Am I close judging by my WILD attempts?

[TaylorMary]

So I've been studying and attempting Lucid Dreaming for about..eh, give or take 3 months? I'm REALLY determined to do it. I've been studying every aspect, every technique, every tip, and even started to meditate. I studied what I need to do and now I'm practicing! The WILD technique ALWAYS stuck out to me. For some reason, my mind thinks this is the best way to fall into a lucid dream. Shockingly I feel like it is the easiest! Since I have to take driving classes in the summer now (I'm 16), I wake up at 8. When I get home from class it's usually the afternoon so I decide to catch up on some sleep. Attempt 1: Two days ago I went to take a nap and decided to try out the WILD. I ended up getting to the point where I was half awake/asleep and my body started twitching. My eyeballs started moving back and forth. I believe I was in REM, right? I couldn't really focus, but I heard a loud POP in my ear like a gun shot. I assumed it was a loud noise from the bar across the street. Idk, that's what my mind thought it was at the time! I jumped suddenly and my eyes saw a table of 6 glasses of water almost being knocked out. Hallucinating? Unfortunately I panicked. Attempt 2: I've tried again (late nap) and found myself in light REM. But I keep getting scared because my body twitches and I don't know.. something comes over me like I'm ready to fall into a nightmare! I try to visual peaceful scenery, where I'd like to go, but find myself still frightened! In the dark a very, very bright white light was turned on beneath my closed eyelids and I was so scared that I jolted myself out of my attempt. Attempt 3: Around 20 minutes ago I laid myself down to willingly try a WILD. I just wanted to try it again. I focused on trying to get my eyeballs to the point of flickering again. But this time, they hardly did that at all! They were lightly flickering and (again) that bright white light came back. I get chanting "just relax, fall into it...fall into it...enter that warmth.." and soon enough I started hearing things. Usually when I hear sounds I am in this foggy state where I can't focus on the fact I'm hallucinating them. I keep associating them with real life things. I heard a large banging noise and thought it was a neighbor working on wood. I didn't even think: I just knew. Then I heard something that sounded like a TV playing and I thought instantly: my brother's TV is on in his room. My body started twitching a tiny bit and suddenly I experienced something I never did before: flickering lights. It was almost like a strobe light just slightly different. And I was just watching it. My heart was also beating VERY quickly. Pounding! It was hurting my chest almost. I didn't let this bother me, though. I tried to remain calm. Unfortunately my mom came upstairs and into my room and walked along my bed. I got excited and thought "Omg, is this a dream!?" But it wasn't. I soon started realizing that I couldn't hear... ANYTHING. No tv, no banging, no voices....nothing. I was so shocked to discover I had been hallucinating those things! I was CONVINCED the TV was playing somewhere and people were chatting. Weird! I've been listening to beats in my ears and have gotten to the point where the instant I hear the beats my body just instantly relaxes. I don't even have to try. I can almost voluntarily PUT myself in the WILD state. Like I said, I got around 9 hours of sleep last night and I woke up around 11:30 this morning. I ate lunch and around 12:30 today is when I did my last attempt. So there was no real strategy to it. I just laid down and wanted to put myself in the WILD. It's almost too easy for me. But it seems like I'm mastering everything except the actual DREAM. What do you think?

[Burke]

It sounds like you are extremely close, like 30 seconds away. Your first two attempts seem to be you just getting uncomfortable/panicked which caused you to exit the state you were in which is very common in people beginning WILDs. Your third attempt was also very close but you just seemed to get up a bit prematurely. You have to be sure that you are in the dream completely which often means a different location or something out of the ordinary. Try just laying there until something strange happens like an uncommon noise (not a bang or a tv but an animal or an unusual voice) or a change in things you can see. Once you're in the dream you'll know, it's quite unique.

[melanieb]

I think your determination will eventually bring you success. You sound optimistic. I found WBTB works well with WILD, though you may be different. Still, worth a try. It might last longer and being more relaxed might help get you there. You seem to be on the right track! Keep dreaming!

[TaylorMary]

I think your determination will eventually bring you success. You sound optimistic. I found WBTB works well with WILD, though you may be different. Still, worth a try. It might last longer and being more relaxed might help get you there. You seem to be on the right track! Keep dreaming! I have tried WBTB technique for a while with no luck. People say that late at night you are prone to falling asleep from exhaustion -- for me, it's the morning!

[LucidPirate]

WILD's usually do not work immediately after going to bed. And I'm not sure how long it's taking you to attempt your WILD's, but it shouldn't take more than about 2-15 minutes after you wake up during REM. Just do the stuff you're doing now when you wake up during the night and combine WILD/WBTB/MILD/SSILD to up your chances.

[TaylorMary]

WILD's usually do not work immediately after going to bed. And I'm not sure how long it's taking you to attempt your WILD's, but it shouldn't take more than about 2-15 minutes after you wake up during REM. Just do the stuff you're doing now when you wake up during the night and combine WILD/WBTB/MILD/SSILD to up your chances. I do not attempt my WILDs immediately after bed. I attempt them in the later day. Afternoon naps.

[melanieb]

I moved your other posts over here.

[TaylorMary]

I moved your other posts over here. Thank you very much!