Thread: WILD essay

So I'm doing this essay for my English comp class and I finished my rough draft.
We did peer reviews today and my partner had some good things to say.
She said that my paper was very descriptive and she felt like she was there
attempting this. She said she had never heard of WILD before so she was
confused at first but after she finished reading it she knew what everything
meant. She said she had heard of Lucid Dreaming in her AP Psychology class
in high school but never gave it a second thought but after reading my paper
she wants to try it .

There are a couple things I want to fix, I need some better transitions
between paragraphs and, although the idea of the conclusion is strong,
I think the phrasing leaves something to be desired.
Any input would be appreciated. ( You guys can correct any information
I may have that is incorrect where my classmates cannot )
Heres my paper:

Originally Posted by WILD essay

█████Imagine yourself working on a project. You are typing away on your computer and you have pages upon pages of text. You stop to look at what you have written and, suddenly, every single letter comes crashing down to the bottom of the monitor. You can see a jumbled mess of characters that used to be your paper. You then realize that you are dreaming. Your eyes are opened, your vision was faded and dim but now the world is clear and vivid and you can make out the slightest details in every object. It is like you are awake, but you know you are dreaming. This is a lucid dream. Now imagine lying down in your bed, being able to close your eyes and consciously fall into a dream wherein you can do anything you wish. It is a limitless virtual reality and, believe it or not, it is not only possible, but something anyone can do with a little practice. This is known as WILD or a Wake Initiated Lucid Dream.

█████During normal sleep, the mind wanders and drifts off. The body, receiving no signals from the brain, sends a signal of its own commonly known as a “rollover signal.” If the person is awake, they will begin to feel extreme discomfort and shift position. If not, the person will not feel a thing and will remain still. The body will then fall asleep as well and the brain will shut off the spinal column to prevent the body from moving and potentially hurting itself. This is called “Sleep Paralysis.” The brain then begins the REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) process. When a lucid dreamer performs a WILD, they keep their body as still as possible, remaining conscious and alert, often using “anchors” such as counting, or doing math. The body sends the rollover signal and the person ignores it, remaining perfectly still. Soon thereafter, the body drifts off. Most people will enter sleep paralysis while conscious at some point in their lives. It is often a frightening experience involving hallucinations caused by DMT, a natural hallucinogenic released by the pineal gland in your brain. Such hallucinations are called “Hypnagogia” ( Going to sleep ) or “Hypnopompia” ( Waking up ) and may involve any of the five senses, the most common of which are auditory, visual, and tactile.

█████I stretch to relax my muscles. I have just consumed eight ounces of coffee to keep myself awake. I have a good feeling about it this time. I have made previous attempts but all have failed. I crawl into bed, put earplugs in to block out extraneous noise, and turn my bright blue alarm clock away from my face. I lie down flat on my back, breathing slowly and deeply. I breathe in, 1. I breathe out, 2. I examine the back of my eyelids and watch the infinite blackness. I continue counting. 3, 4, 5. My mind wanders but I always pull it back like a dog on a leash. I wait patiently for the first signs.

█████I start to feel pressure on my jaw and it seems to lock. 10, 11, 12. My hands begin to numb starting with the fingertips. 25, 26, 27. I see a blob of color behind my eyelids as if I had been staring at a light. 30, 31, 32. The pressure moves up my jaw around my ears. 50. My feet and wrists start to go numb. I hear an airy tone build up until it is earsplittingly loud over a half second period. The sound goes away as soon as I listen to it. The blob in my vision has become a ring, moving away from me. My hands and feet are getting very warm. The pressure in my face moves up around my head. I hear a piano playing random notes. My arms begin to lose feeling. I see a blue shape take form before my closed eyes. The piano starts to play music but when I try to listen, it becomes shy and stops. The pressure moves around my eyes. My nose starts to itch from the progressive loss of sensation. Breathing becomes labored. I hear a middle-aged female say “Lay down, you need to sleep.” The voice is shortly followed by a sense of impending doom. I ignore it and go on. The blue becomes the night sky against shadowy mountains, then takes the form of an ocean against continents. My attention then shifts back to my body.

█████Numbness moves up my legs. I see a white blob in front of the continents. I try to make out what it is and notice what appears to be flapping wings. It is a bird. It gets more and more detailed and eventually becomes very close. I can make out the feathers on its wings. The blue disappears. The bird remains, flitting around my vision. My body feels almost encased. In what, I do not know. I watch the bird some more and, later, see smoke; very detailed, illuminated smoke. The bird goes away, and is replaced by a blinding shaft of light. It astonishes me how bright it appears, knowing that I am in a dark room with closed eyes. Suddenly, my arm seems to fall through the bed then jumps back to its original position. I become disoriented. I feel like I am lying diagonally across my bed. The light goes away.

█████I stare at the back of my eyelids and finally notice a golden beam. It appears to be some sort of rafter. My perspective shifts and I see the blinding light come out from behind the beam. It is a moon. I see a dark blue sky, speckled with stars. The blackness constricting my vision recedes. I can see a glass roof supported by golden rafters. My view shifts down. I am in a beautiful cathedral hall. I feel my feet start to prickle, then a sensation that can only be described as my feet sifting away like sand in the wind, beginning with my toes and slowly making its way down to my heel. The cathedral disappears. I look for it but all I see is black. I smell what I think is rotten eggs. I breathe in to get a better whiff but smell nothing. I lay still. I know it must be soon now.

█████By the time I reach 400, it hits me. My entire body is immersed in pressure, starting with my feet moving up my body in less than a second. My feet and arms suddenly hug my body as if my spinal column is a gravity-well. My heartbeat resonates throughout my body, getting faster and faster. My heart is racing faster than it ever should but it is not really my heart. This can only be described as “vibrations”. I am entering sleep paralysis. It is the most intense feeling I have ever experienced. My foot twitches. I realize this twitch was accidental but not involuntary. Feeling rushes back to every limb, hours of work for nothing. I lay in bed feeling disappointed. I have failed, but I have come so close.