Thread: Falling Asleep while WILDing

Fatigue's advantage is that we are sucked toward greater levels of physical relaxation. As you can see fatigue is not the same thing as relaxation. My experience has been that I can WILD when fresh by practicing deep conscious relaxation. ;0)

ok, thanks for clearing that up

I'd say it's far more important to base your WILDing attempts on where you are in your cycle (how close/far you are from a REM stage of your sleep cycle, to be exact) than whether or not you're tired. I can go both ways, getting to about the same point before falling into unconscious sleep (I've never WILDed before, though I've come pretty close on numerous occasions), but you're probably going to do better when you're tired. That's just my suggestion, not based on any evidence or anything really all that credible. My advice: See what works for you. WILDing is different for everyone, it'll be different for you as it is for me, undoubtedly.

I agree two fold with Clyd-O's statements that it is easier to do a WILD when I ready for a nap & that I think we have to realize that no two people are exactly the same and so should our approaches to WILD, lucid dreaming in general or anything.

*nods* Found out last night that my last statement is more true than ever; got really close to a WILD, and didn't have anything remotely like anything others have reported having.

Originally Posted by Hijo de la Luna

I agree two fold with Clyd-O's statements that it is easier to do a WILD when I ready for a nap & that I think we have to realize that no two people are exactly the same and so should our approaches to WILD, lucid dreaming in general or anything.

Lol, Clyd-O! XD

Awesome dude!

“There comes a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance, that imitation is suicide, that he must take himself for better, or for worse as his portion.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hi guys, may I ask you a question?
I have been trying to WILD during my afternoon naps for the past month, (I count and say: "I'm dreaming") but so far I always ended up falling asleep.
My question is: should I set an alarm to go off and make a bit of noise (not much more than a beep) every, say, 5/10 minutes, or would that be counterproductive?
I also try to WILD at night sometimes, and the question is pretty the same.
Thank you very much.

yes, to the alarm

I support the gentle alarm idea. So long as it just keeps you conscious, that's all you need.

@Hijo I like the quote. Can you explain what you understand it to mean? I'd like to know if I'm understanding it as you intended it to be perceived.

It is supposed to be ambiguous. ;o) meaning you could interpret it to mean a lot of things. It was funny and that's why I liked it.

One of a few things it means to me is found in the metaphor I percieve in it. A funny metaphor about The journey of awakening. In seeking the fog of ignorance of mind becomes very familiar. Then one day as if losing a pet all the stories in our head stop and the stories; our minds; our pets are lost. The mind/reason/logic cannot explain everything and no longer tries and the result is a Unconditional Compassion like that you might have for a pet.

I hope that makes sense...

Yeah, I understood a bit of it, but I'll read that over a few more times to understand how that fits in with the quote you gave. Thanks for taking the time to think through it and post!

I understood the quote to mean that sometimes a person must accept that they are, at times, the only one to trust, the only one who's right. In that way, I don't understand how the explanation fits in with the quote. Enlighten me?

For me its not so much about trust but independence and heart. It means that life needs no explanation only occupants. It means that even if my mind can't explain life I can still enjoy it but thats just what I got out of it. Oh, it also means to me that even though I don't depend on my mind I still enjoy having it.

Originally Posted by Hijo de la Luna

even if my mind can't explain life I can still enjoy it

I like that. I like it a lot.

An awesome response; much clearer to me now. I like how you put it, makes me think that the debate over whether things are real or not can be put to rest with your post there, which would tell everyone to quit worrying about it and just enjoy it.


In keeping with the original intent with this topic, I'd like to point out in case anyone's interested that as the one-month marker draws near for me in the 90 Days WILD Project, I've found myself falling asleep during WILDing occuring far less often, because now I know what I'm looking for, and how to get there while maintaining consciousness. A lot of times now it's just that my body aches too much while laying, letting SP sink in, and I then decide to attempt at a later time within the same night or morning. Not to say it doesn't happen; I've just gotten it under control so it's not really a problem for me right now.

Clyde, I think maybe you should try WILDing old style if you fall asleep that quickly! WILD doesn't have to be used with WBTB, you know, and if that doesn't work for you (and apparently it's not) try something different!
Personally I always do it old school (when i'm going to sleep for the FIRST time) and it has worked for me MUCH better than WBTB. Just try it and see what you think.

I just found this thread, but I might as well have participated all the way from the beginning, since it's pretty much what I've gone through (aside from my two rather random successful WILDs).

