Thread: What happened? Post Your WILD Attempts, Good or Bad, Here

Originally Posted by Xvaiuer

Well I tried WILD last night, and I was amazed by the progress I have made. I got very close, I think. I started to see weird spontaneous colors, and I heard a weird electric like humming noise. The colors were mostly purple, and then it started forming into objects. It took a little bit of time for them to form completely, but it changed into Kobe Bryant's jersey. The jersey started to fade and the colors were back again, moving around in front of my eyes. I fell asleep soon after this, but I had a DILD later on xD I've made great progress, though, because about a week ago nothing happened at all.

Not to usurp Sageous' thread, but I think I can offer some advice. I think it's fairly likely that what you experienced was a shortlived NREM dream or dreamlet. While some would advise you to try and enter these I think the best bet is to treat it as more 'noise' and keep doing exactly what you were, namely staying aware and falling asleep with awareness. Such phenomena occur in NREM and you need to keep falling asleep to reach REM. This is a generalisation as dreams occur in NREM, but for our purposes it's the REM dreams we're going for. Just my take on it.

^^ You're welcome to usurp whenever you please, Ctharlhie, especially when your advice matches what I would have -- and should have -- said anyway. Thanks!

I just kept hallucinating that I was being electrocuted. That sucked. Good was when I stabilized the dream successfully after a WILD. I just ended in my house.

Hi Sageous! It's been a while.
Recently got back into WILDing after a long period of just DEILDing (found that depending solely on DEILDing doesn't really...seem to work for me XD).. and I remember most of the advice recieved from this class a while back (I'll probably run through it all again before my attempt tonight just in case). But, I have a few questions. Last night, after my WBTB (I'm pretty sure I have a good WBTB time), I tried to wake up myself by putting a light on for about 1 minute, all the while remembering my LD goals and RCing. My total time up was about 5 minutes. Then I layed down to WILD, focusing on my breathing. I fell asleep around the 40 - 50 mark, same as the night before.

So what I'm thinking, is increasing my awakening time to 10 minutes, but keeping a light on for 3. Do you have any extra advice on how to keep awake? I'm trying to find the sweet spot between falling asleep before completely attempting a WILD to staying awake for way too long at WILDing.

So yeah, sorry if all that was confusing. XD Just wanted to update you on my status and get some extra advice.

Sydney! I thought we'd lost you; welcome back!

Originally Posted by Sydney

So what I'm thinking, is increasing my awakening time to 10 minutes, but keeping a light on for 3. Do you have any extra advice on how to keep awake? I'm trying to find the sweet spot between falling asleep before completely attempting a WILD to staying awake for way too long at WILDing.

I think the best way to stay awake is to get up out of bed and walk around a bit. You could do this for just ten minutes, if you wish, but it really does work better of you're up and about. Remember, though you want to hold those dreamy thoughts and keep your mind and body in its "sleep cycle" zone, it really is important with WILD to be awake for a good while (90 minutes max, though!). This is both to prepare yourself to lie awake for as long as an hour or so, but also to make it more likely that when you do finally fall asleep, it'll be during REM stage.

Regarding that "sweet spot," you might try longer first, and then shorten it over time. This might lead to a few failed attempts because you're just too awake, but better that than just falling right back to sleep, I think.

Oh, and regarding that light: if you're going to stay in bed, it'd be best I think to leave it on the whole time, as it will help keep you awake without doing too much damage to the mood.

I hope that helped... good luck with your renewed attempts!

I cannot successfully leave theta sleep after finally falling asleep, meaning that the dreams are severely unstable and can sometimes fluctuate rapidly in vividness. I cannot seem to get to REM. Does anyone have a similar problem or can offer some advice?

Originally Posted by Sageous

Sydney! I thought we'd lost you; welcome back!



I think the best way to stay awake is to get up out of bed and walk around a bit. You could do this for just ten minutes, if you wish, but it really does work better of you're up and about. Remember, though you want to hold those dreamy thoughts and keep your mind and body in its "sleep cycle" zone, it really is important with WILD to be awake for a good while (90 minutes max, though!). This is both to prepare yourself to lie awake for as long as an hour or so, but also to make it more likely that when you do finally fall asleep, it'll be during REM stage.

