What to do next?

[LdObe]

Last night I was attempting to WILD using toshis method. After rolling over twice i felt like I couldn't "passively" observe my thoughts. So I switched to the method where you stay still and breathe in and count 1 breathe out and say I'm dreaming except I've heard that you can easily fall into an unconscious dream like that ski said in lucid dreaming. When I got to about 120 I think I felt partial paralysis because I felt a tingling/heaviness fall over my body, but a few seconds after that I either heard HH or actually heard my dad calling the dog or doing something with the dog downstairs and I payed attention to that accidentally payed to close attention to the noise and fell out of it. So my questions are was this partial or full paralysis and do you think I should integrate these two methods again or continue with only the counting. Also if you could give me any other advice that you could have for me after readin this long post. Thanks

[melanieb]

The tingling and heaviness are the first sensations you start to feel as your body relaxes towards a sleep state. It sounds unlikely that you entered full paralysis and I say this based on our description. When it occurs upon falling asleep, the person remains aware while the body shuts down for REM sleep, and it is called hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis. When it occurs upon awakening, the person becomes aware before the REM cycle is complete, and it is called hypnopompic or postdormital. The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes... The sleep paralysis is a phase you pass through on your way to awareness in a dream, though it is not a rule. Some people only experience mild symptoms or do not even notice it. If the counting felt like it was helping you stay aware as you enter sleep then by all means continue it. If you prefer a new method you can try mantras or something other than numbers. Counting primes might be interesting... The best advice I could give is to not lose faith and keep trying. A positive attitude works so well in achieving your goals, with lucid dreaming and all the things we want in life. Try the method for a few weeks and see how it goes while continuing to RC and record your dreams. Then if you wish try a new one. One or two attempts are never enough to properly evaluate how something works for your body. Happy dreaming!