Thread: RAISE YOUR HAND!! - Intro Class Q&A

I had a little question (maybe I'm a little attention whore lol):

I started my workbook 5 days ago. The only thing that I wanted to know is this:
Am I on the good path? What more/else could I do?

I always feel like I'm missing something. It would be nice to have some feedback

I forgot a part of a lucid dream ! I thought you couldn't forget lucid dreams Is there anyway to combat that, because I had a very good recall that night aside from the first part which I remembered when I woke up the first time but then forgot it after I woke up for real. The only thing that I remember is that it was incredibly fun

Originally Posted by Yossarian22

I had a little question (maybe I'm a little attention whore lol):

I started my workbook 5 days ago. The only thing that I wanted to know is this:
Am I on the good path? What more/else could I do?

I always feel like I'm missing something. It would be nice to have some feedback

Heh heh, no worries, Yossarian... I know how helpful a little feedback can be in order to help determine whether you're on the right track. I'll swing by your workbook and say hi.

Originally Posted by areyoume

I forgot a part of a lucid dream ! I thought you couldn't forget lucid dreams Is there anyway to combat that, because I had a very good recall that night aside from the first part which I remembered when I woke up the first time but then forgot it after I woke up for real. The only thing that I remember is that it was incredibly fun

Sorry to hear that, man! You know, this is a subject where there's not universal agreement. I know Sageous believes that lucid dream memories are every bit as vivid as waking life memories, but I know for a fact that I've forgotten chunks of lucid dreams before.

Then I think about it more and realize that I've forgotten big chunks of waking life, too, especially when I'm spaced out or bored. So maybe we're not contradicting one another.

Here's my view on dream recall in general, including lucid dream recall. Heck, this probably applies to waking life memories as well. I recommend going back over the dream in your mind the moment that you wake up. Start to finish, top to bottom, replay the whole thing in your mind. Don't move until you've done that. Once you are sure that you have the whole thing down, take at least a few notes. It may not have to be a complete dream description. For some people, a few sentences, keywords, or whatever are fine.

Dialogue will leave you the quickest, so I recommend writing it down first, verbatim or at least as much as you can remember. Then I'd map things out from a high level with keywords. That may be all you need.

It's a bummer, man, but the good news? You're gonna have lots more lucid dreams to remember.

Hi Guys,
I have some issues which I need to sort out first, which I have mentioned in my workbook, so please check out mine when possible and provide assistance. Thanks is Advance.

Originally Posted by Kamskun

Hi Guys,
I have some issues which I need to sort out first, which I have mentioned in my workbook, so please check out mine when possible and provide assistance. Thanks is Advance.

Hey! I got your PM too. I checked out your workbook and replied. I think I got the questions you were asking. If not, please let me know where you were needing the help.

Ok, this is a quite basic question... So perfect for the Intro Class
CanisLucidus has convinced me of the benefits of WBTB, but I have a bed partner that gets upset if I disturb her sleep because she gets insomnia quite easily. So I want to practice WBTB but it won't be as often as I would like, so I need to maximize my chances whenever I can do it.
Therefore, my question is: What have you found more effective to do during WBTB?
Thank you!

Hey dreambh, good question.

First of all, WBTB's don't have to involve a loud alarm, or alot of getting up and piddling around that could disturb an insomniac. In fact, you can train yourself to wake up naturally (as we discussed in our most recent podcast: http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...mworlds-2.html). Then you won't wake up your bed partner with an alarm. Next thing, a WBTB routine doesn't have to be something where you get up and do things around the house. Other things you can do, after waking up naturally, are incubate a dream, put reality checks and lucid goals to memory, focus on awareness, prepare for SSILD or DEILD, anything that occupies your mind without waking up your partner.

All that said, when you DO have the time and privacy to do a more active WBTB, several things can help: waking early of course, getting up, going to the bathroom, drinking some water, reading DreamViews, reading your or others' dream journals (esp lucid entries), feeding/walking the pets, prepare the crockpot.. any activity that wakes your mind and body up a bit, but not too much. You want that balance of being awake and aware and focused on lucid dreaming, but not so crazy awake that you can't fall back to sleep in 30 min - an hour. I admit for me it's easy... I come from a long line of sleeper-inner-lucid-dreamers. For others, it's different. Once they're up, they're up. So their WBTB's are more productive if they wake up, but don't actually get up, and instead, prepare only mentally for their lucid dreams.