Originally Posted by SurferonMars

Clyde, I think maybe you should try WILDing old style if you fall asleep that quickly! WILD doesn't have to be used with WBTB, you know, and if that doesn't work for you (and apparently it's not) try something different!
Personally I always do it old school (when i'm going to sleep for the FIRST time) and it has worked for me MUCH better than WBTB. Just try it and see what you think.

Are you kidding me? Well, that could change a lot...everything I've heard thus far has led me to believe that WILD will rarely (as in once in a lifetime) work without WBTB...I definitely think I need to try that a little harder. I either can't stay awake at all, or stay too much awake in order to WBTB a WILD.

Hey, Clyde Machine & Hidden, I am glad you enjoy & understand the quote. I really like it too obviously! he he he Anyway, Clyde, congratulations on you progress. I like hearing about your progress. Keep up the good work.

Happy Trails

Originally Posted by LiveInTheDream

I just found this thread, but I might as well have participated all the way from the beginning, since it's pretty much what I've gone through (aside from my two rather random successful WILDs).



Are you kidding me? Well, that could change a lot...everything I've heard thus far has led me to believe that WILD will rarely (as in once in a lifetime) work without WBTB...I definitely think I need to try that a little harder. I either can't stay awake at all, or stay too much awake in order to WBTB a WILD.

I am also able to WILD when I first go to sleep. I guess it gets easier after you do that for a while.

Originally Posted by Aledrea

I am also able to WILD when I first go to sleep. I guess it gets easier after you do that for a while.

Well interestingly, after reading the five stages of WILD, I believe I have succeeded with WILD at the beginning of sleep multiple times, but I've always assumed that the fading of HI and all that meant that I failed when really it probably was just that I needed to open my 'dream eyes' instead of cut off the attempt and wake myself up. If I can turn all of those times into successful WILDs, I'll already not be half-bad at this

What does TOTM mean? or TOtM?

Originally Posted by Hijo de la Luna

What does TOTM mean? or TOtM?

Task of the Month

Originally Posted by Clyde Machine

I'm thinking my problem could be stemming from the WBTB being too short for me to really be awakened before getting back to sleep. I'll try waking myself up a little more, and staying up for at least fifteen minutes, to make sure I'm not going back to bed too soon.

Any other thoughts here?

This could easily be it. The one time that WBTB worked the best for me, I had gotten up, ridden my bike 2 miles to work, found out I didn't have to work and so rode back 2 miles home. The whole thing took about an hour and I slipped easily into a WILD upon going back to sleep.

If you think this might be a problem, then you should systematically test what amount of time would be best for you. Set a consistent sleep schedule and start at staying up ten minutes, and progress; 15 minutes, 20 minutes, etc (feel free to choose a longer interval).

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

This could easily be it. The one time that WBTB worked the best for me, I had gotten up, ridden my bike 2 miles to work, found out I didn't have to work and so rode back 2 miles home. The whole thing took about an hour and I slipped easily into a WILD upon going back to sleep.

If you think this might be a problem, then you should systematically test what amount of time would be best for you. Set a consistent sleep schedule and start at staying up ten minutes, and progress; 15 minutes, 20 minutes, etc (feel free to choose a longer interval).

omg dude, if I exercised for an hour I'd never be able to get back to sleep...that's impressive that you were able to do that. Five minutes of mild activity for WBTB is like a maximum for me; any more than that (or intense activity) and I'm wide awake and can't get to sleep again for several hours, if not the next night.

Honestly, the more I try to diagnose my problem with WILDs, the more confused I'm getting. I've seen many others say the same thing as me about WBTB, and yet you can do all that and still WILD! Some people say to WILD in your normal sleeping position, others can only do it if they're in a position very abnormal to them. And yet I've tried just about everything and still I fall sleep 99% of the time

Originally Posted by LiveInTheDream

omg dude, if I exercised for an hour I'd never be able to get back to sleep...that's impressive that you were able to do that. Five minutes of mild activity for WBTB is like a maximum for me; any more than that (or intense activity) and I'm wide awake and can't get to sleep again for several hours, if not the next night.

Honestly, the more I try to diagnose my problem with WILDs, the more confused I'm getting. I've seen many others say the same thing as me about WBTB, and yet you can do all that and still WILD! Some people say to WILD in your normal sleeping position, others can only do it if they're in a position very abnormal to them. And yet I've tried just about everything and still I fall sleep 99% of the time

I might be able to do that. Depends on how tired I was before getting the exercise.

And yeah, I've heard that each person is a bit different when it comes to WILD. You say that you fall asleep, but that you can't get back to sleep if you do something for longer than 5 minutes?