Thread: Falling Asleep while WILDing

Originally Posted by Aledrea

I have this problem of falling asleep while I'm WILDing...I get too relaxed and before I know it my alarm is ringing...any tips to stay awake, and one time I was only a minute away from a LD too

This post is very confusing. So you get relaxed and fall asleep and next thing you know your alarm is ringing, yet you were only a minute away from an LD, which means you were awake and falling asleep.?

what I meant was I fell asleep right before I could LD.

Well how long do you stay up for, before you actually attempt the WILD?

Originally Posted by Aledrea

what I meant was I fell asleep right before I could LD.

You can't LD unless you fall asleep.

I know what you mean. I have the same problem where I try to WILD and end up falling into a totally unconscious state. Does that clarify for anybody?

I try to stay focused enough to not go unconcious but I can't help it.

Try to stay awake for at least 10 minutes. But don't use electronics or anything, they will wake you up too much, and make WILDing pretty much impossible. Just try and sit up in your bed, and let your mind wander. No matter how much your mind thinks that lying down is okay, it isn't. Almost guaranteed that you will fall asleep if you lie down again.

If you get cold, grab a blanket. Don't go near anything that gives off a bright light, and try not to get too active. Just standing up, walking around a little, going to the bathroom (with the lights off), and sitting up in bed, should suffice.

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by jarrhead

You can't LD unless you fall asleep.

Are you being deliberately obtuse or what? Clearly he means that he loses consciousness during the onset of a dream. And before he knows it, 2-8 hours have passed.

Originally Posted by Ethereal

Are you being deliberately obtuse or what? Clearly he means that he loses consciousness during the onset of a dream. And before he knows it, 2-8 hours have passed.

I was still unsure of his questions.

Originally Posted by Muggler

Try to stay awake for at least 10 minutes. But don't use electronics or anything, they will wake you up too much, and make WILDing pretty much impossible.

Is it ok to use a electronic alarm, such as a Ipod Touch alarm?

Originally Posted by the dream Dragon

Is it ok to use a electronic alarm, such as a Ipod Touch alarm?

I'm pretty sure he meant that you shouldn't use electronics that involve looking at a bright screen. Like don't watch TV or go on the computer or play video games. If you need to look at your iPod just to turn off the alarm, then that's probably fine though.

@jarr: He's asking how he can prevent falling asleep while attempting WILD. It was obvious from the OP, and the responses made it even more obvious. Either you're being deliberately annoying and pretending that you don't understand, or you're incredibly dense.

During your WILDing attempts you could throw in some MILD techniques whilst relaxed so that you may end up in a LD if you fall asleep unconsciously.

ok, thanks

Originally Posted by Hidden

I'm pretty sure he meant that you shouldn't use electronics that involve looking at a bright screen. Like don't watch TV or go on the computer or play video games. If you need to look at your iPod just to turn off the alarm, then that's probably fine though.

@jarr: He's asking how he can prevent falling asleep while attempting WILD. It was obvious from the OP, and the responses made it even more obvious. Either you're being deliberately annoying and pretending that you don't understand, or you're incredibly dense.

Nah, just confused!

Originally Posted by Hidden

I'm pretty sure he meant that you shouldn't use electronics that involve looking at a bright screen. Like don't watch TV or go on the computer or play video games. If you need to look at your iPod just to turn off the alarm, then that's probably fine though.

That's exactly what I meant Thank you for clarifying this!

Now it's my turn to ask for your help, DV WILDing community!
Well, folks, looks like I'm in the same situation as Aledrea. Looking for a little help:

I've had a couple DILDs before and have been looking into WILDing earlier this week. After going through CrazyInSane's "CANWILD" tutorial and Yoshi's WILD tutorial, I'm trying the original WILD Tutorial. After looking through the 5 Phases of WILDing, I've been trying to place where I go wrong, but in case I don't pinpoint it properly, I'll just explain to you what's going on.

I prepare for the WILD by drinking a good amount of water, about 1/3 Coca-cola bottle of water, to ensure I'll have a need of waking up after 4-6 hours of regular sleep. I lay down and use KingYoshi's "Flex Freeze" technique to stretch myself out and completely relax in a comfortable state (I will admit, keeping my arms and hands off of my body and at my side is a little comfortable for me when going to sleep, enough of a bother to notice). I get completely relaxed and turn my attentions from the TV in the living room and the furnace fan kicking on to the backs of my eyelids and the kind of "light show" I've noticed that goes on when my eyes are closed.

I do all of this quite easily and get very relaxed, keeping my mind going and passively thinking. However, it seems I wind up falling asleep before I experience any hypnagogic hallucinations. I know I've had the fuzzy, prickly feeling in my feet, hands, and arms several times after relaxing and waiting upwards of what feels like five minutes, so I feel like I've gotten close to my experience with SP, but shortly thereafter I wind up falling asleep -- seeing no images, hearing no sounds, not feeling like I'm spinnning or falling through my bed, and not reaching the transition.