Hope this gives you some direction! Let us know how it goes

Thanks, OpheliaBlue!
I really though that to do WBTB I had to get out of bed.
And in the couple of weeks I've been in the Intro Class I've realized I do wake up naturally sometimes, even though I'm a deep sleeper. Actually having a light sleeper bed partner has a clear benefit, that is, even if she tries to be careful, from time to time she will wake me up during the night, so that's a chance to try WBTB.
I have to say it is difficult for me to wake up, and stay awake to do incubations, MILD, etc without falling asleep quickly, but I guess is a matter of focus and effort.
No one said WBTB was going to be easy!!

Originally Posted by dreambh

Thanks, OpheliaBlue!
I really though that to do WBTB I had to get out of bed.
And in the couple of weeks I've been in the Intro Class I've realized I do wake up naturally sometimes, even though I'm a deep sleeper. Actually having a light sleeper bed partner has a clear benefit, that is, even if she tries to be careful, from time to time she will wake me up during the night, so that's a chance to try WBTB.
I have to say it is difficult for me to wake up, and stay awake to do incubations, MILD, etc without falling asleep quickly, but I guess is a matter of focus and effort.
No one said WBTB was going to be easy!!

Great answers from OpheliaBlue! I don't have too much to add except a question: if you leave all the lights off but get out of bed and go to another room, is this likely to wake your partner?

My personal routine is to rely on natural wakings, then navigate in the darkness to another room. I make sure that the path is always clear and that I move slowly. (this has the benefit of reducing toe stubbings as well as making me less noisy!) Then I go to a completely different area of the house for the actual WBTB. I can do my dream journaling, reading, and meditation there. Then I return sloooowly back to bed.

If your partner sleeps too lightly for this to work (or if you don't think that you can become as silent as a ninja), then scratch that. But if you can get away with waking up in the middle of the night to pee, hopefully you can get away with this too. But only you can know whether an arrangement like this might work. Above all else, keep her happy!!

Hey, I have a question involving transitioning. In my workbook, I posted that I had come close to a lucid dream. I woke up naturally in the middle of the night and did FILD. Within seconds my body was tingling and I was hearing buzzing; at the time I thought it was sleep paralysis, but now I'm not sure, it might have been HI. Anyway, I waited in bed for a few more minutes, still moving my fingers slightly and staying still. After a few minutes, I sat up slowly and did a reality check. I was not dreaming, and then I couldn't get back to sleep for 2 hours.

So my question is how do you know when you're in a dream? Does it happen right when the HI fades, or do you have to wait a long time after that? I don't know if you spontaneously pop into a dream or start the dream in bed. I'm just having trouble pinpointing the exact moment to stop focusing and do a reality check.

I got a good answer for this, because I had to figure it out myself just last year! More when I get home and can post from my computer instead the phone :p

Edit: Ok. What I do when I get the buzzing tingling vibrations thing, I keep my eyes closed and completely relax (it helps even more if I can imagine that I'm focusing that buzzing into the mask of my face, but that may not be necessary for you, and may just be something to think about later).

Now, while in this relaxed state, with the buzzing and such, you can pick from a couple of things:

• Slooowly open your [dream] eyes, and yes, you may just find yourself in your bed in your room. So check for anomalies or anything out of place. This is where many people have a false awakening, because in this OBE style of WILD, you end up in your room and it can be a touch tricky to distinguish between dream and "oh did I just wake up for real?" If you discover that you are in fact dreaming already, then just get up out of bed and start your adventures! I start out a little slowly at first, just because I admit I have trepidations about moving too fast in the first few seconds, and worry I'll end up up moving/waking-up for real. Which brings us to the next one,
  
• If you find that during this buzziness phase, that you're trying to start your dream and opening your eyes, moving, getting up etc, and it turns out that you woke up for real, then I suggest an alternative: Instead of "opening your dream eyes" and getting up or moving in any way when you feel this buzzing, just keep your eyes closed. Then, imagine that (without opening your eyelids, or thinking of opening your eyelids), imagine that your eyelids are still closed, but becoming transparent. Imagine what you now see through them... maybe it's still your room (which is what I do 99% of the time), or maybe another scene entirely. Once this scene is fully established (I'd guesstimate 10-20 seconds if that), then this is where you continue with what I said about the getting up, or moving around slowly to get your bearings and do what you like to do best for getting yourself locked in the dream.

