WILD Syllabus

WILD Syllabus

This is heavily based on Seeker's Five Phases of WILD.

http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ead.php?t=9806

Introduction

-Define WILD
-Pros & cons of WILD

Assignment: Each student must start a mandatory workbook and post every single WILD attempt they make. Each attempt will include:

-The date of their WILD attempt and the approximate time
-Whether they set an alarm to wake up, woke naturally, or attempted during a nap.
-A detailed description of their WILD attempt

Science of Sleep

-Introduce the idea of sleep cycles and their affect on length of dreams
-Brief overview of the sleep stages
-Explanation of HH and SP
-Bring together by explaining why WILD is typically attempted in later sleep cycles

Spoiler for SoS Info:

Sleep is a reversible behavioral state of perceptual disengagement from the environment and unresponsiveness to the environment, with total or partial unconsciousness.

Dreams are A collection of thoughts, emotions, and false sensory stimuli which occur in the mind during sleep. Most normal dreams last 5-20 minutes.

Sleep Stages:

N1 (alpha waves turn to theta waves), hypnic jerks 2-5% of sleep

N2 (sleep spindles, k complexes) 45-55% of sleep

N3 (delta) aka SWS sleep, formerly stages 3 and 4. SWS Dominates the first third of the night, but only 13-23% total.

Your muscles are not paralyzed in NREM sleep and NREM takes up a total of 75-80% of your sleep. Dreaming in NREM is rare.

REM 20-25% of sleep, usually 4-6 episodes, short at the beginning of the night, get longer as the night goes on. There are no brainwave patterns which dominate REM sleep. REM is characterized by atonia--loss of muscle tone, in other words paralysis, not to be confused with an episode of sleep paralysis.

One sleep cycle including all stages is about 90 minutes. It usually happens in the order of N1, N2, N3, N2, and REM.

Hallucination is a false perception characterized by a distortion of real sensory stimuli.

Hypnogagic hallucinations occur as we fall asleep.

Hypnopompic hallucinations occur as we're waking up.

HH can be any false sensation--most commonly sights and sounds, but also touches, tastes, and smells.

Sleep paralysis is an episode in which a person is usually transitioning from wake to sleep or sleep to wake and they find that they cannot move. SP is commonly characterized by hallucinations, vibrations, loud ringing or roaring noises in the ears, pressure on the chest or choking sensations, and often fear if impending doom or terror if the person is has no prior knowledge or experience of SP.

Physiologically speaking SP is caused by atonia of the voluntary muscles due to the REM cycle. It is still unknown exactly how the body triggers this and has been the subject of much study. So basically, an episode of SP occurs because you are either entering or exiting REM sleep and you have become conscious during this transition.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl...ed=0CA8Q0AIwAQ

Assignment: Students will analyze their own sleep schedules and sleep habits. From this they will decide on the best days and times they should make their WILD attempts.

The Five Phases of WILD

Phase 1: Preparation
-Setting alarms if necessary, have white noise, earbuds, mask ready
-Keeping the environment quiet and conducive for WILDing
-Set aside enough time to complete the WILD attempt (30-60 minutes)
-Make sure that you will not be too groggy when you wake

Assignment: Students will post a detailed plan of all the preparations they will make before each WILD attempt in their workbooks.

Phase 2: Awakening
-Bathroom break highly encouraged
-Explain what WBTB is in detail
-Ways of becoming more alert if too groggy
-Ways of becoming more relaxed if too awake
-Emphasis on balance and personal experimentation

Assignment: Students will experiment with at least three different WBTBs, noting in their workbooks the length of time staying awake and different techniques to become alert or relaxed. After each attempt they will discuss which things may or may not have been helpful and why.

Phase 3: Relaxation
-Review a few relaxation techniques
-Becoming aware of HH as it begins

Assignment: Students will practice at least three different relaxation techniques during their WILD attempts which they will detail in their workbooks. After each attempt they will discuss which things may or may not have been helpful and why.

Phase 4: Transition
-Balancing relaxation with awareness
-Using HH to transition
-Using visualization to transition
-Using mantras to transition
-Transitioning from SP

Assignment: Students will describe in detail any experiences they have had with HH and SP in the past, noting any recurring themes or experiences. During their WILD attempts they will practice being consciously aware of HH and SP without jolting themselves awake.

Phase 5: Stabilization
-Keeping calm
-Being aware of FAs
-Dealing with blackness or murky vision
-General dream stabilization technique

Assignment: Students who have successfully transitioned to a WILD (preferably during the course of the class, but past experiences are valuable as well) will describe in detail how they transitioned into the dream. They will make mention of any techniques which they could use in future attempts that would help the stabilize the dream.

Practice: Students will continue posting their WILD attempts for ___ days for extra practice, focusing on the techniques which they feel worked best for them so far. Further experimentation with other techniques is also encouraged, but it is advisable that they should stick to one routine to practice.