Sense 3: Why Would LDers Want Sleep Paralysis as in Hypnagogic Hallucinations?
Whenever we fall asleep we pass through hypnagogic states. We are not usually aware of this, or at least we don't remember it. But LDers who want to WILD need to maintain awareness all the way into sleep, so it's highly likely that if they get any HH they will recall it because they were aware at the time.
Thus, wanting HH may make some sense for LDers. It's not that HH will buy them anything in itself (unless they like the HH for their own sake), but if they get HH it's a symptom that they have managed to keep themselves "awake" beyond the point where most people lose awareness. And that's a good sign, because it means that they may not be far away from entering a dream.
On the other hand this may cause problems too, because not everyone gets any significant HH, at least not every time they fall asleep. So if you think you should get these HH and then you don't maybe that will stop you in your efforts and discourage you from trying again.
The conclusion is that if you get HH it's an indication that you're on the right track, but if you don't get them it's not an indication that you're on the wrong track. HH are a potential side effect of WILDing and absence of HH doesn't mean anything. BillyBob, author of several WILD guides on DV, explicitly recommends that you don't focus on HH, because that focus may actually prevent you from entering the dream.[9]
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