Finger Induced Lucid Dream (FILD)

[Swikity]

Hey everybody. I realized that the other FILD tutorial is down, so I thought that I'd make another in the meantime. Personally, for the type of sleeper that I am, FILD works best for me. I have now had several LD's per night whild FILDing. Overview If you are the type of person who wakes up after a dream in the middle of the night, FILD is perfect for you. I find that the best thing about FILD for me is that it is simple to get into. It is the perfect method for beginners, as you don't enter Sleep Paralysis, therefore it is much less intimidating. Preperation Like all LD methods, you will need to have an average level of dream recall. Personally, the best method to increase dream recall is to make a dream journal. Find a book and a pen, and keep it sitting at your nightside table at night. It also helps if you have a lamp by your bed so you can turn it on right when you wake up. Once you wake up after a dream, the last thing in the world you want to do is turn on a light and start writing in your journal. But the thing is, the longer you wait, the less of the dream you will remember. I remember several instances when I would wake up from a dream being totally tired, and thinking to myself "I'll be able to remember this when I wake up". Sure enough, by the time I woke up, I didn't even remember a little thing from my dream. Persistance is the key. Getting Into a FILD Alright, I guess you could do this at any time, or try it when you first go to bed, but it works better when you do it sometime within your REM period (4-6 hours after you fall asleep). Here you have one of three options: a) You could let your body wake up natrually after a dream b) Train your body to wake up after a dream c) Set an alarm to wake you up during your REM period Whatever option you chose, you will be able to see them in the following posts in order.

[Swikity]

If you chose this option, you most likely wake up after a dream naturally. This is what I use, and there isn't really much to explain from here. When you wake naturally, you can follow the directions in the post entitled "What Now". Search "What Now" in your browser to continue. (no spaces)

[Swikity]

This could be either a very time-consuming process, or it could be a breeze. This could also be done several ways, but I perfer my own "Water Technique". Place a glass of water (Juice sometimes works better) on a nightside table, or on the headboard of your bed. Just make sure it is somewhere that you can easily grab it in the middle of the night. Make sure you're thirsty when you go to bed, as this is exactly what this technique works on. When you go to bed, take a big sip of your water/juice. This will feel really refreshing. While you are starting to sleep, you should feel a temptation to take a sip of your water/juice. You can go ahead and do that, but just don't drink it all. Now in the middle of the night, usually during your REM period, you will wake up to take a sip from your drink. You can now move on to the next step. Search "What Now" (no spaces) to continue.

[Swikity]

All you really have to do here is set your alarm a few hours after you go to sleep. The REM period ranges from person to person, but it is usually somewhere in between 4 and 6 hours into your sleep. Thats only when it starts though. Just set your alarm to whatever you find works best, and then you should be able to move onto the next step. You will find the next step on the following post.

[Swikity]

