Riding that 'last wave'?

I've been having some trouble with my WILD attempts for quite some time. While sitting, I haven't had much luck at all, but while laying down I have been a little more successful. The only problem is that I just fall asleep. Is there anything I can do to hold onto my awareness?

I recognize a pattern of events that happen while I fall asleep, but it seems that at the very last moment, I always loose consciousness.

I've had many lucid dreams, but mostly in DILD
form. I keep a journal and I usually add three non-lucid dreams a day with an occasional lucid maybe once a week.

This is my usual night:
I go to bed around 3AM(I get off at 1AM), get on youtube, listen to music, and relax. Around 3AM, I feel tired and can hear a soft ringing in my ears. I get into bed, lay on my back and get comfortable. My breathing slows, I feel blissful and my eyes seal shut. I feel my head expand and I feel a (comfortable)pressure in my brain center. My thoughts may run off on their own while I don't pay attention to them. I can almost hear thoughts as if my thoughts are thinking themselves. I see very dark waves of light. The ringing gets louder and spikes in volume every 30 seconds or so lasting a few seconds. When the ringing is at it's loudest, I can actually hear voices, music, or ect. It usually has to do with whatever I was watching or listening to before I went to bed. I start to barely see very dark moving visuals that flash by quickly. Each one last three seconds or so, but they are very dark as if someone were to look into their reflection via a dark-tinted window. At this point I always fall asleep!

For two years now I've attempted to WILD sitting up, but just can't fall deep enough. I meditate twice a day for at least an hour each which is pleasant, but no dreams. While sitting, I get as far as moving imagery flashes, falling sensation, and then nothing.

Any tips on riding the wave without falling asleep?

Well seems to me you are very close.

However, many people who are successful with WILD's attempt them with addition to a WBTB. I, personally, have not heard of many success stories with WILD's being attempting without any previous sleep. So it may be beneficial to wake up before an REM period to attempt a WILD.

Another thing that may you is having whats called an "anchor". This can be anything from counting in your head to gentle sounds such as a fan ticking or soft music playing. The basic idea of this is to keep your attention on this "anchor" to keep yourself from actually falling asleep. But be careful with these because if you focus too much of your attention on it, you may find yourself not being able to sleep! Hope this helps!

Thanks a lot, Repo. I'll give the anchor method a try this evening and again tonight, especially since I do have a clicking fan. WBTB sounds like a good idea as well!

No problem! Post back tomorrow, I'd like to see your results!

Since posting, I've taken a late afternoon rest and my overnight sleep. I am pretty used to the somewhat loud clicking of my tower fan. In the evening(Yesterday), I laid down with the usual string of events. Once, I reached the point where dark and moving visuals appeared, I began to count mentally. I remember counting to maybe 100 so and loosing count a few times. At this point, I had been laying down for about 45 minutes or so. I could have extended and probably should have, but I was no longer tired, I usually fall asleep in the evening as well.

Last night, I did the same. The string of events that I described in the first post flew by all within 5 minutes or so. I wanted to wind down just a bit before the count, but that's last thing I remember..lol

In the morning, I was awoken by my roommates, and wasn't able to do a WBTB. Once they are up, my chances to sleep are little. I will keep at it though! It's just about time that I do some meditation and then the afternoon rest. I'm thinking about trying ABC's rather than numbers as the afternoon anchor due to the rhythm..:)

You can't WILD without a WBTB, it just doesn't work that way.

You don't go into REM for at least a half hour after you fall asleep and even then it's very short. If you do a WBTB and you wake up while in REM or right before REM you can go right back into REM. The longer you wait before your WBTB the longer your REM stages are making you more likely to wake up in or before one, you will also have a longer more vivid lucid dream.

Not an expert on this, but I've read somewhere around here that creating a scenario, like a 'daydream' for yourself helps you step into the dream world while still maintaining lucidity... I'm not sure if that would break your meditation however?

You could also try focusing your energy to the center of your forehead, or your third eye, like a point to keep your altered consciousness lucid.

You may be right SystemsLock. That would explain why I haven't had the results that I had hoped. If not, then very rarely could it be done? At this point, I am willing to attempt any approach.

Luni, that's my usual method and it seems to work with the early visuals pretty good. For some reason, the very point where it seems that I would transition into a dream state, this is where I doze off. Maybe I am just too tired. I notice that when sleeping on my back, I can't fall asleep, but when I am deeply tired, I roll over onto my side. That's when everything goes blank.

Tonight I will try again. Thanks for the help!

Edit: WBTB worked liked a charm! I set my cell alarm for about 6 hours. When I woke up and cut it off and then laid down on my back. I relaxed for about half an hour with no results but I could really hear the ringing in my ears. I sort of gave up and rolled over on to my side and after about 5 or 10 mins, the ringing started to raise really high. My memory goes just a bit, but I remember being a little worried because it was weird. My was started off more as a faint viusal and then rose in intensity allowing me to see and pet my dogs that I haven't seen in quite some time!