A couple of questions on WILDing

1.) I typically have trouble trying to find a balance of awareness, so I try to use anchors. Even with them, I either don't focus enough and fall asleep, or I focus too much on the entire process of WILDing and lie in bed for too long.

So, is the anchor, be it visualizations or breathing, meant to keep you awake enough, or to distract you from the process of falling asleep long enough to trick the body?

2.) When WILDing, are you supposed to have a lapse in consciousness, and then snap into lucidity as you enter the dream? Or do you remain conscious 100% to the end?

The one and only time I succeeded at WILDing I did lose consciousness, but it came back to me--however when I read WILD tut's here they don't mention losing consciousness.

I woke up early and decided to just stay awake, and I had a cup of coffee and played games for about an hour, and sleepiness hit me out of nowhere. I laid down, and was a bit too wired by the caffeine to fall asleep. I ended up seeing myself playing Oblivion.

I assume the consciousness loss happened because I don't remember exactly how, but I found myself in a black abyss, and then felt myself tugged. I mentally tugged back at it and it ripped me upward into a dream.

I can't seem to recreate that though. WILDing is a tricky devil.

That was a bit disappointing. I just had what I thought was going to be a flawless WILD. =/

I woke up from a text message at 4:05am (went to bed around 11:30pm), stayed up for about 20-30 minutes, and then laid down...I did the flex relaxation, and got pretty comfortable.

I was in bed for 30-45 minutes. It's the best attempt I've made yet, and still failed. I kept my mind pretty clear and detached from all thoughts(but aware of them), even let my breathing go on it's own, which is usually a problem. I changed positions a couple times, just like I read in Yoshi's WILD tutorial. Got a little bit of HI, and a few moments of SP that faded. And I just lay there...

This is borderline infuriating.

1) That balance you refer to is the key to WILD success, I had the problem you listed where I would always get the opposite ends of the spectrum. Your answer about anchors is both, a good anchor will keep you distracted and keep you alert. Mine is to count from 1-10 and back with each inhale. Starting from 1 again is useful because it gives you small bursts of alertness, whereas the breathing focus is primarily a distraction from your bodily sensations. If you're going with breathing just bare in mind to have a passive focus, don't force your breathing, it can be hard to understand but you'll know you're doing it right when you end up counting and breathing in synch without paying attention.

You'll find that balance yourself with experience, I don't think anybody can teach you it sadly. I found mine and can hit SP in a hitch the only issue is maintaining that mind set through SP, when SP hits it can be quite exciting only real way to not pay attention to SP is to experience SP more and more ;), I've gotten better now I can last a minute is SP whereas previously I used to last 5 seconds. Just a note keeping tabs on your progress like I do is useful in keeping you motivated.

A tip I have is to completely eliminate one end of the spectrum, for instance I rarely have any moments where I focus too much, to do that, work on a better aforementioned distraction and just make sure that if you ever become too focused go to sleep! Or make sure to clear your mind. I still have moments where I don't focus enough, focusing on controlling one state is incredibly easier then trying to weigh up both trust me.

2) A lapse in consciousness is what you're trying to avoid, so yes 100% consciousness is the goal. Just don't confuse consciousness with focus.

That experience you mention seems like a hypnic jerk but also a weird period of lucidity, I've had mine, once I woke-up rolled over into my pillow. I only had a slight urge to perform a WILD some how this carried over subconsciously and I saw hypnagogic patterns and felt deep SP. Don't seek after that weird experience as what you need to be doing, its just one of those times where certain factors just seem to come into play at the right time.

3) Regarding your lack of sucess last night, don't worry bro :D. It just sounds to me like your body wasn't ready to hit SP, likely because you hadn't hit a REM cycle yet, it seems like you got the technique perfect though, nice work. Seems like now you just have to work with your times, right now because you sound too awake I recommend stepping back 30 minutes, say 3:30am, keep subtracting/adding 30 minutes from that time.

Thanks a lot for the thorough advice, Drax! I tried to use your advice in a Nap-WILD just now. I decided to give counting another try, and I laid in bed for a while to get comfortable, and counted all the way to 300, trying to keep my attention wholly on the counting...however my attention would falter just enough to shift back to the thought that I was trying fall asleep every now and then.

