Thread: A question about WILD

Yeah I was wondering about that too. Personally, I don't scratch because I find that if I just wait a little it will go away on its own (and hence I feel like I have mind over matter control). I guess it depends on how bad it is. I would try both ways and see what works better for you.

i scratch my itches. It doesnt really affect my WILD too much. I dont know why everyone says not to scratch. Having that want to scratch on your mind would affect the WILD much worse i think.

Originally Posted by freefire

i scratch my itches. It doesnt really affect my WILD too much. I dont know why everyone says not to scratch. Having that want to scratch on your mind would affect the WILD much worse i think.

It could break the SP. It does for me... if I feel numbness coming on and I move more than a finger, it goes away.

well yeah, i guess it could break the sp, but sp is sleep paralisis, and you cant even feel your body. So you shouldnt even have itches in sp right? I dont know, i usually enter the dream right before i get sp, during the vibrations. And i cant usually get into the vibrations if im uncomfortable, and needing to itch is extremely uncomfortable for me.

ok, thanks guys. I have another question. With the few times i've tried to WILD, I've found out that I need to work on staying focused on it. every time I end up just falling asleep. any advice on how to help this?

Originally Posted by Qqqqq432

ok, thanks guys. I have another question. With the few times i've tried to WILD, I've found out that I need to work on staying focused on it. every time I end up just falling asleep. any advice on how to help this?

I have that problem too. You need to find the right balance between being awake and sleepy. I've had WILD attempts where I've fallen asleep, and ones where I stay in SP for hours, then give up. Once you find that point, you're good to go.

And you shouldn't have itches in SP, but when it is just coming on, you can. I've had them.

Originally Posted by Qqqqq432

ok, thanks guys. I have another question. With the few times i've tried to WILD, I've found out that I need to work on staying focused on it. every time I end up just falling asleep. any advice on how to help this?

I've WILDed a few times recently and I find that, as others have said, its all about balance.

I have to be tired enough to fall asleep easily and awake enough to be able to focus on the sensations, images etc. of the transition into dreaming. I assume that you are doing wake back to bed (where you sleep for 4-6 hours, wake up and then try to WILD). Maybe you need to stay up longer before going back to sleep. I find that if I stay up only 5 or 10 minutes, I'm not awake enough and I just fall asleep. But also, if I stay up longer than like 20 or 30 minutes, I'm too awake and I can't sleep. Maybe you need to adjust the time that you are spending awake.

Also, for me WILDing is about a balance between paying attention and being passive. You have to get used to a state of mind where you are passively attentive. It's a bit of a paradox, and it takes some practice to pull off, but basically you can't be too involved in what's going on that you disrupt what's going on in your head and prevent yourself from actually falling asleep, and you can't be too passive so that you don't pay attention and you doze off unconsciously.

Also, have you tried counting or visualizing things while you lay there? I've read stuff around here about people needing some sort of mental activity to stay focused. Personally, this doesn't work for me, as I stay too focused. I just go with the flow, passively observing the images, sounds, and sensations that begin to happen as I fall asleep.

But, as in all things concerning Lucid Dreaming, you have to find what works best for you.

As for itches, sometimes I get insanely itchy when I'm trying to fall asleep. Like, itches all over my body. Often, when I scratch (and I usually give in and scratch) it just gets worse, and I have to toss and turn for a while before trying again. Sometimes, I have to just give up trying to WILD because I'm just too itchy. Don't know what the problem is.

I would say, if your in the early stages of the WILD attempt, and you don't think it'll get worse, scratch. But if you're farther in and you're starting to transition (getting numb, hearing things, etc.), try to resist it because you don't want to lose the chance to WILD successfully.

I hope that helped some; good luck ,

LUX.

Originally Posted by LuxAeterna

I assume that you are doing wake back to bed (where you sleep for 4-6 hours, wake up and then try to WILD). .

Sorry I forgot to mention, no I don't wbtb. I tried it once, but if I'm ever awake for more than a few minutes I can't get back to sleep. I'd rather not wake up in the middle of the night to WILD unless there's a good reason to. I almost had an accidental WILD once recently and it was just after I went to bed, no getting up.

Also, about counting a visualizing, yes, I count my breaths, thinking the number when I inhale and thinking "I'm dreaming" when I exhale. I visualize both of these things in my head too. One of the tutorials I read said to do it that way, and I think it helps. If I lose focus and fall asleep this way, I certainly can't expect to be successful when I'm not focusing on anything.

Originally Posted by Qqqqq432

Sorry I forgot to mention, no I don't wbtb. I tried it once, but if I'm ever awake for more than a few minutes I can't get back to sleep. I'd rather not wake up in the middle of the night to WILD unless there's a good reason to. I almost had an accidental WILD once recently and it was just after I went to bed, no getting up.

Also, about counting a visualizing, yes, I count my breaths, thinking the number when I inhale and thinking "I'm dreaming" when I exhale. I visualize both of these things in my head too. One of the tutorials I read said to do it that way, and I think it helps. If I lose focus and fall asleep this way, I certainly can't expect to be successful when I'm not focusing on anything.

WBTB makes WILD easier because you can slip directly back into REM (where you dream). So if you're having trouble, you might want to give it a try.

The thing that actually held me back on WILD is that I was afraid to break SP with all those scratches and no swallowing. Forget that I dont think its really important to not move as much as not thinking about anything. My first trys always failed cause I was expecting SP and never got to it. Now I dont think about my body at all at I am much closer to preforming a successfull WILD.

Originally Posted by webmaster

It could break the SP. It does for me... if I feel numbness coming on and I move more than a finger, it goes away.

I'm the same way. I just ignore the itch, it goes away really fast if you don't think about it.

Actually, I've heard that the itches and things are your body testing you to see if you're still awake, so you should ignore them. I'm not sure if scratching will mess you up or not, but I don't do it. (Too afraid it'll knock me out of SP, even though I've never had a successful WILD before...)