The good news is, you're already naturally making the steps for WILDs, which is awesome. I know it can be a little vague about when to know when the dream actually started. Honestly, it's for you to really experiment upon. I just told you how it's like for me. But there again, you have already made the first giant leaps by getting to that transitional phase. Now all you have to do is experiment with the timing. I'm actually really excited to see how this goes for you! Please keep us posted, and feel free to keep asking questions.

Also, someone who helped me alot when I was trying to figure all this out, was Sageous, per this thread from his WILD class (which you may want to look into): http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/13228...out-noise.html

And finally, gab's thread about all the different physical entry phases associated with WILDs: http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...ntry-wild.html

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

I have a little question... (Little in words)

Is really ANYTHING possible in a lucid dream? I know people say that You can not read text in a dream, but it has been proven along with a million other things that you can... I just wondered maybe there was something you can't do in a dream no matter how hard you try...

Originally Posted by TheBooneMan

I have a little question... (Little in words)

Is really ANYTHING possible in a lucid dream? I know people say that You can not read text in a dream, but it has been proven along with a million other things that you can... I just wondered maybe there was something you can't do in a dream no matter how hard you try...

Man, you all have some good questions!

My short answer is that anything you can imagine, you can experience in a lucid dream. Some people will have a difficult time accomplishing certain lucid tasks (this certainly includes me!) but these are almost always temporary. I view all of my failures as temporary. I believe that I can do just about anything if I only get good enough at the art of dream control. There are very, very few exceptions to this, IMO.

One area where many people believe there are limitations: how long you can make a dream last. Many believe that you can make a dream feel like it lasts much longer in "dream time" than it does in "waking life" time. But it's not clear how far you can take this, what the physiological limitations might be, and whether the "extreme" time dilation that people sometimes report might be some other type of phenomenon. We may be tackling this on the podcast before too long.

Time is the one constraint that may be beyond our ability to break. That may cut us off from certain goals. For example, I don't see myself counting from one to one-trillion in a lucid dream any time soon.

But apart from that? I can't think of any unbreakable rules. At one time or another, we're all going to come up against some task that seems too difficult at the time, but virtually all of these can be dealt with by expanding our minds and practicing.

Thanks Man! Really means the world to answer my questions dude, I just recently came from a Forum that was very mean and had no sense of humor (The Staff literally bullied everyone). But this place is just awesome! I haven't had a lucid dream that I can say I was proud of yet, but the staff and everybody makes me feel welcome and inspires me to try new things! And I want to thank you for the CanisLucidus!

My recall is not that bad (excluding some bad nights), but my lucidity is always zero. I think that is because I keep forgetting to RC through the day. What else can I do to increase my lucidity?

Originally Posted by quorthonafull

My recall is not that bad (excluding some bad nights), but my lucidity is always zero. I think that is because I keep forgetting to RC through the day. What else can I do to increase my lucidity?

Remembering your dreams is the starting place for learning to have lucid dreams. If you don't recall your dreams, even if you do have a lucid dream, you won't remember it! And, in order to be able to recognize your dreams as dreams while they are happening, you have to be familiar with the way your own dreams work. Before it will be worth your time to work on lucid dream induction methods, you should be able to recall at least one dream every night.
Getting plenty of sleep is the first step to good dream recall. If you are rested it will be easier to focus on your goal of recalling dreams, and you won't mind so much taking the time during the night to record your dreams. Another benefit of getting plenty of sleep is that dream periods get longer and closer together as the night proceeds. The first dream of the night is the shortest, perhaps 10 minutes in length, while after 8 hours of sleep, dream periods can be 45 minutes to an hour long. We all dream every night, about one dream period every 90 minutes. People who say they never dream simply never remember their dreams. You may have more than one dream during a REM (dream) period, separated by short arousals that are most often forgotten. It is generally accepted among sleep researchers that dreams are not recalled unless the sleeper awakens directly from the dream, rather than after going on to other stages of sleep.

It can be useful while you are developing your dream recall to keep a complete dream journal. Keep the journal handy by your bed and record every dream you remember, no matter how fragmentary. Start by writing down all your dreams, not just the complete, coherent, or interesting ones--even if all you remember is a face or a room, write it down.

