I'm doing, whether I want to or not. If I don't happen to notice when that occurs, loss of consciousness follows pretty quickly.
      I hear you; that is one of my Achilles' heels as well -- that and allowing unwanted daytime thoughts to wander in as the time passes without any. I picked up a nice technique from Alan Wallace that lets those dreamlets (and thoughts) pass without doing too much damage:

      As you do your dive, imagine a quiet waterfall or stream running off to one side of you; don't focus on it, just know it is there. As those dreamlets arrive, go ahead and view or enjoy them for a moment, but then quickly set them aside by allowing them to continue past you and into the flow of that water, where they'll be taken quietly out of your way, washed from your attention.

      It might sound a bit hokey, but it's worked for me.
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      ^ Interesting idea; I've seen that method being mentioned but never considered applying it to dreamlets as well. I recently discovered that I can usually get into dreamlets within a few minutes by meditating just before going to sleep, making them easily accessible for practice. Currently I'm at the point where, as long as I'm not too tired, I can hover in that state for a while without falling completely asleep and recognize and easily recall them immediately after they happen (though I still often lose awareness briefly during them). I find it enjoyable to observe and attempt to manipulate them on a regular basis; maybe doing this will also help me get better at retaining lucidity with them.
      Last edited by TravisE; 02-27-2015 at 10:14 AM.
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    23. #1098
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      I've reread these tutorials recently and have been giving WILDing another serious shot, having changed a lot of things that I was doing incorrectly. Namely I was often attempting to WILD at the beginning of the night. I would almost always experience vibrations and some amount of HI but would eventually settle into a deep darkness. Inevitably I would get bored of staying aware in this state and try to sleep only to be unable to. I've since cut this out.

      Woke up last night about 5:20 after falling asleep. :40 before I had an alarm set to WBTB. Went to the washroom then back to bed after jotting down some notes about the dream I had just left. Short amount of time up - I'll try increasing this time. This is where I started to try something different than I normally do. Often I'll focus on my breath in an effort to relax. The difficulty here is that because this is so similar to my meditation practice this ends up waking me up rather than helping me sleep!

      Anyways, this time (after re-reading the tutorials) I began to silently chant a mantra with each exhale ("I'm here"). While normally I will experience vibrations and small amounts of HI this time there was nothing. I continued. At some point what I would describe as day dreams began playing out in my head (no visuals mind you). This eventually passed.

      Then the neat part. I felt as though I was sinking away from the edge of my vision. When I close my eyes in the day I can "feel" that my eyelids are very close to my eyes. As I relax or meditate sometimes this sensation of distance between eyelid and eyes/self begins to widen, maybe to a foot or so for lack of a better way to describe it. Last night this distance felt like maybe 50 meters away. At the same time though I could hear my breathing and feel my body exactly as it was in my bed. I tried experimenting with the sensation a bit before it faded/I got bored and decided to try and sleep.

      I addition to staying awake for longer, after reading some of the above experiences, I think that one thing I will try to do is to allow myself to get more sleepy before starting my mantra. Where before I was concentrating on the breath during this period I think that I will try some sort of body scan relaxation. We'll see!

      The limit on my end, for those wanting background, is that I get max 8 hours of sleep. And that's already pushing it between commute, work, gym etc. So in night like last, where I was only going to get 7.5 as it was, a bad WBTB where I can't return to sleep would be devastating to me the next day.

    24. #1099
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      ^^ It seems like you did everything quite nicely, BrotherGoose, and made several excellent decisions; except one: You forgot about the dream itself.

      You capitalized on waking up before your alarm (good choice), you chose a good mantra and held to it, you wisely were not concerned about the absence of HI, you let distracting dreamlets wander past without incident, and then you had that "distant eyelid" moment, which for you was meaningful and may have indicated the beginning of your WILD transition. All those things went well, and then you got bored and went to sleep.

      The next time all these things, or similar good decisions/experiences, happen during your WILD attempt, I suggest that you try to stay with it just a bit longer -- and do so by focusing on the upcoming dream. Do some visualization, think about your goals, or maybe just imagine a dream out there somewhere, but do something that connects all the stuff you were doing with actually transitioning to a dream.

      WILD is about dreaming, and not about the stuff that comes with the process. If you try to keep your mind on your upcoming dream, you might find yourself sticking with that process a bit longer: by reminding yourself that the dream is the most important part of the process, you might feel more inclined to finish your WILD by getting to it.

      Finally, keep in mind also that when you are LD'ing you are also sleeping, so your night's sleep will be the same whether you are LD'ing or not. Given that, why not continue your dive, and do so under the very helpful assumption
      that it will take just as long to get to sleep attempting to WILD as it would just going to sleep? (it generally does, BTW) As a matter of timing, though, you might consider scheduling your WILD attempt for a day off, when you can be less concerned about missing some sleep... plus it'll give you something to look forward to!

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      ^^ I've had 'bad' experiences where chasing the dream feeling too long has prevented me from sleeping the rest of the night. I think that upon reflection this is likely back in the time when I was attempting WILDs at the beginning of the night. I'll add patience to my list of things to work on haha!
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