Thread: I keep falling asleep!

I really really need help...
Whenever I try a WILD, be it a nap or a WBTB, I just lose my train of thought and think about some random scenario.
Here's what happens:

1) I get comfortable and relax.
2) I start thinking "I'll be aware I'm dreaming. I will have a lucid dream. Relax. Stay focused." or somesuch mantra, and visualize the words while hearing myself say it mentally.
3) Swirly lights appear.
4) My thoughts go off track. "I will be... stay... Kirov Airship reporting! Cool! Bomb his base... uh oh, Apollo fighters... wait, I need to focus..." *fall asleep*

What am I meant to think of while WILDing? How can I stop myself from falling asleep?

Bump.

I would like to see a reply to this as well. I usually have the same problem.

Do you get pre-sleep before you WILD?

Although I won't claim to be a WILD expert, I have had a good few. But I used to have the same problem that you're talking about. I used to force myself to stay focused and when my mind wandered I would will myself to keep alert. But for me at least I have to let my mind wander just enough or I couldn't stay relaxed for too long. You have to kind of fall asleep but keep just enough consciousness to keep your goal in the back of your mind. (I know, weird to explain.) At first it's kind of hard to find a good balance of alertness and being half-asleep and I can't explain really what it's like but after a few times you'll know. Like in Mzzkc's Why You Fail at WILDs your main focus should be on FALLING ASLEEP as counterintuitive as it sounds, it's true.

One more thing, if you really need something to keep focused on you could try bengron's Sink Under Bed Technique (SUB). Helped me out a lot.

I do WBTB WILDs (or some variation, basically I just wake up about 6 hours after sleeping and then go straight back to bed) so when I go back to bed, I immediately feel like I'm about to fall asleep. At this point I just kind of repeat in my head "Stay alert, you're about to have a dream" and HI starts a few seconds later. The whole thing takes under 30 seconds for me usually.