WILD's: How do you hold onto and expand the images?

[irishcream]

Okay, i've just tried WILD'ing again, thinking that if i do it in the middle of the day i would be less likely to fall asleep. (i keep trying it at night, and nodding off into the regular dream) It has been working really well, i close my eyes, get really, really relaxed, and then the images start to come. I largely ignore them, until i find one i like, or in this case, one that i needed to work with. My problem is that as soon as i start to concentrate on the image, it destabilizes. I've tried turning my mind away from it, and going back to it, but that doesn't seem to work. Any tips?

[simpsin]

sorry, no, but same thing happened to me if it makes u feel better

[Shlumpeet]

I've found that its better to let them come and go...WILDs don't slowely form for me, I enter the dream immediatly.

[Tazeron]

Random Question: While WILD do you close your eyes or keep them open....no where have i seen that specification.

[Lucky27]

I think you're supposed to keep your eyes closed. But it is hard to keep them shut sometimes when your body falls alseep and your eyes start moving around. I hate it when you're so close, but then you open your eyes on accident, and you have to start over again.

[dreamboat]

Regarding this...........I often see images of people...........How the hell am I supposed to interact with them. Well.............they wave and smile and seem very polite then just fade away. If these are reflections of me...........well I can't be that bad after all. But could they be external ??.

[spydrswebb]

Regarding Lucky, I found that when I was really close (SP and noises had already started) that opening my eyes just made me feel really insane, like this HUGE rush throughout my body ( Im thinking it was the SP getting stronger). Im not to sure yet. I also found out that concentrating on the images is not a good thing to do, rather let em come and go.

[Number 6]

Spydrswebb, When I become lucid, I always get an adrenaline rush. The rush was the strongest the first time I became lucid and I felt it throughout my entire body. Now it's more like a chill or shiver in my shoulders and arms but I know when it happens that I'm lucid. Other people have reported getting a rush but I'm not sure how common it is. Maybe your WILD succeeded but you didn't know it... what happened after the rush? Did you wake up? When I first started having WILD's, I would get the rush and then think I was just lying in bed awake. When I would try to get up, it felt odd and I realized that I was in an OBE. BTW, I have never experienced SP, noises, vibrations, etc. As far as I know, my eyes are always closed. I just go back to bed, relax as much as possible, use "pot shaped" breathing, and the counting method. The imagery, either real images or just colors, begins very quickly and increases to a climax or threshold at which point, I either become lucid or wide awake. Sometimes I become a part of the imagery...One time when I was at my "threshold", I saw a NASA type rocket taking off and in an instant, I was on it. Another time, I rudely reached out and grabbed someone who pulled me out of my body. Sometimes, I just know I'm lucid and get up by myself. As you said, it's best not to focus on imagery...you have to view the images with a certain amount of detachment....yet I also was successful when I grabbed that dream character!? It's difficult to explain. Next time you feel a rush and are still in bed, try to get up...you might be in for a surprise. 6

[spydrswebb]

Next time you feel a rush and are still in bed, try to get up...you might be in for a surprise.[/b] Next Time I feel it, I will... But, did u get the adreniline rush when you opened your eyes? Where you already dreaming? I opened my eyeys, everything was blurry (I have horrible vision), and THATS when I felt the huge rush. I didnt keep my eyes open long enough to end the rush. The rush would always end when I closed my eyes. Also, I didn't wake up, I just remeber beeing in the SP andf HS stage with my eyes closed(Transistion I think it is). I didn't see any HI so I was thinking that I was doing something wrong. (You said this all all you see, I think we have different ways of becoming lucid) Maybe I was in the dream, maybe I wasn't, but I'll have to wait till next time to find out. ( One reason I thought I was awake is the fact that i have a fan in my room, and at no point did I hear it break away or anything, it was contuassly making noise). Is what your telling me is to open my eyes, keep em open, and once the rush ends to try and get up. I will try this yet it would suck if I got that far in a WILD and would have to start over

[Number 6]

