Sleep induction techniques

I usually take a while to get to sleep (20-40 minutes usually, 30-90 if I'm having a bad night). My mental chatter is usually very great while I sleep, but meditation techniques keep me awake, too (as they require great focus). Because my descent into sleep is usually a cycle of awake -> hypnagogia -> noise/distraction/self-awareness -> awake. I'm getting pretty good at inducing light hypnagogia, but I quite often become self-aware and wake back up.

I'm trying to WILD, but because my descent into sleep is so jarred, it's hard to stay focused on controlling my hypnagogic hallucinations, especially if they're simple, and i have to focus for a while (my current focus is just a white room, from which I can "load" whatever dream I want). I've tried lying perfectly still, which helps, but I'm quite often confronted with the urge to swallow, or I become aware of my breathing, or my muscles seem to jerk of their own accord, and then I'm awake again.

Any suggestions?

Don't try to WILD, try to fall asleep. Sounds like you are concentrating too hard.

Are you doing this as you go to "Sleep" sleep? or is this during a WBTB or during a nap?
If you're trying to do this while simply going to sleep at your normal time, as many people will tell you, it takes an immense amount of practice before you can do that, e.g. it's nigh impossible.

Also, if you're simply trying to go to sleep, don't use meditation techniques to clear your mind. The easiest way for me to fall asleep is to get lost in the pointless mind dialogue. When I begin following the little black girl to the Garden of Eden, the next thing I know, I'm in a random setting, dreaming.


As for the second paragraph, you should not be "focusing" on anything, more like passively controlling. Like you said,

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it's hard to stay focused on controlling my hypnagogic hallucinations,

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. Sometimes, it's better to let your mind do the developing, and you simply immerse yourself into the dream. I've only had a WILD once, but that was how I did it.

As for this;

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I've tried lying perfectly still, which helps, but I'm quite often confronted with the urge to swallow, or I become aware of my breathing, or my muscles seem to jerk of their own accord, and then I'm awake again.

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All of this happens, but it's best just to simply ignore it. When you focus on your throat, trying to make it not swallow, the urge intensifies. It's better just to focus inwards, and forget the external senses. As for muscle twitching, this is just a natural way to release excess tension in them. Think of it as stretching a rubber band between two pins, and then pulling the rubber band off, and when you do it snaps back. It's the same motions, all you have to do is simply go with the flow. When you are actually WILDing though, it IS best to try and keep your mind as clear as possible. My reply might be a little jumbled, but I believe I covered most of the questions. Good Luck to you!

Writing in a journal before sleep is an effective way to reduce the mental chatter. I like to write in my journal, then meditate, then off to bed. But you can adjust for your tastes.

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Originally Posted by sisyphus

Writing in a journal before sleep is an effective way to reduce the mental chatter. I like to write in my journal, then meditate, then off to bed. But you can adjust for your tastes.

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Unfortunately, this agitates my verbal centers even more, and since my mental chatter isn't really trivial chatter, but more along the lines of "Now how do I minimize the amount of branching in this simple WFF parser?" or "Should I pass my stat points to STR or END?" (a lot of computer science and math-based stuff, so nothing which can be cleanly solved and forgotten about in a journal), it makes sleeping nigh impossible.

I've found white noise (like Neuro-programmer stuff) helps me sleep, but really decreases my mental ability to focus or process anything properly.

Neuro-Programmer works great! just put it to Delta stage xD