WILD - What am I doing wrong?

[Zaps]

I just started trying to WILD last Thursday, and I think I might have been close twice. I have read several guides on WILD and lucid dreaming in general, so I'm pretty familiar with the process. What happened the first night is I was lightly awoken by a quiet alarm I set 5 hours after going to sleep (I do this because I very very rarely catch myself between REM cycles.). I laid there, barely awake, and thought to myself "I am going to a dream now". It felt like my whole body was moving forward, and for a few seconds I saw a strange black and white symmetrical pattern, but it soon blurred and faded away, and I assume I fell asleep normally at that point. The second night was similar, but instead of the feeling of moving forward, I saw very clear images of my phone screen that quickly faded much like the night before. Last night I woke up, much more conscious than the previous nights, and tried as hard as I could to WILD, but I couldn't make anything happen. It just felt like I was trying to WILD without any sleep prior. I figured this may be because I wasn't in REM sleep? Tonight I am setting the alarm for 6 hours instead of 5. Does it sound like I'm on the right track, or am I doing something wrong here? I haven't felt sleep paralysis yet, and I have trouble staying calm, but I'll keep trying.

[gab]

I don't think you are doing anything wrong, it will just take some more practice. The body moving sensation and symetrical object, your phone screen were HH (hypnogogic hallucination). Those mean that you were on the right path. With the image of your screen you were closer than with symetrical objects, because complex images appear later in the process and closer to you entering lucid dream. When you felt like you WILDing without prior sleep - yes, you could have been further from REM, than the other day. I think what you need is some kind of a mind entertainment, an anchor, that will keep your mind aware, while your body is falling asleep. Have you tried mantras? Something like "I'm dreaming". Keep repeating it in your mind, while you watch the images behind your closed eyelids. Those images will later form complex images and even later moving pictures - dreams. When you see that, you can "wish yourself" to be inside that dream and you should land in there lucid. Oh, and SP is not required for lucid dreaming. Don't wait for it, because most likely it will never come. You were almost there, keep trying and you will be rewarded. WILD (Sageous) - this tutorial will explain everything. It really is worth your time. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask anything else.

[Zaps]

Thanks for the quick/helpful reply. I'll try using a mantra tonight, assuming the six hour thing works. I also read that drinking water before bed might help with a variety of things dream-related. If I keep at it, I'm sure I'll get it eventually.

[gab]

Drinking water is good, if you want to wake up and write down your dreams right away, or if you want to wake up for WBTB without using an alarm clock. If you using alarm, try to set it, so it wakes you up during your REM. REM stage is at the end of each 90 min long sleep cycle. But the longer you sleep, longer your REMs are and closer to each other. So after maybe 8 hrs of sleep, it shouldn't matter a whole lot when you do WBTB. Moved to WILD

[sanctum]

If the quiet alarm didn't involve you moving to turn it off, it sounds like an induced DEILD (useful because you don't have to relax beforehand). If that's the case, then you are on your way (as gab said). Just be careful; don't let the thought of anything distract you. If you go in thinking "I'm close, I can't mess this up, this is so exciting," then you will defeat the purpose and probably have some difficulty. On a related note, I find that counting down from 100, especially when visualizing each number, is an excellent anchor and also relaxing.

[Zaps]

Actually, I'm pretty sure I had a DEILD last night. The alarm woke me up, I didn't move at all, then I fell back to sleep. I had a short dream that didn't start lucid, but I quickly realized things were a bit off, did a reality check, than scared the crap out of myself and woke up before I could stabilize. Heh. WILD or not, I'm getting better results by the night.

[CJC]

Actually, I'm pretty sure I had a DEILD last night. The alarm woke me up, I didn't move at all, then I fell back to sleep. I had a short dream that didn't start lucid, but I quickly realized things were a bit off, did a reality check, than scared the crap out of myself and woke up before I could stabilize. Heh. WILD or not, I'm getting better results by the night. twas a DILD

[Benjo]

If it makes you feel any better, your much closer than i am! Keep it up though im sure well get there soon!

[gndiego]

I've been trying for more than a month now and I hardly made any advance. I've never had HH, never had SP, nothing happens to me. I always try WILD after 5-7 hours of sleep, and I just stay there, relaxing, counting and waiting for something to fucking happen, and I just don't sleep, or sleep normally. I'm starting to feel like I can't WILD after all, and am pretty frustrated, to be honest. =(

[gab]

I've been trying for more than a month now and I hardly made any advance. I've never had HH, never had SP, nothing happens to me. I always try WILD after 5-7 hours of sleep, and I just stay there, relaxing, counting and waiting for something to fucking happen, and I just don't sleep, or sleep normally. I'm starting to feel like I can't WILD after all, and am pretty frustrated, to be honest. =( Not everybody gets HH. And you don't need SP. It would be better if you had more experience with DILDs before you try to WILD, but here is a WILD (sageous) tutorial.

[gndiego]

Not everybody gets HH. And you don't need SP. It would be better if you had more experience with DILDs before you try to WILD, but here is a WILD (sageous) tutorial. Yeah a little more experience with DILDs might help but even then, at least for me, DILDs are way too random to happen. All of mine were very short and happened at pure random.

[Zaps]

Ive been getting closer. I lay stay still, imagine a scene, and get visions/images/sounds almost every night. What's stopping me is myself. I either think to hard, and or like last night the sound I heard was my doorknob shaking, and and I woke up.