Last night I made sure to take some time after waking to properly WBTB, which consisted of going to the bathroom and standing in front of the furnace fan (it was too cold to open the window for fresh air), which I believe lasted less than ten minutes.

What would you say is causing me to fall asleep before I reach my SP/transition phase? (I'm not sure if I'm one of those dreamers who doesn't see anything during SP, so I'm not sure if I get to SP or if I pass through it and just don't reach the transition.) From my own writing of this post I'm thinking I haven't been doing my WBTB correctly, getting back to bed too soon. If not, what can you point out that I need to do or do differently to successfully WILD? Thanks for any help you can give me, I'll respond to all comments!

Well, I'm really no expert on WILD (I have the same problem--I fall asleep), but here are my suggestions. You could try sleeping for longer before doing your WBTB so you're less tired, or you could stay up longer during your WBTB. Maybe try doing some math problems to wake up your mind. You could try turning on the lights, but it might make it hard to fall back asleep... Just experiment with different things and see what works.

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?

Actually I just have a little bit of an opposition to a popular belief. Many people say that staying up in light is bad for a WBTB but I find it easier.. I did this one time and had the most vivid and real dream ever.. even though I never really "slept" it was just like a daydream that I was moving in. I don't classify it as a LD though. =/

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?

Dear Mr. Clyde, there is no wrong way to WILD. I would recommend writing down a list of all the WILD tutorials you like & why. Then give your favorite one a try anywhere from one week to three. Record the conditions of your WILD attempts i.e. time, energy level etc. Then at the end evaluate the results. After that move on to the next one.

You may find you favor a certain technique or maybe just a part of one WILD style. This is okay. Take what you like and leave the rest. It is also good to have backup WILD techs you never know when they will come in handy

Don't be afraid to fail. We can fail but we are not failures. All failure is feed back on what not to do the exact same way. Try everything first hand & remember someone elses experiences will never be your own.

Originally Posted by Lahzo

Actually I just have a little bit of an opposition to a popular belief. Many people say that staying up in light is bad for a WBTB but I find it easier.. I did this one time and had the most vivid and real dream ever.. even though I never really "slept" it was just like a daydream that I was moving in. I don't classify it as a LD though. =/

I don't understand the distinction... You say it was a dream, but then you say it wasn't...?

Originally Posted by Hijo de la Luna

Dear Mr. Clyde, there is no wrong way to WILD. I would recommend writing down a list of all the WILD tutorials you like & why. Then give your favorite one a try anywhere from one week to three. Record the conditions of your WILD attempts i.e. time, energy level etc. Then at the end evaluate the results. After that move on to the next one.

You may find you favor a certain technique or maybe just a part of one WILD style. This is okay. Take what you like and leave the rest. It is also good to have backup WILD techs you never know when they will come in handy

Don't be afraid to fail. We can fail but we are not failures. All failure is feed back on what not to do the exact same way. Try everything first hand & remember someone elses experiences will never be your own.

Thanks for the insights; I don't see myself as a failure, but that I have yet to succeed at WILDing. I'll keep your words in mind, as they will prove useful, and I'll look into WILDing methods, keeping track of what ones I like and why, and give them a shot. I can be patient.

However, I think when I tried WILDing last night, I got too impatient waiting to slip into SP, and just rolled over and tried WILDing on my side instead of on my back -- which resulted in me just falling asleep since it was much more difficult to keep my mind awake and alert in that position.

I think I did the WBTB part of it correctly: I got exactly 5 1/2 hours of sleep before my alarm gently woke me up, I went to the bathroom, got a cookie to eat and took a drink of water, was listening to music (maybe techno isn't quite what the doctor ordered - is music generally bad for WBTB?), and did a math problem out of my Algebra book before getting back to bed 20 minutes after my alarm had woken me. I was alert and awake and very conscious, but after between 15 and 20 minutes of watching the backs of my eyelids, I just didn't feel any changes. My arms got that numb feeling, but the rest of my body was the same as it was, no fuzziness or anything. At one point I had an involuntary full-body jerk, but wasn't shaken out of my relaxed state or shocked or anything, I just went back into my relaxed mindset.

So, was I too awake last night? Is that why I didn't WILD then?

If you could do it all over again what would you change to get the result you want? How long do you want to stay up before you should go back to bed? What do you want to be able to WILD? IF you were able to WILD successfully what would you do? Who would you be like? What would be different? Are you okay with your responses? Would you like who you are?

Be honest. No one knows you better than you on how you can do these things. We might inspire you but you must decide.

Follow your bliss-Joseph Campbell
The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom-William Blake

If at first you don't succeed try again =0D

I've gone through each of your questions, and I am satisfied with my responses. Your questions now have me thinking: is my problem with WILDing one that I have to pinpoint myself? By that I mean, do I have the chosen method (the generic WBTB+WILD) down correctly thus far, I just need to try it again? Is it now that I just need to find out what works for me in terms of WILDing methods, and that I'm doing correctly (according to how the method is laid out) the method I'm currently attempting?

Also, how many WILDs have you had work for you? I don't see it indicated in your signature and am curious about your experiences with WILDs.