Sleep disorders and lucid dreaming?

Hey guys/girls,

I have a lot of trouble sleeping.. And I mean a lot. I've been laying here for 3 hours already trying to sleep, even did a 40 minute guided lucid meditation where my body felt completely numb. I want to lucid dream very badly, but I think my inability to sleep could be affecting this.. What do you think?

I do have dreams once I get to sleep, but they are very fuzzy and not clear at all. I can remember them, but I remember them as very unclear.

I believe my inabity to sleep comes from anxiety. My mind just won't shut off! I'll start playing songs in my head or thinking about posting this very post, talk to myself ect..

Anyone know what I can do? It affects WILD's, not sure about DILD's yet.

you are trying WILD first thing going to sleep? thats a problem right there, doing that is incredibly difficult to begin with.
I also have too many thoughts and it takes me a few hours sometimes to fall asleep, so what I do is fake that I am already dreaming and play out scenarios in my head, that makes me fall asleep faster at least? You could try that.

Also don't think of it as affecting, or it will only build up on the anxiety and have a negative effect, think of it as a way to keep your mind "awake" for longer, in order to increase DILD chances naturally.

I had the same problem, severe insomnia to the point where it wasn't even worth it trying to sleep normally. I think that some of us just aren't biologically wired to sleep like the rest of the population. If you can, try sleeping biphasically. Instead of trying to sleep in one chunk, cut your cycle in half. Sleep ~3 or 4 hours at night and 2-3 in the day. For me, not only did it eliminate insomnia, but my dream recall and lucidity shot up immediately. There are also some other polyphasic sleep cycles you could try, but biphasic feels the most natural. Also, WILDing in the beginning of the night usually doesn't work. I'd like to hear your opinion on whether or not switching to biphasic helps you or not!

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Originally Posted by Hukif

you are trying WILD first thing going to sleep? thats a problem right there, doing that is incredibly difficult to begin with.
I also have too many thoughts and it takes me a few hours sometimes to fall asleep, so what I do is fake that I am already dreaming and play out scenarios in my head, that makes me fall asleep faster at least? You could try that.

Also don't think of it as affecting, or it will only build up on the anxiety and have a negative effect, think of it as a way to keep your mind "awake" for longer, in order to increase DILD chances naturally.

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Not trying it first thing, I usually go to bed at 10 and hope to be asleep by 12 so that I can wake up at 5 and perform a WILD, but my insomnia affects it in the way that I don't get to sleep until 3 am so my REM state is even further away :/

So you're saying use that time to do more chants? (Ex. I am dreaming, the next time I am dreaming I will realize that I am dreaming, I am a lucid dreamer, my next dream will be a lucid dream, is this a dream)

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Originally Posted by Queen Zukin

I had the same problem, severe insomnia to the point where it wasn't even worth it trying to sleep normally. I think that some of us just aren't biologically wired to sleep like the rest of the population. If you can, try sleeping biphasically. Instead of trying to sleep in one chunk, cut your cycle in half. Sleep ~3 or 4 hours at night and 2-3 in the day. For me, not only did it eliminate insomnia, but my dream recall and lucidity shot up immediately. There are also some other polyphasic sleep cycles you could try, but biphasic feels the most natural. Also, WILDing in the beginning of the night usually doesn't work. I'd like to hear your opinion on whether or not switching to biphasic helps you or not!

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Well unfortunately I'm going on a backpacking trip throughout the entire appalachian trail starting in two weeks, so for 6 months I'll have to hike all day and get as much sleep as I can all night. I'm hoping that I'll be so exhausted I can fall asleep. That does sound like something that could work for me, although wouldn't that not be enough time to reach REM?

Oh no, no chanting at all. Just playing a scenario of something you would like to do as if you were already asleep. Imagine yourself flying to outerspace and landing on mars or swimming to the bottom of a lake and playing with fish, I don't know? Interesting about the byphasic sleep though.

Focus on treating your insomnia first, then lucid dreaming. You can continue to try lucid dreaming, but it should just be an added bonus to improving your overall sleep. Polyphasic is interesting, but I don't think it's the thing to try first.

Start with "sleep hygiene," which is a big topic that includes your sleep environment, what you eat, your daily routine, and so on. Sometimes we ignore obvious problems (like, say, drinking caffeine in the evening) because they are so routine we don't even think of them. One major point of sleep hygiene is: if you can't fall asleep, don't stay in bed for hours. It just develops a bad habit of associating your bed with not sleeping. If you can't sleep, get up and do something else away from bed, like reading or journaling. Only when you are very sleepy should you get in bed.

Then identify the cause of your insomnia. If you suspect it is anxiety, I think the best relief is to write in a private journal. Get the troubling/repetitive thoughts out on paper (or website or app, I use penzu.com). For more ways to treat anxiety, you can look at meditation, breathing exercises, physical exercise, or spiritual practices.