SP problem when trying to WILD

So I've been trying to WILD for the last couple of nights after having a couple successful LDs from RCs.

Here is my issue: This mainly happened two nights ago (I tried again last night, but couldn't get to SP).

I was super tired after a long stressful day so I decieded it would be prime time to try and WILD. It was about 12:30 in the morning. I get into bed, put in my ear plugs (loud roommates), and lay still on my back. I think I entered SP because I was getting some weird sensations. What I mean by that is every once in a while I would get a very loud ringing in my ears, and then almost a wave of energy jolting through my body, causing me to twitch. They got so strong that the last one felt like someone was pushing down on my shoulders hard.

Once those started to go away I figured I was in a dream, but I wasn't sure, so I opened my eyes and did a RC. Nothing. I counted my fingers, and got all ten, as well as trying to push my finger through my hand. Nothing.

I think my issue is that I'm still aware of my body when I'm trying to WILD, so what should I be doing?


On a side note though: I tried WBTB this morning, and was really successful in getting back into a dream, but failing to realize it was a dream, and then waking up after a couple of minutes. I had four dream that were really vivid, and while I woke up in between each one, they continued with a common theme. (Me constantly being late for class that morning).

WILDing can take some concentration skills. Your probably right that you were too aware of your body. I'm not exactly sure what you experienced was SP though.

What did you use as your Anchor? Breathing, counting? The point of this anchor is to draw your focus away from anything else that you could be thinking (such as "why arn't I in the dream yet" or "I'll sit here waiting for SP to happen"). You want to focus on that anchor, and forget all about your WILD attempt.

My anchor was counting while using the mantra "I am dreaming"
1 I am dreaming
2 I am dreaming
3 I am dreaming
etc.
Those weird jolts would bring me out of my anchor though. Any other tips?


But another question I have, is that I have felt my body go totally numb, as in I can't feel anything. I am still aware that I'm in my body, but (as an example) I can no longer tell where my hands and arms sit. I know they are on my stomach, but they feel like they are twisting in weird ways. I am still able to move my body if I want to though, which leads me to believe that it's not SP. I am getting hallucinations, anywhere from weird abstract shapes behind me eyes to my imagination running wild, but I'm still aware that I'm laying down in bed. What should I be doing differently?

First of all, are you doing WILD without any prior sleep? Or after a 5-6 hour WBTB attempt? If your having trouble falling into SP like this you could try doing WBTB earlier, or do a shorter one. There are a number of variables you can adjust if your having trouble falling into SP.

You could also try a more passive anchor if your feeling wide awake. For me I just focus on breathing, I don't even count my breaths. I feel like repeating mantras is more for people who fall asleep too easily, do the mantras in the beginning, but then as you go, start to just focus on counting or breathing. If the jolts take your focus away, bring it back as passively as you can. Don't think about it, just take it back swift and passive with no judgement. The Jolts could represent beginnings of SP, but everyone is different, I hear sounds before anything else.

Those are good signs, because your laying still for so long your body starts to ignore these repetitive signals, and your not always exactly sure where your arms or legs are positioned, that's fine. The hallucinations are probably hypnagogic imagery (HI) which usually takes the form of bright colors, lights, or shapes as you begin to drift off. If your imagination is running wild you will want to keep bringing it back to your counting (naturally though, as you drift you'll notice these "impressions" where suddenly a dream scene may flash before your eyes and go away within seconds, these are natural). You should practice during the day time, just holding an empty mind, it might be difficult at first, but the key is persistence. Imagine your mind like a river, because it works that way, you've got to slowly drain the flow. I've been in that mood were my mind is like a massive hurricane, and it might take like an hour to get it clear. That's rare though, I recommend you don't think heavy before bed, that helps.

Well, I usually try to WILD without any sleep, but it's not working so well.

This morning I tried to do a WBTB and WILD combo, but I ended up just dreaming really quickly (couldn't make it lucid)

But how I fall asleep at night is by lying completely still, that's just how I fall asleep. Should I try to do something with that?

I personally have had recent success with holding an anchor for a bit and then dropping it. I start off with just sitting on my side for a bit which is the normal way i sleep and i kind of let my breaht drown out the thoughts in my head. After a bit ill notice that i have almost fallen asleep bc. a thought gets through and i was so relaxed that my mind went with it. From this point i decide to begin the actuall technique and roll onto by back so im flat on the bed, hands not touching each other and feet the same [although my hands usually rest on my stomach with one slightly higher than the other] I then usually have little to no thought so i have no need to drown things out with my breathing [also when i say drown things out i pretty much mean just breathe normal but focus on my breathe slightly more when i feel a thought in my head]. The only thought i really have is those of me trying to do a WILD which i can usually control these thoughts. From here i just sit and try my best to focus on the emptiness of my mind. As any small thoughts come, i try to passively push them a way so that its like a low volume thought starting but then immediatlly fading away. This is fairly peacefull and im able to not really feel the time passing which is great for me since im not that pacient. After a bit i usually just get hit by another thought like the one before when i was on my side that had slipped through, and this is enough to kind of wake my mind up to the point where im back into "im trying to WILD" state and im in SP. I guess you could say my anchor is just the emptiness of my head since ive already let my thoughts fade from the resting on my side.

And yes if you feel that you are too aware of your body then that probably means you were not tired enough and are going to need to do wbtb. After you have done so you are going to need to let your mind kind of empty out the excitement you may have about the WILD b4 you actually try it. I personally cant get back to bed bc. my body is so relaxed. Its like i have to get slight fluxuations in my muscles b4 i cant WILD so that i have something to base my reality on.

Going for a WILD without at least 4.5 hours of sleep is futile. For WILDing to work, you have to be near REM stage and at the beginning of sleep you will start with NREM. :)