Thread: Runeword's Simple Method For WILD'ing

Hey lucid dreamers! I wanted to write a really simplistic guide on how I obtain and chain many lucid dreams via the WILD method. I have been having hundreds and hundreds (probably more accurate to say thousands but I don't count them up) of successful WILD attempts over the years. This is a guide for beginners and I have to put in a disclaimer that this is what has worked for ME personally and what I feel is a pretty simple method that anyone can do with patience and practice.

First off: to really appreciate your dreams (non lucid are often just as interesting or more interesting than lucid dreams) you need to get in the habit of keeping a dream journal. Just write whatever you can remember that sticks out no matter how small of a detail you think it is. This is mainly to start gaining your ability to recall your dreams. It's frustrating to have an amazing dream experience and then later on only be able to say "geeze that was a cool dream but I can't remember it." If you haven't started a dream journal, start one tonight. It's a personal goal so do the best you can with it and you will appreciate reading over it later on as you look back and see how much your ability has grown with time.

Secondly: get used to a wake back to bed routine. The way our bodies and minds work is pretty amazing. During different times of our sleep we are going through different brain activities. You can do a ton of research on this subject alone but for me personally I've found that around 6 hours of sleep or more works before I start feeling confident that a lucid dream is around the corner. I find that I naturally wake up after about this many hours and it can sometimes be hard to feel tired enough to fall back asleep even though I feel like I haven't gotten enough sleep. A 3 mg dose of melatonin can help in those situations. Get up for a bit, use the bathroom, grab a sip of water, it may be only 10 minutes, sometimes it could be an hour or more before you feel like laying back down. You'll have to experiment and figure out what works for you.

Third: lay back down preferably in a room you can relax and be undisturbed by yourself (I know this is hard for many people especially adults with kids etc) and prepare yourself to have many lucid dreams. For me I find that a fan as background noise if you suffer from outside noises bothering you and a good sleep mask to keep it nice and dark and also less eye twitching work wonders here. Lay down however you feel most comfortable. There is no magic sleep position here, just lay however you normally would to go to sleep and be as relaxed as possible. You may find yourself turning from side to side, scratching an itch, swallowing some saliva etc during this phase and that's fine. Your body will fall asleep when it's naturally ready. Try to lie still if you can but if you need to move or adjust you go ahead and do it. Sometimes you might find that you are just not able to go back to sleep or not tired and I recommend at this point don't fight it for very long. Just chalk it up as good learning and practice and next time remember that the goal here is to fall asleep so you still need to be tired enough to want that.

Four: get yourself a personalized mantra. Create something that makes sense to you and encompasses your goals for lucid dreaming. For me I repeat this one in my mind as I'm laying there and relaxing "I'm aware that I'm dreaming". Short and simple to remember. As you get more relaxed your mind will start to wander and you want something that you can recall pretty easily.

Five: don't be afraid. You have probably read horror stories or maybe experienced some odd phenomenon during this transitional state. Sleep paralysis for one gets a lot of attention. For me I guess I have probably gotten used to it over time but it's nothing to be afraid of. You might feel a sense of heaviness or numbness on your body as it relaxes and goes into sleep state. You will not turn to stone and be frozen or anything that you can't willingly escape from if you want to. Just relax through it, it's completely natural and your body goes through this every night although if you aren't used to it, may be pretty noticeable and potentially frightening. Other sensations might occur at this point as well for example; sensations of movement of all types, floating, falling, loud noises, people speaking, music, people in your room, seeing through closed eyelids, vibrations etc etc etc. This can be alarming but the more experience you have with it the easier it will be to recognize and accept as part of the process of falling asleep. If you do have a scary experience that is throwing you off a bit, realize after it's over, hey I am just fine, nothing can hurt me. Sure it was a little scary while it was going on but this is a concept you need to embrace as you start to have experiences, hopefully mostly positive ones but yeah sometimes you will have a negative one that you just need to grow from.

Six: this is where my method becomes pretty simplistic compared to others you may have read. Often the transition from wakefulness to sleep can happen so fast that we don't even realize it's happened until we have already drifted off into a non lucid dreaming experience and from here our only hope is that we recognize during the dream that we are dreaming (DILD). I've found a method that works for me and that I feel anybody could do and requires no visualization skills whatsoever. First I want you to stand up, close your eyes, and roll back and forth from heel to toe. Remember that feeling of motion. Now, as you're repeating your mantra from time to time to keep your mind awake in a passive way, start to imagine yourself rocking back and forth as you practiced. Eventually, you will feel yourself literally moving and rocking back and forth. Don't be scared now just realize that you are on the verge of entering the dream. Encourage this motion and as you rock back and forth , attempt to go farther and farther with each swing. Pretty soon you will rock completely out of your physical body and seperate. You might have a moment of confusion and wonder if you have physically rocked yourself out of your bed and maybe fallen to the floor.

Seven: immediately do a reality check. For me, my go to trusted check is to plug my nose and try to breathe through it. It has never failed me yet. It may take a couple checks before you are fully convinced and realize that you have entered the dream state.

Eight: from here I like to take a moment and wait for my dream senses to fully incorporate before I go exploring. Rub your hands together and wait for your sense of vision to come in completely if you are experiencing a darkness in the environment. Just be patient and not fearful. Remember that you are in control and nothing can harm you. You will eventually wake up and be fine no matter what happens next. Try to have a goal of what you would like to accomplish and experiment with the possibilities you imagine in this new world where the only limits are the ones you place on yourself.

Nine: once you get proficient at WILD method you have an opportunity to chain many lucid dreams together each session. I will often get 10+ lucid dreams in a row and although I admit that the recall goes down drastically with each individual experience, that's something you as an individual can work on with your recall ability. Once you have entered your first lucid dream you will get a sense when the dream is ending and can prepare yourself for the next entry which should come very smoothly compared to the first. You might find that suddenly your vision is fading to black and this is your chance to prepare. Lay still, don't open your eyes, don't move. Keep thinking of your dream, especially if you'd like to return to the same scene. Your body should feel completely relaxed. Use your mantra and again start to feel yourself swaying back and forth. You should in a very short time find yourself "falling out" again and back into a dream scene. You should repeat the steps I already described as you prepare to enter each dream although it should be much easier after the initial one.

Ten: there is no step ten! That's as simple and honest as I think I can be. Just stay positive and enjoy each experience as they come and once you get good at it don't waste all your time withering away in bed

Hope that helps and I wish you much success,
Runeword