Thread: Hello everyone

Originally posted by Darkan
Hi everyone !

First post on this forum, so first things first : I apologize in advance if my english gets crappy sometimes, because english isn't my native language.

Well, let's talk a bit about my lucid dreaming experience : my first LD happened a bit more than one year ago (I'm 17, while I'm on time considerations ), and so far, I've managed to achieve some lucid dreams (10~15, I can't say) and 4 of them were WILDs. Most of my LDs were short and began in total blackness ou were extremely dark (I tried two or three times to turn on the switch, no use ), but for now I'm focusing on getting LDs more often (I managed to LD 2 and 3 days ago) ; increasing their duration will come after, and dream control, even after. I like doing things in steps ^_^

Well, I guess it's time for me to ask my very first question. About WILD, exactly. I usually get easily to the paralysing state, however this is when I encounter a major problem which often prevents me from getting any further. My arms get itchy. If I move them, they stop disturbing me but I've lost some of my concentration, and some time later, the itch comes back. But if I ignore it, the itch becomes true pain, and I cannot ignore it that long so I usually move violently, stopping the pain but also my attempt. *However, sometimes (two times, exactly), I manage to focus enough to ignore it and enter the lucid dream.
I hope that was clear enough, it's not something easy to explain. My only question will be : what should I do ?

Hey there and welcome to the forum!!

Congrats on the LDs! And about the itch/pain factor, sometimes that is what your body is trying to do to see if you will respond. If you do not, it will fall asleep.
And if you really need to speak your language, you can do so in a Dream Journal, and no one can bother you about it (a few members have done this)
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

First off, welcome! We're glad that you joined us here at DV and I hope we can help you out.

You mentioned that your dreams go black when you became lucid. The exact same thing happens to me and all I've been able to do is just wait it out. Just keep reminding yourself that you're dreaming during this time.

As for the WILDs, I'm afraid that that is not my area of expertise. I also wanted to mention that your English is fine so far. Don't worry about that.

-Amé

Hey Welcome! Your English is excellent! Probably better than a lot of native English speakers, depending on where they're from.

Anyways, your problem about WILDs is one that's kept me from using WILDs too much as well. It definitely helps to have a plan, such as a key image or phrase to focus on while the paralysis gets more intense.

Thanks for the replies

Well, I've tried one more time this morning, but all I could do was see that the matter is worse than I thought. I managed to pass through the paralysing state without feeling anything in my arms, but I still couldn't get any further (but I will come back to it later). What happened was that, when I finally woke up, I couldn't sense at all two of the fingers of my left hand ! I could hardly make them move (but the three others were moving quite fine), so I had to help them with my other hand first so that I could use them, but I was really worried for a minute. I must add that my arms and hands were completely flat during the WILD attempt. So, does anyone have any idea of what happened ?

Also, about the fact I can't pass the paralysing state even without the arms problem, I will clarify what states I pass until this one. First, I manage to relax completely, clearing my mind from all thoughts. After some minutes, my eyes usually contract, and I fell as if my vision field becomes wider (like passing from a 4:3 screen to a 16:9 screen ). So I see total blackness, a completely pure blackness (which I somehow relaxing, though). My body normally gets into the paralysing state more or less at the same time. Then, I stay in this state for loooong minutes. Sometimes I feel myself floating, or sometimes I see phosphenes (one time, all my vision field was colored in a purple/pink color, and whenever an external sound surprised me, it suddenly flashed in a perfect white color). I never see images, scenes or sounds come. If I try to focus on an image to accelerate the process, I fall into a normal dream. The few times I manages to WILD, as I already said, the dream began in blackness (two of them were false awakenings, but I never get tricked, somehow ). So I'd like to know what I should do, because I really feel I'm close to getting the thing.

I apologize in advance for not able to give WILD advice - but I wanted to welcome you anyway!

No need to apologize, really Thanks a lot for the welcome

To come back to my problem, I seem not to have anymore this arm ache during the paralysis, but I still cannot see any hypnagogic imagery. The most I can get is blurry images that stay less than half a second, but I can't make them stay longer.

However, I noticed that my standard dreams were getting more and more elaborated, and I can remember them better and better. While before I only remembered images and difficultly sounds, now I can remember well tactile feelings as well.