Quote Originally Posted by Spock View Post
DEILD is all about when you notice that you're waking up - it starts there. DEILD usually happens in between dreams during REM, not between cycles. Plus, it's not what causes waking up - it's a technique that uses waking up.



You can't be, physiologically, always in deep sleep (that would result in going insane and eventually death pretty quickly)
You're just less aware of you natural awakenings at night - all humans, and in fact all dreaming organisms (birds, mammals, etc) wake up naturally at night. However, noticing and remembering these awakenings is something that you either need to practice or it will fluctuate naturally (depending on how tired or stressed you are during the day, etc).
So, if your goal is to notice and remember natural awakenings, you can practice to achieve this:
1. mantra - e.g. "I'll wake up after every dream" or "I'll wake up at 4:15 o'clock" - say these mantras on repeat while falling asleep / before bed. Really mean it.
2. use physiological hacks like drinking too much / too little - to wake up to pee / drink. Or put the AC on too cold / too hot - to wake up from temperature discomfort.
3. get into the habit of taking the time to think in bed (about dreams, awakenings) every time you wake up - eventually you'll start noticing more awakenings - do the same during these.

DEILD just uses the awakening, it can't cause it.

Some tips about DEILD:

1. DEILD can work sometimes without the memory of a previous dream too. If you don't have the recall of what you are waking up from - just imagine the last dream you recall - it doesn't have to be the one you woke from. You can even just focus on some other anchor - like counting or mantra, but I personally find visualizing the previous dream or another scene to be easier.
2. It's better to start DEILD as soon as you became aware. What I mean by that is that sometimes we notice waking up before being fully awake. This is the best time to start. The more awake you are the less likely the DEILD is to succeed. But contrary to the belief of many, moving slightly or opening the eyes for a moment isn't something that can fail a DEILD - unless of course you make an issue out of it and stress about it.
3. My best advice with DEILD is to be decisive - when you are waking up or just woke up, start the DEILD. Don't wait some time while tossing and turning - this will fail a DEILD. But as long as you commit quickly enough, even some movement won't fail the DEILD.
Yes I think Spock has covered very accurately what I would have said. Many times I have realized that i have just woken up and I am moving from one side to the other thinking 'Damn, Ive moved now i cant deild' only to finish turning / lying back down then going straight into a deild and being successful.

The key is this ( i think). The movement really only matters if you have consciously chosen to move, thereby firing 'waking life' neurons. If you find yourself already moving whilst waking up then this may be an automatic or subconscious decision which means its largely irrelevant to the success of the deild

I have also noted in the past that when trying to WILD with movement i have not been successful but once i tried to WILD and my wife kept jogging me slightly and it didn't effect the WILD at all

So maybe if you are not consciously choosing to move then maybe it dosnt matter BUT making a decision to move (im uncomfortable, i will roll over) then that would make a deild very difficult as you have largely removed your self from rem waves and are waking yourself up with that logical decision to move

I dont know. ive only thought about this recently, what do you think Spock? (and others)