Thread: Trying to Wrap My Head Around FILD

I have been attempting FILD for 3 days and I find the finger movements to be a good anchor for keeping the mind aware during the transition into sleep. I did experience some extreme hypnogogia like a loud ringing noise, and intense visualizations that became real during finger movments. This is a common feeling for me during WILDs and DEILDs. So out of the 3 attempts I went lucid once, failed the second attempt because I couldnt keep my adrenaline from rushing due to all the extreme hallucinations which caused me to wake up, and the third one I just fell asleep.

Most users report doing the finger method for 10-30 seconds and doing a reality check. And achieve a false awakening. They dont feel any transition at all. Which I find very strange.

Its hard for me to explain my train of thought around why FILD works the way it does for people, so Im just going to ask a bunch of questions.

Do you feel the transition during FILD attempts or just a false awakening?
Why stop finger movements after 30 seconds?
Why attempt a reality check after 30 seconds and not a longer period of time?
The reason I ask these questions is because FILD is the only WILD technique that Ive read that has a time limit. For example alot of people use visualization to WILD. This does not involve a time and just involves visualizing something until it becomes real. To me I would think alot of people fail this technique because of 10-30 seconds followed by a reality check step.

I have used FILD a few times during my various WILD attempts. I never knew about the 30 second thing. I always have gone to FILD when I was drifting toward sleep too soon during WILD or to enhance the focused awareness of my body during SSILD cycles.

I'm not one to follow the strict protocols of the various induction techniques. I have learned, instead, to use them in a way that works with the situation at hand.

I would not be going to a RC unless I was feeling the onset of lucidity in some subtle way rather than after a prescribed period of time.

Originally Posted by lenscaper

I have used FILD a few times during my various WILD attempts. I never knew about the 30 second thing. I always have gone to FILD when I was drifting toward sleep too soon during WILD or to enhance the focused awareness of my body during SSILD cycles.

I'm not one to follow the strict protocols of the various induction techniques. I have learned, instead, to use them in a way that works with the situation at hand.

I would not be going to a RC unless I was feeling the onset of lucidity in some subtle way rather than after a prescribed period of time.

Yeah so the guides say do the finger movements for about 30 seconds and do a reality check no matter what. Their reasoning behind this, is because somehow the transition into a dream while performing the finger movements is not noticable at all. To my surprise there's alot of people that swear by this method saying that they did not feel anything and we're expecting the RC to be worthless but soon found themselves in a dream.

Originally Posted by xpin2winx

To my surprise there's alot of people that swear by this method saying that they did not feel anything and we're expecting the RC to be worthless but soon found themselves in a dream.

That's pretty cool....I'll have to give FILD a closer look on its own with that in mind. Thanks.

EDIT:
I just went back and reviewed FILD protocol. What stands out to me is that the FILD technique should not be started until you are very close to sleep. That 30 second RC protocol makes a great deal of sense to me with that in mind......as does the possibility of FA's. I have experience False Awakenings at that point during SSILD......but that is generally a time when lucidity is often sneaking up on me.

Definitely going to give FILD a little more attention in my training.

When we do FILD, our fingers do not move much and they move slowly. The dream is created quickly, so it's difficult to be aware of significant changes in the location of our fingers during the dream, especially if what we dream about is not significantly different from waking life.

Originally Posted by dolphin

When we do FILD, our fingers do not move much and they move slowly. The dream is created quickly, so it's difficult to be aware of significant changes in the location of our fingers during the dream, especially if what we dream about is not significantly different from waking life.

That is extremely helpful....thanks. I worked on FILD last night.

My first WILD was via FILD, and i failed my reality check since i had false awakening for the first time and I wasnt expecting much, i just pinched my nose and went straight back to sleep. I started working on it again and I will be more aware but yeah, I can see why ppl cant see the transition between dream and reality mostly because it doesn't really exist.

Originally Posted by Washwaver

...I can see why ppl cant see the transition between dream and reality mostly because it doesn't really exist.

Huh? That's news to me!