Am I on the right track?

[ohbe]

Hello, DV community! First time posting in this forum. Tomorrow marks a month since I started attempting to lucid dream. So far, I've had two very, very short DILDs and I've finally decided to try WILD. I tried WILD for the second time last night. I lay there for a good 30 minutes or so, ignoring the itches and swallowing as little as possible. My hands and feet were steadily getting number and number but at one point, I felt like they were just completely cut off. I couldn't feel discomfort in my body other than my face. My body became very light and it felt as if it was rising up a little bit. Swallowing had becoming more difficult as well. I could see patterns and cutscenes in my head, but I was conscious that my eyes were open under my eyelids, it's like I was LOOKING INTO the visuals. I kept laying still for about 10 more minutes after that and a couple things happened: 1. I started feeling like my whole body was spinning, that lasted for about a minute. 2. I started hearing my friends' voices counting the numbers I was counting down. 3. I could see the numbers of my countdown visually, but I would constantly lose the count. Simple math would work though. After that, I got tired of attempting it and moved out of the numbness one body part at a time. So, am I on the right track? What am I doing wrong? Seems like I can't really let go of my mind, it's like I'm getting excited everytime I notice something new happening. Going to try again tonight, pretty excited that I got somewhere. Thanks in advance for all the replies!

[lee1989]

Yes you are very much on track the spinning feeling is common while attempting wilds , i personally dont count down or count breaths i just hold out for the visualizations to start to kick in but its the exact same concept your technique is channeling itsself by turning simple thoughts into visual images which is brilliant its exactly what you want ... the hardest part i find is exactly where your upto ( knowing when to try to jump into the dream/visuals or hold out a little longer to make sure your bodys relaxed enough. I enjoy the sensations i get just trying to wild enough to keep attempting them even if i fail but the key is just practice, once you get your first wild you will start to recognise feelings and signs that you are ready to go from the hypnosis stage you first feel to initiating the lucid. The key fact is that your well on your way and obviously have the first stages down to a tee ... just practice timing and be patient.. all worth it in the end keep it up and good luck

[ohbe]

Right, that really makes me happy! Thanks a lot, man! What about the time to do WILDs? I've heard some people say that it's barely possible to initiate a lucid dream if you're doing it for night's sleep rather than WBTB?

[Scionox]

You should not WILD when going to sleep, it's the worst time really, do it in WBTB or during a nap, naps are great for lucid dreaming in general as well if you do them. Also you don't really need to ignore itches and swallowing. For WILD all you need is to fall asleep while being aware, check out this tutorial for more in-depth info too: WILD Good luck!

[gab]

I agree with two posts before mine. You should have couple hours of sleep before WILD. That's because when you go to bed at night, first part of sleep cycle will be about 80 min. of NREM. Dreams in NREM are short, non-vivid, foggy. But after 4.5-6 hrs of sleep, you will go through only short period of NREM untill you reach REM. REM dreams are preffered. When you WILDing, you have to stay aware untill you reach any dream, and thats easier to do when REM is closer. Those sensations you felt are indication of you falling asleep, and that you kept your mind awake, while your body is falling asleep. If you have a dream ready for you at that time, you can enter it. But if you don't than you just gonna have those sensations. And you have a much better chance of dream being ready for you, if you WILD near your REM stage. I really recommned the tutorial linked above. And if you find yourself in some sensations next time, here are a few hints, how to enter LD via sensations and HH. Good luck

[ohbe]

Whoa! I need comfirmation because I think I've just done it through WILD or something similar to that! I woke up naturally after 8 hours of sleep, got out of bed and wrote my dreams down, chilled for about 10 more minutes and went back to try WILD. I was laying on my back but my limbs wouldn't go numb and I just rolled over to the side. Still feeling relaxed, I was kind of feeling aware of slipping into sleep but not too aware I'd say. Then I felt my eyelids being closed but me seeing a first person videogame-kind dream playing out. I was afraid to move because I thought I'd wake up as it was that morning feeling when you can feel yourself slipping back to a dream. So I just kind of watched it thinking "Okay, go outside so I can see you fly" and similar stuff. Soon, I woke up and turns out it was my first false awakening ever! That made me think I'm getting closer to really inducing my dreams AND I was somewhat lucid or at least aware of the dream. If only I had read gab's article last night and known when to get out of bed and RC...

[lee1989]

Being lucid doesnt necessarily mean controlling your dreams it just means being aware that your actually dreaming, so if the images you were seeing had your full vision and not just elements within your vision i think that would class as a lucid yes if not certainly half-lucid.. either way its nice progress. what was your false awakening like? did you wake back into your normal routine before re-awakening in reality? congratulations also any lucidity is brilliant

[ohbe]

Thanks again! My false awakening was kind of weird. I woke up in my own room and bed but my mom was there and we hat a few visitors. Two kids and a baby. The baby was kind of slimy from its saliva and when it crawled on me I could feel it really feel on my skin and I awoke in waking life. I reality check upon awakening most of the time but I didn't that time...

[lee1989]

your welcome and yeah a reality check could have got you straight back into a fully controlled lucid but either way nice going and keep drilling the reality checks in for next time .. well done ohbe

[gab]

Congrats on your progress! So did you get to go outside and fly? What you saw, the videogame type of a dream, was most likely a hypnagogic hallucination. That's how dreams start. First you may get some images, they may develope into moving pictures and full blown dreams. But until you enter this dream, you are an observer, rather than part of a dream. The entering was trickiest part for me to figure out. Happy dreams

[ohbe]

No, the dream never played out to go outside. Going to try to imagine myself IN the dream scene next time.