Trouble with WILD

**Sprite** · 05-18-2011 03:24 AM

So last night I went to bed about 10:30 (was planning to go earlier but was kept up a little longer) and I attempted to WILD. I may be understanding it wrong, so I'll tell you how I did it and any help would be very much appreciated.
I went to bed, got comfortable in a spot where I wouldn't have to move around, and laid perfectly still. I had my iPod on softly, playing some music that is meant to work with subliminal messaging or something while you're asleep (I think I actually got it from this site somewhere before I joined). I was absolutely still, breathing went right down after about 5 minutes, and my muscles where so relaxed, they were just sinking into my bed. In my head, I was cleared of all unwanted thoughts, and any that came up I would just let them go. After a while they stopped coming, and all that was in my head was my mantra ("I will be aware that I am dreaming"). I thought about this mantra as much as I could, so I could get a real understanding of it completely so it would stay in my head. Whilst doing this, I got this image in my head that I was on a beach. Not a warm, sunny one, but one with no temperature, the sea was green, the sand was grey and wet, and the sky was purple (I don't know where this came from, I just went with it). I imagined myself touching the sand with my hands and feet, walking on it, and playing with it. That was pretty awesome because I almost felt like I could feel the sand. I kept going deeper into this scene, whilst remembering my mantra. I was there for what felt like about 10 minutes, but I was there for about an hour and a half (I know how long the music I was listening to goes for).
Now this would be all well and good and great progress if I was after meditation, but I was trying to trick my body into going to sleep. I was there for, as I said, about an hour and a half, not the slightest bit of movement, and no sleep paralysis. I think there was a time when I got some small hypnogogic hallucinations (they were little shapes and colours moving around and forming before my eyes, while they were shut. Not sure if those count) but nothing else. I tried doing some reality checks, but it was hard to without moving, so I just tried breathing with my mouth closed and stuff like that, but I was still awake.
So I just thought I'd ask, was I doing it right or wrong? And is there anything I could do to improve it? Or did I just have an off night and need to persist? I also tried the WBTB thing as well, but I'm not sure if I woke up for that one, I don't remember. I did have three dreams though, and could recall 2 of them pretty well. I just didn't become lucid during them. Which isn't such a disappointment I guess, because they were all pretty boring.

Anyway, sorry about the long post. But again, any help on this would be very much appreciated.
Thanks very much in advance

**Avalanche** · 05-18-2011 05:38 PM

Sounds a lot like my own WILD attempt when I first started. I think you need to do exactly what you did, minus the music, but after and REM cycle. This is when you body has gone to sleep and had a rest. Normally this time is 4 in the morning, when you body has just been rested, and now your mind is about to rest, and dream. You want to go to bed at 11 say, go to sleep normally, then have an alarm or whatever to wake you up 4 or 5 hours after you fall asleep. Tailor this time-frame to your own habits. For instance, I go to bed at 11, and sleep at 12:30-1 ish. I then have an alarm to wake me up at 4:30. I will wake up, then do what you described in your post.

The idea is you will drift off to sleep, and start dreaming, but the trick is you are still conscious. The hallucinations etc people talk about is your mind beginning to dream, except this time you are "awake" to actually see them. Then from there you try to exercise control, etc. Good luck, and wish me luck too, as I'm having a bad spell atm and am going to try this tonight- or this morning.

**LonelyTurtle** · 05-18-2011 11:16 PM

Your main problem is that you are attempting it during your regular sleep schedule. WILDing is difficult/impossible to accomplish unless you have previously slept. You must be in the middle of your REM4 stage sleep cycle (the one in which dreams occur) to WILD. I'd recommend performing a WBTB, or WILDing during an afternoon nap. Also keep in mind the primary goal is to sleep, just doing it consciously.

**Robot_Butler** · 05-19-2011 12:46 AM

I agree. Try the exact same thing after 4 or 5 hours of sleep, and watch the magic happen. Remember, you do actually have to fall asleep for this to work. Try to let yourself drift off a little, without losing track of things completely.

**Sprite** · 05-19-2011 04:18 AM

Oh ok awesome thanks heaps. I'll give it a go with WBTB tonight and see how I go. This morning I almost had a DILD, like just as I was waking up I realised I was dreaming and tried to get hold of it, but I couldn't hang on to it and woke up. I guess it's something at least though. Thanks again for your help

**faceonmars** · 05-19-2011 04:36 AM

What you described was a MILD. There is a delicate balance to doing a MILD as you want to encourage random images while still remaining conscious. WILD's are attempts to LD after briefly waking from deep sleep as your brain will probably still be in either a Theta or Alpha brainwave state. I would suggest using your MILD technique again after deep relaxation exercises (muscle relaxation and deep breathing) . One scientific fact that rarely gets mentioned in this forum(but certainly does in medical sleep forums) is our brain's secondary visual cortices. This part of out big human brain resides in our occipital lobe and not only processes things we visualize but also is active during dreaming. Good luck to you!