Staying calm yet aware during WILD

Hey everyone,

I've been putting a lot of effort into WILDing lately, and I've come up with some success but not enough to be that excited about.

When I relax, generally it's not a problem for me to put my body to sleep - at least once I concentrate on doing so. After 10 to 30 minutes of deep, calm relaxation, I start to envision things, whether it's me in my car, me talking to friends, or me sitting in bed, it feels as if my eyes are open and I'm actually watching something, you know? The point where you're still awake but you're seeing things (Hypnogogic Imagery, to be precise). They're often very vivid too, as if they're real.

But my problem is, every time I become aware that I'm seeing these visions, the affirmation causes me to lose that calming mind relaxation and I end up back at stage 1. Otherwise I get lost in the images and I'll fall asleep and lose all my awareness.

Does anyone have and tips/tricks they'd like to share?

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Originally Posted by Sony86

But my problem is, every time I become aware that I'm seeing these visions, the affirmation causes me to lose that calming mind relaxation and I end up back at stage 1. Otherwise I get lost in the images and I'll fall asleep and lose all my awareness.

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I was having the same exact problem this morning, and it's the problem I normally have when attempting to WILD. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, I have the exact same problem as well..

No direct help(I'm sorry), but perhaps the continued requests will encourage someone to offer a solution to our plight!

WTF?

This is exactly what I've been trying to say the last 3 days, and you just put it more perfectly than I have even come close to.

Yeah I never actually remember anything after the enlightenment and seeing the vivid colors/shapes. It's either, I think about it and I'm awake again, or next thing I know I'm waking up from a dream that I don't remember falling into, but remember being completely aware in the dream.

My hypnagogia is quite a violent phenomena, involving rapid images flowing through my mind and a lot of auditory hallucinations. All I can say is that, after getting to that spot enough times, you will be able to sit through it without getting exited. You just need to get used to it and not let it affect you. Remember not to think about WILDing while doing a WILD. It's something that many people do incorrectly.

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Originally Posted by erik212

My hypnagogia is quite a violent phenomena, involving rapid images flowing through my mind and a lot of auditory hallucinations. All I can say is that, after getting to that spot enough times, you will be able to sit through it without getting exited. You just need to get used to it and not let it affect you. Remember not to think about WILDing while doing a WILD. It's something that many people do incorrectly.

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That's interesting.

My friends and I were having a conversation kind of related to this, next time I try WILDing, as soon as I see the images, I'm going to try as hard and as calmly as I can to accept and move on from what I see.

I think the images and audio distract you as you're moving from waking to dream, so the more you learn to accept and move on from what you see and hear, the more likely you'll succeed.

Hmm

It seems like you have to move through or beyond what you see. If you dwell on the hallucinations , it seems you'll have little success

Same problem here. Had a couple of times were I suddenly "caught myself" having DreamVisions and even participating in them. When I would become aware of the fact that these were dreams they would disappear instantly leaving me with insubstantial HI or total darkness again. These visions seem to vaporise in a matter of split seconds uppon becomming thoroughly aware of them.

Now if only someone experienced and successfull with this would post in here too... that would help a whole lot of people.

I haven't had those exact problems, but I read a post that had an answer once. It was a technique called "Fast Grab". Basically, when you see these HI or hallucinations or whatever, you quickly grab the nearest thing by your bed- the sheets, for example. The point, as I understood it, was that if you are seeing a dream, then your body is mostly off, and when you try to grab something in real life, it is actually first translated into the dream. That way, you grab something in your dream, which instantly hardens it. The poster said you could try it many times per WILD, every time you see images, as the final way of getting into the dream.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sony86

Hey everyone,

I've been putting a lot of effort into WILDing lately, and I've come up with some success but not enough to be that excited about.

When I relax, generally it's not a problem for me to put my body to sleep - at least once I concentrate on doing so. After 10 to 30 minutes of deep, calm relaxation, I start to envision things, whether it's me in my car, me talking to friends, or me sitting in bed, it feels as if my eyes are open and I'm actually watching something, you know? The point where you're still awake but you're seeing things (Hypnogogic Imagery, to be precise). They're often very vivid too, as if they're real.

But my problem is, every time I become aware that I'm seeing these visions, the affirmation causes me to lose that calming mind relaxation and I end up back at stage 1. Otherwise I get lost in the images and I'll fall asleep and lose all my awareness.

Does anyone have and tips/tricks they'd like to share?

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Two things that you could do.

1) simply put some pillows behind your back so that you are elevated up at around 45 degree angle while trying WILD. But don't go beyond 45 degree otherwise it will make you too wide awake. Or if you are too awake you can lower it down to 30 degree. I read some where in a Taoist yoga dream book that suggested this. The book explained that it has something to do with the chi (life energy) bypassing the sleep channel when you recline at 45 degree. Thus you have a better change of being awake when the dreams come. But to me it just simple logic. Your brain would think that you are not quite asleep yet because your body is still elevated. So it would give you extra neurotransmitters in your brain to keep you aware in case you may decided to do something. Thus you don't have to concentrate so hard to stay awake since now you have your extra neurotransmitters to help you. All because you sat up little bit :D

2) And if that doesn't work then try what I've tried. During the WBTB, drink a little bit of coke or pepsi. I drank about 4 oz, but my body weight is only 120 lb so you may have to adjust that amount to fit you. Anyway the extra caffeine and the 45 degree body possition will help to keep your mind awake while your body fall back to sleep.

Best of luck to all,
nightflyer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nightflyer

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________________

Two things that you could do.

1) simply put some pillows behind your back so that you are elevated up at around 45 degree angle while trying WILD. But don't go beyond 45 degree otherwise it will make you too wide awake. Or if you are too awake you can lower it down to 30 degree. I read some where in a Taoist yoga dream book that suggested this. The book explained that it has something to do with the chi (life energy) bypassing the sleep channel when you recline at 45 degree. Thus you have a better change of being awake when the dreams come. But to me it just simple logic. Your brain would think that you are not quite asleep yet because your body is still elevated. So it would give you extra neurotransmitters in your brain to keep you aware in case you may decided to do something. Thus you don't have to concentrate so hard to stay awake since now you have your extra neurotransmitters to help you. All because you sat up little bit :D

2) And if that doesn't work then try what I've tried. During the WBTB, drink a little bit of coke or pepsi. I drank about 4 oz, but my body weight is only 120 lb so you may have to adjust that amount to fit you. Anyway the extra caffeine and the 45 degree body possition will help to keep your mind awake while your body fall back to sleep.

Best of luck to all,
nightflyer

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Thanks for the advice, sounds useful.

Yeah that's probably the biggest issue with WILD is the "so close factor" that makes its so frustraiting. Allot times I'll visualize I'm walking and focusing on my foot steps. When I get focused enough (and calm) I'll look up and notice I'm in the dream and lucid. Granted this has worked like 1 out of every 10 tries at best. Still it gives some ideas on the focus part.

I've found myself getting to HI whilst trying to MILD after waking up.
I seem to be WILDING almost by accident (maybe I'm too excited so can't just doze off).

I've seen the HI as described above. Just like the others, once I "notice" it, it disappears and I'm back staring at the stars/lights stage.

Any advice on breaking the HI barrier much appreciated.