First Attempt - Some Success
Background: I used melatonin to get my sleep schedule back on track and experienced a sense of well-being that eventually flowed into a semi-lucid dream; it felt as though I was cycling between awareness and dreams. My imagination would run away from me, but then I would abruptly realize that I was still laying in bed.
The next day, I Googled melatonin side effects, read some first-hand accounts of lucid dreaming, and tried taking melatonin for a couple of nights to reproduce it. No luck.
Today, I tracked down this site. I read a couple of threads and in the evening, I decided to give WILDing a shot. I seldom remember my dreams, so this seemed like the better route.
More Background (lol): I may be predisposed to WILDing, which would explain how I had such good luck on my first attempt. I have strong hypnagogic imagery that often scares me awake. Also, sometimes in the first few minutes after I "wake up" and start moving around, I continue to dream. It can cause me to say/do peculiar things. Sometimes I remember, and sometimes I don't. When I was a kid my parents were concerned that I was schizophrenic, but it only happens a few times a year, and only when I'm falling asleep or barely awake. I also had a few incidents of sleepwalking as a teenager.
As an adult, I occasionally wake up screaming. I usually fall asleep and forget that anything happened, so it doesn't have much of an impact on me. However, it's not pleasant for the people who live with me. :( My first roommate was convinced that our house was haunted because I woke up startled, she came to check on me, and I insisted that a dead girl wouldn't let go of my hand.
WILDing: I tried to get there by laying in bed, completely motionless, concentrating on staying awake through hypnagogic imagery and sleep paralysis. My girlfriend pestered me from the other room a few times, and came to wake me once. A little bit later (I didn't move to check the time), I thought she came into the room again. Frustrated, I tried to roll over and my arms barely moved. At that moment, I realized that I was almost there, and I was irritated that she was about to snap me out of it.
I hoped that she would just think that I was sleeping and leave me alone, but then she leaned over and repositioned my hands. I wanted to tell her to leave me alone, but I couldn't even open my eyes.
As she continued adjusting my arms, I felt as though I was falling through the bed. Then everything was dark. I was standing in a black room, and at that moment, I realized that I was dreaming. That's all I remember. I think I shot myself in the foot going in with low expectations and didn't know what step to take next. When I fall asleep tonight, I'm going to try counting and reiterating that I am dreaming.
When I woke up, I complained to my girlfriend about how she kept coming into the room, and it turned out she only disturbed me once. Tricksy HI! I'm happy that I made it that far. It was pretty encouraging for a first time attempt, and if nothing else, retaining consciousness through HI makes it less frightening, and that should keep me from disrupting my girlfriend's sleep. :D
Fingers crossed I get it right this time.
