WILD attempt: erratic breathing. can you relate?

**lonewolf101** · 06-14-2012 10:52 AM

(this is a pretty long post and I would really appreciate if you read the whole thing, especially if you probably been through the same issue as me. But the questions I have are at the bottom and its bold)

Hello Dreamviews. This is my first post here but i've been pretty into lucid dreaming for quite some time. I am now trying to WILD and have made 2 attempts during the last to nights. i've got to say, it looks like i'm progressing with each attempt, but i guess it's too soon say for sure. Let me explain what happened the 1st night:

Night one: i wake up around 4, unintentional. This is when i figured out that one of my REM cycles ends around this time. the reason why I stayed up and didnt just drift into sleep was because the TV was on and i couldnt really sleep with it on. so i turned it off and decided to try to WILD. The only thing that happened for this night was that i saw a pattern of a tunnel like color behind my eye lids, which i always see when i get relaxed enough.

Night two: tonight, before i went to sleep, i read about Different WILD technique's before i went to sleep. so this is probably why this attempt was better. What happened was, when I 1st woke up, i went to lay down on the floor. I did this to feel uncomfortable, so when I went back to bed, i would be more relaxed faster. i stayed there for like only 2 minutes (mainly because of patients. i should have stayed there for 5) then went back to bed. It actually worked. i felt more relaxed. but I also felt a little more conscious than i probably should be. anyways, the next technique i did Was a mantra saying " I will know that that i'm dreaming tonight". this is for if I do go back in the dream without realizing, i might regain consciousness again. The last technique that I did that was the most progressive was the ghost move technique ( i don't know if it's really called that). Its when you try to feel, with all your senses, the act of moving parts of your body. The 1st thing i did was picture a cell phone in one of my hand. i started imagining the texture. i imagined squeezing it occasionally. i imagined rubbing it. this seemed to work with getting me more comfortable, but not much. the thing that worked the most was imagining moving my limbs. i started with my finger. i imagined moving them and at 1st, i really did move them a little. then i got the hang of it, and started moving them mentally. like i pictured what it would probably feel like to move that body part. then i started doing it with various parts of my body.less than 2 minutes later my body felt light. but what i wanted was it to feel heavy. so i started to imagine it being heavy, and it did!! I started hearing static. I was really going to transition into the dream, if it wasn't for my breathing. it started becoming erratic. i started breathing fast and hard, and i couldn't focus on transitioning into sleep. i ended up gaining all physical and mental consciousness. By the way, i didnt see any color or pattern under my eye lids at all, so i'm guessing i wasn't too relaxed. or maybe i was too awake.

MY QUESTIONS ARE:
- If i learn how to meditate, can this resolve the erratic breathing problem?
- Do you guys know any sure way way to stop the erratic breathing? because now that i think about it, this hindered me from WILDing all the other times i tried in the the past.
-Do you think I should wait until I start seeing colors and patterns under my eyelid before I start the ghost limb technique (this is the one when i visualize moving my body without actually moving it)
- I felt as if i was too awake in the second attempt to WILD. should i just write in my dream journal and then attempt to WILD?

**Tkindle007** · 06-15-2012 04:13 AM

If your already in SP by the time the breathing "problem" hits just ignore it and go with the flow. You will notice lots of things when going into SP like fast breathing and a fast heart rate. Until your used to it it can throw many attempts out the window. The trick is just to go with it.

**Killing** · 06-15-2012 05:57 PM

I often get that same problem, as I feel my heart beating faster I feel like I should breathe faster. Just need some distraction perhaps?
Sometimes I focus on what I see, hear and feel, for about 15-20 seconds each (Like they do with SSILD)

**Burke** · 06-15-2012 07:37 PM

I have a similar issue only instead of my breathing that gets erratic it's my heart. My heart skips a beat every once in a while and it always freaks me out but I only notice it if I'm thinking about it, similar to breathing and how if you think about it then it no longer becomes and involuntary action. To combat this I just think of something else like what I'm going to dream about or any dreams I previously had. This is a good opportunity to try and remember any dreams you had earlier in the night and it keeps you focused enough so that you don't lose consciousness but relaxed enough so you still fall asleep. Hope this helps

**Robot_Butler** · 06-15-2012 11:28 PM

I can relate. Weird stuff starts to happen to my body as I fall asleep. I have a hard time ignoring it, so I normally like for my attention to be as far removed as possible by the time I get this close. I will focus on my body to get into a state of deep relaxation, and even use the ghost movement thing you mentioned. When I feel deeply relaxed, I will then move my attention to an imaginary scene, and an imaginary body. This helps me lose track of my real body, and ignore all the wacky stuff.

If you do get kicked out, like you described, don't give up. Even if you feel like you have completely regained consciousness, it only takes a few seconds to get back to the right state of mind. Just keep doing what you were doing. Normally, I will bounce in and out two or three times before the dream really takes hold. Just hang out as long as possible. Act like you are waiting for a movie to start.

**lonewolf101** · 06-16-2012 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by Tkindle007

If your already in SP by the time the breathing "problem" hits just ignore it and go with the flow. You will notice lots of things when going into SP like fast breathing and a fast heart rate. Until your used to it it can throw many attempts out the window. The trick is just to go with it.

problem is, im not in sleep paaralysiswhen it happens

**lonewolf101** · 06-16-2012 12:38 AM

thanks everyone. ou guys all basically said to not focus on my breathing, but on other things like the scene. i was hoping on doing that when sleep paralysis occurs, but i'll just do it when i start breathing alot. thanks again awesome people