That would be a puzzler, I think, given the rule of thumb about when to WILD -- I rule I obviously agree with! Here are a couple of thoughts that might help:
First, we are all different, and rules are meant to be broken. It could well be that your REM periods are more frequent early on, which does happen. My wife, for instance, is in full-on REM almost immediately, and her NREM tends to occur much later (she's a bit narcoleptic, though).
Next, and more likely, you might be waking up in the midst of a REM period. In this case it would make a lot of sense that your dreams are short but clear, because the REM period is short, but the depth of sleep a bit more sound, and that depth enables stability inasmuch as your body is more interested in staying asleep and vividness because your dreaming mind is the center of your universe (I also think it tends to do its best work early on, but that could just be me).
Finally, your DEILD might not be a DEILD but a DILD. It might feel like a DEILD, perhaps because you are returning to your last dream and transition seems instant, but you might have lost lucidity during the NREM break and picked it right up when REM next started. Be assured that this is just a guess; I'm not making an argument here, and don't begin to have enough information to tell you for sure that those DEILD's weren't DEILD's. But it could help the puzzle, and, of course, who cares if it's a DEILD or DILD? You're still lucid, right?
I think much of that balancing act does indeed come from the fact that during the late periods of sleep you are much closer to wakefulness than earlier on (aka not tired enough). Also there is more going on at that time, including consecutive REM periods, your body going about waking up, and physical world sensations (like your sleeping body) are beginning to intrude. I also have a feeling that, after many hours of churning out dreams, your unconscious has simply run out of schemata for the night, so dreams become particularly jumbled and initially difficult to control.Quote:
On the other hand, when I have a successful WILD or DEILD after a forth or fifth sleep cycle WBTB, my dreams tend to be much longer, but all over the place... hard to control...in and out of lucidity.
I've assumed the problem is that I'm just not tired enough after four sleep cycles, but maybe it's something else. Maybe later attempts are a more difficult balancing act.
Of course, most of this stuff also explains why lucidity works so well after several hours of sleep. For instance: a state of near-wakefulness is a good place to be if you're trying to maintain self-awareness; you can run for an hour or more of uninterrupted REM; and you may have a better opportunity to pursue your dream goals because your unconscious might be a bit more malleable.
So, though that balance might be difficult to maintain, managing it would be most helpful for successful LD'ing... if only because you're more awake, and have more time to work with your lucidity. Of course, that doesn't mena you cannot continue to enjoy lucidity earlier in your sleep cycle!
Yes, doing a WILD early on is the way to explore NREM/delta sleep. Not only have I wandered into delta, I even started a thread about it some time ago, called Exploring Delta Sleep; you might want to check it out!Quote:
The "lucid NREM void" experience is intriguing. Is WILDing upon first going to bed the usual way to experience the void? Have you ever seen what lies beyond the void?