Trouble with falling back asleep after WBTB.

[TuroAzai]

So I have it set up to where I've been using a mantra to wake myself up from every other dream per night. Well, a few times I've had issues with waking up after the dream, and not being able to fall back asleep afterwards. I think the problem is that a lot of thoughts flow into my brain as I wake up, because I'm usually the kind of person that once they're awake, they can't go back to sleep. Are there any tips or tricks anyone could share to where I could fall asleep easily afterwards? Much appreciated!

[gab]

I fixed your title from "DEILD" to "WBTB". I don't really have a solution to your problem, sorry. Few things I would maybe try: 1. make the WBTB little longer, fill my head with LDing related thoughts and then WILD 2. change my mantra, so I don't wake up after every dream, but rather I remember them in the morning. This will give you less dreams that you will remember, but you will be able to sleep better. 3. when you wake up from a dream, and even before you go to bed, tell yourself, that you are not going to wake up too much after a dream. Just enough to write down a few keywords.

[CTX]

Hey man! I understand you so much!! I used to fail my 1st wbtb like this. I know the feeling when you do wbtb then wake up but it feels like you would wake up after a 9h sleep. I fixed this by making the time of being awake shorter. I usually only stay up for 5 minutes and the other 5 mins I lie in my bed wating to fall asleep. So i suggest shortening the time of being awake. It helped at me and i had a succesfull lucid dream!

[StephL]

Soo - do you try to WILD after WBTB? I have an idea for my next try - didn't yet succeed - but I kept trying on my back - and that is not how I sleep. So now next time - I plan to try it on my stomach. Just a thought - maybe you also use another than your usual sleep-position? I had one DEILD two days ago - and it came from lying usually - also started with optics of a "ground" towards which I was facing.

[Sageous]

TuroAzai, you could perhaps try not doing a WBTB (or DEILD, for that matter), after every dream. Consider instead reserving your effort to LD for one period, preferably very late in your sleep cycle (after 5-6 hrs). That way things are a lot less complex, and you might have a better time clearing your mind, preparing yourself to dream, and, of course, fall asleep.

[Darkswerk]

I have the same problem and I was able to fix it and I am horrible at going back to sleep. Here are things that I found worked for me - Try doing meditation if you can't fall back asleep right away. I would put relaxing music on and try to clear out my thoughts and eventually would drift off - Wake up with less sleep. I know my body and if I try to do a WBTB with 6 hours of sleep it just won't happen - Patience is key, once you master relaxing your body and mind you will be able to fall asleep faster and faster. If get frustrated because you can't sleep shake that feeling off and try to go back to being relaxed and don't give up - If you still can't fall asleep and its been quite some time 30-60 minutes then just don't stress over it and read a book till youre tired or start your day and try again next time

[FryingMan]

As Darkswerk noted, don't stress over the not sleeping, as that's a guarantee of not falling asleep. I've had an on-again, off-again getting back to sleep battle with lucid dream practice. For me, too, the 5-6th hour waking is also the challenging one. It takes some discipline: you need not to *try* to sleep, but rather to simply to sink deeper and deeper into relaxation in both mind and body. It takes practice, and I'm not always "in the mood" for doing it since sometimes it's more pleasant to just let the thoughts run as they want. Also make sure you release all tension in mind and body, repeatedly. If your body needs more sleep, and you keep your mind and body quiet (don't toss and turn alot, staying still also helps), you will sleep. Getting regular exercise is helpful in making sure your body needs more sleep. Also keeping a regular sleep schedule.