Wot's Uh..the Deal?

[art vandelay]

I was doing WILD a couple nights ago. I;ve been using the counting breaths technique (1, I am dreaming, 2 i am dreaming...) and i actually got to a state of the deepest relaxation, like my body was numb. i think thats the farthest ive been, however i started noticing that it was becoming harder for me to breathe. i know when you sleep your breathing is very shallow and very slow. maybe at that point youy're not supposed to do the breathing anymore? anyone else ever experience this?

[badassbob]

I've never had it myself, but I've heard it mentioned on the DV forums at least three times. This seems to be a relatively common problem, so I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe you only feel like you can't breathe, and it's all in your mind. See if you can relax and try to remind yourself that you are in control.

[Hominus Feralis]

when you concentrate on breathing you tend to breath deeper and "harder". After prolonged periods of this slow, deep breathing, your diaphram will start to get "tired", making it harder to breath. Its just something i've noticed when i concentrate on my breathing. My advice is to not do the breathing-relaxation teqhnique. What i do (which ended up in 3 successful WILDs) is to have NO thoughts. Every time a though comes, just let it go before it occupies your mind. Concentrating on breathing will keep your brain busy, which will probably end up in keeping you awake. After a while of letting your thoughts go, more complex HI starts to form. When this happens, passively look at the HI, but dont concentrate on it. If fact, when this HI comes, i do something i call "closing my closed eyes". In that i think of closing my eyes AGAIN, which allows me to look straight ahead and not get distracted by the HI. Just some thoughts about stuff that worked for me.