Can't Go Beyond Sleep Paralysis?

[NoahZ]

Hi all! I'll be the first to admit, I'm a complete greenhorn at lucid dreaming - I've been doing it for about half a week now. Despite this, I seem to be able to do the majority of W.I.L.D. with relative ease, and can even go into sleep paralysis without having slept for a few hours prior. But that's the thing, I get stuck at SP. I'll just be laying there, with that wonderful feeling of indistinct terror (not!), waiting for a scene to form from the hypnogogic blobs (which seem to be a little sparse and small, is this normal?), but it never does! Is there something I'm doing wrong or am I just being impatient? If I am, how long should it take? My ultimate goal is to be able to ask my subconscious things, like what my dream-job is, what my greatest fears are, etc. Any ideas for other questions, tips and things to do in my first lucid are all very much appreciated! All ideas and tips are welcome, happy lucid dreaming!! P.S. Let me know how your subconscious appears in your lucid dreams, as well as how you find it (assuming you have)

[RebelSeven]

Hey How many lucid dreams have you had? Normally it's more difficult to achieve WILD without some experience navigating dreams already, but not impossible! If you've only had a few low-leveled lucids it might help to try some other methods first to build up a repertoire. Still, it does sound like you're making progress with it! you have the most difficult part down, which is getting to the vibrations in the first place. I think of it as a two sided endeavor, it's a trip for your body and your mind. You have the body part down, letting it shut down to go to sleep. Now you have to learn to do the same thing with your mind. You have to let your mind shut down enough to slip into sleep without forgetting the fact that you are falling asleep. There are a lot of thoughts and techniques on this subject, but they all seem to come down to using an anchor to hold onto while letting everything else slip away. This can be nearly anything, such as an external anchor (listening to a recording) physical anchor (focusing on a part of your body like your third eye, or your heart) a mental anchor (imagining an object or place to the exclusion of all else) or emotional anchor (connecting to a feeling or memory) There are many more. The whole point though, is to let the rest of your mind go except this glimmer of awareness. To me, that final transition between awake and asleep really feels like squeezing through the eye of a needle, not a lot gets through.

[NoahZ]

Thanks RabelSeven! Anyways, I literally JUST tried again, I tried taking a 30-45 minute nap. I was able to get to SP really easily, I was (almost?) completely numb - couldn't feel a thing, not my bed sheets, the spit in my mouth, nothing! I tried letting go of everything except the ticking of my clock. After about 10-20 minutes, I think I had some HH, two or three voices. Although I'm not sure if it was a psychosomatic hallucination or a genuine HH. At one point (not sure if it was before or after the voices), I saw what looked kind of like a circular opening or portal floating in front of me, staying pretty much in place, but moving slightly - everything beyond it was the same colors as those florescent blobs u tend to see - to a grassy hill with a crooked sign post. I could see two arrow shaped pieces of wood, one pointing to my left, the other to the right. I couldn't make out what was one them, although they may have just said "left'' and ''right''. Was this the "gateway" that people keep talking about? If so, what should I have done at it? Eventually it floated away and everything went to numb darkness again. I decided to get up, hoping to wake up in a dream. Sadly, it was unsuccessful. :C So, ideas? Side question: When I'm conscious while my body is asleep, does it "count" as being asleep? I can't tell

[RebelSeven]

Sounds like some serious HH! It's not the same for everyone and even for me I've entered WILD's through a few very different sensations. The "gateway" is pretty undefinable for this reason. Do you ever get vibrations? or a sense of heavy pressure on your body as if it weighs 100x more? When I WILD I also tend to get violently loud auditory hallucinations that sound like huge metal fragments scraping and twisting together. It isn't a perfect science though, the mind goes through the rabbit hole when you WILD. I find the best method for me is to never actively try to "enter" HH. The way I see it is that I need to fall asleep in order to dream, so no matter what the dream will come to me. I don't have to bash through that barrier, it's only a matter of holding onto that thread of mindfulness. When you saw the post you probably thought: "oh look at that! Is this HH? Is it a dream? is this that gateway thing? Where are the signs pointing? should I do something? Am I going to miss my opportunity? I hope I don't!" and so on. All of this mental activity is the OPPOSITE of what you want to do, it brings you back to wakefullness when you are supposed to be reducing and relaxing your mind. Let everything come to you and wash over you and do not commit too much awareness to any of it. Soon you will be phisically engaged with the imagery and that's when you know you have made it into the dream.

[NoahZ]

Okay, I think I have the idea: acknowledged my hallucinations, but do not engage them nor dismiss them. All I need to do is wait for long enough, right? I'm gonna keep trying until I get it! Also, is the clock's ticking a good anchor or should I try something else?

[RebelSeven]

The only "good" or "bad" is what works for you. You can really only discover it through experimentation. For me, I have a lot of experience with focusing on the point of the forehead where my third eye would be. Otherwise it helps me to imagine that there is someone there in my mind with me and they are going through the WILD too. I look for them as soon as I am capable of seeing. When I'm with the person, physically, then I'm fully submerged and in the dream

[Ripull]

What is HH? Edit: nvm, its those hallucinations things.