Trying WILD. What could I be doing wrong?

Hello guys, how are you?!

So, I'm a total beginner, but very curious about LDreaming. I understand that there are a few similar topics, but I just wanted to share my own personal experiences so far, as the particular details may change what I should do.

Ok. So, I already meditate for quite some time, so I thought that maybe WILD would be a bit easier for me (maybe there's no connection at all). And I'm also doing the reallity checks while awake. So, I already tried setting up an alarm 6:15h, 4:45h and 3:15h after I go to bed. I dont really know how long I take to sleep, but I think 15-20min is enough time.
I wake up at night. I saw some people talking about staying up for 40min or even 1hour, but I think that if I stay up for this long I would be too energetic to sleep again, so I tried staying up for like 10-15 minutes.
I lay down afterwards, on my side, and start to kinda meditate, breathing and relaxing my body. After a while I feel my body getting heavy but at the same time I almost cant feel the mattress. I think I can handle the swallowing and moving urges, but now the problems begin:

-Sometimes I found it hard to breathe, and my heart suddenly starts beating very very fast. I try to stay calm and breathe slowly, but I dont know what this means, because I don't feel that I'm actually paralysed at this point, just my body is felling heavy.

-I don't really get the hypnagogia thing. Should I be trying to see stuff with my actual EYES, like paying atetion to the black, looking for patterns, or should I just leave the imagination going? I feel like my imagination is more vivid sometimes, but nothing close to actually seeing colors, lights or 3D stuff.

-Sometimes I feel like my imagination gets very vivid (but still with no visual images) and I almost fall asleep, with an actual falling sensation. But everytime this happens, I think that I should stay aware and I feel butterflies on the stomach and go back to black, to nothing. Together with that, two times, I heard some buzzing noise. But it also stopped after 1-2 seconds.

-The last try I decided to keep with it, trying to pay atention to different things, relax more, everything. I actually tried for 1 full hour before giving up!

That's it for now. Any suggestions? Am I too awake, or trying too hard to be lucid? Do you actually have to fall asleep for WILD to work? Did I get close with the falling sensation or was I just falling asleep into normal dreams?

Thanks guys!! Any tip will help a lot!!

Greetings, mpedro. Let's see if I could help out here:

-As a beginner, it's strongly recommended that you start with DILD. Compared to other techniques, successful WILDs quite often are predicated on prior experience with LDs and LD techniques (as you'll note below).

-Multiple interruptions throughout the night is quite an ambitious start. It should be noted that the purpose of these alarms + idle moments (dubbed WBTB, or "Wake Back to Bed) is to feel out the optimal time to sleep for LDs. You should maybe cut back to one alarm about 4 hours in with a 45 min WBTB time, and adjust from there in the coming weeks.

-If you're feeling strained, you might be concentrating too hard during meditation. It could also be that some relaxation techniques are required (pending if you're preferred type of meditation doesn't already incorporate such).

-Try not to worry about hypnagogia and "sleep paralysis"/REM Atonia. WILD transitions aren't reliant on such, and indeed, there are many WILDers that never experience those states during their practices. Anecdotally, these are unreliable signs towards attaining WILD transitions.

-Intense non-visual imagination, including buzzing and strange sensations, could be signs that you've already transitioned. They might also just be hypnagogic "static". To figure this out, use Reality Checks. Try, for example, poking a finger through your hand or wall. And/or, experiment with anything mundane, even opening your eyes. If there's any unusual resistance to doing that, it's possible that you're already in an LD (or very close to it).

- Don't be discouraged if your efforts aren't immediately paying off. For most people, WILD, just as any skills, requires time, effort, experimentation, and dedication before it bears fruit. It's worth reiterating that experimenting with a less demanding induction technique (as DILDs) first would definitely ease the process of learning WILD substantially. I say this as someone who also first (earnestly) tried LDs with understanding of meditation, also tried starting out with WILDs, and also faced similar hurdles.

Hello! Thanks for the reply.

I just think I wasn't very clear about the interruptions. I meant to say that I have tried different waking times (one each night) to see if that was the problem, and the result was the same.

I understand that the DILD might be an easier start, but also something that takes a while to get going, right? Maybe I just wanted to start NOW and skip a learning curve! hahaha

I'll take in consideration your tips. It's nice to know that it's a common hurdle.

Cheers!

I hate to burst your bubble, but every technique there has some kind of learning curve - especially WILD. There is no "instant lucid dreaming method" that works immediately and consistently, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. Think about it, you're essentially retraining and rewiring the way your brain perceives your surroundings - that doesn't happen overnight. The brain is a muscle, and muscles need to be strengthened before they can be used effectively.

Think of lucid dreaming as a marathon. You don't wake up one morning having never run in your life and decide that you're going to complete a marathon. Long distance running like that requires training and consistent practice. Trying to use a technique to skip all the training is like deciding your going to race with roller skates on to make it easier, because there's "no learning curve". Sure, you might be able to have rare, random successes - like if the entire 26.2 miles is entirely downhill, and there's no crazy hairpin turns to throw you off-course. But typically, you're going to still fail with the roller skates on, because your body hasn't had that training to be used to the physical exertion skating still requires of you.

It's not uncommon to want an instant method for lucidity, but searching for one is often more detrimental to your practice than just biting the bullet and putting in the hard work for it.