.::[NEWBIE]::. Lucid Help And Some Questions.

[ronjackson2]

Hey guys,i heard about lucidity from my friends,googled it and came to the forums. So,i read all the techniques and what not,and i kinda tried WILD today. First something about me.. Im 17 Kinda Mild Sleeper. I rarely have dreams or maybe i am just not aware about it.so,i rather tried wild than dild. I'm totally new at this. So, i kinda tried WILD this afternoon,did the procedure,counted and whatnot. At a point i felt my body swinging and swaying and rolling,n i felt a little uncomfortable and had a light headache n i gave up for the moment. ( is that normal or just me ?!) I'm also afraid of sleep paralysis, heard you see ghost and stuff lol,n ppl are like' scariest shit ever', i never experienced it ...n im kinda afraid lol cause theres a picture of scarly lookin lady,always popping out in my mind. So, i need some basic help. Thanks !!

[virusje]

I have no experience with the WILD technique. But the first things you should do is: start a dream journal and write down every bit you can remember when you wake up, even if it's just 2 words, write it down. This will improve your dream recall! Second is start doing reality checks trough out the day. I have a question for you, are you dreaming right now? You will say no of course not, but how can you be so sure? The dream is so ''realistic'' that you would say: of course I'm not dreaming, but you are dreaming, and a reality check can prove this to you. I count my fingers to check if I'm dreaming, but there are many more rc's. If you have vacation right now, no school/work? You can sleep longer in the morning, for me it's the best moment to lucid dream. You wake up, keep repeating something like: when I dream I know I'm dreaming. You can do this multiple times, waking up and going back to sleep. (WBTB method) For me this works best, but everyone is different and has different techniques. Don't be afraid of ghosts and stuff, it's just a dream. Actually don't be afraid ever also in real life, because it's just a dream!

[ronjackson2]

I have no experience with the WILD technique. But the first things you should do is: start a dream journal and write down every bit you can remember when you wake up, even if it's just 2 words, write it down. This will improve your dream recall! Second is start doing reality checks trough out the day. I have a question for you, are you dreaming right now? You will say no of course not, but how can you be so sure? The dream is so ''realistic'' that you would say: of course I'm not dreaming, but you are dreaming, and a reality check can prove this to you. I count my fingers to check if I'm dreaming, but there are many more rc's. If you have vacation right now, no school/work? You can sleep longer in the morning, for me it's the best moment to lucid dream. You wake up, keep repeating something like: when I dream I know I'm dreaming. You can do this multiple times, waking up and going back to sleep. (WBTB method) For me this works best, but everyone is different and has different techniques. Don't be afraid of ghosts and stuff, it's just a dream. Actually don't be afraid ever also in real life, because it's just a dream! Hehe,thanks for the help ! I kinda live in a soundly environment,so i try to WILD, and as i said most of the time i don't know when I'm dreaming..Though,last night i think i just remember a scene from my class room,thats it nothing more. I kinda feel hard to see if its a dream or not,cause most of the time i'm not aware of it,n sometimes i'm just kinda'dream-less' or it seemed like it. So , i go for the WILD. And as i said,while performing WILD "At a point i felt my body swinging and swaying and rolling,n i felt a little uncomfortable and had a light headache n i gave up for the moment. ( is that normal or just me ?!)" Guess i might need a WILD expert to sort that out :3 Anyways,thanks ! !!

[ThreeCat]

Hi ronjackson, welcome to DV! Couple of things: The swinging and rolling sensation was either an approaching transition, or you were in the middle of a transition and just chose to give up. For the most part, if you can hang in there, you will enter a dream after all of that, as the transition means you are falling asleep. The dream will either form around you, or you might have the sensation of your "body" leaving the room and going to the dream. Either way, same result For the first night of practice, that's pretty good! You also dream every night, regardless of whether or not you are remembering them. Like Virusje said, building dream recall via journaling and daily mindfulness is a very important skill to cultivate. There are many tutorials and threads on this forum that can assist you here. It is highly possible to be lucid and never remember it, simply because the brain is not accustomed to recalling and storing dream memories. I would build dream recall as quickly as possible. As for sleep paralysis, you probably will not experience it right away (and you might not experience it ever). I forward you to DV's explanation of SP: http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...explained.html. The important thing to remember is that nothing that appears in a dream can cause you physical harm. They are projections of your own mind, and in essence are parts of you--stray thoughts, expectations, fears, etc. In dreams they can manifest in forms that are frightening, but the more positive you are, the more aware you are of the illusory nature of the dream, the less frightening these manifestations will be. If you want Sageous's opinion, I will also link you to his thread. He is our resident WILD instructor http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/13309...-bad-here.html Good luck, and let us know how things go!

