Troubles with WBTB

[Quietus]

Every morning i set my alarm for 7 and get up for about 5 mins (get a drink, go to the toilet etc). When going back to bed to practice WILD and MILD i find it almost impossible to focus. I can barely count to 5 without my mind wandering. But its not like a sleepy wandering, it's as if my mind is on overload. Do i need to stay up longer? I also find it really hard to go back to sleep on my back, my eyes feel really strained as if they are being forced back open. I honestly don't know why this is because i can sleep on my back normally when i go to be at night. Any thoughts? Cheers guys

[Kastro187420]

I've heard that the most important thing for things like WILD/MILD is being comfortable enough that your body can fall asleep. This doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be on your back. I've heard from many people that it can be done on your side aswell, so long as your comfortable. A wandering mind... I have that same problem. I tend to let my mind wander, but deliberately interrupt it every so often to remind myself of my intent. It's worked in the past for me. These days I typically just DILD, but when I do wake up in the middle of the night/morning, I do practice WILD/MILD aswell. I've had a couple successful WILDs, but I have that problem you do where my mind tends to kick into overdrive.

[Quietus]

Thanks for the reply! =] I usually sleep on my side, but i've had the best results when trying to WILD on my back (if you can consider them best, since I've yet to actually WILD xD haha). I'll try on my side tomorrow. And i'll also try letting my mind wander. Though am i right in thinking MILD usually only works if your mantra is the last think you think before you fall sleep?

[gab]

As Kastro says ^ Yes, you can WILD on your side, if that's how you normaly sleep. You should be comfortable. If you practice MILD during daytime, then your mantra being last thought before falling asleep is a big bonus, but it's not a deal breaker, you can still get DILDs without it. As to quieting your mind - you may have hard time falling asleep or keep your thoughts at bay, because you do WBTB close to your normal waking time, so you are not sleepy anymore? If my mind wanders like crazy, I either repeat my mantra "I'm dreaming" to keep the thoughts at bay, or just let it wander untill it quiets down. I pretend like I don't care and try to go to sleep normally, and then when it slows down, I start with mantras and I pay attention to the images behing eyelids. If you have lots of thoughts even when saying your mantra, every time you notice that, just gently go back to mantra. And you can experiment with how long you stay up for WBTB. But if you are not sleepy at 7, you can try getting up earlier. Best is at multiples of 90min after 4.5 hrs of sleep, so after 4.5, 6, 7.5 hrs. of sleep.

[Robot_Butler]

Maybe it would be easier if you are more tired. Like Gab mentioned, try moving your WBTB to earlier in the night. If you want to tackle the problem in a more active way, you could practice clearing your mind and silencing your thoughts. There are all sorts of meditations you can practice any time throughout the day to help you learn to calm and silence your mind. Don't let this frustrate you too much. What you are describing is characteristic of the early stages of sleep. You may just be remaining aware through some NREM dreams. You are lucid dreaming, only during the wrong kind of dreams. Either wait it out patiently, or change the timing of your WILD to be closer to a REM cycle.