Regarding that "sweet spot," you might try longer first, and then shorten it over time. This might lead to a few failed attempts because you're just too awake, but better that than just falling right back to sleep, I think.

Oh, and regarding that light: if you're going to stay in bed, it'd be best I think to leave it on the whole time, as it will help keep you awake without doing too much damage to the mood.

I hope that helped... good luck with your renewed attempts!

Yeah! Sorry about that!

Thank you for the advice Sageous, it really helps tremendously! I think you're right about starting with longer periods of time to stay awake for WBTB first, because I tried 10 minutes last night (whilst leaving the light on for 3), and I didn't even start the attempt before falling asleep! It's weird, though - because I used to be able to just wake up in complete darkness, use the rest room, an just go back to bed and I would be WILDing for about an hour. Don't know what happened there lol. Maybe I had better focus.

Thanks again for the tips, Sageous, and I will put everything into my attempt tonight!

Ok so, first off hi to everyone, I'm a new forum member, although lucid dreaming isn't new to me. I LD'd a couple of years ago then stopped for some reasons, but now I'm back to it again!

So to start off first, I wanted to practice WILD, because at the same time I'm preparing for it, I am improving my overall awareness and maybe setting up for DILD's if nothing.

First attempt at WBTB was a failure, since I didn't even plan properly and couldn't even get myself out of bed. Good dream recall though.

Next attempt was better planned. I planned to sleep for 5 hours then get up. But the first time I woke up was about 3 AM, probably because my older sister had entered the room then to sleep. I woke up again in 4 AM, and decided this would do, because I couldn't know when would be the time I wake up again. I got up, drank a glass of water, ate some sweets, and went to the bathroom, a total of about 20 minutes. Got back in bed, laid down on my right side, my right hand placed by my face. Started repeating my mantra "relax", I had a problem with that in my earlier attempts years ago. It went on mostly calm, some unpleasant feelings mostly around the palm of my right hand, but I just ignored it. At one moment, I couldn't focus on my mantra anymore. I lost my awareness and went into a short low-vivid NLD. It ends soon, and I start repeating my mantra again, but the body slowly realises I'm awake, I start feeling tense and I've got a big urge to move. I imagine (or hear?) some voice shouting and arguing with someone, so I just give in and open my eyes. I look at the clock, the whole thing lasted about half an hour. I rolled around to the other side and had a normal sleep because I figured I was too tense right then.

I woke up an hour later at 6 AM, needed to go to another city by car. Figured I could use this as a second WBTB. Avoided napping in the car because I certainly couldn't lucid dream there. Got to bed, again taking my previous position, only that I placed my right hand below the pillow because it felt uncomfortable last time. Did the mantra again, but went on to a simmilar problem. I lose my awareness in some moments to some banal internal dialogue that would probably lead to a NLD. I think I stopped before I started dreaming. I looked at the clock, 15 minutes passed. After this I started rolling around, pretty frustrated. Repeating my mantra but sporadically losing awareness. I was lying on my stomach when a wave of (I think it was) frustration hit, and I suddenly fell through my bed. It seemed that two people "pushed" me into my bed. I was aware during the entire thing, and knew it was a dream starting. I was hovering in what seemed to be empty space. I tried to open my dream eyes, but felt my real eyes opening at the same time, so I just decided to do nothing. Sure enough the dream started developing and I somehow opened my dream eyes. There was my room but it was missing furniture, the computer, and some things were different. I remember looking through the window and it was almost night. I looked at my hands and they were kind of blurry, so I remembered to spin around to increase the dream's stability. After that I looked it was nighttime. The rest is a regular lucid dream that I will probably post on the dream journal section. The LD slowly dissapeared and I had probably awakened to a FA, because I remember some other dreams and I don't remember checking the time, which I always do. After waking up and doing a RC, I tried one more time, but didn't make it past feeling numbness, probably because I couldn't squeze in anymore REM sleep.

So, to sum it up: I had a successful WILD, I remember the whole process. There are several problems I encountered. I lose awareness relatively fast, can't repeat my mantra the whole time and I let go to internal dialogue leading to a NLD. And second problem is, I might be starting a dream but I can't "progress" towards developing to it, like I'm lying there not making a move from internal dialogue and voices, and not knowing if it even started. When I had that WILD I probably made it because the frustration kept me aware, while at the same time pushing the dream ( a little violently) forward, in this case by having a feeling that I fell through my bed, that's how I knew 100% that I was dreaming.

