I know I've posted so many threads but this is just hard..

[Mzzkc]

And if standard anchors aren't working for you, and you can't find that right amount of focus, there's some interesting tech out there you may want to try. What comes to mind immediately is something LaBerge suggested in his book. Namely, passively holding your forearm up at a ninety-degree angle (by bending your elbow) and keeping it up as you drift to sleep, letting your mind wander if you so desire. It should fall on its own as you lose all consciousness, alerting you and giving you that extra edge you need to stay aware. Also, give me a bit and I'll address all of Snowboy's misinformation. Done: 4) Have the alarm set for that time. When you wake up, stay awake for 15 seconds or so and try to stay conscious while falling asleep. That isn't near as effective as WILD since it requires a quick lapse in consciousness and it is easier to lose lucidity, but you don't have to go through SP/HH. This will also help you get back to sleep sooner. He makes good points on all except this one. First off, this is still a WILD. Furthermore, what you're doing here is actually more effective than most WILDs as you should be very close to REM. And no matter how you look at it, you'll still have to deal with SP (but no worries, it generally isn't as intense or momentous as most make it out to be). You're not supposed to let your mind wander. If you do, that doesn't allow your mind to fall asleep since there is still conscious activity going on. You're supposed to keep your mind as clear as possible so that your mind can fall asleep and you transition to a dream. Think of it as beginning meditation. You won't be perfect, but you should try to keep your mind as clear as possible. If you don't let your mind follow its own course, then by definition you're taking conscious control of it. The mind tends to wander naturally before sleep, so anything you can do to help emulate or feed that process is a good thing. Putting small dams in the rapids that open to the subconscious sea is counterproductive, and often futile. And most meditation is actually done by simply observing that flow, not partaking, not blocking. This is for WILD. For falling asleep normally you can think whatever you want. You still need to fall asleep to WILD, no? So why wouldn't you try to facilitate that by using lessons learned from falling asleep normally? Modifications need to made, obviously, but if you completely ignore a well-established set of ideas here, you're committing an injustice. No, it won't work. As I said before, thinking will keep your mind awake, and conscious activity in the brain will keep your mind from falling asleep. Letting your mind wander like that will only keep awake since this is thinking, so your WILD will ultimately fail. Anchors will be of no use; quite the opposite, in fact! It only adds to the activity bill and has no real use here. I think Snowboy is the only person who has ever recommended someone not use and anchor to WILD. Yes, it's possible, but it's a terrible idea unless you've got a ton of experience. I've already addressed the mind wandering thing. Anchors are used inside the dream for stabilization so that the dream won't fall apart. Think about it. Just what are you trying to anchor yourself to? The only thing that you are anchoring yourself to is reality since you aren't in a dream. So, what does this mean? (if you really asked that question... ) It means that you are just keeping yourself awake and thus will not perform a WILD. Does that sound like a good WILD? I thought not! To everyone who is inclined to believe this, please check out BillyBob's guide "How To Wild" to review the generally accepted definition of "anchor" and why/how they are used. Rynkrt3 was kind enough to link to it, and for that I thank him. And for those eager to learn all they can, I provide some further detail on anchors in my Comprehensive Guide.