Thread: Attaining Sleep Paralysis Method (Not so difficult)

I can't give you much advice I'm afraid as I'm new to all this myself. However I had a not so dissimilar experience the other night after reading about WILD technique. I actually did Tarthang Tulkus meditation, visualizing a lotus flow with a flame at it's center in my throat, and then try to remain conscious as I drifted into sleep paralysis. This worked but I also had a bumpy ride as I then felt I couldn't breath, and then saw myself (my chest) struggling for breath and then saw myself sat on the edge of my bed again struggling for breath. At this point I started to panic so wanted to wake up. I'm very interested in this technique as my current dream world seems quite remote and despite the weirdness of my dreams I have no inkling that I'm dreaming.. having said that I've only been trying to develop this skill for a little while.

I find very few people having this crazy heart rate increase, and i know its not hallucinations. I woke up full of sweat and could still feel my heart rate beating fast. . . any help plz?

Although I can't seem to willfully drop myself into an LD out of sleep paralysis, I definitely can get settled into SP. The main thing about the heart racing - for me anyways - is to remember A) not to get excited, B) use your natural rhythm of breathing as a focus to calm down (like meditation), and C) try to get past the SP part by letting your eyes rest on hypnogogic images to get you into a dream. If I could do C) better, then I'd kick ass myself at LD'ing. This is just my personal take, plenty of people have other ideas for how to keep the panic down.

Originally Posted by bridgebuilder

Although I can't seem to willfully drop myself into an LD out of sleep paralysis, I definitely can get settled into SP. The main thing about the heart racing - for me anyways - is to remember A) not to get excited, B) use your natural rhythm of breathing as a focus to calm down (like meditation), and C) try to get past the SP part by letting your eyes rest on hypnogogic images to get you into a dream. If I could do C) better, then I'd kick ass myself at LD'ing. This is just my personal take, plenty of people have other ideas for how to keep the panic down.

Hi thanks for your reply,
Just a few questions though:
So you can't go from sp into a lucid dream? Then whats the point of the WILD Technique? Or have you just not mastered it yet? Can it really be that difficult?
Secondly, I didnt experience any hypnogogic images, my body just got overwhelmed with pins and needles and my heart rate was going crazy!, I didn't panic but I'm just worried cuz I was full of sweat and later got cold when everything settled down.
I could only see black, and then my eyes went out of control but i never resisted anything. . .
So what should i have done to have transition into a lucid dream?
Cheers!

SP is a freaky-weird experience. it sounds to me like something in your mind caused you to panic and your heart rate responded appropriately.

also, just because you were hearing your PC fan and crickets you are positive you were 100% awake? did you do a reality check?

and this isn't a new technique its more of a report of a FILD attempt, and FILD is actually a modified form of "phantom movement" that OOBEr's use.

Originally Posted by zhineTech

SP is a freaky-weird experience. it sounds to me like something in your mind caused you to panic and your heart rate responded appropriately.

also, just because you were hearing your PC fan and crickets you are positive you were 100% awake? did you do a reality check?

and this isn't a new technique its more of a report of a FILD attempt, and FILD is actually a modified form of "phantom movement" that OOBEr's use.

Lol no man, How can i do a reality check when im still going through the sleep paralysis phase? My mind was awake and body was busy going to sleep, and the FILD technique is used for LD to. Just search, I didn't know it was also used for Astral PRojection but the two are almost the same but I'm not interested in a debut over that now :p . I just need some expert advice on my experience please. . .

sorry i wasnt being clear. the point i was trying to make was if you were in SP and in REM as you described, you should do a reality check to make sure youre not dreaming, and not missing out on an LD. there are a bunch of non-movement RCs and mental work you can do to see if you are in an SP/Dream, such as light levels, sinking, "standing up" etc. From my experiences, mostly from waking up from LD's into SP, i would be hearing these sounds and think to myself "oh the rain outside sounds lovely" only to awaken and discover it was not raining, and the room indeed "sounded" much differently than i had just experienced. auditory hallucinations are very common in SP, and it seems you were in SP, so you were almost there!

and when i came to this thread via the title it seemed like you were saying you had an easier way to get into sleep paralysis, when in fact you sort of have a general question about WILDs, so i was kind of giving you a hard time about that. i was also making the point that the FILD technique is the same as or came from earlier esoteric practices, mostly because i just read it the other day and thought it was an interesting point, that the techniques we learn and share on here often come from older sources. i do consider OOBEs and lucid dreams basically pretty much the same.

the heart pounding is also an often cited side effect (which i have experienced, because i was freaked out by the falling sensation) and hallucination, everything i have read and practiced indicates being calm, fearless, and accepting as the solution.

my advice is not expert, but it is based on a lot of study and seeing these same types of accounts pop up in lots of literature. and it is well intentioned...

i would hate to get in a debut with you, heh.

