Been trying FILD for about 5 days now?

Hello everyone. I've been using FILD to try to lucid dream for the past five days, but I've had no luck. I've followed multiple guides but they are typically the same. Wake up after sleeping for awhile, relax, move your fingers in a piano playing motion for a set amount of time, then perform a reality check. Waking up on my own isn't a problem as I tend to do this anyway, getting past the finger motion part is that gets me. I either A.) End up moving my fingers and fall asleep (I notice I nod off and my fingers slowly come to a halt), B.) Move my fingers and can't fall asleep (I've tried moving them a decent amount, hardly moving them at all, adding more or less pressure on the fingers, etc), but as I said I either fall asleep or stay up. The closest I've come is falling asleep and being in a dream but waking up shortly after (I didn't realize I was in a dream until I woke up). Although I experienced something strange yesterday. I can relax after going to sleep, still be conscious, but have this overwhelming feeling over my body. Sort of like a numbness, where I'm being pulled inwards. I was able to move and the numbness went away, so I know I wasn't in sleep paralysis. So am I doing something wrong? Is that numb state supposed to lead somewhere or?

That "numbness" feeling is completely normal. Numbness and tingling of your body parts are phenomenons that happen when you try to enter the relax state, that indeed directs you to Sleep paralysis. In other words, you were doing excellent and you had to go deeper into relaxation to achieve the dream state. You could try doing some Visualizations as well, cause that certainly helps ;-) Good Luck

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Originally Posted by rays112

That "numbness" feeling is completely normal. Numbness and tingling of your body parts are phenomenons that happen when you try to enter the relax state, that indeed directs you to Sleep paralysis. In other words, you were doing excellent and you had to go deeper into relaxation to achieve the dream state. You could try doing some Visualizations as well, cause that certainly helps ;-) Good Luck

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Thanks for the reply. I'm relieved to hear that I was doing something right although I don't know how I would go "deeper" into relaxation. If I moved my fingers, even subtly, it would break the numbness. If I didn't move I would fall asleep and not have the chance to do a reality check.

Update: I tried again and had the same results as last night; I remained motionless and had the overwhelming numbness/stiff feeling. This time I laid there for maybe 30 minutes or so but I couldn't sleep. If I try to sleep or don't focus on anything I become aware of my breathing, and have the control it manually (I don't know why I usually end of doing things like this), but if I focus on something, for instance visualizations as rays said, I become too preoccupied and can't sleep either. After about half an hour my alarm went off and I had to get up for work, although when I moved I felt incredibly relaxed, which could be a reward in its own, I don't know.

Well, techniques like FILD & WILD are a little hard to achieve at first, especially if you are a still a beginner, like me ... :cheeky: For some people it might work right away, while for some others it may require more practice and dedication. I'd suggest trying other techniques first, like DILD (which itself requires doing RC and dream journaling)
Honestly, I haven't had much luck with WILD and FILD either. Maybe some more experienced members could give some better advice. :)

Hi,

With techniques that are simply WILDs or are just basing on them you need to retain awareness while going throught process of falling asleep.
FILD might just not engage your mind enough to keep your awareness up.
Experimenting and altering a little FILD might prove userful:
- You can try putting more mental focus on FILDing
- Try doing FILD with both hands at once
- Adding another mental activity to the FILD (Repeating a mantra, counting, passivly observing breathing etc.)
Thought by doing those modifications we are heading onto standard WILDs Territory :>

Hmmm... Tingling and numbness aren't signs to SP, but signs to sleep. In order to do any WILD, you have to be able to go "in between" the wake and sleep states and phase into the dream(in one way or another). FILD is an anchor to help you achieve this, but an anchor that few have consistent success with. Odds are that you are going to have to find your own WilD anchor through trial and error. It will be exceedingly hard without prior experience in DILDing, since the easiest way to WILD is to reverse the feeling of waking up.

5 days is nothing in practicing LDing. Many with experience LD 5 times a month. If I am right in counting, you tried 5 times to WILD (1/night, I has good at math), I try to WILD about 5 times a night, and I WILD 2-3 times a week (2/35 or 3/35) and I am considerably experienced in this. So 0/5 for me happens quite often. I would recommend reading the "start here" part of the forum and getting a hospital base knowledge on the foundations of LDing, and approx how much time it takes to get good at.

The very first time I tried FILD it worked perfect. I ended up waking myself up pretty quick but used that method and went right back in. It hasn't worked for me since then

Thanks for the replies again. I am persistent in my practice so I tried again this morning. I woke up 50 minutes before I was originally supposed to, and attempted FILD again. With no results I kept my mind active while letting my body relax resulting in the same heavy compressed feeling. I feel like it would be sleep paralysis, except for the fact that I can move if I try hard enough. Small movements definitely show resistance, but if I try to jump out of bed (when my real alarm went off) I can do it easily. So what is it that I am experiencing? I've been reading up on WILD and I think the way my body has been acting may play a role in it. What do you think?