Alright, you have successfully awaken from your REM period. Good job. Now comes the easy part. Some people say that you can't move at all. This would help, as it would get you to sleep sooner, but that isn't really an option if you set your alarm. There are two types of FILD that you can do: For the first one, all you have to do, is flick your fingers together. I usually flick my index finger and my middle finger against each other back and forth. This stimilates a part of the brain that keeps your mind awake, but your body asleep. After a while (sometimes as little as 10 seconds, other times as long as a few minutes) you might start to see some changes in your breathing, or that your eyes are flying around in your head. You may also see some visions flowing past your eyes. Stick with this a little while, until you are sure that you have entered a dream state. For the second one, you have to move your fingers ever so slightly. Its like your playing two keys on a piano, but very slightly and slowly. Some people stretch their fingers out while doing it. This is wrong, as your fingers have to be relaxed so they are a bit bent like in the picture below: Correct: Wrong: Reality checks have to be a little different in this process, as if you aren't really dreaming, and you lift your head up to do a clock reality check and your still awake, then you have just kissed your LD goodbye. I find the best RC for me is a breathing one. Basically close off the nasal passage in the back of your throaght and breathe through your nose. It seems that there is a muscle that stops you from breathing through your nose when this happens. I have also noticed that this muscle automatically blocks the nasal passage when you swallow. Its hard to explain, but you should know what I mean. Thanks to Marvo for posting that in another thread. And remember, False Awakenings are very common with this kind of lucid induction, so be sure to lots of Reality Checks. FAQ How fast are you supposed to flick your fingers? You don't really flick them as much as you slowly move them up and down. For example, place your index finger and your middle finger on two keys on your keyboard. Barely alternate moving them just enough so that the keys only wiggle a little bit. This makes you concentrate on your fingers more. Would it also work if i moved my foot, or must it be a finger? Probably not. You couldn't get the correct feeling while using a foot. I mean, if you have both of your arms cut off, sure you could try it. But I would just stick to what is known to work. what exactly do you mean by "get up"? Do you mean just open my eyes, or just sit up, or actually stand up? When "get up and turn off your alarm" is mentioned it means to simply turn off your alarm. It doesn't actually mean to get up, walk around a bit and then turn it off. You want to stay as sleepy as possible. ok, so if you do a reality check, and you are in fact dreaming, what do you do? First thing I usually do (since its usually dark in my room) is I try to make it daytime. Then I usually increase the clarity of the dream by rubbing my hands together, then I fly out the window. when you slip into a dream, your dream will start with you in your room in your bed? What you've described is a False Awakening. They are very common with this method. One of a few things will happen: -The most common is that you will do a reality check, while in your bed still, and you will find that you're dreaming. -You will wake up in the room that you fell asleep in. The room looks the exact same as when you fell asleep. Can trick you into going back to bed. -You could have a False Awakening in somewhere totally different from your room, such as your class room. -You can enter a dream scene if you get into it enough. If your thinking about your classroom the whole entire time your doing this, you could very well wake up in your classroom. The tricky thing is that you aren't lucid at this point, and everything seems so realistic that your body will just take it as normal. Thats why you have to trian yourself to do reality checks whenever you see something out of the ordinary, or throughout the day. One thing I don't understand, how can continously moving your fingers get you into a LD so fast? Immagine this: You have already entered your REM state. You wake up in the middle of the night and you are very tired. If you go back to bed, you will fall asleep within seconds. Same thing happens if you are trying to FILD. Is 10:15 to 3:10 enough for the REM cycle to began? Usually, the REM period takes about 4-7 hours to start. It can differ from person to person though, as mine starts less than an hour after I fall asleep. You be the judge. If you can remember any dreams from that night when you wake up, you have already entered your REM state. I tried FILDing when I was just going to sleep and as I did I saw some interesting HI. As I continued, I felt like my body was going to sleep and the HI got more vivid. But I opened my eyes because the HI was seemingly taking a long time to form into a dream scene. Any Suggestions concerning that? Just be patient. When it starts taking that long, try to kind of step into the images. I do the reality check, it succeeds, but the I can't seem to get my eyes open. It's such a struggle to open them in the dream that I'm afraid I'm not actually asleep and I'm going to ruin it for myself. Anyone else run into this? Just try to open your eyes. If your reality check proves your dreaming, then there shouldn't be any problem with opening your eyes. Just try to immagine them opening, as Marvo said. Now would this work good for naps in the afternoon too? Becasue you usually go right into REM then also. Yeah, it should work. I've never tried, but you can usually enter REM quite fast during naps. But the thing is, it might take a really long time. so do you actually tap your fingers against your leg or whatever or do you just keep your hand resting on its back so that the fingers hit nothing? Whatever works best for