SP and consciousness

Hi, last night I tried WILDing for the heck of it and kept completely still lying on my back. I thought it would take me ages to get to sleep but I can't actually remember ever moving from that position and thinking, "Oh crap, I messed it up!". This must mean that I fell asleep quickly right? I was only concentrating for a few minutes on keeping still. If it did happen that easily then that's a miracle for me because usually I find I can't sleep if I try to stay in one position.

Based on the fact that I lost consciousness really quickly, I'm presuming I did, will it will be easier or more difficult to enter sleep paralysis in the conscious state? Although I know I was "asleep" really quickly I don't know when I entered SP. Does SP tend to occur naturally at around the same time as you lose awareness? I would love it if anyone knew because if it does I may have a fighting chance at having a WILD, but if it takes a good ten minutes or so to settle in it would be hard work.

I've only ever had one accidental WILD and I'm hoping to get at least one intentionally this summer.

Thanks.

I don't know if it's easier or harder for someone who falls asleep quickly. I'm the opposite, so for me I usually get a light trace that fades and is replaced by the awareness that I'm absolutely wide awake and that sleep, much less a WILD, is not going to happen. I won't even try it before bedtime anymore. It seems to me that your challenge is not going to be achieving the trance so much as keeping your mind focused. You might try a mantra like "Mind Awake" breathing in, and "Body Asleep" on breathing out.

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Originally Posted by Idolfan

Does SP tend to occur naturally at around the same time as you lose awareness?

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Usually the mind goes to sleep right before the body. What you want is to put the body to bed while keeping the mind awake.

My situation is usually like yours but this has been a one off so I would hope it happens again. So if the body enters SP usually just before the mind drifts off, if Id've concentrated more on staying awake last night I should have been in SP pretty quickly?

I would think so, but it's hard to say.

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So if the body enters SP usually just before the mind drifts off, if I've concentrated more on staying awake last night I should have been in SP pretty quickly?

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No, the two things completely contradict each other and this is usually why so many people get hung up while attempting a WILD.

Alright then, couple of things first. :) You are trying to WILD I presume; not enter sleep paralysis.

So the first thing you need to do is forget everything you know about SP. Its not needed and it will be distracting to "induce" and this is the reason people lay in bed for hours wide awake.

You are constantly checking your body, questioning why you aren't in sp yet, waiting for something to happen etc etc. Alongside this; your mind is already racing a mile a minute trying to think of your induction method and what you want to do while lucid and all that; basically your brain is working harder then it should be while your at work during the day. How to you expect your body to fall asleep when your mind is this stimulated. For example; do you enter SP while sitting/laying on your couch watching t.v.?

When you go to sleep at night usually what happens is your mind begins jumping randomly from thought to thought; breaking down the previous days events and considering what needs to be done tomorrow. Shortly after, generally the thoughts will become more abstract and imaginative; and will simply be random. You eventually lose consciousness by grasping on to one of these scenarios and are torn away from your physical body and awareness. Depending how tired you are you may fall asleep right then; or "wake up" a few seconds to a few minutes later. This is seen as a consciousness blink; you will go from one frame of mind (relaxing, maybe counting breaths and being at 25); instantly to a fresh and fully aware state. Usually it feels like you jolted awake and you cannot remember what number you were on seemingly 2 seconds ago. I dont open my eyes or move or anything it just feels like something skips a beat. These are gold mines for wild transitions; if you ever experience these relax and continue. You need to train your mind to stay aware in this stage between sleep and wakefulness. Do not try to stay awake; try to get farther in the process of falling asleep without doing so. (If that makes any sense, which it probably doesn't.)

The idea is not to sit there thinking and talking to yourself waiting for the onset of SP to kick in so you can then proceed to a WILD. What you want to do is simply fall asleep consciously. This sounds weird and people cannot wrap their head around it; but it is possible. What happens is your body and mind both drift off on independent schedules. The thing about WILDing is it is helpful for you to just lightly hang on to your consciousness and let the body go first because this makes the transition easier due to lack of distracting external stimuli (Itches, noises, etc). Doing so is not necessary and does not require stressing yourself out about the specifics of all these sensations; it requires falling asleep completely naturally. Just don't let your mind wander and get distracted in your subconscious thoughts or you will either stay wide awake or pass out.

Refer to the tutorial section on some passive methods of hanging onto awareness. My personal favorite is to simply focus on the feeling of the air moving in and out of your nostrils. If you have a vivid mental image that you feel you can hold on for several minutes that may work to. All I can say is dont sit there and wait for things to happen; they happen every night without any effort.. Your simply putting to much thought into it.

With that in mind; if you still feel like you need to feel tingling on your body be sure to keep up proper nutrition and get some exercise several hours before bed. If your body is overtired it will slip off easier and faster. Sleep deprivation makes your body want to crash extremely fast and if you have the will you can stay conscious during it; although I really cant see why anyone would go to such extremes to experience a physical sensation (Or lack thereof).

Best of luck.

your hopeless buddy