The thing we experience during WILDs is not a sleep paralysis atleast not the medical one.
It's REM Atonia.
REM Atonia mostly happens when we are already in dream (Sometimes we tend to experience it before dream starts and it tends to be more of distraction than userful thingy).
It prevents us somewhat from moving, thought you shouldn't check whether your in rem atonia or not by trying to move your body, because that will disrupt WILD, and to be honest with enough conscious effort we are able to move during rem atonia :cheeky:

During your WILD Attempts you shouldn't focus or look out for hypnagonic hallucinations, sensations, or paralysis.
Those things might happen and they might not,
I barely during my WILDs get any of those sensations,
I'm just lying in the bed and doing anchor job till somewhat i appear in dream.

Yet remember that there are three goals during basic wilds
- Fall Asleep
- Retain Awareness
- Keep your body motionless to not alert 'falling asleep process' that your still awake

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Originally Posted by MisakaMikoto

The thing we experience during WILDs is not a sleep paralysis atleast not the medical one.
It's REM Atonia.
REM Atonia mostly happens when we are already in dream (Sometimes we tend to experience it before dream starts and it tends to be more of distraction than userful thingy).
It prevents us somewhat from moving, thought you shouldn't check whether your in rem atonia or not by trying to move your body, because that will disrupt WILD, and to be honest with enough conscious effort we are able to move during rem atonia :cheeky:

During your WILD Attempts you shouldn't focus or look out for hypnagonic hallucinations, sensations, or paralysis.
Those things might happen and they might not,
I barely during my WILDs get any of those sensations,
I'm just lying in the bed and doing anchor job till somewhat i appear in dream.

Yet remember that there are three goals during basic wilds
- Fall Asleep
- Retain Awareness
- Keep your body motionless to not alert 'falling asleep process' that your still awake

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Alright, that sounds about right. So I should try to fall asleep, but be aware at the same time as well? How is that possible? You mentioned an anchor, so I'm curious as to what you use. I have an air conditioner on the side of me while I sleep. Should I use the ambient noise as an anchor or? The motionless part shouldn't be a problem. I managed to stay motionless for almost an hour haha.

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Originally Posted by PersonGuy746

Alright, that sounds about right. So I should try to fall asleep, but be aware at the same time as well? How is that possible? You mentioned an anchor, so I'm curious as to what you use. I have an air conditioner on the side of me while I sleep. Should I use the ambient noise as an anchor or? The motionless part shouldn't be a problem. I managed to stay motionless for almost an hour haha.

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Anchor is something that keeps your consciousness up as your body falls asleep.
Thought it requires a specific balance

Anchor should be not too light and not too mind engaging
If it's too light then you might fall asleep unconsciously
If it's too mind engaging then it will either make you fall asleep slower or result in total unability to sleep.

My anchor might not work for other people since WILDing is unfortunely personal as heck (In most cases) :shakehead2:

So here goes my tech:
1. Wake up after five - eight hours of sleep
* BEST WOULD BE NATURAL AWAKENING. YET I'M KEEPING ALARM TURNED ON AS A EMERGENCY *
2. After waking up i switch my position to lying on back (Since it seems like i'm unable to sleep on my back. So any uncomfortable position should do the job here. I guess?) and i keep lying on my back motionlessly like that till my mind starts to wander (Aka thoughts are start to flow on it's own *SIGN OF BODY FALLING ASLEEP?*) or till around five minutes pass.
3. I roll over carefully to my standard sleeping position (On my side)
4. I'm starting to count like this repeatedly 0.1.2.0.1.2.0.1.2.0.1.2 (I don't count slowly. I count fast.l) while putting quite lots n' lots of focus on counting. Maybe even my whole mental focus. I ain't sure. Time will show the more data about the tech.
The counting i use is as effective as mantra. Since classic counting anchor includes way higher numbers (10, 15 ,30 ,60 etc.) :-P

I suggest reading this thread. It is probably one of best WILD related ones :D :
http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...ild-guide.html
Thought you shouldn't follow too directly (If something won't work experimenting might result in good stuff)
I myself spent way too much time trying to follow directly the guides
Example:

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Originally Posted by Mzzkc

Mental Anchors are ideally dealt with in the same manner. Common Mental Anchors such as counting, breath tracking, and mantras should be reduced to auxiliary mental processes that work solely in the background of your mind. Visualization, too, should occur with little involvement from your end. The only time you should be actively directing the Mental Anchor is when you're setting it up.

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I was following those words that told me to keep mental activity on anchor low. And this resulted in me most of time falling asleep
Around a week ago i've decided to spice the technique up and add my two cents in. So instead of keeping focus on anchor low i went near maximum of focus and it resulted so far with more than 50% ending successfully (By successful i mean transitioning into dream consciously mostly) :D

So i guess you shouldn't take this line of tutorial too directly.
Otherwise imo this tutorial is awesome :cheeky:

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Originally Posted by MisakaMikoto

Anchor is something that keeps your consciousness up as your body falls asleep.
Thought it requires a specific balance

Anchor should be not too light and not too mind engaging
If it's too light then you might fall asleep unconsciously
If it's too mind engaging then it will either make you fall asleep slower or result in total unability to sleep.

