Originally Posted by
djv
My tip, like some others have suggested, is to not try to concentrate too hard on the HI. For me, I use the HI to lull me towards sleep. If you focus too hard on the HI then they'll put you to sleep (that's their job anyway).
I use HI in the beginning for the reason above, but when I feel like I'm losing consiousness I try not to focus on them so much and maintain conciousness by telling myself to relax or repeating things in my head like "I'm about to enter a dream." Then I try to concentrate more on how my body feels than on what I see.
At this point I get some clues before vibrations and SP kick in - my mouth suddenly feeling like it has turned to a frown and/ or my whole body feeling like the muscles instantly changed in some way (paralyzed, but not quite). It's hard to describe, but it usually feels like my body has sunk an inch or two into the bed. After this the vibrations usually kick in.
When I feel vibrations and then my body is paralyzed I either get up or sink into my bed (figuratively in both cases, of course) and voila, I'm in an LD.
For me it was a gradual progression to this point. It was maybe 3 weeks from first WILD attempt to successful, but each night (or after every few nights) I got a bit farther in the process.