Need some help with an anchor.

[rynkrt3]

Hey everybody, been a while since I was active on the forum, I've had some sleep issues and gave up, but I'm back and ready for LDing. Anywho, I've always liked the idea of a WILD, not only is it cool than you can choose when to WILD and not question wether or not you will become lucid like with DILD, but I think it's really cool that we can conciously see a dream form and go into it. To me it's like a super natural power going into another world or something lol. Ive read every guide on WILDs known to man, and yet I can't understand it. How are we supposed to fall asleep while we retain conciousness via "anchor" I've attempted WILDs many of times and everytime I end up giving up after 45 minutes or so with maybe some slightly numb legs or hands but nothing more. Occasionally I will end up falling asleep. It seems to me that I can't find the fine line between to much awareness and to little. I've tried listening to white noise, dull pain, counting my breaths and a few others. Any advice on how to not lay there with to much awareness or fall asleep with to little? -Thanks for any replies.

[rynkrt3]

No one knows anything?

[MissLucy]

I have this fantasy I always (or verrrrrry often, anyway) think of while drifting off to sleep. So while I'm WILDing I use that fantasy as my anchor. I'm aware of SP hitting me, the vibration waves, the white noise I hear.. but all the while, I'm focusing on the fantasy instead. As long as it's there, I know I'm not dreaming yet. When it suddenly disipates (however that's spelled, lol), I know it's time to get up and enjoy my lucid dream. It's where my awareness is, while still being aware of the Hypnagogic Hallucinations as well. It's like daydreaming. Only at night, lol. While daydreaming, you're still aware of your surroundings; if someone were to poke you, you'd feel it. Same in WILD; the Hallucinations still penetrate the daydream, but not so much as to collapse it. ..sorry if that didn't make sense, I'm not very good at explaining things ^^;

[Linkzelda]

http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/how-wild-62282/ In Step 4, he explains what the anchor means, and in another post after that, he talks about other anchors you can use. I'm practicing using the vibration app for my Blackberry to act as a vibration anchor by attaching it to a part of my body while I sleep and passively keep track that it's vibrating continuously. Hope this helps.

[rynkrt3]

http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/how-wild-62282/ In Step 4, he explains what the anchor means, and in another post after that, he talks about other anchors you can use. I'm practicing using the vibration app for my Blackberry to act as a vibration anchor by attaching it to a part of my body while I sleep and passively keep track that it's vibrating continuously. Hope this helps. I know what an anchor is. I'm just confused on how to "passively" be aware of something.

[Linkzelda]

Ah okay, I apologize about that. But to be "passively" aware of the anchor, I guess it's best to focus on it for a while and then stop, and then go back to it. Like counting down to 99, one might confuse themselves on a number, but as long as they stop thinking for a little while and continuing counting down, they can retain a small level of consciousness. And like MissLucy said, if you focus on a dream scene (like a patch of grass or a building or meeting a Dream Character in a pool), and forget about external senses, that can be a useful anchor because you're focusing on getting your dream body to the scene. You can start small and think of tile floors, and then associate that with something a bit more complex then that like doors, desks, whatever, and continue to build the scene based on what you think associates with what. Hopefully by then, you're already in the dream, or are experiencing going into one because your mind is focusing on something else rather than focusing on the body.

[adraw]

Ah okay, I apologize about that. But to be "passively" aware of the anchor, I guess it's best to focus on it for a while and then stop, and then go back to it. Like counting down to 99, one might confuse themselves on a number, but as long as they stop thinking for a little while and continuing counting down, they can retain a small level of consciousness. And like MissLucy said, if you focus on a dream scene (like a patch of grass or a building or meeting a Dream Character in a pool), and forget about external senses, that can be a useful anchor because you're focusing on getting your dream body to the scene. You can start small and think of tile floors, and then associate that with something a bit more complex then that like doors, desks, whatever, and continue to build the scene based on what you think associates with what. Hopefully by then, you're already in the dream, or are experiencing going into one because your mind is focusing on something else rather than focusing on the body. It really seems like everything narrows down to prospective memory. You cannot concentrate while falling asleep. The only thing you really can do is to gently remind yourself: i am still aware. The anchor as described by billybob should really be something unrelated to to fantasies you are having. It has to be distinct. It is like a lighthouse towards which you repeatedly turn, just to know you are.