Having Issues with DEILD

[heather675]

I'm new here, so I hope I posted this in the right area! I've been working on becoming lucid for a couple months now. I do my reality checks, and every now and then it comes through in my dreams. However, I very frequently wake up in SP, so I found out about DEILD and thought that maybe that was the best idea for me. I wake up in SP, several times a week and I already don't move, because I have always liked SP (I don't get any weird hallucinations usually), sometimes I swallow and I can feel my body un-paralyze and re-paralyze. I will either imagine the dream I was just having or if I don't remember I try to imagine a scene where it makes my body move. So I will get to the point that I will feel like my body is really moving and as soon as I realize that, it snaps me back into my physical body and surroundings and I need to start over. One time I got to the point where I heard my TV turn on, and saw the bright lights (and told myself ehh, it's either the start of the dream or the TV supernaturally turned on, so no biggie), but I couldn't get any images. I even felt my body rolling, like from toes to head, in a snake like whipping motion, it was hard to remain calm with that one! I thought maybe I just didn't open my dream eyes.* I just cannot get out of my physical mind and push my consciousness forward into my dream body.* I tried again this morning, and I felt my body moving with the imagery in my mind and I snapped back and apparently, my heart speed up too much and I lost SP. Also during one of my dreams last night, it was getting creepy, and I realized everything was off, I all of a sudden became lucid and tried to fly out of the scene (I always take flight basically as soon as I become lucid, I just can't help myself! lol) since it was creepy, but I was trying too hard because I was so panicked and woke myself up. Does anyone have any advice or been through some of my issues?

[Hitokage]

Well I think you are lucky to be able to naturally do this. Just stay relaxed and keep trying. Examine that state and do some experiments. Read more articles about SP on this site for inspiration.

[Kairos]

@heather675 First of all, I agree with Hitokage; I think you're lucky that you're able to do that. Second, as for your problems with DEILD: besides the possibility that you might be at the end of a REM phase, the only other possibility I can personally think of right now is that maybe you are trying too hard. It could be that in trying too hard to find the right frame of mind (or state of consciousness or whatever you want to call it) for entering the LD, you almost unnoticeably build up inner tension that works against your desired goal. So it might be it's one of the two possibilities mentioned above. It might be that it’s a little bit of both, or maybe something else. Just stick with your practice, like Hitokage already said. Examine the state and experiment with it. What helps me to overcome the occasional roadblock is breathing exercises in general and especially the 61-point relaxation technique recommended by Stephen LaBerge in his book "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming." I do the exercise every night. Sometimes I would fall asleep over it. But most of the time I get through all 61 points. If you don't know it already, what the technique basically does is inducing SP. Since you have the natural ability to sustain SP this part should come easily to you. But I think the other two parts: concentration and breathing, are equally important aspects of the technique. Using additional breathing techniues might help you to relax your mind even more and gently counteract any uprising inner tensions. Do you use any additional relaxation techniques? - Such techniques really help to prepare body, mind and psyche for dream work. I even felt my body rolling, like from toes to head, in a snake like whipping motion, it was hard to remain calm with that one! I had an experience just like this a couple of nights ago. This "snake like whipping motion" felt very weird. I had just woken from a dream. I was in this half asleep drowsy state. I thought "I feel like a snake"; these were my exact words I was thinking at that moment. My next thought was: "I wonder whether this is a common experience among oneironauts." I tried to stay with the whipping and recreate the motion via relaxation and meditation. But I wouldn't get it back. Instead I came out of this comfortable drowsy state and I started to feel my physical body again. I turned around and fell asleep again very quickly though. As far as I remember I had a semi-lucid dream experience after that. In the morning I wrote this "snake-experience" down in my journal. I put it aside to check out later whether there is a thread here that talks about experiences like that. But then I forgot about it. It wasn't until I read your remark that I rememebred that I wanted to check for it. Anyways. I got my answer: it does happen to others, as well.

[PercyLucid]

Very nice I also like sleep paralysis. If you stop focusing on it and visualize a dream scenario you might fall asleep quickly and enter the dream fully lucid! You can also attempt an OBE/AP if you are interested and goes with your believes!