I think my real eyes are always closed during a WILD. I don't ever remember opening them. I would keep them closed as your "dream vision" is probably perfect. Do you think you were awake or dreaming when you were opening and closing your eyes? If you think you are dreaming and you can't see, try telling yourself to "open your dream eyes." If you are awake, keep them closed. The rush happens when I realize that I'm dreaming whenever and wherever that might be. So you were in sleep paralysis and couldn't move? It sounds like you were just leaving the relaxation stage and entering the transition stage. This is the most difficult step and also probably the hardest to describe. This is when you might feel and hear strange things, vibrations, etc. You might also see Hypnagogic Imagery at this time. I've never felt or heard anything strange but I always see HI. It's either colors that sweep across my vision(with my eyes closed) or mini dreams and visions, or both. I would say that I see colors more often and they increase in intensity until I see the same reddish color all over..this is my threshold/point of transition that I mentioned before. At this point, these are the things that might happen for me: 1. I look at the HI but nothing happens and then I wake up wide eyed and have to start all over again. Get used to it, because it happens more often than not for most people. 2. I look at the HI and do something with my eyes, like crossing them slightly. I have become lucid doing that once or twice. I was probably thinking about Carlos Castaneda. 3. I have a false awakening.... I don't remember the transition at all...One second I'm awake and counting, the next second, I'm in my bed knowing that I'm dreaming and lucid. I do a reality check to confirm. It's time for an OBE! 4. I will see some mini dreams or visions and somehow hook on to one of them and become a part of that dream or vision. This is the hardest part to do and explain...you have to look at the imagery but with "detachment", with interest but not too much interest...See what I mean? I've done it many times but can't really say how! Like your fan, I always sleep with my air conditioner on. I can sometimes hear it in my lucid dreams although I don't know if it's the real sound or dream sound. I use the a/c as a reality test. When I'm dreaming and lucid, it usually starts to make funny sounds...like it's going to break. It also has multi colored flashing lights on it in my LD's. If it sounds normal and has no lights on it, I'm probably awake. FYI, The part about my HI increasing in intensity to a reddish color and my lucid rush is just my own method and way of describing it. I've never heard anyone else describe it like that so don't take it as the way everyone does it.. The rest of it , however, is pretty much the same as Seeker describes in his tutorial on WILD's. If you haven't read it, read it now. It's the most user friendly guide to WILD's that I've seen. Keep trying, it sounds like you're pounding on the door! 6

[spydrswebb]

Yeah I know Im stilll awake, cause i tried was u said last night. I opened my eyes i felt eh rush, I did a RC, and I was still awake, So i guees I need to just wait longer. And yes, my dream version is perfect, I am never wearing my glasses or contacts in any dreams. In regards to HI, all I saw yesterday night was the colors. And the many times I have tried that is all I've seen. In regards to your things that can happen 1. That has practically happened to me every time. 2. When I cross my eyes, I feel the rush, maybe if I keep them crossed I'm entering the dream? 3. Never happened to me, whever I think I'm awake I try the RC, failed every time. 4. I understand what your saying, but this is the idea I've got in my head. You hook on and all of a sudden it turns from your image into a very clear thing, just at the like snap of a fingers. Is that what your trying to say? My fan has always sounded normal. I've read it numerious times lol, and I didnt see anything about the rush. Maybe we have something in common there. I have gotten so far like 3 night in a row and i feel liek im getting closer and closer every night. Hopefully Soon!

[djv]

My tip, like some others have suggested, is to not try to concentrate too hard on the HI. For me, I use the HI to lull me towards sleep. If you focus too hard on the HI then they'll put you to sleep (that's their job anyway). I use HI in the beginning for the reason above, but when I feel like I'm losing consiousness I try not to focus on them so much and maintain conciousness by telling myself to relax or repeating things in my head like "I'm about to enter a dream." Then I try to concentrate more on how my body feels than on what I see. At this point I get some clues before vibrations and SP kick in - my mouth suddenly feeling like it has turned to a frown and/ or my whole body feeling like the muscles instantly changed in some way (paralyzed, but not quite). It's hard to describe, but it usually feels like my body has sunk an inch or two into the bed. After this the vibrations usually kick in. When I feel vibrations and then my body is paralyzed I either get up or sink into my bed (figuratively in both cases, of course) and voila, I'm in an LD. For me it was a gradual progression to this point. It was maybe 3 weeks from first WILD attempt to successful, but each night (or after every few nights) I got a bit farther in the process.

[djv]

sry, double post

[Number 6]

You hook on and all of a sudden it turns from your image into a very clear thing, just at the like snap of a fingers. *Is that what your trying to say?[/b] Yep, that's the way it is for me. Colors are considered HI...sometimes that's all I see myself. Try to visualize a scene the next time you see colors....that might help you see some images. Before I started lucid dreaming, I used to have very quick, visual images shortly after I got into bed. Most of the time, a dream character would throw something at me, like a baseball, and it would be coming right at my head...I would then flinch violently and wake up! That hasn't happened for a long time, though.

[spydrswebb]

hey, thanks for all the tips... hopefully soon.

[ColtEtish]

I also enter the dream almost immedietely, it's just like "hey my eyes are closed I can see a bit of an outline..." *BAM* I am buzzing, hearing noises, my room appears, then i start to wave my hands around to get into it, and I stand up and usually fly through my roof

[Number 6]

ColtEtish, I usually leap through my bedroom window and land in my yard. Not many people seem to use doors in lucid dreams! 6