Wtf happened (possible WILD)

[Fruityowl]

This was the trippiest thing. I must’ve had like, three. The first one I wasn’t entirely aware, cause my phone was different and I didn’t realize it. I was looking at butterflies on pinterest. Suddenly, a bat flew into my ear with a message. It spoke with my dad’s voice and I freaked out and “woke up”. I might have actually woken up and fell into another dream immediately, cause I remember seeing a lot of dream images before rolling really fast on my side. It was continuous, and I was thinking “Is this how it feels to enter a WILD?” Then I woke up in a different dream, laying dizzily on my kitchen floor, completely aware I was in a dream. I looked outside and realized the whole house was floating in outer space. Then I woke up again. This time in my room. Pretty sure I was aware of sleep paralysis, cause I found it really difficult to move, was breathing hard, and my heart was pounding. But I didn’t panic, cause I knew I’d experienced it before. So I went back to sleep in a very shallow false awakening. My mind almost had me fooled; it had created an EXACT replica of my room with dull lighting, and I was staring at that elastic band next to me. I thought I was really awake this time and started to get up. But the way I moved wasn’t entirely natural, so I reality checked. My fingers didn’t go through, but my hand was kinda blotchy and I suddenly felt like something was off. I knew I was dreaming, but I kept trying to force my fingers through, and they just wouldn’t. Eventually I lost my grip on the dream and woke up for the last time. I think I made the “frustration” mistake again. (One time I got so frustrated in a lucid, I woke up). Did I have a WILD at some point? I’ve never had one before.

[Lang]

Possibly. Congrats! Was this a nap that you just had last night? If the finger the palm technique doesn't work try something else to check. A Reality test will fail from time to time, this is why you probably want to try more than one reality check here too. You could try 1. Remain mindful. During your lucid dream remain mindful of the clarity of the dream. Should you feel the dream fading, either visually or in any other sense, move to step 2. 2. Engage with the dream. If you feel as if you are close to waking, especially if the visual sense of the dream is fading, start to engage with the dream with all your senses. Sing, shout, dance, spin, touch the environment, do whatever it takes to stay engaged with the dream scenery. One of the most popular techniques is to spin around within the dream. 3. Continue the dream. If all goes to plan you should find the dream stabilizes around you. However, be careful, often dream stabilization techniques will result in a false awakening—a dream in which you believe you have woken up. Therefore, always remember to perform a reality check whenever you feel you have woken up! Tips: Get creative, try to engage with the dream with all your senses. There is no "right way" to do this, so be imaginative, if you can? Remember that the idea is to involve yourself fully in the dream space. This is in order to avoid your physical senses becoming the more dominant force and pulling you into wakefulness. -There are reports that rapidly moving your eyes within the dream can help maintain the dream. -Avoid staying still. Lack of activity within the dream will increase your chances of waking. =Remember to reality check if you believe you've woken up. Don't be fooled by a false awakening—a dream in which you believe that you have woken up.

[Fruityowl]

Yeah it was a nap. If my finger through palm doesn’t work, I usually check my phone. I understand in WILDs, you enter a dream by like, hypnotizing yourself(?) But I wasn’t even meditating (ADD prevents me from that). I just saw images, started spinning through limbo, and “landed” on my kitchen floor. That’s never happened to me before. Usually my brain is like “screw that, I don’t like this channel” and stops me from entering dreamland. I hope my dream self can remember what you said about “engaging”. I was surprised that I remembered to take another guy’s advice and jump off my stairs to see what would happen (I floated up through my pillow into sleep paralysis). Lol I love false awakenings. That’s my usual vessel into a lucid, but lately my technique of getting into a FA hasn’t been working, got lazy about reality checking at random points in the night. I keep going back to sleep | If I use the same technique too many times, does my mind just get too used to it, and that’s why it stops working? Cause I was really on top of it a few nights ago but still didn’t recognize my FA. (Btw, thanks for all your great answers, I’m learning a lot!)

[nautilus]

I understand in WILDs, you enter a dream by like, hypnotizing yourself(?) But I wasn’t even meditating (ADD prevents me from that). I just saw images, started spinning through limbo, and “landed” on my kitchen floor. That’s never happened to me before. Usually my brain is like “screw that, I don’t like this channel” and stops me from entering dreamland. What you describe is exactly the way I personally experience WILDs when I do them successfully. Spinning around, some images floating by, then landing in the dream. I use a simplified technique: "fall asleep normally but wait for the falling feeling and then go with it instead of waking up out of surprise". Others use a more involved process; it's all about what works best for you. If I use the same technique too many times, does my mind just get too used to it, and that’s why it stops working? Cause I was really on top of it a few nights ago but still didn’t recognize my FA. In theory reality checks should lead to a higher success rate the more you practice it because you're building and reinforcing a habit. When the habit's strong you'll more naturally think in the way you trained yourself to. That said, it's human nature to be a bit more excited about starting a new habit early on and then see that interest wane after a while, leaving the habit slightly weaker relative to when you were feeling more enthusiastic. Another thing with RCs I've noticed is that even when I'm doing them just as often as before, my dreams will become more and more vivid and realistic on average after a period of paying extra attention to them, journaling to increase recall, trying to get lucids etc. That's a good thing, but a side effect is that my RCs and thought process while performing them have to be more thorough or else I get tricked into thinking I'm awake. Vague dreams with loopy physics make it easier to question what's happening in the first place as well as easier to confirm that things are indeed wonky.