When you awaken in the night and recall what you were dreaming, record the dream right away. If you don't, in the morning you may find you remember nothing about the dream, and you will certainly have forgotten many interesting details. We seem to have built-in dream erasers in our minds, which make dream experiences more difficult to recall than waking ones. So, whenever you remember a dream, write it down. If you don't feel like writing out a long dream story at 3 AM, note down key points of the plot. Also write down the precise content of any dialogue from the dream, because words will almost inevitably be forgotten in a very short time.

Possibly, all you will need to do to increase your dream recall is to remind yourself as you are falling asleep that you wish to awaken fully from your dreams and remember them. This works in a similar manner to remembering to awaken at a certain time in the morning. Additionally, it may help to tell yourself you will have interesting, meaningful dreams. A major cause of dream forgetting is interference from other thoughts competing for your attention. Therefore, let your first thought upon awakening be, "What was I just dreaming?" Before attempting to write down the dream, go over the dream in your mind, re-telling the dream story to yourself. DO NOT MOVE from the position in which you awaken, and do not think of the day's concerns. Cling to any clues of what you might have been experiencing--moods, feelings, fragments of images, and try to rebuild a story from them. When you recall a scene, try to recall what happened before that, and before that, reliving the dream in reverse. If after a few minutes, all you remember is a mood, describe it in a journal. If you can recall nothing, try imagining a dream you might have had--note your present feelings, list your current concerns to yourself, and ask yourself, "Did I dream about that?" Even if you can't recall anything in bed, events or scenes of the day may remind you of something you dreamed the night before. Be ready to notice this when it happens, and record whatever you remember.

If you find that you sleep too deeply to awaken from your dreams, try setting an alarm clock to wake you at a time when you are likely to be dreaming. Since our REM periods occur at approximately 90 minute intervals, good times will be multiples of 90 minutes after you go to sleep. Aim for the later REM periods by setting the alarm to go off at 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours after you go to sleep. Once again, when you wake up, don't move and think first of what you were just dreaming before writing.

To remind yourself of your intentions and get yourself into the spirit of your dreams, read through your dream journal at bedtime. Learning to remember your dreams may seem difficult at first, but if you persist, you will almost certainly succeed--and may find yourself remembering four or more dreams per night. Of course, once you reach this level, you probably won't want to write them all down--just the significant or compelling ones. And, the more familiar you become with the style of your own dreams, the easier it will be to remember you are dreaming while you are dreaming--and explore the world of your dreams while still on the scene.

Originally Posted by TheBooneMan

Thanks Man! Really means the world to answer my questions dude, I just recently came from a Forum that was very mean and had no sense of humor (The Staff literally bullied everyone). But this place is just awesome! I haven't had a lucid dream that I can say I was proud of yet, but the staff and everybody makes me feel welcome and inspires me to try new things! And I want to thank you for the CanisLucidus!

Wow, what a nice thing to say! I very much appreciate that. If you stick with your LD practices, you will have lucid dreams that you're proud of. Getting to see people enjoy the experience of a great LD is super rewarding for us. It wasn't so long ago for me, and I remember the feeling of the first few LDs so well. I'm looking forward to seeing how things go for you!

Originally Posted by quorthonafull

My recall is not that bad (excluding some bad nights), but my lucidity is always zero. I think that is because I keep forgetting to RC through the day. What else can I do to increase my lucidity?

I've hit a bit of a dry spell myself, so I'm going to be going back to the my core, fundamental practices in order to break it. Maybe this list will be useful to you as well. Anyhow, here are the fundamentals that I return to when I need to reignite my LD practice. This is exactly what I will do until my dry spell breaks:

Ask yourself this throughout the day, particularly every time your awareness slips: “How do I know this isn’t a dream?” Demand specific proof from yourself that you're not dreaming. Where were you 5 minutes ago? Does any of what you're experiencing make sense?

Perform WBTB. 30 minutes or longer may work best. Spend this time thinking or reading about lucid dreaming and questioning reality.

Have a plan for your next lucid dream. Get excited about this plan. Visualize yourself following through and KNOW that you will succeed.

You can and will realize when you're dreaming. The next lucid dream is coming. It's just a matter of time. Now go get it!

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

I got a good answer for this, because I had to figure it out myself just last year! More when I get home and can post from my computer instead the phone :p

Edit: Ok. What I do when I get the buzzing tingling vibrations thing, I keep my eyes closed and completely relax (it helps even more if I can imagine that I'm focusing that buzzing into the mask of my face, but that may not be necessary for you, and may just be something to think about later).

