Meditation, SP & Transition

[escaflowne]

For a week now that I try this at night & while napping in the afternoon. It's basically a void meditation into MILD (night) / WILD (nap). The problem I'm facing over and over again is incomplete SP or failure in transition. When meditating, it takes me roughly 10-15 minutes to get to the vibrating sensation and onward to the SP phase. I'm not trying to control it nor get excited about it. While it's happening, I just keep meditating while focusing on my breathing, and whenever I see any lights/shapes or whatever, I just passively follow it. While doing so the turning into SP goes faster. Meanwhile, my body is slowly vibrating/numbing from my legs up. There's always strong vibrations going on. What's bothering me and baffles me is the middle phase of the transition into SP. There's always a sort of 'time-out' at the middle of my body, never reaching my chest up, and I just find myself vibrating like crazy while heating up, but never reaching full SP. Even so, I still keep my cool & focus on my breathing. I don't interfere whatsoever with the process. If I just keep doing my thing, why transitioning into SP gets stuck? I've noticed that trying to visualise a dream scene in this mode gives a boost to the vibrations/process of the body becoming numb, and few times it even led to my eyes strongly forced inward, in what seems like my body fully going into sleep mode. I always believe that's the phase where the body goes fully into SP and I suppose to enter the dream any time now. The thing is, after all this charade, my body gradually stops vibrating so fiercely, and slowly goes back to normal, while still having the legs vibrating as a sort of a side-effect. I was thinking maybe that's because the transition into the dream has been made and all I need to do now is open my eyes, and so after several moments of staying passive and keeping on my focusing on breathing, I open my eyes and realize not only I'm not LDing, but my body just completely left the turnover into SP mode at that point where it initially retreated from the SP transition. What's going on? What am I doing wrong? I'm familiar with how SP -> LD suppose to be like, experiencing it several times before, but at the few times I managed to do so, it was in a DEILD situation, not WILD. At those times, I just sort of sank into the bed or 'dragged' myself up and fell over into the dream. However, it only works, obviously, when the body is in full SP. I can't get to full SP in WILD. Frustrating. Thanks in advance!

[Drax]

As many people point out you don't need to reach the transition point of Sleep Paralysis (SP) to actually enter a dream. As a matter of fact SP occurs when you are dreaming, as a result if you are in SP you are literally already dreaming but are basically looking at a blank canvas of hypnagogia which you only need to form or allow your mind to form. You seem to be making the common mistake of using Sleep Paralysis (SP) as the main goal-post for WILDing. This is problematic as you may never experience SP before the dream forms, as you rightly say you often don't except in a DEILD. This is simply because as I stated you are already dreaming in SP. Waiting or looking for SP is counterproductive, it'll only lead you to recoil/react when such hallucinations and sensations occur. If they ever do occur. The important principal is that SP is simply a transitory phase and any sensations related to it are markers to the fact a dream is close by, but you shouldn't seek to experience such sensations. The Goal of WILDing is simple, it is to fall asleep will maintaining conscious awareness. So do just that. Do whatever you would do typically both mentally and physically to fall asleep on top of a simple anchor to maintain some tendril of awareness. This includes moving if you're uncomfortable, scratching an itch etc, the process should mimic that of traditional sleep because it is simply traditional sleep with a tacked on anchor.

[gab]

SP is full body paralysis. The sensations and hypnagogic imagery you describing are symptoms or regular falling asleep process. They are not a goal, but they may indicate where in the process you are. Great WILD (sageous) tutorial Sensations and types of entry into WILD

[modoro]

Alright, As said above, you're focusing to much SP I've experienced this similar, but the reason you don't ever transition is because you're too aware. It's inverse meditation. You must slowly allow yourself to drift off into sleep and fine the balance of awareness to non-awareness upon your body. What you are doing is paying to much attention to your Mind and Body. Your thoughts and the way your body feels.