Thread: Help me with WILD please. What am I doing wrong?

Since this is the active WILD thread I will chime in with my own question. I WILD naturally, meaning I become aware of the sensation that arises moments before the transition into sleep and then just ride the tide.

But, this happens randomly, and I can only increase the chance of it happening.

I need to get rid of a specific, extremely intense itch/tickle on my nose that arises almost every time, lasts an eternity... and then, when I think it has stopped... it comes back! At some point I run out of willpower, scratch and give up for the night.

This tickle is the only thing that keeps me from doing intentional, scheduled WILD.
It is so intense that I can't ignore it. So then my only other strategy would be to focus on it meditatively. This removes the discomfort of it, but doesn't make it go away. And because the sensation is so strong the state of mind that comes from mindful observation of the tickle is not inductive to sleep... The tickle twarts most my scheduled WILD attempts.
What can I do?


For OP: About your active and passive variants... Combine them. The main goal is to fall asleep. But you can do this while doing techniques that incubate a lucid dream. Boring repetition of mantras, counting breaths, and visualization of a beautiful, calm and uneventful stage for the dream to take place will both incubate the lucid and make you sleepy at the same time. Just flow calmly through the sensation and try to remember what you are supposed to be doing. Don't turn into a Stone of Focus... just drift and relax and really feel it all while trying to somewhat follow you plan. You don't need to carry all your awareness all the way through. I often loose consciousness right before it starts, but the physical sensations that accompany the transition brings me back.

Originally Posted by lenscaper

It was only just recently that I was able to go directly into a LD without falling asleep. In that case I was feeling particularly clear and present during a very active period of HI and as sleep began to close in I consciously embraced the HI flow and imagined a very clear image of what I wanted to be doing. For those of you who have ever body surfed.....it was like catching a wave just right.

I'm thinking that the choice of the two WILD methods is dependent upon a few things including REM timing, and clarity. When I'm feeling sleepy during HI I know that I won't be able to catch that wave so I prime the pump, let sleep win, and hope for the best.

Hi lenscaper, thank you for your advice. I know what you mean, and I also felt this wave a few times but haven't managed to catch it just right yet, because I got distracted every time and I came back to full awareness. I either get an alarmingly high heart rate just before the transition, twitching eye lids, or the feel that I can't let go of breathing manually haha. I guess this is all due to excitement, which is subsiding with practice.

Regarding the twitching eye lids: Sometimes, I sleep with my eyes slightly open and they try to open just before the transition probably. I might get a sleep mask.

Originally Posted by LighrkVader

For OP: About your active and passive variants... Combine them. The main goal is to fall asleep. But you can do this while doing techniques that incubate a lucid dream. Boring repetition of mantras, counting breaths, and visualization of a beautiful, calm and uneventful stage for the dream to take place will both incubate the lucid and make you sleepy at the same time. Just flow calmly through the sensation and try to remember what you are supposed to be doing. Don't turn into a Stone of Focus... just drift and relax and really feel it all while trying to somewhat follow you plan. You don't need to carry all your awareness all the way through. I often loose consciousness right before it starts, but the physical sensations that accompany the transition brings me back.

Hi LighrkVader, thank you for the advice. I will definitely combine them and keep practicing.