Now, while in this relaxed state, with the buzzing and such, you can pick from a couple of things:

• Slooowly open your [dream] eyes, and yes, you may just find yourself in your bed in your room. So check for anomalies or anything out of place. This is where many people have a false awakening, because in this OBE style of WILD, you end up in your room and it can be a touch tricky to distinguish between dream and "oh did I just wake up for real?" If you discover that you are in fact dreaming already, then just get up out of bed and start your adventures! I start out a little slowly at first, just because I admit I have trepidations about moving too fast in the first few seconds, and worry I'll end up up moving/waking-up for real. Which brings us to the next one,
  
• If you find that during this buzziness phase, that you're trying to start your dream and opening your eyes, moving, getting up etc, and it turns out that you woke up for real, then I suggest an alternative: Instead of "opening your dream eyes" and getting up or moving in any way when you feel this buzzing, just keep your eyes closed. Then, imagine that (without opening your eyelids, or thinking of opening your eyelids), imagine that your eyelids are still closed, but becoming transparent. Imagine what you now see through them... maybe it's still your room (which is what I do 99% of the time), or maybe another scene entirely. Once this scene is fully established (I'd guesstimate 10-20 seconds if that), then this is where you continue with what I said about the getting up, or moving around slowly to get your bearings and do what you like to do best for getting yourself locked in the dream.

The good news is, you're already naturally making the steps for WILDs, which is awesome. I know it can be a little vague about when to know when the dream actually started. Honestly, it's for you to really experiment upon. I just told you how it's like for me. But there again, you have already made the first giant leaps by getting to that transitional phase. Now all you have to do is experiment with the timing. I'm actually really excited to see how this goes for you! Please keep us posted, and feel free to keep asking questions.

Also, someone who helped me alot when I was trying to figure all this out, was Sageous, per this thread from his WILD class (which you may want to look into): http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/13228...out-noise.html

And finally, gab's thread about all the different physical entry phases associated with WILDs: http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...ntry-wild.html

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

Thank you so much! No luck in the past couple because of messed up sleep cycles and headaches, but I should be set for tonight. But one more question I have; when to open my eyes. Do I do it while I see/hear/feel the HI imagery or after it's already gone? Or does the HI simply not matter and I only open my eyes when I'm significantly relaxed? And if it's the latter, how do I know that I'm significantly relaxed? Is there some trick to it or is it a guess-and-test type of thing?

Anyway thanks for the help. And one more question; did you change your avatar in the past week or so? cause i couldv'e sworn your avatar's eyes used to blue

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

Wow, what a nice thing to say! I very much appreciate that. If you stick with your LD practices, you will have lucid dreams that you're proud of. Getting to see people enjoy the experience of a great LD is super rewarding for us. It wasn't so long ago for me, and I remember the feeling of the first few LDs so well. I'm looking forward to seeing how things go for you!



I've hit a bit of a dry spell myself, so I'm going to be going back to the my core, fundamental practices in order to break it. Maybe this list will be useful to you as well. Anyhow, here are the fundamentals that I return to when I need to reignite my LD practice. This is exactly what I will do until my dry spell breaks:

Ask yourself this throughout the day, particularly every time your awareness slips: “How do I know this isn’t a dream?” Demand specific proof from yourself that you're not dreaming. Where were you 5 minutes ago? Does any of what you're experiencing make sense?

Perform WBTB. 30 minutes or longer may work best. Spend this time thinking or reading about lucid dreaming and questioning reality.

Have a plan for your next lucid dream. Get excited about this plan. Visualize yourself following through and KNOW that you will succeed.

You can and will realize when you're dreaming. The next lucid dream is coming. It's just a matter of time. Now go get it!

I did it! Even if it was for just one second, I finally made it again. I met with a friend, she said "it's been 60 years since the last time we saw each other", and I managed to realize that obviously, tha was false. A second later I started to feel my body and all faded out. I tried to DEILD without success.

Originally Posted by quorthonafull

I did it! Even if it was for just one second, I finally made it again. I met with a friend, she said "it's been 60 years since the last time we saw each other", and I managed to realize that obviously, tha was false. A second later I started to feel my body and all faded out. I tried to DEILD without success.

Beautiful!! I knew you'd get it! You had exactly the right idea trying to use DEILD in order to turn that short lucid dream into a longer one. Just keep after it. Now that you've proven to yourself yet again that you can do this, it's all just about putting in the attempts and time.