you. I usually do it against my matress so I can feel my fingers moving slightly. I find this works for me, so thats why I use it. You might work differently. I set my phone to go off at 4 in the morning and vibrate while its in the pocket I'll be laying on, will that be enough? Should do it. Depends how deep you sleep. And did you try my water method? That trained me to get up originally. How do you do FILD, when getting waked up by an alarm? Getting woken up by an alarm is pretty much the same. Just turn off your alarm as usual. The only reason it is better to not use an alarm is because it is easier to fall back to sleep. Lay in bed for a while until you know that you are almost 100% going to fall asleep in a matter of seconds. Then you should start moving your fingers. It works a lot better if you move them very slightly, as I find that it it makes your mind concentrate on it more. I tried it last night... with an alarm clock. The alarm clock woke me, but I thought I was still dreaming. By the time I realized I was awake, I was too awake. Any suggestions? Just make sure that once you hear the alarm go off, you fly up and shut it off. I tried the one with that glass of water last night. I woke up too late though, it was like 5:30 and already light out. Maybe I just have to be more thirsty? It being light out isn't always that bad. It makes it so if and when you have a FA, you won't wake up in complete and total darkness. The thirstier the better. which do you find more effective, the thirst one or the alarm clock? I automatically wake up at the end of dreams but if I were to use one, it would be the water one. I find the water more effective, but if you are a super deep sleeper, then an alarm clock would be better. when is the right sleep stage to do this in? The correct stage to do this in is during your REM pattern. Your REM pattern starts after about 5 hours of you sleeping. For me its about 2-3, but apparently I am very different from most people because of how soon it starts. How long does the REM state last after you enter it? The REM period lasts for a bizzarely huge ammount of time considering how long it takes to get into. You can enter the REM stage hours after you get up. For example, today I had an LD in school. Is there a tutorial on how to train yourself to wake up after a dream? Im not sure if I wake up actually after a dream or not. Its hard to tell since Im already in my REM cycle. Maybe it is technically at the end since I rarely re-enter a dream. I doubt there are any tutorials, but being a super light sleeper helps. And try the "water method". when I wake up, I always feel to awake to be able to fall back asleep in 1 minute or less... how can I correct this? You dont have to be super sleepy. Just lay there for a while and when you feel yourself slipping away, then start. Swikity, have you tried FILD in the afternoon? Do you think it can be done? Like, go to sleep for 10 minutes, have a little alarm wake you up, and then go back to sleep again, doing FILD? It worked, but I had to sit there for a very long time before I got sleepy, then I started moving my fingers. It works better after you wake up because I can usually fall asleep in an instant when that happens. For the record, if you didn't read my topic on it, LDing at school=bad. A few have mentioned blocking their airways with a muscle at the back of the throat - how do you do this? I have tried, but it is something Ive never even been aware of. Are there other RCs that can be used when motionless? Yeah, it seems some people just dont get it. I tried to explain it to my sister and she didnt know what the hell I was talking about. I think I developed the ability because of all the nosebleeds I used to have. Have you ever opened a stinky garbage can, and you start breathing through your mouth to avoid smelling it. It should sound like your nose is plugged when you talk. It is the flap of skin that protects your nose from squirting out liquid every time you swallow. Im cant explain it better, sorry. You don't actually try to breathe. You try to get air into your lungs while still blocking off your nasal passage. I'm sorry I'm being so thick with this method, but what kind of reality check are you referring to here; nasal passage block? I'm still not seeing what purpose consciously blocking off your nasal passage has. lol. When you block off your nasal passage, you cant breathe through your nose. Same thing for a nose RC. The idea is that if you are able to breathe you are, in fact, dreaming. Its pretty much the same as a nose RC, but altered so you dont have to lift a finger, therefore you don't get thrown out of your sleep. How do you do Realitychecks? what are they? what if you try one, but dont know how, and if that happens, are you stuck in a dream until someone wakes you up? And, do lucid dreams exhaust your mind?(like, you get less real sleep) A reality check is a sort of test you can do to see if you are dreaming. I dont think that would happen. I mean, I have been unable to awaken before, but it has never been due to improporly doing a reality check. Having sex in your dream should wake you up if you get too worried. RCs include: -Looking at a clock, remembering the time, then looking back. If you're dreaming, the time will be different. -Plugging your nose and trying to breathe. You should be able to breathe in a dream. -Anyways, lightswitches dont work in dreams. Keep that in mind. But just because one of these tests pass, doesnt mean you should jump off a roof yet. You could just have a burnt out light. Try doing something impossible first. Like, levitating for example. And no, you feel perfectly normal after an LD. Like you would any morning. Hello. What the hell is firmware. Uhh... Wrong forum lol. This is for lucid dreaming, you probably want some sort of PSP forum. Credits: Tons of thanks to Marvo for helping out with this thread. He also made the example pictures of the hand. Thanks to all of you for reading this tutorial, and asking questions!

