New to the forum and have a question

[Tykk]

Hello there everyone, my name is Tykk and I just registered here. I've been lurking and reading about experiences and how to become aware in a dream. I've been working on dream recall and keeping a dream journal and asking myself periodically if I am awake and checking my surroundings to get myself in the habit of doing it. My question was about WILDing. Earlier this afternoon I decided to take a nap and as I went and lay down I decided to try to WILD. I lay there for a while and hear and concentrate on only the fan blowing in my room. After a little while I felt my limbs become heavy and I lay there like my body was numb. My mind was still fully awake and I could feel my body tingle every so often. I would try not to concentrate on that and only listen to the fan blow. There were a couple of times I would start to imagine I was somewhere else, but I think I was doing it and not that I was going into a dream. After a few seconds though I would still be laying on my bed and would be listening to the fan blow. My body was still really heavy and numb, but I could never seem to actually start a dream. Was I doing something wrong, did I miss out on something? Do I need to concentrate on that feeling when my body tingles, or do I need to try to create a dream for me to go to? I still believe wholeheartedly that I will be a Lucid Dreamer and that I will share many experiences with you all here, I just think I need a little help getting started. Any suggestions?

[Maria92]

WILD basically means to fall asleep consciously. You were very, very close. You SHOULD feel like you are somewhere else. The key is to remind yourself that you are dreaming. As your dream scape begins to form, I'd say to go ahead and switch your focus to the dream scene, and keep reminding yourself that you are dreaming. Try not to think about your physical body or the real world too much. Let the dream world envelop you, and before you know it, you'll be having a lucid dream. Sounds like you were right there.

[Tykk]

Alright thanks =D I tried again last night as I was going to bed. I didn't get very far, think I started to enter SP but I kept getting huge twitches in my arms or legs. There was one final twitch where my whole body jolted and I rolled over onto my side and next thing ya know I was asleep hehe. Tried again when I woke up several hours later, figured since I had been asleep that I could probably get it to work. Wasn't awake long and I don't remember becoming lucid, though I don't remember all of my dream last night, so you never know I guess.

[J.D.]

I tried again last night as I was going to bed Best time is in the morning, after you've already been asleep for a few hours. It's because REM cycles (when you dream) don't happen at the beginning of a night's sleep. Don't worry about trying to WILD at night when you hit the sack, I don't think it can be done in normal circumstances. It sounds like you were really close in your first post, keep up the effort!

[Tykk]

I'm in court at the moment up way earlier than normal. I'm hoping I'll get Home in a timely manner and be able to take a nap and maybe I'll get to WILD Would be pretty nice. I had a dream last night but I think I was too tired to remember What was going on. I remember being really tiny for some reason but that's it. I'm still Exhausted though. How is everyone doing this morning?

[J.D.]

Hung over. One good thing is that it seems to make LD-ing easier though. Good luck with the WILD!

[Tykk]

Well I made it home. It's been about 5 hours since I woke up. I'm still tired and I'm hoping that it's going to work this time. I'll let everyone know how it went when I wake up later. 2:32 So I finally made it into bed closing in on noon and laid there for over an hour. Within the first 20 minutes I felt some tingling, some twitching, and some itches, and ignored them all. My body started to feel numb and that was it. I think I swallowed a little after that and I think that killed it. I lay there for a bit longer, maybe 10 minutes, and I saw a bunch of flashing squares in front of my eyes. They were black and white and they were flashing in front of a white globe that was in the center of the background. It was revolving and flashing too, but not as strong as the squares. I felt a strong wave of numbness come over me and I felt heavy. I assume this was HI and SP. I lay there for a long while like that and at one time my vision was encompassed in white light. This was the only thing that happened. After an hour I ended up rolling over. I tried again but couldn't find a comfortable enough position. Rolled to my other side, still couldn't. Tried on my back again and lay there for another 20 minutes and didn't get anything. I was getting really tired so I rolled to my side again and went to sleep. I don't know what to do after I have reached SP to bring upon a dream that I can enter. I also don't know why after the first time I was unable to reach SP again. Any ideas?

[J.D.]

So I finally made it into bed closing in on noon and laid there for over an hour. Within the first 20 minutes I felt some tingling, some twitching, and some itches, and ignored them all. My body started to feel numb and that was it. I think I swallowed a little after that and I think that killed it. Don't worry about staying so still that it's all you can think about. If I get to that stage, I change over to my side (after starting on the back). After lying on my back for so long, the side seems hella-comfy and it's like pressing a "super relax" button. I don't know what to do after I have reached SP to bring upon a dream that I can enter. I also don't know why after the first time I was unable to reach SP again. Any ideas? It might be that you were up for too long- how long was it between when you got up till you went back to bed? From my experience, if you're in SP, your mind will start creating weird crap to compensate for the lack of sensory input, AKA HH's. Sometimes you get the sensation of leaving your body or rolling out of it. This usually stops after a few seconds and you find yourself in a dream. If it doesn't happen on its own, you might want to focus on tactile sensations, ie touching stuff. Once you're in SP your mind will be able to simulate the sensation of touching an object with a pretty high level of realism. Focus on stroking/rubbing something with an interesting or rough surface, and if you're doing it right, you'll get into a pretty stable LD after no more than 30 seconds. Although, I've only ever used this one as a DEILD, but I would imagine it could be used at the start of a WILD too. Think of it as manipulating the hallucinations.