I see more lucidity in your future! Keep after it!

A small but simple question, how did you guys learn to fly? I mean the question would be 'how to learn to fly' but I figured if I ask you first.

Does setting an intention help? Like before sleeping repeat a mantra like 'I will LD and I will remember to learn to fly'

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by GTom

A small but simple question, how did you guys learn to fly? I mean the question would be 'how to learn to fly' but I figured if I ask you first.

Does setting an intention help? Like before sleeping repeat a mantra like 'I will LD and I will remember to learn to fly'

Thanks in advance!

Hey GTom! Setting an intention certainly can't hurt. In particular, I'd recommend some visualization pre-bed or during WBTB, if that's your thing. Picture what flying will be like for you as a form of practice for the "real thing" when the time comes.

As for how I learned to fly, I actually started off by performing "Hulk jumps" around the dreamworld. This is one of those jumps where you just leap hundreds of feet into the air, sort of like The Incredible Hulk. For whatever reason, this was intuitive and easy for me. It's something I just naturally believed that I could do.

What I'd advise is just think about what style of flight sounds most natural and comfortable to you. What could you see yourself doing? If you visualize yourself flying, how do you look?

I'd say to just use this style of flight first. Next lucid dream, just start flying. Believe that you are rising up into the air and flying. Not that you will do it, but that it's happening to you right now. If you encounter glitches or hang-ups in your flight, just deny that they're happening. Seriously. Just keep thinking about how well it's going, that your flying is just fine, etc.

Confidence and intent is everything! And never underestimate how much confidence can be generated via simple denial. Good luck... you are going to love flying!

How deep into the dream phase do you have to be for it to count as a truly lucid dream? I had an experience on my second day of this course where I woke up, went back to sleep, but the dream I had seemed very light - I was well aware of my body lying in bed, but I could see the dream scene in front of me. It was like a daydream, but when I tried to change the lighting with my mind, I couldn't get it to work, which suggests it could have been more than just a daydream.

I've had lucid dreams of varying depth in the past. I have had lucid dreams where I had no sense of my body, and they used to terrify me. They were always set in my house and I would run scrambling towards my bedroom to try and find my body (probably down to sleep paralysis). More often, I have normal lucid dreams where I could easily wake up myself up if I got overexcited or if I just wanted to.

But those dreams where I just wake up and go back to sleep sometimes feel too light, like I'm just lying in bed fantasizing in the aftermath of a dream. Could this just be the precursor to the actual lucid dream? I'm just confused about what this state is.

Originally Posted by Pickman

How deep into the dream phase do you have to be for it to count as a truly lucid dream? I had an experience on my second day of this course where I woke up, went back to sleep, but the dream I had seemed very light - I was well aware of my body lying in bed, but I could see the dream scene in front of me. It was like a daydream, but when I tried to change the lighting with my mind, I couldn't get it to work, which suggests it could have been more than just a daydream.

I've had lucid dreams of varying depth in the past. I have had lucid dreams where I had no sense of my body, and they used to terrify me. They were always set in my house and I would run scrambling towards my bedroom to try and find my body (probably down to sleep paralysis). More often, I have normal lucid dreams where I could easily wake up myself up if I got overexcited or if I just wanted to.

But those dreams where I just wake up and go back to sleep sometimes feel too light, like I'm just lying in bed fantasizing in the aftermath of a dream. Could this just be the precursor to the actual lucid dream? I'm just confused about what this state is.

Good question, and very cool experience. It sounds to me like you were slipping into very heavy hypnagogic imagery or what I sometimes call "half-dreams". This is in fact a very good stepping stone to WILD (and ultimately a full lucid dream.)

People have widely varying styles of WILD, but the one I most often employ is to passively watch hypnagogic imagery as I wait for a dream to start. Eventually, if things go well, they'll coalesce into one of these half-dreams that's like what you describe. It's oddly vivid, but feels more like a daydream... like something that's just on the border between daydream and nightdream.

When the time is right, I'll will my dream-hand to perform a nose-pinch reality test, touch the dream-ground, or otherwise interact with the scene in some way. I try to do this by willing it to happen rather than using my muscles. If things go well, a lucid dream starts.

It sounds to me like you're very close and moving in the right direction! It's a delicate time, so try not to let the excitement get to you. If you'd like a little more about this kind of situation, Ophelia and I talked about this in the most recent episode of the podcast:
http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...eamworlds.html