Falling Asleep

[Chizu]

Hi guys, a few questions here from someone who's known about Lding for a while. So first of all, how do I fall asleep? I find that my dreams are much more detailed after I do wbtb. Not an actual wbtb, but a wbtb after I wake up in the morning and doze off back to sleep for an hour or so instead of doing a wbtb in the middle of the night. Could this be because I'm sleeping so late (around 4-5am) that 11-12 is my rem period and that's when I actually wake up. After dream journaling for about a week, my dreams after the scuffed wbtb are so clear and memorable, I'm almost certain that if I manage to sleep at a normal time, pull off a normal wbtb, I could attain lucidity via mild. Alternatively I could try variations of the wild technique, ie FILD. Any thoughts on this? Thank you for the read.

[IndigoRose]

Hi Chizu! I have a very similar sleeping schedule to you, although I would say I am not too sensitive to light levels. Through my LDing practice in the last five months, I got much better at falling asleep, but the first two months were really tough because I am a light sleeper and falling asleep isn't easy for me. I've learnt a lot about my sleep, my sleep patterns and the distribution of the sleep stages. This all can be very individual and it could be similar for you or completely different, so you have to experiment with your WBTB timing and length. I go to sleep around 4 am and fall asleep anytime between 4 and 5. I shop online a lot, so quite often, I get woke up by the postman (around 10) or one of the couriers (between 10 and 12) and sometimes I wake up naturally during that time. After 9, I am done with all deep sleep (N3) and the postman almost always wakes me up from a dream. The time after that is a mix of light sleep (N1, N2) and REM, with some conscious time (which can be dreamless REM or conscious NREM or a state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness... I don't worry about it these days). Sometimes I have long dreams, sometimes they are very fragmented. WBTB timing is tricky for me. When I do it earlier, it is easier for me to fall asleep. When I do it later, it is closer to larger chunks of REM. I usually only do micro WBTB (2-5 minutes). I don't even write dreams - it wakes me up too much. But usually, I do a little bit of recall in my head and sometimes I write a couple of keywords. For MILD or SSILD, I don't bother with any special timing. I just do it when I wake up and reiterate the intention every time I am conscious. For WILD, I like to try between 10:30 and 11 (the usual result is failing, not being able to fall asleep, giving up, and then having a DILD around 12). I sometimes decide to try WILD spontaneously after 12, without getting up from the bed at all. I also watch for dream endings (for DEILD) during that period. So my advice is to experiment, play with it, see what works for you. No matter what you do, don't worry about falling asleep. Do it on days when you can oversleep if needed, so there is no anxiety about not getting enough sleep.

[Tiktaalik]

Annoyingly the key to falling asleep is to not worry about falling asleep! It’s easier said then done I know. I would recommend a short WBTB (around 5 minutes) so you remain relaxed and sleepy. I then find laying on my side and recalling my dreams over and over helps me fall asleep quickly. Another trick I use is focusing on my breath and with each breath I allow my body to relax and my mind to drift. The key is not to focus or try too hard to fall asleep. If you treat it like a task you have to complete your mind will become too alert and keep you awake. You have to let it come naturally. This is why WILDs are tricky.

[BrickSnake]

So first of all, how do I fall asleep? There’s many ways you can fall asleep. One of the things I like to do is called paradoxical intention. What is it? Well instead of trying to fall asleep, try to NOT fall asleep. Trying to sleep increases performance anxiety - In laymen’s terms, that means you will fail to fall asleep due to being anxious that you won’t fall asleep. Instead, try to just stay awake. And that’ll help you fail to stay awake. I find that my dreams are much more detailed after I do wbtb. Not an actual wbtb, but a wbtb after I wake up in the morning and doze off back to sleep for an hour or so instead of doing a wbtb in the middle of the night. Could this be because I'm sleeping so late (around 4-5am) that 11-12 is my rem period and that's when I actually wake up. Well dreams from earlier in the night are much harder to remember unless you WBTB. Also, sleep earlier! You have much more of an opportune time to lucid dream, if you sleep earlier. 2 extra hours of sleep makes all the difference. After dream journaling for about a week, my dreams after the scuffed wbtb are so clear and memorable, I'm almost certain that if I manage to sleep at a normal time, pull off a normal wbtb, I could attain lucidity via mild. Alternatively I could try variations of the wild technique, ie FILD. Any thoughts on this? Yes, I have thoughts on this. WBTB + MILD is a match made in heaven. There’s a barrier between sleep & wake that you have to break for MILD. WBTB shrinks this barrier down to make it less durable, and MILD breaks through it. You can try anchors like FILD or CILD if you want. Who knows, you could have massive success with one of them. But I personally find the most success in using my own anchor for WILD. Just had to put that in there. Anyways, have fun, sweet dreams!

[Tiktaalik]

One of the things I like to do is called paradoxical intention. What is it? Well instead of trying to fall asleep, try to NOT fall asleep. Yes, I sometimes try the ‘keep your eyes open’ trick. It becomes quite difficult to do and in the end when you do give up your eyes are heavy, your brain has forget what you were worried about and you fall asleep much quicker.