Hey y'all - I was hoping someone here could give some insight in my attempts to WILD and why I am getting stuck. A few questions, please.

First of all - what is the reason that people wake up in the middle of the night to do this? Is there any reason I shouldn't do this right as I'm going to sleep for the night?

Anyway, for the past three nights, I've been going through the relaxation, counting, repeatedly telling myself "I am dreaming..." After a while, I find my body goes into sleep paralysis - and somehow, as soon as I come to the realization I've reached SP, my relaxation disappears and I can't get it back again, I'm just stuck there for a long time until I eventually open my eyes and shake it off and just go to sleep normally because it starts to feel uncomfortable not moving for so long. Am I just giving up too soon? Or is there a technique I can use at that point that will help me out?

Also, I'm a bit confused as to what the HI are supposed to be like - I've been noticing that I have kind of flashing, visual "thoughts" as I'm trying to induce WILD - yesterday, kept having flashes of different articles of clothes - but they're really more like thoughts than actually being able to see these with my eyes closed. Are these HI? Or just my mind thinking of random things...

Any and all help is appreciated!