Thread: Senses Initiated Lucid Dream (SSILD)

hi folks,
been trying the SSILD technique for less than a week now with minor success. The first night I had my False Awakening and 2 days after I had a dream where I was in a dream that I realized I was dreaming. I mean, I was dreaming that I was dreaming. Weird I know and lasted only a few seconds but maybe that was semi-lucid. Nothing since then. I've only read upto page 27 of this thread but I would like to know if I am doing SSILD right.

When I do the fast cycle steps, I just zoom through them without attempting to drift off. When I do the slow cycle steps I focus on my senses initially and then LET my mind drift off. I mean I stop focusing on the senses and let my mind get clear. Is that ok? I've noticed when I keep focusing on the senses, I generally dont drift off since I'm paying attention to something and my mind is occupied.

I've also noticed that even with that method I take about 2 mins to drift in a step even though CosmicIron specifies only a minimum of 30 secs. I realize its only a min but i'm not sure if 2mins is too long.

Thanks for any help....

Hey, satsujin. For the slow cycles, I would probably attempt to do it "drifting off". You don't have to, but I think the purpose of the slow cycles is to get you into a relaxed state.

I mean I stop focusing on the senses and let my mind get clear. Is that ok?

If you mean stopping the cycles and trying to clear your mind? Not the right way, no. When doing cycles, you do them "lazily and without thought" so your thoughts start to wander as you're doing them, which is the effect you're after. I'm not sure about the 2 minute thing - since some people are have different way of doing techniques - but I would suggest experimenting and see how less or more time can be effective for you.

Hope this helps a bit.

First off, thanks for your reply and your like AstralMango! A couple clarifications if you please though...

Originally Posted by AstralMango

Hey, satsujin. For the slow cycles, I would probably attempt to do it "drifting off". You don't have to, but I think the purpose of the slow cycles is to get you into a relaxed state.



If you mean stopping the cycles and trying to clear your mind? Not the right way, no. When doing cycles, you do them "lazily and without thought" so your thoughts start to wander as you're doing them, which is the effect you're after. I'm not sure about the 2 minute thing - since some people are have different way of doing techniques - but I would suggest experimenting and see how less or more time can be effective for you.

Hope this helps a bit.

After I sent my earlier post, I tried to do the slow cycles while staying as focused as I could. I noticed I was still drifting off but only for a few seconds at the most before snapping back into focus. Is this more like what I'm supposed to do? Before my technique WAS lazily and without thought meaning i wasnt really focusing on the senses at all and when I drifted off then I might have drifted off for 15-20 seconds(approx. since I was drifting off at the time .) Is this too much or is the few seconds of drifting off and then snapping back into focus on the senses okay?

You are meant to drift off, yeah. Not too sure about drifting off in fast cycles; maybe that means you're too tired. I think 10-20 seconds is okay. You are trying to get into a trance-like state after all. Someone can correct if I'm wrong!

I should mention that when I say I tried the method the other way yesterday, I was talking about trying it while wide awake in the afternoon. When I tried it yesterday night after my WBTB I drifted off for a couple times for much longer. Only a couple times though, certainly not during each step. When I tried this with the prior method, I drifted off for about the same length of time but more frequently too. Is this ok? Also, I had trouble last night in the getting back to sleep stage. I had seen part of the South Park movie and the songs kept repeating in my head while I tried to doze off. No lucid dream either but this was only my first trial using this method. As long as you ok this method, I'd be willing to try for at least a month.

You tried it in the afternoon? How did that go?

I think what you're describing is perfectly fine (I am no master at this technique so I could be wrong). And I think you could trial this technique out if you want to. It's gotten me a lucid before and it's proven to work well for others.

Originally Posted by AstralMango

You tried it in the afternoon? How did that go?

I think what you're describing is perfectly fine (I am no master at this technique so I could be wrong). And I think you could trial this technique out if you want to. It's gotten me a lucid before and it's proven to work well for others.

Tried it in the afternoon just as a test to see if I could properly focus on the senses. Didn't try to go to sleep after that. And like I said, when I tried it at night I had trouble falling asleep prolly cos of all the chatter in my head. Is fpcusing on your breathing as a method to relax the mind a good idea after SSILD? I seem to recall CosmicIron saying that you shouldn't mix SSILD with other meditation techniques.....

I am also considering drugs like Galantamine but will try for a natural method first for at least a couple months. Drugs could be risky for me since I'm an epileptic.

Btw, just out of curiosity, is your unusual username based off some weird dream you had? Like you dreamt you had an astral body but it was the body of a mango?

Originally Posted by satsujin

Btw, just out of curiosity, is your unusual username based off some weird dream you had? Like you dreamt you had an astral body but it was the body of a mango?

Heh, no. I just made it up out of the blue. Astral for astral projecting, and Mango 'cause mangos are goooood.

I may be doing SSILD wrong or it just may not be for me. After all the experimentation I have tried, I have discovered the following:
-Doing SSILD on my back(unusual position), I am now unable to sleep quickly after it is over
-Doing SSILD on my belly(normal position), I fall asleep while doing it within 1 or 2 slow cycles
-Doing SSILD half on back for 2 slow cycles, and half on belly for 2 slow cycles I am unable to fall asleep quickly
I haven't checked HOW long I am unable to sleep. It just feels long while I am lying in bed. Also, I only do four slow cycles in any position. Should I do more? Maybe keep doing until I fall asleep? Any suggestions?

