Aargh!

[Don2]

Okay seeing how I have a week of no school for Thanksgiving break I decided to try out a WILD. Yesterday I awoke at 5:00 in the morning to try it out. I used the counting method from BillyBob's tutorial. (ex. 1; I'm dreaming, 2; I'm dreaming, 3; etc.) According to the tutorial, at around 300 stuff should start happening. Well I got past 300 nothing happened and I just assumed that I was one of those people who didn't feel SP. Well... It turns out I was doing it wrong and I ended up counting to 1,000. -_- It was around 6:30 AM, the birds were chirping, and occasionally cars could be heard passing by on the road behind my house. I gave up and went to sleep. Today was different; I was doing the method correctly now. I naturally woke up at around 4:20. My alarm clock was set for 4:30, but since I was already awake, I turned it off. I didn't get out of my bed. Yesterday I got out of bed and if I was awake enough to count to 1,000, I was too awake. I drank some water from a little bottle that was on my nightstand. I had probably been up for 3-4 minutes before I started my WILD attempt. I slept on my back with my arms to the side. My pillow was at an incline to help cope with the swallowing problem that, along with a few other problems, hindered me the night before. I had left my retainer in my mouth had my tongue touch the roof of my mouth right behind the retainer. I got in a comfortable position and starting counting. At around 200 I decided to start a little daydreaming in hopes that the daydream would manifest itself into the actual dream. I still counted though. Then there was the infamous swallowing problem again. Yesterday, the swallows either happened, or I stopped them halfway through. But today, due to my efforts I was able to stop them 1/4 of the way through. This only happened 2 or 3 times. However, it concerned me a bit. I thought, "What if my body notices I'm stopping the swallowing and I don't reach SP?" Well, those thoughts were abruptly disrupted. Why you ask? I had counted to about 310 when I had just started experiencing the craziest experience of my entire life. I started entering SP. 8D The chest area around my heart started feeling some pressure. A second later my heartbeat rapidly and steady started thumping faster. If fear and excitement are the same thing, I was pretty excited. I was thinking, "Wth? What going on?" O_O Right then it felt like I was disconnected from my body from the neck down. That's when I knew it was SP. I kind of panicked in my mind though. I forgot what I was supposed to do from this point. Was I supposed to keep counting? or something else? I decided to keep counting, but with heartbeat that felt like a quake surging throughout my body, it was really difficult. However, the experience was short lived. In the excitement I did that 1/4 swallow thing. I was thinking, "Crap. Crap! Why now?!" >.< That probably was my undoing, since slowly but surely my heartbeat slowed and I could feel the rest of my body again. I was so frustrated that I decided to try again. I still hadn't moved, so I restarted my counting. I was thinking, "Gah, It's not going to work now." To my surprise, once I got past 300 again, I was starting to enter SP. Although, it was different now. My heartbeat wasn't as fast but it was still very steady and a bit strong. Also, instead of suddenly being disconnected with the rest of my body, I experienced patches of numbness slowly enclosing my body. This was accompanied with a tingling sensation. Unfortunately, I thought, "This is probably too much excitement for one night. I better just go to bed." And I cut off the attempt. So anyways, I have a few questions. 1) When you enter SP. What exactly are you supposed to do? Do you keep counting? Or do you imagine the dream you want to be in? Or maybe something else? 2) Was it the swallowing thing that brought me out of SP? Or was it my thoughts? 3) I am a very visual person. Sometimes I can get so into a daydream in the day that I have no memory of the time between when I got so into it and when I snapped myself out. However, I didn't have any hallucinations. Why? Was it because I hadn't progressed enough into the SP? Or am I simply one of those that don't have any hallucinations? Lol, excuse my wall of text and thanks in advance.

[Rosewhip137]

Funny I made a thread almost EXACTLY like this, earlier today. Except I never got into SP, but I have the swallowing problem as well and I'm worried that may be what's doing me in as well. I only did it twice, but still that could be it. I hope someone stops by with some real answers.

[bro]

I'm not an expert by any means..and only just completed what I'd consider my first successful WILD a couple of days back after numerous attempts, but I'll tell you what I think, and what I know. You're on the verge of a successful WILD. You may have heard that everyone experiences SP and Hypnagogic Imagery differently, so that's what I beleive you were feeling, you were getting there, for sure, but not quite in a lucid dream. I can tell you what's helped me: 1) Don't stress about moving, or swallowing.. yes, try to remain still, but comfortably so, don't fixate and think "damn, if I move I blow it"...lessens your confidence. Chances are swallowing is not going to tell your body that your mind is still awake..just try to avoid large body motions. 2) Realize that you were almost there! When you get into that state again, RIDE it...it may feel frightening, even terrifying, but force yourself to think of it as an adventure. (Let me tell you, very often with SP and the beggining stages of a WILD, I feel like I'm staring death in the face, every childhood nightmarish figure stares me right in the eye..but I Stare right back..in other words, if you're feeling vibrations, numbness, noise, auditory or visual hallucinations..go with it, acknowledge it, know you're getting closer and explore what your mind has to offer. 3) I think what you need to do next is not at all different from what you've been doing. Get comfortable, perform whatever time-passing method you want that will keep you aware, but not too aware, and soon you'll find yourself in SP (might take many more than 1 try). Once your in SP (a dead give-away by numbness, noises, a feeling of pressure/fear/motion)..WAIT...let your body sink deeper...let whatever sensations you feel carry you off, and ocassionally remind yourself "I am in control". Soon, you'll be in full sleep paralysis, you'll know it, there's a "shift in conciousness" so to speak..you'll feel disconnected from your body, might be seeing things through your closed eyes, might still be feeling motion, vibration...wait a few moments and slowly but surely open your "eyes"..chances are you are opening your eyes into a --false awakening-- if you've pushed this far into your WILD attempt. Get up from the bed slowly, as to not wake yourself up..the best way to do this.. -imagine your dream body leaving your sleeping body..try to feel it, "roll out" of your real body. Once you're standing up..perform some reality checks calmly..chances are you're now in the dream. That worked for me. Listen, I like to look at it as a storm almost..you're whethering all the confusing, frightening aspects of SP but the reward is at the end..keep experimenting, know that all you feel has been felt by others before, and that it's just a matter of time. If you've gotten this far you can get to the next step. Best of luck..I'll be trying to WILD this morning too. Happy lucids!

[The Dreaming Zombie]

Very good post above me, thanks for that. And as for your swallowing problem and your experience...I had a very similar experience last night. First of all I controlled the urge to swallow really well since I was on my side instead of on my back and I let my mouth go dry (I also have a retainer but didn't have it in last night because I had the cold). I got very far, failed later but when I tried again on my back the urge to swallow was too hard to overcome. When you said about positioning your pillow in such a way to solve that, could you please explain a little further thanks? (I haven't had a WILD before by the way, getting close I think)