Staying up or WILDing straight away?

[Barttg]

Hey guys, when waking up to for WILDing, should we get up for 20-60 minutes first, similar to the WBTB method, or should we attempt to WILd straight away? Thanks

[Sageous]

Stay up. This isn't similar to WBTB, by the way, but actually is WBTB. By staying up for a little while (I recommend a minimum of 15 min, maximum of 90 min) allows you some time to gather the waking-life consciousness you will need to successful navigate your WILD. If you attempt your WILD without getting up, which I'll admit seems to be by far the more agreeable plan, you risk not waking up enough, and simply returning to normal sleep before your WILD process can even begin. So it really does make sense to find the strength to get out of bed, stay up for a little while, and then go back to bed with enough waking-life consciousness to fuel your WILD attempt.

[whitedreams]

I find i have no trouble waking up and staying up for a little, but its settling back down where i have the problem. I try medidation and white noise tapes but its almost like i have anxiety anoit entering the wild. Also i grt frustrated after loke 20 monites of just laying there and not entering the wild. What do you reccomend?

[Sageous]

^^ First, you might come to understand that you could need a whole lot more than 20 minutes to fall asleep. Try not to get frustrated until at least an hour passes. That aside, there are some things you can do to stay focused during the wait for sleep and your dream, like repeating a mantra or just thinking about what you'll be doing when lucid. In other words, there is a bit more to WILD than just lying there and waiting. If you haven't already, you might check out DV's WILD tutorial, or if you feel more ambitious, you could take my DVA WILD class. If you still need to relax during your WILD, the 61 point relaxation method might be worth looking into. Finally, there is no need for anxiety; nothing can hurt you during a WILD, in spite of what you may have read on the Internet. Doing a WILD is about as dangerous as falling asleep; after all, that in the end is all you're doing!

[andrunoyola]

In my personal experience it's been a difficult balance to either not fall into a regular sleep but also, if I wake up too much, I'll lie in bed miserably for hours. I would suggest from my own experience to not get up and do anything that requires muscular activity (i.e., walking on stairs, lifting, etc.), do something such as read a book or play a game to get your left brain working and then lie down. Anytime I've experienced a successful WILD, it has taken a lot of patience and no less than an hour or so. If you have the slightest bit of frustration or impatience you'll only be creating an impossible condition to induce a WILD. Let go of any thoughts or else you will remain awake, let them passively float on by and disregard them. Be calm and complacent. Even as you begin to feel the sensations of entering the WILD, if you feel a bit of excitement or comment to yourself ("this is weird", "here we go", "holy s__", etc.) you may bring the transition to a halt. Just allow it to happen and enjoy the experience. For me, it either felt as if I was being flung or drug at a high speed and then you'll be either in a full lucid dream or a fuzzy in-between state. The last time I was in this fuzzy in-between state (not sure what it's called, twilight I believe) I accidentally woke myself up by trying to stabilize and talk in the dream and I talked out loud. I think more importantly may be the amount of time in which you sleep or where you are in your sleep cycle before waking up. I've had very different results waking up anywhere between 4-6 hours so I would suggest experimenting and documenting the results to see what works best for you personally. Also, taking 100-150mg of 5-HTP before bed will suppress REM during the first half of the night and give you deep rest making the transition directly into REM during your WILD much easier.