Hmmm, there's probably a very good reason SSILD has not been working for me. I just noticed you need to wait 4 to 5 hours before trying it. After going to bed at 10:30, i usually get up once around 1:00am and again at 5:00am. I've always tried the method at 1:00am so now I'll wait for my second awakening before attempting it. Wish me luck...

Originally Posted by satsujin

I may be doing SSILD wrong or it just may not be for me. After all the experimentation I have tried, I have discovered the following:
-Doing SSILD on my back(unusual position), I am now unable to sleep quickly after it is over
-Doing SSILD on my belly(normal position), I fall asleep while doing it within 1 or 2 slow cycles
-Doing SSILD half on back for 2 slow cycles, and half on belly for 2 slow cycles I am unable to fall asleep quickly
I haven't checked HOW long I am unable to sleep. It just feels long while I am lying in bed. Also, I only do four slow cycles in any position. Should I do more? Maybe keep doing until I fall asleep? Any suggestions?

could try staying awake and out of bed for a few more minutes and then do the cycles in your normal sleep position. Should be up for 5-10 minutes before returning to bed.

^^ It all depends on the person. I wake up quickly: a bathroom visit and a quick voice journaling can be enough to wake me up almost fully. So any extra time spent out of bed runs a huge risk of being wake for potentially hours. So every person should tune the WBTB time so that they can still fall back to sleep relatively quickly. The entire point is to grab some awareness/wake up the brain a bit, and that could run from 30 seconds to 45 minutes, entirely dependent on the person.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

^^ It all depends on the person. I wake up quickly: a bathroom visit and a quick voice journaling can be enough to wake me up almost fully. So any extra time spent out of bed runs a huge risk of being wake for potentially hours. So every person should tune the WBTB time so that they can still fall back to sleep relatively quickly. The entire point is to grab some awareness/wake up the brain a bit, and that could run from 30 seconds to 45 minutes, entirely dependent on the person.

yeah for sure, I was just going on his paragraph and how he mentioned only being able to get 1-2 cycles in before passing out in his normal sleep position. figure if he stays up for a couple more minutes maybe that will buy him enough time to get the cycles in and then immediately pass out, which is ideal.

Not wanting to be rude but when you read the OP this method is the Holy Grail which allowed hundreds (thousands ?) of people to lucid dreams with some highly percentage rate.

But on every single forum Cosmic Iron has posted his method, this is always the same case scenario : no one really succeed, you have tons of pages of people asking how to do it correctly because they can't LD with that method.

This method is not genuine for me and do nothing at all. Too many people struggling with too few having constant results.

Seems a pretty accurate assessment, Baron Creepyphoto. One of the problems is, SSILD seems to have some effect, but nobody knows why it works (I've had sporadic success, btw). With MILD you can kind of see why it works, but with SSILD it's all guesswork - unless we assume it's just a short and fancy way to do WBTB and nothing else.

I would like to argue that point. Ive tried 5 or 6 techniques now, and SSILD has been the only one to work for me. Again, i have no idea why it works but im guessing the idea of stimulating your senses before re-entering a dream keeps them stimulated in the dream which makes you more aware. Ive had several Lucid dreams with this method, and i think the only problem is getting the balance between falling asleep before completing any cycles and completing all the cycles but not falling back asleep. if I get that right, i would say ive had a 70% success rate with this method.

If that many people had success with that method there wouldn't be in every forums so many pages just to ask how to do it properly

Glad it works for you tho

I currently feel that this is the short answer:

-Finding a way to do SSILD while falling asleep (but not so quickly that you don't at least get a few solid cycles in) is a key.
-Combining it with day practices like RC's and RRC's!
-After having the previous RC's and RRC's in place, giving it a solid 2 weeks to see some kind of results.
-You might want to avoid this or any WBTB technique if you have trouble getting back to sleep (or save it for when you can sleep in).

It has worked well for me.

I've noticed that the last few times I've tried it, SSILD has helped me to go "a level deeper," and closer to the transition. The key is remaining relaxed while doing it, especially the visuals stage, and on the body stage, imagining that it's not my waking body I'm feeling, but my dream body.

Originally Posted by BaronKriminel

If that many people had success with that method there wouldn't be in every forums so many pages just to ask how to do it properly

Glad it works for you tho

Isn't that the point of having a forum -- asking questions and get help? I'm not gonna argue whether it is more effective than other stuff, but there is no lack of recorded successful cases in this thread, on this forum, and all over the web. Saying "No one really succeed" is either the wrong observation or deliberate denial.

as you wish but I see more people asking for help because not succeeding than people saying it is as easy as you say it is and succeed

Originally Posted by BaronKriminel

If that many people had success with that method there wouldn't be in every forums so many pages just to ask how to do it properly

Glad it works for you tho

I've had success with it. In fact rarely do I do it properly and not get some kind of result(vivid dreams w/ increased awareness, false awakening, lucid, etc), when nothing comes of it it's usually my own fault. I fall asleep too fast, mostly.

I've tried SSILD for the past two days and have gotten 6 FAs. I was only planning on using it to increase to overall awareness of my normal dreams so I would have a better chance of becoming lucid...but wasn't quite expecting this. I haven't successfully converted any of the six into a full blown lucid yet but I'll try again tonight.

Originally Posted by BaronKriminel

as you wish but I see more people asking for help because not succeeding than people saying it is as easy as you say it is and succeed

Threads for techniques that don't work for a good sampling of people tend to die out and not have 800+ posts and 35 pages. The technique helps in some way for both DILDs and WILDs. I have seen many members here have success with it including myself. It is probably not for everyone though.