[Marvo]

Nice tutorial, Swikity. I'll try it. And I think I was the one who mentioned the blocking-airways-from-inside method. Somebody said it before me though. Don't remember his name.

[sk8bordgeek]

I tried it last night... with an alarm clock. The alarm clock woke me, but I thought I was still dreaming. By the time I realized I was awake, I was too awake. Any suggestions?

[rustboy]

Well I din't have any lucid dreams with this technique, but it always helps me to fall asleep much faster than usually. Maybe I have to concentrate more.

[Hero]

a few days ago I was successful in what I believe was a lucid dream using the FILD technique. I turned off my alarm, went FILDing, and was succesful at a Nose RC. I tried one more RC and failed, I had woken up. This all occured in my bed

[Swikity]

@Sk8boardgeek: Just make sure that once you hear the alarm go off, you fly up and shut it off. @Rustboy: This technique works on concentration. It is kind of like a WILD, but is way easier since rather than trying to concentrate on something, you simply move your fingers. Concentration is the key. @Hero: Just make sure that you are 100% dreaming before you get up. Do multiple nose RC's before you get up to be certain. If you believe you are dreaming, you can always preform other RC's in bed with your eyes closed. Such as trying to make it bright in your room, or hovering.

[sk8bordgeek]

thanx swikity. I tried the one with that glass of water last night. I woke up too late though, it was like 5:30 and already light out. Maybe I just have to be more thirsty?

[TalkingHead]

Can the people that have successfully used FILD describe the feeling that they have before doing a R.C. that proves you're dreaming (failed check?) Are you very surprised to realize that your body already asleep? Also, have people tried using other methods to get them to the point where the body is just about to fall asleep. ie) hand alarm clock, raised arm method?

[Swikity]

Sometimes I feel a tinglins and other times I feel nothing. Like, I'll just be lying there and do a RC and Im lucid just like that. Others I'll feel a tingling first and then do an RC and be dreaming. Sorry for the grammer issues, as I'm moderately wasted/blazed right now.

[Arthurium]

I guess I don't understand exactly how you move you fingers to get this effect. Do you just constantly twitch your fingers? How often? slow or fast? does the muscle move? how much? thanks

[Swikity]

Just very very slowly move your two fingers up and down. Your Index and Middle that is. By how often, you should do it for 1 min MAX. If you still aren't dreaming, you may try again, but only once. If it fails twice, it won't work until you wake up again. Does the muscle move? what do you mean?

[DCK7]

I did this technique last night and it worked so well. But, I thought you didn't have to move your fingers up? What I do is I move them down gently against my bed. Am i doing this wrong?

[TalkingHead]

This is an add-on to the waking up phase of the FILD method. What've I've done is 1) taken a cotton glove and cutoff the fingers so its not too hot. 2) put velcro on the back of my phone and the glove. 3) I set my alarm for 4 hours after I go to bed. Then I put my glove on with the cell phone attached to it. 4) the cell phone alarm is set to go off in a half hour and then snooze for 15-20 minutes thereafter. This allows me to wake up and shut off my alarm, hopefully without exiting Sleep paralysis because I don't have to move to shut off my alarm. Unfortunatley, this hasn't worked yet for me, one of the reasons I think being that my alarm is too loud and jarring. So, does anyone know of a cell phone that has buttons on the outside and a VIBRATING alarm feature? Thanks.

[TalkingHead]

hey Swikity, I was just thinking that this and DEILD are really the only techniques not listed in Laberge's book. Have you tried emailing the Lucidity Institue to see if they'd be interested in experimenting with this? I'm just personally really excited about it because it seems to have so much potential. I'll keep trying..