[ronjackson2]

Hi ronjackson, welcome to DV! Couple of things: The swinging and rolling sensation was either an approaching transition, or you were in the middle of a transition and just chose to give up. For the most part, if you can hang in there, you will enter a dream after all of that, as the transition means you are falling asleep. The dream will either form around you, or you might have the sensation of your "body" leaving the room and going to the dream. Either way, same result For the first night of practice, that's pretty good! You also dream every night, regardless of whether or not you are remembering them. Like Virusje said, building dream recall via journaling and daily mindfulness is a very important skill to cultivate. There are many tutorials and threads on this forum that can assist you here. It is highly possible to be lucid and never remember it, simply because the brain is not accustomed to recalling and storing dream memories. I would build dream recall as quickly as possible. As for sleep paralysis, you probably will not experience it right away (and you might not experience it ever). I forward you to DV's explanation of S. The important thing to remember is that nothing that appears in a dream can cause you physical harm. They are projections of your own mind, and in essence are parts of you--stray thoughts, expectations, fears, etc. In dreams they can manifest in forms that are frightening, but the more positive you are, the more aware you are of the illusory nature of the dream, the less frightening these manifestations will be. If you want Sageous's opinion, I will also link you to his thread. He is our resident WILD instructor Good luck, and let us know how things go! Hey,firstly ,thanks a lot,you've truly been comforting. Also,thanks for the efforts you've taken and the links mentioned by you are truly amazing. But as i was reading in real SP stories given in the link, some of them said they had their eyes'open', And the figure or demon or whatever actually came to them in reality or they saw their spirit floating in air above them ( or thats what i could make out from it).Aaaaannnd,that kinda what freaks me out lol. Hehe,sorry if im kinda dumb on this,but hey i'm new, I'm supposed to be dumb lol! EDIT: removed the links in the quote box,didn't have appropriate permission. Anyways,thanks! Appriciated!

[FryingMan]

Hi ronjackson2. WILD sure sounds great, right? "Lucid dreams at your fingertips! Not 'random' like DILDs!" Balderdash, I (and most) say. Beginners are well advised to follow a DILD program to get started, and start experimenting with WILD once you have a few LDs under your belt via DILD so you know first-hand the "feeling" of a lucid dream, and the process of waking up from a lucid dream. That's because the "enter the dream" part of WILD is very much like waking up from a lucid dream, just in reverse. The important thing to realize is that you must train for WILDs just like you train for DILDs: dream recall, dream journal, reality checks, daytime awareness training, etc. But WILD requires the added (sometimes tricky) step of learning to fall asleep while holding on to a pearl of awareness, and that can take a lot of trial and error. By all means, keep on trying to WILD if you want to, every time you try you learn more about yourself and how you fall asleep, but make sure you start the "whole" LD practice program at the same time, and work on DILDs as well (and of course, dream recall!)

[ronjackson2]

Hi ronjackson2. WILD sure sounds great, right? "Lucid dreams at your fingertips! Not 'random' like DILDs!" Balderdash, I (and most) say. Beginners are well advised to follow a DILD program to get started, and start experimenting with WILD once you have a few LDs under your belt via DILD so you know first-hand the "feeling" of a lucid dream, and the process of waking up from a lucid dream. That's because the "enter the dream" part of WILD is very much like waking up from a lucid dream, just in reverse. The important thing to realize is that you must train for WILDs just like you train for DILDs: dream recall, dream journal, reality checks, daytime awareness training, etc. But WILD requires the added (sometimes tricky) step of learning to fall asleep while holding on to a pearl of awareness, and that can take a lot of trial and error. By all means, keep on trying to WILD if you want to, every time you try you learn more about yourself and how you fall asleep, but make sure you start the "whole" LD practice program at the same time, and work on DILDs as well (and of course, dream recall!) Hehe,thanks for the reply. Its just that i keep RC checks through out the day,yet i'm not aware of my dreams or, I'm not kinda aware to perform my reality checks in my dreams. So, i started off with a WILD hehe. But,thanks for that.. Keeping that in mind,i'll try working on my dream recall and DILD techs. Thanks,been much help lately!! !