My anchor might not work for other people since WILDing is unfortunely personal as heck (In most cases) :shakehead2:

So here goes my tech:
1. Wake up after five - eight hours of sleep
* BEST WOULD BE NATURAL AWAKENING. YET I'M KEEPING ALARM TURNED ON AS A EMERGENCY *
2. After waking up i switch my position to lying on back (Since it seems like i'm unable to sleep on my back. So any uncomfortable position should do the job here. I guess?) and i keep lying on my back motionlessly like that till my mind starts to wander (Aka thoughts are start to flow on it's own *SIGN OF BODY FALLING ASLEEP?*) or till around five minutes pass.
3. I roll over carefully to my standard sleeping position (On my side)
4. I'm starting to count like this repeatedly 0.1.2.0.1.2.0.1.2.0.1.2 (I don't count slowly. I count fast.l) while putting quite lots n' lots of focus on counting. Maybe even my whole mental focus. I ain't sure. Time will show the more data about the tech.
The counting i use is as effective as mantra. Since classic counting anchor includes way higher numbers (10, 15 ,30 ,60 etc.) :-P

I suggest reading this thread. It is probably one of best WILD related ones :D :
http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...ild-guide.html
Thought you shouldn't follow too directly (If something won't work experimenting might result in good stuff)
I myself spent way too much time trying to follow directly the guides
Example:

I was following those words that told me to keep mental activity on anchor low. And this resulted in me most of time falling asleep
Around a week ago i've decided to spice the technique up and add my two cents in. So instead of keeping focus on anchor low i went near maximum of focus and it resulted so far with more than 50% ending successfully (By successful i mean transitioning into dream consciously mostly) :D

So i guess you shouldn't take this line of tutorial too directly.
Otherwise imo this tutorial is awesome :cheeky:

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I tried everything that people have shared and I seem to have gotten a little farther in my progress. Before I would stay still and be in the REM Atonia phase you talked about, but after that nothing would happen. But now while I'm in the phase I seem to get a feeling starting from the bottom of my chest, and it works its way up rapidly. If I were to describe it then it would probably be a fuzzy feeling of some sort. Afterwards my body felt really weightless and I thought I was floating upwards. I stayed calm and continued to use an anchor, but the feeling faded and it repeated probably 10+ times. Should I be doing something differently when that happens? I'm guessing it was some sort of transition.

Normally your anchor isn't going to be a feeling in your body. Don't think about your body. Falling asleep is forgetting your body and surroundings, so paying close attention to your body will generally keep you up.

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Originally Posted by Sensei

Normally your anchor isn't going to be a feeling in your body. Don't think about your body. Falling asleep is forgetting your body and surroundings, so paying close attention to your body will generally keep you up.

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Agreed Definitely,
During some of my WILD attempts i've gotten so focused on anchor that i forgot about my real body and even stopped sensing it, till not a long time passed and i've entered a dream consciously :-P

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Originally Posted by MisakaMikoto

Agreed Definitely,
During some of my WILD attempts i've gotten so focused on anchor that i forgot about my real body and even stopped sensing it, till not a long time passed and i've entered a dream consciously :-P

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Ok, I've tried WILD a few times and almost succeeded (woke up from HI) and I've read a lot about it but I don't know what an anchor is. Can anyone explain this to me please?

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Originally Posted by Tmako

Ok, I've tried WILD a few times and almost succeeded (woke up from HI) and I've read a lot about it but I don't know what an anchor is. Can anyone explain this to me please?

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BillyBob explained what it is in quite short yet informative manner

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Originally Posted by BillyBob

The anchor is something you passively "keep track of" as you let your mind more or less wander. It is the tether that holds your prefrontal cortex just functioning as you drift into the dreamworld.

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It can be counting, it can be focusing on sounds of fan, observing your breathing or tricky a visualization ;-)
Thought there are few things about anchors to be known:
- They need to keep you in so called perfect balance
Anchor shouldn't be too light or you won't fall asleep
Anchor shouldn't be too powerful or it might make you fall asleep longer or in the worst case not fall asleep at all.

Unfortunely WILD Technique is very personal so for everybody different thing might work
Experimenting and writing down notes of progressing or successful attempts are the key if you ask me.

If anchor makes you fall asleep then spice it up (Add more stuff that will keep your mind active to it, if it were focusing on breathing you might add to it repeating mantra while focusing on breathing)
If anchor keeps you awake too long or stops you absolutely from entering a dream then lighten it up a little (If you were counting up to 300 try maybe 60 or even 30.)

Your first WILD Attempts will be probably slight hit n' miss since you will be experimenting with various anchors be them either from forums or your own that you've come up with. After you've found one that worked for you you might consider to make detailed notes of successful attempt incase of forgetting important stuff that might've been critical during the attempt.

And now Goodluck :goodjob2: