WILD turned sour

**Fireflies** · 07-28-2011 10:59 PM

So last night I attempted my first WILD. I slept for about 5 hours, got up for around 30 minutes, and then went back to bed. I was having a lot of trouble relaxing and slipping into a dream because my throat kept clenching involuntarily so after about an hour of counting without moving a muscle or experiencing anything strange, I gave up, did a quick reality check (negative of course), and just went back to sleep the normal way. I thought I would simply resume the normal REM cycle, but actually ended up dreaming (non-lucid to begin with) and getting trapped in a cycle of false awakenings. That is, I kept waking up in my bed, getting up and doing something, and then waking up in my bed again to do something else. I counted a total of six false awakenings (a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream?).

As my dreams progressed they became increasingly uncomfortable. Around the fourth dream I realized I was dreaming and entered a lucid state. However, as soon as this occurred I woke up in my bed again and I was unable to control any aspect of the dream, as my vision was spinning and my control over my own body extremely disjointed. By the time I reached the last dream, the subject of the dream was so disturbing that I was trapped and killed before waking up in what I believe to be reality.

I'm kind of scared to attempt this again, but I probably will anyway. I was thinking about what I did wrong during the WILD that made everything completely screw up. What do you usually do during the wake up period of a WILD? I went to the bathroom, got some water, read a book and listened to some music before lying down in my bed. I just don't want to get stuck back in dream hell again.

**nina** · 07-29-2011 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by Fireflies

I counted a total of six false awakenings ~~(a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream?)~~.

You were right the first time. They're just FAs, nothing more.

I don't think you did anything wrong per say. You might have just caught yourself at an awkward point in your sleep cycle. You may be aware that when a person's mind wakes up more quickly than the body (the hormones that turn off REMatonia/SP haven't gone into effect yet), they will wake into sleep paralysis. So the mind is mostly awake while the body is still "asleep" for a short period. Although this is a well known and common occurrence, I assume there is also a common occurrence which involves the mind trying to wake up before the brain has had a chance to transition to the proper brainwave/frequency/brain area etc. for waking consciousness. I'm theorizing that this is possibly where these multiple FAs originate. So...like with waking into SP, there really isn't a whole lot you can do in that situation...other than keep trying to enter a LD, or waiting for the body to catch up to the mind if you are trying to wake up. You need to learn to be aware of where you are in a REM cycle though. It will do you absolutely no good to try and LD if your body just wants to enter nonREM. Sometimes we end up fighting our body/mind/unconscious foolishly without realizing it. Learning to recognize these things just takes practice.

It sounds like you have gotten pretty far though with the WILD, so good job, it's no easy task. There's absolutely nothing to fear though. People often become frightened after having a multi FA episode. The reason they become increasingly more violent or dark is because your fear increases due to anxiousness about being able to wake up and uncertainty concerning your reality. Also they are coupled with hypnopompic hallucinations which occur when you are waking up, and can result in more frightening sort of experiences (which are completely born from your own fear btw). So don't think about it as "dream hell", and don't let yourself fear it. I used to just tell myself something like, "ok, calm down, we're gonna wake up sooner or later, this can't go on forever, evil dark boogie man hiding in the corner over there get the hell out of my dream please you're not scary..."

**Fireflies** · 07-29-2011 03:23 AM

Thanks for the helpful response. It was like each time i woke up in an FA, I wasn't considering the idea that I was still dreaming because, inexperienced as I am, my first reaction was never to perform a reality check until the seventh time when I woke up for real. So nightmarish stuff would come out of nowhere and by the time I realized I was still dreaming I was waking up in my bed again.

**nina** · 07-29-2011 06:09 AM

Yeah, you should always do a reality check as soon as you wake up, that way you will be able to recognize a FA! Personally I don't do an official RC, but I do at least make it a habit to question whether or not I'm still dreaming. There have been a few times that it has helped me to become lucid from a FA. Although, I haven't had a FA in years, so I sort of stopped doing that. But for someone who might be at that stage of learning LDing when they have lots of them, make it a habit to RC as soon as you wake.