[robertcox88]

Yea I have a friend who sees this shadow figure once every couple years during what he describes as not sleep paralysis (at least he doesn't think it is... but I think it is) that stands at the edge of his bed and says to him "You will fail." He says it's very frightening. Case by case basis though and if you are a really good lucid dreamer then probably sleep paralysis you have a better chance of realizing it's just a figment of your mind. He's a big time stoner though and I can't help but think his brain would have a harder time making sense of it and becoming lucid. I know when I'm stoned I can't hardly make sense of anything... but then again I rarely ever do it and he does it every day lol. Tolerance surely plays a part. Bottom line, I wouldn't worry about it unless something like that happens and freaks you out... then act accordingly.

[ronjackson2]

Yea I have a friend who sees this shadow figure once every couple years during what he describes as not sleep paralysis (at least he doesn't think it is... but I think it is) that stands at the edge of his bed and says to him "You will fail." He says it's very frightening. Case by case basis though and if you are a really good lucid dreamer then probably sleep paralysis you have a better chance of realizing it's just a figment of your mind. He's a big time stoner though and I can't help but think his brain would have a harder time making sense of it and becoming lucid. I know when I'm stoned I can't hardly make sense of anything... but then again I rarely ever do it and he does it every day lol. Tolerance surely plays a part. Bottom line, I wouldn't worry about it unless something like that happens and freaks you out... then act accordingly. Lol, a stoner. Yeah, probably would have been hard for him to concentrate. And, if that happens to me, i might freak out lol. Tho, at the moment i'm teprying to get my first LD . Already having a hard time on that one,sp will be dealt with later. Tho, i got a question, is sleep paralysis harmful or harmless ? Thanks !

[virusje]

Lol, a stoner. Yeah, probably would have been hard for him to concentrate. And, if that happens to me, i might freak out lol. Tho, at the moment i'm teprying to get my first LD . Already having a hard time on that one,sp will be dealt with later. Tho, i got a question, is sleep paralysis harmful or harmless ? Thanks ! Sp is harmless. You go into sp every night, so you won't be running in the street, when you're running in your dream. Before I was into lucid dreaming, I have dealt with a ''demon figure''. I felt paralyzed, couldn't scream or move and this demon figure was hovering above me. I got freaked out, but when I noticed that I couldn't move or scream, I just looked at the demon, with the attitude ''come at me bro, wtf do you want''. And it went away. After thinking about it, it was just a projection of course. You never have to be scared, cause it can't harm you or take over your body, that's bullshit. It can only scare you. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

[WaltersDreams]

Okay, first off, you will need a dream journal to improve dream recall and notice common dream signs. I would suggest buying Stephen LaBerge's "exploring the world of lucid draming" , as it can explain this stuff a lot clearer. Sleep paralysis is not your goal in WILD; it's only a short phase you experience, and you probably aren't even experiencing it. And when you actually do, it's because you are in the dream and your body is protecting you from acting out your last dream. Lucid dreaming is not something you can master over night; you need to be deticated, or can at least recall your dreams well enough, like 3 a night. One more thing; Lucid dreaming is all about what you expect. You think you will see zombies? Here you go. You think it will be hard? It's only making it harder on yourself. Beware, there is such a thing as trying too hard when trying to LD. You will learn as you go on.

[TravisE]

I'll mention that in rare cases, it is possible to have REM atonia (sleep paralysis) linger briefly upon awakening from a dream, and during this time it is possible to see some hypnagogic hallucinations, which can include the shadows and “old hag” effect people mention. I've woken up with it a few times, but personally have never really encountered any “shadows” or hallucinations along with it. But it's generally harmless and goes away after a moment or two. If it happens, just remind yourself of what it is and that it's perfectly normal. My understanding is that in a WILD you don't normally encounter REM atonia, either; it doesn't start until you're already in the dream, so you likely wouldn't notice it at all.

[GetDreaming]

Sleep paralysis can be scary as heck, but also incredibly fascinating. I know the few times I have experienced it, I wake up thinking "wow". It's so real and intense in the moment, but when you realize it was all fake you wish you would have embraced it. I would not let the fear of sp affect your dreaming, if you can in fact induce sp, you are already a step beyond most people.

[rattlebones1]

I'm still relatively new to lucid dreaming, but I'm really prone to SP. Usually when I end up with it I just try to manipulate what I am hearing and seeing with my mind. My favorite thing is to listen to try to listen to strange noises and music. SP can be easily turned around and can be pretty entertaining too, so you don't need to worry about it.