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

Reading your interesting post Sageous I am reminded of my Grandmother who is forgetting so very much now with Alzheimer's disease - how does the Lucidity thing help us if we had a disease like that do you think...if my nan got lucid would she remember things she could not remember when she is awake?... Or would the disease( the disease affects cognitive/memory functions in daily life as it is attacking that part of the brain ...) not effect lucidity in the dream state...?

Sorry to throw you a curve ball - hope it's ok on your thread

Thanks for this great insight! Sageous...That reminds me of the few occasions when I have awoken and for a few seconds do not know where or who I am
Its only happened a few times but sure is memorable.

Didn't achieve WILD this morning but did got lucid in a brief moment just before waking up. The lucid condition is of very low quality and lasted less than a minute. Dream recall ability is also very blur and faint fragments. I had better lucid dream and recall with supplements www/dreamviews.com/lucid-aids/161564-modafinil-lucids-aids.html#post2200814. Then again, I'm determine to go off meds. I want to do achieve it in a natural manner.

Sorry... couldn't post link due to newly registered. Please replace the / with . after www

Sageous, your explanation made it so clear. We do not have access to our memory during sleep and that's why it's so important to learn WILD. I can practice RC day after day but only if it becomes a habit then I have a chance of DILD because my sleeping brain didn't have memory of me doing RCs.

^^ I have another wrinkle to offer: Even after they become habit, your RC's still probably won't make you lucid.

Because access to memory (not to mention self-awareness) is unavailable, that RC habit might only result in your dreaming about doing a RC, and having it "prove" you are awake. There's a little secret about RC's they don't often talk about on the forums: RC's don't work until after you suspect you are lucid, not before: you cannot critically test your state with a RC until after you are self-aware/lucid enough to realize you might be dreaming, not before. Do a RC from habit during a NLD and you will likely not be made lucid from it.

And yet RC's remain very important to practice, because they allow you a chance, when barely lucid (you might only suspect you are dreaming), to take a moment and really firm up your lucidity. In other words, RC's might not be much help to make you lucid, but they are a great tool for confirming you are lucid -- for providing a clear answer to the question, "Am I dreaming?" when, during the dream, you feel a reason to ask it.

Given all that, I suggest that you don't dismiss DILD altogether. Though WILD has the advantage of sustaining your access to memory during the falling asleep process, DILD's can occur based purely on your interest (aka, expectation) in having a LD. So DILD's can occur in a seemingly spontaneous way, which is pretty advantagious in itself, and RC's are a great way to confirm that you're dreaming. So practice your WILD's, but always be ready and willing for a DILD to occur, because it just might!

A few failed attempt in a row. I guess I have to re-read the whole session 1-7 to see if I missed anything. I woke up 4am this morning as usual and went to pee. Walkabout in my home and got back to bed 15 mins later. I try to keep my wakeful mind but the repeating feeling of at the verge of falling asleep but keeping awake is so difficult. So many times I slipped in and out of spilt seconds sleep. The moment I try to keep my mind awake I became really awake physically. This went on about 45 mins and I could not hold it anymore. The moment I tell myself to let go my conscience mind, I fell asleep. I definitely is missing something here.

^^ The only thing you might be missing is practice, Humlea.

Allow yourself a few more attempts, to learn how to maintain your efforts for a little longer; 45 minutes really isn't that long; I think twice that (90min) is closer to when you should start wondering if your attempt has failed. This is also the case because those moments of slipping in and out of moments of sleep probably meant you were at the edge of actual sleep, and your WILD transition... just a little more attention might have done the trick!

Next time!

90 minutes?!!! I wonder if I could fight sleepiness that long... LOL

Can you explain more on "just a few attention might have done the trick"? I think my problem is fighting the slipping in moments but I know it clearly that if I don't fight it, I will gone into an actual sleep. Instead of letting myself slip into dream with lucid, I actually try to be awake. As you might have guessed it, another failure this morning... sigh... How I wish I could enjoy the fast spinning action again...

I have a little problem with WILD.Last night I tried WILD for my second time and same thing happened,I woke up at 4:30 a.m first I relaxed my mind and then my body parts(i do 3 times this part)after that I started to count and visualize numbers and I felt different, like in sp but not exactly in sp and hypnagogia started little little I saw flashing lights and my breath gone crazy I tried to slow down my breath but it didnt worked and I ruined all my process with standing up, it happened too when I first tried WILD What should i do? I dont want to switch to other methods

Humlea:

I didn't say you must fight sleepiness for 90 minutes -- the whole point of WILD is falling asleep, so there is no sense in fighting it off. What I meant was that you should allow that much time for your WILD attempt before giving up.

I know you know this, but just to be clear: you must fall asleep in order to dream, so there is no reason to try to stay awake. The trick with WILD is falling asleep while retaining your waking-life self-awareness, and not just staying awake. It is a balancing act for sure, but getting to sleep must be included in your WILD formula.

But that's not what you asked:

Originally Posted by Humlea

Can you explain more on "just a few attention might have done the trick"? I think my problem is fighting the slipping in moments but I know it clearly that if I don't fight it, I will gone into an actual sleep. Instead of letting myself slip into dream with lucid, I actually try to be awake. As you might have guessed it, another failure this morning... sigh... How I wish I could enjoy the fast spinning action again...

What I meant by "just a little more attention might have done the trick!" was simply that you may have been right at the edge of a successful WILD, and a few more minutes of staying focused on your dive might have been enough to complete your transition.

You may be right about a problem with fighting sleep. Again, there is no reason to fight actual sleep, because you must actually be asleep in order to dream. Welcome sleep; don't fight it. Of course, welcome that sleep on your terms: let your body do what it must to sleep, but be sure your focus is on the upcoming dream, and not on your body's falling asleep process. Try not to fight those "slipping in moments," because slipping into your dream (and, of course, sleep) is just the thing you want to do.

I'm repeating myself, so I'll leave it at that...good luck with your next dive!

I just want to suggest that your user name seems to reflect your attitude a bit. Doesn't MightGetLucid sound a little better? I say this in all seriousness. Since you're working with your mind, your attitude going in is incredibly important. If you think you can't do it, you won't.

Obviously you are here, though, so you must be entertaining some possibility of LDing. Maybe a good reframing of the situation: "I'm not lucid yet, but I enjoy talking to Sageous. With his help, I'm sure I'll WILD soon."

Welcome, CantBeLucid!

Here are a couple thoughts that I hope will help:

Originally Posted by CantBeLucid

I have a little problem with WILD.Last night I tried WILD for my second time and same thing happened,I woke up at 4:30 a.m first I relaxed my mind and then my body parts(i do 3 times this part)after that I started to count and visualize numbers and I felt different, like in sp but not exactly in sp and hypnagogia started little little I saw flashing lights and my breath gone crazy I tried to slow down my breath but it didnt worked and I ruined all my process with standing up, it happened too when I first tried WILD What should i do? I dont want to switch to other methods

First, I suggest that you take the DVA WILD class to which this thread is attached, paying special attention to the noise session. WILD is about transitioning to a dream without losing your waking-life self-awareness, and nothing more; all those things you list, like SP, Hypnagogic imagery (HI), and even the quick breathing (more in a sec) really are things to which you should pay as little attention as possible. Otherwise they become a distraction that causes you to lose focus on your WILD.

Next, I'm guessing that that your "breath gone crazy" may have just been some HI, or perhaps a manifestation of your excitement. Next time, if you feel yourself suddenly breathing quickly, take a couple of long, deep breaths and try to remind yourself that your WILD attempt is nothing more than just falling asleep, and your breathing patterns really are no different now than when you are normally falling asleep. You might just find, with that calmer attitude, that your breathing will settle down quickly (or perhaps that it never went crazy in the first place).

Finally, you may only need to keep at it. Two attempts aren't very many, and you might just need to have some more experience with the WILD transition before you can navigate it calmly and confidently.

Good luck with your next dive!

[P.S.: I just spotted 3Cat's post above, and he makes a good point; CantBeLucid might not be the most positive of user names. Even if you're kidding, negativity like this can have a tendency to bleed into your LD practice.]

Thanks for advices,I sent a pm to gab for changing my username

Originally Posted by Sageous

I know you know this, but just to be clear: you must fall asleep in order to dream, so there is no reason to try to stay awake. The trick with WILD is falling asleep while retaining your waking-life self-awareness, and not just staying awake. It is a balancing act for sure, but getting to sleep must be included in your WILD formula.

LOL... of course I know that I must fall asleep in order to dream. The problem is loosing grip of self-wareness during the slipping in moments. Re-read mental prep right now...

