What am I doing wrong?

[SeaWeedFire]

I have a major problem. I just can't seem to get into SP when doing a WILD. I don't even get to the HI or anything like that. I just lay there counting and counting and counting. I do everything I've read here on DV (at least I believe I do), I make sure I'm really relaxed, I lay in a comfortable position and count my breaths (One, I'm dreaming, Two, I'm dreaming) and I ignore all those random thoughts as best I can. But nothing happens after that. I've read I'm supposed to get all kinds of HI, and finally enter SP, but I get nothing. Last time I tried a WILD (this morning) I think i was beginning to have some of that elusive HI. I could "feel" my hands and arms shrinking a lot, until it felt like they were about 10 centimetres long, and really clutched to my chest (which they weren't). I also felt like as if everything zoomed out in a weird way. I could "feel" the ceiling being like 5 miles above my head, as if I either was very small, or the world was distorted. I saw the image in my head, and it was like my fov (field of view) was all screwed up. They parts of my room that was right next to me was normally sized, but the far corner from my bed's position was really far away. When I had counted to about 130, I started getting a painful feeling in my head and upper chest. It felt like something pushing out from inside my head, like an expanding balloon or something, and that feeling remained until I gave up. At one point I also noticed I started sweating heavily, but only from my right armpit (I was laying on my left side). I could feel the sweat drips just running from my armpit down my chest, dripping down on my left arm. One noticable thing was that it almost felt like the sweat was made of acid, the sweat drops kinda fel like they burned my skin, but at the same time not. That was a weird feeling. At several points my heart rate went through the roof, but I just ignored that and tried to relax, until my heart beat normally again. So what am I doing wrong, why can't I get to SP, or even to HI? I really want to be able to do a WILD, because I can't get a LD any other way (or rather, I can never seem to wake myself up enough to write it down and remember it) and I also really want to experience SP, since it seems like a very cool (although scary) experience, from what I've read here on DV. So please help me, anyone that might have a clue as to what I do (or don't do) that blocks me from finishing my WILDs. ~SeaWeedFire

[DavO]

I've had those exact same feelings once when i was like 10!! But it almost made me throw up. Sorry i have nothing useful to say other than that you got to the point where you've warped yourself and you're doing it wrong, at least in my experience that i have briefly detailed above. Though there were a few ways of getting into lucid dreams i have only partially achieved when i was younger, such as the HIT and Point Image Concentration. the best way i've done it is to have it as a background thought/memory, something your mind will remind you of during the course of whatever your doing for example in your train of thought you'll stop and suddenly ask yourself what's for dinner tonight? Same thing, when you're in a dream only the thought and/or feeling will be about something you have to do, in this case, do a reality check thus questioning your reality or whatever mechanism you use to activate that reminder switch. Now i have no idea what SP is since i'am only new to this site, but first thing's recall, without that you're F#$%ed. It really takes practice to achieve it, like a skill but in a less controlled state of mind. Are you healthy by the way? Cause that affects your ability to LD and Recall. Hope that helps.

[SeaWeedFire]

Yeah, I'm healthy. I have no diseases, brain disorders or anything, as far as I know. Though I have always been a bit absent-minded, I sometimes feel I have a little trouble focusing my thought, but it doesn't feel like that's the problem here. I suppose I should work on my dream recalling. I only remember one or two dreams/night a few nights per week, but I think the main reason for that is that I don't often wake up during REM sleep, since I'm mostly woken by my brother or one of my parents. However, the times I do wake up during REM sleep, I clearly remember at least the dream I was in the middle of dreaming, and often one or two more dreams. I think I may be using the wrong technique for WILDing. I haven't yet tried the "Spontaneous Adventure With Senses WILD"-technique as described here, nor the "Reverse Blinking WILD"-technique (this). I shall try another method tonight/next morning and bring to you the results. Thanks for the advice! Oh, by the way, SP stands for Sleep Paralysis, and is the state where your body sleeps, which happens every time you sleep, only when you WILD, you get to experience it. It includes a total numbness in you entire body, as well as seeing/hearing/feeling some very realistic (and often scary) hallucinations.