[Swikity]

hey Swikity, I was just thinking that this and DEILD are really the only techniques not listed in Laberge's book. Have you tried emailing the Lucidity Institue to see if they'd be interested in experimenting with this? I'm just personally really excited about it because it seems to have so much potential. I'll keep trying.. iPhone Most slider phones actually... Hmm. Never thought of that. Do they have a site that I could reach them at?

[TalkingHead]

www.lucidity.com Also, would anyone know of any phones that have a feature which allows you to record the ringtone with your own voice?

[Swikity]

I'm sure iPhone can.

[Blaze Haze]

YESS!! I did a FILD right, finally! I even did it without SP. I had a FA and supposedly my dad was outside my room and wanted me to get up and get dressed. I walked into the bathroom, doing the nose RC you talked about, and it told me I was awake. But there was something telling me I was dreaming, so I tried my own as I was stepping into the bathroom and became lucid. I wanted to get out to fly around, but the door slammed shut by itself. The house was trying to lock me in, but I fired energy into the wall and blew a 6 ft. hole in it. As I stepped out, my vision faded to black and I awoke. Short I know, but it worked and thank you sooooo much for posting this. FILD is my new favorite technique!

[TalkingHead]

YESS!! I did a FILD right, finally! I even did it without SP. I had a FA and supposedly my dad was outside my room and wanted me to get up and get dressed. I walked into the bathroom, doing the nose RC you talked about, and it told me I was awake. But there was something telling me I was dreaming, so I tried my own as I was stepping into the bathroom and became lucid. I wanted to get out to fly around, but the door slammed shut by itself. The house was trying to lock me in, but I fired energy into the wall and blew a 6 ft. hole in it. As I stepped out, my vision faded to black and I awoke. Short I know, but it worked and thank you sooooo much for posting this. FILD is my new favorite technique! Congratulations! Do you think you could describe the transition into your False Awakening more? I think this is the crutial point and I know I struggle with it. Did you feel yourself becoming more relaxed or becoming unconscious? Did you forget at any point that you were trying to move your fingers and perhaps just felt them moving on your own?

[Blaze Haze]

Well, I was doing the finger movement and began to feel a small adrenalin rush, my breathing increased into smaller but quicker breathes (mightve been because of the anticipation of the impending LD I was expecting and less of the transition) and began to see changes from HI into what looked like my ceiling with the faint glow of my alarm clock's green LED lighted numbers. I thought I opened my eyes by accident for a moment and closed them again. About five seconds went by before my door opened and I heard my dads voice telling me to wake up and get dressed. I got up and went straight to the bathroom, and as I walked through the hallway, I did the nasal passage RC that Swikity mentioned in the directions. It told me I was awake at first, but I just knew something was wrong. My morning routine wasn't right, the light from the kitchen had a different, whiter complexion to it, and I saw morning light from the edges of the bathroom window, but I knew it was only 4 am. So I tried my backup RC, holding my nose and breathing. I then became lucid As for remembering to move my fingers, this time I did not forget, but I did move them more than this thread tells you to, only because I have found that I need to or else I end up forgeting. The thing about barely moving them and trying to do it slow is that it doesnt seem noticeable as I'm zoning out, so therefore I would stop moving them, but its such a little change that it ends up happening without notice. As I was slipping in deeper, I felt a different feeling in my fingers. It's hard to explain, but if you could imagine the feeling of your real fingers and the feeling of your dream fingers slowly beginning to intertwine together, thats about the closest I can describe for you. I hope this works!!! Good Luck and Happy FILDing!!! ~Rob Hayes

[lucidboarder]

I find that the best thing about FILD for me is that it is simple to get into. It is the perfect method for beginners, as you don't enter Sleep Paralysis, therefore it is much less intimidating. Could you explain why this bypasses sleep paralysis? You say this makes your body go to sleep while your mind is still awake, isnt that sp? Also, will a dream come to you, or will you simply be in darkness, but in a dream state?