After reaching 300, I gave myself a few moments, trying to keep my mind clear. I felt numb, heavy, almost tingly, for a while, but alas I gave up on that attempt. Got up feeling incredibly fresh and clearheaded as if I'd just had a great meditation session, but with a tinge of frustration.

Edit: I had some very mild HI (color flashing for a few seconds, then fading). That happened a couple times. There was also a couple times where I'd get the swaying/buzzing feeling, but everytime it happened I would notice that my muscles were tensed--sometimes it would feel like my eyes were straining, sometimes my diaphragm too (as if holding my breath). None of this was my own doing though.

If you're doing a count never do a perpetual count, always limit it, like I said I count from 1-10, from what I read this is a technique monks use for meditation. Counting above 10 often ends up using way too much focus, and as number gets into the three digits it can just be hard on your mind, as such you'll likely try and force yourself to remember the next number and during that will become too alert as said. Another great thing about 1-10 is that it focuses on repetition, which is a key part of your brain you really have to make use of because its amazing, whether is with a mantra or simple count, it gives the mind the capability of subconsciously taking over that count for you, keeping your mind consciousness but allowing you to drift off.

Also I don't like your wording, from what I hear you seem to force yourself to use counting, remember that WILD is personal to you like I said you need to find that right state of mind and you need to find the right distraction that is tailored for you. The method I provided is just a notable method of meditation which is why it works. I said this in previous thread, but please bare in mind not to think about WILD as if its a technique you have to follow word-per-word, performing a WILD is innate, because sleeping is innate, just remember that the endgame is to fall asleep but have your mind awake, people who write WILD guides are just throwing out their methods of maintaining consciousness through that sleep process, but I feel a lot of newcomers (as did I) try to follow guides too closely and forget what they're doing doesn't require a guide just experimentation.

Just a note aswell that tingling is definitely SP, but it seems you were too focused to remain in SP, like I said your distraction seems to be problematic. Those sensations you noticed are perfectly normal, just try and not notice them, that comes with experience as does getting used to SP sensations, just give it some time and soon when you get those sensations you won't care because they're nothing new at that point.

D'oh. I had forgotten about the 1-10 part when I tried during the nap. But yeah, I've been cycling through different anchors, seeing which ones I like best. I've come up with two of my own. One is to just make a "beep" in my head, and slow it down as I relax. The other is visualizing myself longboarding, gaining speed and carving in and out.

As for the sleep paralysis, it wasn't the counting that was throwing me off, it was the SP itself. As soon as it hits my body tenses a little. It's not much, but I feel that it's enough to interfere. The other is thatI notice my breathing changing to auto-pilot and that puts me into breathing manually. I'll just get used to that, as you say.

I'm going to take your advice and push my WBTB time back to 4.5 hours or so. I think I'm better off being on the tired side than being wide-awake. Thanks again.

Yeah, what most people don't understand about WILD's is that they are very personal. There is a fine line between to much awareness on your anchor, and also not enough. For some people counting from 1-10 and starting over works, for you it may be a bit to much or a not enough.

You just have to experiment with different ways of maintaining awareness and conciseness and find what works for you.

So, this morning I'm pretty sure I seamlessly went into sleeping to dreaming, but I did not retain awareness/lucidity the entire time. I was conscious, but forgot that I was WILDing. It came back to me for a few moments in the end, but things went awry.

I was lying in bed after writing in my DJ for about 10-15 minutes. I laid down and focused on my "third eye"--I don't really believe in chakras, so to speak, but this is a really easy area to focus on. Usually I lie down, get comfortable, and tap my third eye VERY lightly. This produces a pinpoint tingly/tickly sensation on my forehead that I can sustain for 15-30 minutes if I focus on it. I then pull it down into my mind, so to speak, once I'm comfortable. I discovered it while practicing meditation and it works really well.

After switching positions once, I noticed that there was a sort of...scene of a hand holding a clear bag of sand, and it took me a second to realize it was going on. So I knew I was on the right track. I don't remember any notable SP feelings, but I was sucked into one of the hypnagogic hallucinations. I was on a floating stone circle, and I was still lying down, but there were three women around me. One of them was holding my attention without me noticing, preventing me from focusing on lucidity. It was kinda like Old hag, except more of an attractive siren.

Anyway, I DO remember getting up in a dream and walking around, but my vision was really weird. It was like the hypnagogic color swirls/blotches I usually see where still overlaid onto the dream vision. Getting close!