Thread: Breaking illusions:Sleep paralysis [WILD help (method)]

Originally Posted by Semja

It was a long time ago, and thinking about it now, it is really hard to express! but I'll try. I thought I got the idea from EWLD but looking through it briefly I can't see it mentioned. That time really stands out in my memory...

I must have been really relaxed but also alert, as I can't do it right now, naturally. I think the crucial thing when it happened was recreating the mental feeling, the atmosphere of the place. You know how every single place has a certain feel to you? A feeling which is impossible to put into words.

Right now, every place we have ever been to conjures up a unique feeling when we go to it and we should be able to remember that mental sensation of being there. In my opinion that particular feeling associated to that particular place is mainly linked to time, not the place. Therefore imagining a place we have been to recently, should be far easier. Some memories will be hard-wired into our brain, but we should be able to relate more and better visualise a recent memory. Maybe that's why I'm unable to re-create the same experience with that particular memory because the memory was from several years ago.

It may help if the particular memory is something we don’t have any negative feelings towards because we may subconsciously try to avoid re-creating that. The best sort of memory may be a completely neutral one, for example standing in a lift, because we may be more aware, we are neither lost in happiness nor sadness. Although we may feel neutral towards, and more aware of, that particular memory, the surrounding period and emotions of our lives may help to pinpoint and visualise it.

So as you’ve gathered I think the feeling and atmosphere of the time and place was the crucial factor for me at that time, and the details flowed from that.

I’m sure I did try to consciously increase the detail though, and I’m sure I was focused on the buttons in the lift. It was a big button pad. I remember I used to have difficulty remembering which floor to go to! So I would check it carefully. My best guess is that I focused on the atmosphere, remembering how the walls looked, then the button pad, and then focused down onto a single button, held the focus and it just sprung from there. Almost like peeling away layers. There was definitely some effort of willpower involved on my part, but not a great deal.

Actually, the reason it became more detailed, lifelike, could have been simply because I crossed into a dream with awareness, by holding my focus on something - the surroundings. But the root cause of it all was definitely starting with the feeling/atmosphere/emotion of the place.

I tried!

Atmosphere of the place, details, attempts. WILD seems to be all about our own imagination. As imagination is directly dependent on memory, we have to be good at recalling. As the images start to take over, we must show our skills at passive observation and concentration at the same time. This is what other wild guides often suggest.

This thread was mostly about imagination and concentration, I cannot omit passive observation mentioned in other guides. There are many guides talking about being passive observers, when the imagery takes over. It seems that to kick off the imagery, we can use technique I mentioned above. But it is contradictory to passive observer stance, at least at first sight. There must be something important on this, becouse technique I used was never successfull becouse I lost awareness. And this is the question..

When I succeed with creating some kind of dream scene, should I switch to passive observation? If so, when is the right time for that?

Originally Posted by adraw

Atmosphere of the place, details, attempts. WILD seems to be all about our own imagination. As imagination is directly dependent on memory, we have to be good at recalling. As the images start to take over, we must show our skills at passive observation and concentration at the same time. This is what other wild guides often suggest.

This thread was mostly about imagination and concentration, I cannot omit passive observation mentioned in other guides. There are many guides talking about being passive observers, when the imagery takes over. It seems that to kick off the imagery, we can use technique I mentioned above. But it is contradictory to passive observer stance, at least at first sight. There must be something important on this, becouse technique I used was never successfull becouse I lost awareness. And this is the question..

When I succeed with creating some kind of dream scene, should I switch to passive observation? If so, when is the right time for that?

For me the passive observation comes into play when my mind already has enough energy and momentum and is not quite but up and going with all kinds of threads anyway. In such case I am passively observing what is happening and pictures/sounds/sensations might arise on their own. In such a case I can use that to start a dream.

On the flip side, sometimes my mind is quiet or in some kind of disposition that is not ideal for LD. In which case I can use visualization techniques and imagination to figuratively speaking get it primed up for a LD.

Most of the time it is some combination of the two.

I also agree that in a dream a person can use passive observation and concentration. In the physical world a person can just do something, but in the dream world, the rules are different. The same way to do something in the dream world is not the same way to do something in the physical world. This combination of passive observation and concentration is a working guide to getting things done in the dream world.

I would say passive observation and concentration might be a bit vague definitions though. I know this sounds weird but a working formula for me is "passive positive observation" or more simply allowing what is happening ot happen and being okay with the situation plus "hopeful urges." I person might call these hopeful urges concentration but I kind of consider them more like wishes or wishing something to happen. This is not a great way of explaining it but comes close. I think a tricky thing for me starting off was how much passive positive observation in ratio to positive wishes. If the ratios are wrong then weird things can happen or not happen at all like a LD when a person knows the are LDing but can't do anything.

Hope this helps. Sometimes I am long winded I think.

Originally Posted by Something Else

For me the passive observation comes into play when my mind already has enough energy and momentum and is not quite but up and going with all kinds of threads anyway. In such case I am passively observing what is happening and pictures/sounds/sensations might arise on their own. In such a case I can use that to start a dream.

On the flip side, sometimes my mind is quiet or in some kind of disposition that is not ideal for LD. In which case I can use visualization techniques and imagination to figuratively speaking get it primed up for a LD.

Most of the time it is some combination of the two.

I also agree that in a dream a person can use passive observation and concentration. In the physical world a person can just do something, but in the dream world, the rules are different. The same way to do something in the dream world is not the same way to do something in the physical world. This combination of passive observation and concentration is a working guide to getting things done in the dream world.

I would say passive observation and concentration might be a bit vague definitions though. I know this sounds weird but a working formula for me is "passive positive observation" or more simply allowing what is happening ot happen and being okay with the situation plus "hopeful urges." I person might call these hopeful urges concentration but I kind of consider them more like wishes or wishing something to happen. This is not a great way of explaining it but comes close. I think a tricky thing for me starting off was how much passive positive observation in ratio to positive wishes. If the ratios are wrong then weird things can happen or not happen at all like a LD when a person knows the are LDing but can't do anything.

Hope this helps. Sometimes I am long winded I think.

I like the idea about two starting points of LD. It really seems to be even more starting points. but thats cool. Not every technique is applyable, becouse we are not in state of mind appropriate to enter it.

So it is considerable to talk about if it is possible to transform the state of mind to the one needed to perform a technique, if it is not too tiring.

Exactly as you told. There are two distinct states. When mind feels empty and when mind feels full with new ideas. Could you please specify further what you do {and how you do it} to move from empty state into state of many thoughts?

Is state of many thoughts somehow "better" than empty state in your opinion?
THx.