Formless WILDs

Lately some of my WILDs have been dark and abstract. They don't take the character of my typical WILDs. I will be in bed, and feel myself separate from my body. There are 2 outcomes from here:

1) typical WILD, vivid dream.

2) Enter a dark void. It seems like a different realm from normal reality. I float as a formless being, with out the typical understanding of time and space. Just conciousness. There are very abstract visions and visuals.

I can do things that resemble normal dreams, but it is always more abstract. Much less concrete. It feels like I am summoning visions of experiences, rather than actually experiencing things.

So my question is: what are these and what do I do with them? Could they be NREM dreams? Or a sort of OBE/ASTRAL experience?

I will be trying to explore this more, but I'm seeking theories and advice to help gain a sense of direction... Thank You All!

^^ I would suspect, Clarence, that you're WILDing into a bit of NREM, or Delta sleep. I believe that there is much to explore in NREM/Delta, and even started a thread about it a long time ago; you might want to check it out here, if you're interested.

Ah, yes... I remember reading that a few years back; totally for got about it. Thanks for that link!

I am excited to have stumbled upon a new realm of consciousness. It almost seems as if you have access to deeper areas of the subconscious. Fewer distractions than a typical dream.

Sageous, do you practice yoga nidra? It seems like a logical progression would be:

1) REM Awarenes
2) NREM Awareness
3) Remain aware through the entire night of sleep.

I can imagine that the benefits we see from lucid dreaming would be even more abundant if we were aware for the entire night.

^^ No, I don't practice yoga nidra. Aside from the fact that I don't practice any specific meditation ritual, I'm not sure that the use of outside input or guidance is helpful toward appreciating, on your own, what Delta is really like; at least they haven't been helpful to me. That doesn't mean it won't work for you, of course; yoga nidra is meant to guide your consciousness into a samadhi state that occurs during Delta, so it can't be all bad, right?

I must mention, though, that what I have been doing on my own for decades comes closest to Tibetan sleep yoga, I suppose. I do highly recommend looking into Tibetan dream yoga as well, as it is most helpful toward getting your mind in the right place for sleep yoga (and lucidity).

Your logical progression is right on the mark, as well!

^^ Those survey claims seem pretty high, I think.

I personally have come across very few people interested in exploring Delta, with none of them very familiar with the state, much less fluent... Hell, outside of these forums, I've found very few people more than vaguely interested in dreams, much less LD'ing or Delta (which is why I raise an eyebrow at the numbers in that survey, because I highly doubt that one in five of the people I have met in my life LD monthly).

Crap, my phone deleted my previous post. But, based on the reception of this thread, I doubt anyone cares other than you or I.

Regardless, I plan on gaining fluency in this realm. I may pm you in the future to collaborate!

Good luck!