Dipping in here with my little attempt two nights ago ( haven't tried WILD for four months ). Nothing too spectacular but. I lay down, hold still and wait after 10 minute WBTB. I get more relaxed and empty-minded than I expected. Time feels to slown down a little, I guess I was waiting for my body to fall asleep for about 15 minutes but it felt like 30. I don't budge, just relaxing. Trying to stay as a perfect-observer with pretty good success. Ended up falling a sleep normally, or maybe I rolled to my side half-awake, can't remember. Until the end of the dream I was gradually getting more and more awareness, but didn't quite get there. Trying WILD more in the days to come. I know how, now I just have to go and conguer it once again.

SUCCESS!

I woke up for 50 minutes and meditated for about 15 of those minutes. I went back to bed while trying to keep my awareness in the present moment. At some point in time, I saw a giant webpage in my field of vision and put my attention to it. I felt my body go numb which I knew meant I was dreaming now. I also knew I was lucid because when I looked at my bedroom window, it was pitch black outside when it should have been dawn. Dream ended when I began to explore outside my bedroom. I looked at my alarm clock again and only 20 minutes had passed for the entire sequence.

Special thanks to Sageous for his writings about the fundamentals of lucid dreaming, self-awareness and memory.

^^ Nice work, wRembrandt!

Thanks for sharing; it's always nice to hear the success stories!

Good luck with your next dive...

Originally Posted by wRembrandt

SUCCESS!

I woke up for 50 minutes and meditated for about 15 of those minutes. I went back to bed while trying to keep my awareness in the present moment. At some point in time, I saw a giant webpage in my field of vision and put my attention to it. I felt my body go numb which I knew meant I was dreaming now. I also knew I was lucid because when I looked at my bedroom window, it was pitch black outside when it should have been dawn. Dream ended when I began to explore outside my bedroom. I looked at my alarm clock again and only 20 minutes had passed for the entire sequence.

Special thanks to Sageous for his writings about the fundamentals of lucid dreaming, self-awareness and memory.

Arrrrggghhhh.... so envy! I must work harder...

I have some small achievement to report. It's not WILD but embarrass to say, I'm a person that sleep till morning and don't even wake up to pee. If I were to wake up in the middle of the night, most probably I'm having some diarrhea issues. Lately I have been trying to wake up naturally after sleep cycles and for a few nights I succeeded to wake up either 3:30am or near 4am without the aid of the alarm clock. I go to sleep at 11pm sharp. I tell myself before bed that I will wake up middle of the night and practice WILD. After about a week I did it.

Now the problem is WILDing. I dare not stay awake for too long. Usually I just wake up for about 10 mins and start WILD but soon fell asleep soundly. I tried to stay awake longer the other time (30 mins) and end up staying up till morning. 3:30 to 7:30 is a hard time to kill. I'm still stuck at the moment of grabbing my self awareness in dozing off stage. The moment I let lose a bit more I fell straight asleep losing awareness.

Finally after nearly 5 months I had a WILD again. ( Tried seriously = success )

I wake up for WBTB 5hours into sleep. I meditate and concentrate 45 minutes while listening to music I like, then back to bed while staying aware. I keep still and all that for about 20 minutes, before I either fall asleep or something else happens that consumes another 20 minutes. Can't remember, but then the WILD starts. I feel my body briefly on my bed, then it's gone. I'm in emptiness, and a voice of a woman starts speaking to me trying to make me "cross the line" to dreaming. It takes her 4-5 tries before I somehow finally start the phase. I can see the Earth as black and white lines. I start to get pulled far into space further and further away. I feel smaller and smaller in the vast emptiness of space. The sky is full of small white dots. The voice says the same " You're so small" or something, and then BAM I'm inside a commercial spaceship.

During the transition phase I kept thinking about the advices of taking advantage of visualizations and building the dream with them, but I couldn't hold onto to any of the images or scenes that appeared in front of me. Anyway, glad to be back in the WILDer world of lucid dreaming.

^^ "Tried seriously = success" indeed! Nice work, Salzapod; thanks for sharing.

It must also be nice to have a friendly lady to help you cross that line to dreaming, though!

Had a WILD this morning after meditating for 30 minutes during a WBTB period. I felt the shift into the dreamworld so I opened my eyes to find myself still in my bed but the feeling was unmistakably a dream. The only problem was that I could not move an inch. I could see around my room but I didn't try too hard to move for fear I would wake back up. In previous lucid dreams, I could move effortlessly. I gave up after about a minute and just woke myself back up(no false awakening).

Going to attempt a dive tonight. Will report on it in the morning.

Long wild attempt this morning after 7 hours of sleep. Got to get into some serious hypnagogic imagery more than one but I kept tasting my nasty mouth. And feeling the back of my neck. I am better at holding still but not pulling myself into to that next stage of the dream yet.