Originally Posted by zhineTech

sorry i wasnt being clear. the point i was trying to make was if you were in SP and in REM as you described, you should do a reality check to make sure youre not dreaming, and not missing out on an LD. there are a bunch of non-movement RCs and mental work you can do to see if you are in an SP/Dream, such as light levels, sinking, "standing up" etc. From my experiences, mostly from waking up from LD's into SP, i would be hearing these sounds and think to myself "oh the rain outside sounds lovely" only to awaken and discover it was not raining, and the room indeed "sounded" much differently than i had just experienced. auditory hallucinations are very common in SP, and it seems you were in SP, so you were almost there!

and when i came to this thread via the title it seemed like you were saying you had an easier way to get into sleep paralysis, when in fact you sort of have a general question about WILDs, so i was kind of giving you a hard time about that. i was also making the point that the FILD technique is the same as or came from earlier esoteric practices, mostly because i just read it the other day and thought it was an interesting point, that the techniques we learn and share on here often come from older sources. i do consider OOBEs and lucid dreams basically pretty much the same.

the heart pounding is also an often cited side effect (which i have experienced, because i was freaked out by the falling sensation) and hallucination, everything i have read and practiced indicates being calm, fearless, and accepting as the solution.

my advice is not expert, but it is based on a lot of study and seeing these same types of accounts pop up in lots of literature. and it is well intentioned...

i would hate to get in a debut with you, heh.

Lol, ye sorry about the topic name, it may be abit deceiving
I actualy ment that the method i tried got me into sp very easily than anything else i've studied and also said that it might just be me.
But thanks for your reply, I would be continueing my journey to LD and facing sp tonight, im off cheers

I think plenty of folks do transition straight from SP to an LD - but i think my own problem is that I'm too far away from the proper REM cycles in terms of timing. I think that's why they suggest to wake up from sleep about 4-6 hours after going to bed, stay up for a bit, and THEN try to WILD. Your brain is in-between REMs at that point, which makes it a bit easier (maybe a lot!).
I think when they say 'hypnogogic images' they are talking about the lights/patterns/swirls/colors you see underneath your eyelids when you close your eyes.
I don't know about the sweating, though!
I wish I knew how, but I can't seem to figure out how to get past the SP part of things to drop straight in to an LD . . . . only had a few LDs ever that I can remember, and just started trying to recently. . . about 2 months. Let me know if you get something down that works! I'll do the same!

I tried to WILD for the first time a few nights ago. I lay completely still and focused on nothing but an image of a tiny flame flickering and repeating my mantra: "When I transition to sleep, I will be lucid." After a little while I felt my whole body get tingly/numb and my heart started racing like crazy. I kept my eyes closed, as I too am afraid of "seeing things". I felt like, during this phase when my heart was absolutely racing, I could wake up/move at any moment. Is this normal? Was I in SP or getting near it?

Originally Posted by jasonresno

I tried to WILD for the first time a few nights ago. I lay completely still and focused on nothing but an image of a tiny flame flickering and repeating my mantra: "When I transition to sleep, I will be lucid." After a little while I felt my whole body get tingly/numb and my heart started racing like crazy. I kept my eyes closed, as I too am afraid of "seeing things". I felt like, during this phase when my heart was absolutely racing, I could wake up/move at any moment. Is this normal? Was I in SP or getting near it?

I think that you are getting closer but not full sp yet, cuz i experience it exactly the same as you, and also tried it last nightagain , when my heart rate was raising again i just controlled my breathing abit more but then kinda lost it cuz i felt very uncomfortable in the position i was laying. I guess laying on your back is the most comfortable position when experiencing sp in my opinion, but i dont normaly sleep on my back. I will try again tonight on my back and just control my breathing to keep my heart rate steady. . .

This has happened to me before!!! Well, now I know I'm not the only one!

Best and most common way for me is to simply force my self awake. Unfortunately if you want to try and replicate it, something I haven't really done from my own decisions, it will probably involve timing the forced wake at a very specific moment throughout your sleep cycle (unknown to me), as well as having something like a nightmare or full lucidity to be able to actually trigger the need to be awake. Coincidentally this is also the perfect moment to try for OBEs, as if you attempt to sit up during these moments you get the sensation of moving forward while at the same time remaining totally paralyzed. I haven't pperfected it, it's totally random, but this is how it works for me.

Reindhart, this same exact thing has happened to me! Albeit without the whole heart rate thing, but I think I panicked the same way you did, dispelling it all. But word for word, while counting my breaths, I experienced the whole pins and needles creeping up through my body. It was the coolest thing that's ever happened to me that i can remember, but it pissed me off that I couldn't transition correctly. I hope you figure out a way to do it correctly man!