Any thoughts and opinions? And sorry for the long post I tend to be very descriptive.

Welcome, WILDerness, and thanks for sharing!

In all honesty, I'm at a loss for suggestions. This is both because you seem to have the WILD process pretty much down and because you've already noted those spots that need work. You seem to have things well in hand. Still:

In terms of losing awareness and progressing toward the dream: both these things will develop with your skills, so don't be too concerned (you already seem on the right path, though). You might check out my Lucid Dreaming Fundamentals thread on this forum, though, as these things are developed not through techniques or trips, but by strengthening the fundamentals of self-awareness, memory, and expectations/intention. Also, the Forming Your Dreams lesson in my class might help with some of this -- I suggest you take another look at both.

Thank you for the quick response Sageous I will certainly take a look at those threads, I feel I just need to find myself a way to "kickstart" the dream once I do the dive. I got used to the incomfortable feelings while WILDing, but if I had consistently trained my mind for these 3 years that I knew about lucid dreaming, who knows where I'd be now. Well, never late to catch up

Good luck to everyone else giving their shot at WILD, they'll not regret it when they do succeed

Alright, so I think I've found a pretty good time to stay up for in WBTB, so that I don't immediately start daydreaming as soon as I hit the pillow.
I stay up for 15 minutes during WBTB, all the while leaving the light on the whole time. I then RC and think about my goals, and read my previous dreams if I have some time left.

Now for the past 2 nights I have tried this, I am able to start doing my relaxation process (because I am more focused and able to stay on track), but soon, probably after counting (I relax while focusing on my breaths, "1, I am dreaming. 2, I am dreaming", etc.) to the 50 - 60 mark, I forget what I'm doing and start daydreaming, or moving around trying to get comfortable. I eventually just don't remember I was attempting to WILD and fall asleep.

Do you think it's because I'm not awake enough? Or that I don't have as much focus? Any feedback, Sageous, would be much appreciated.

Copied from my workbook (Bemistaken's Workbook)

Date: May 11, 2013
Method/Technique: WILD & WBTB, along with RC during the day and DJ

Attempted my first WILD session last night. I believe I made some good progress even though I was not successful at a full blown WILD. I went to bed around midnight and did a WBTB around 5:00am. I only need to stay up for about 10-15 minutes, or I will not be able to go back to sleep. Got back in the bed after a potty break and walking around the house repeating some simple mantras (again, if I do too much during WBTB, I will not be able to go back to sleep). Got back into the bed and started my process of WILD...

I relax my body and allowed myself to focus on the darkness behind closed eyelids. I focused on my breathing and sometimes, if I got distracted, I would start to count. It didn't take long for the HI to start and I started to try NOT to focus too hard on this. It was weird because I'm am still fairly new and I'm not sure how HI is suppose to look, so I will give you an example. I will see pictures (or short film clips) of people doing things. The HI would come during me counting my breathes and I would loose count because of this. I somehow would get sucked into the HI, but would quickly loose mental focus and had to regain control. Again, I would start counting and the HI would start back up. I would then try to create a dream scene from the HI and as soon as I would do this, a MASSIVE wave of of something (don't know the word, maybe something like energy?) would come out of my body and it would kinda feel like my physical body was being pushed down and my spiritual body was being lifted out (I hope I explained that correctly). This happened several time during my WILD attempts but I never quite got to the point where I was totally in a dream. I can say that I never lost consciousness and I was aware throughout the whole process. After a while, exhaustion and frustration gave in and I gave up. By morning I documented in my DJ the most weakest, fragmented, non lucid dream ever known to man...

So my question to anyone experience with WILDing is...was I close? Does this make any sense? Am I on the right path? Was I doing everything correctly ? Any help is much appreciated!

*Thanks Paigeyemps for your advise!

Hi Bemistaken!

Sounds to me like you were very close, if not right there.

It looked to me like you were doing most everything right. Though you might have still been paying too much attention to the "noise," it seemed your head was in the right place. That moment of massive energy you describe could very well be the dream starting for you. Maybe next time it happens you can keep this in mind and use the pressure to kick-start your dream -- possibly by "directing" the energy toward a forming dream, if that makes sense.

Thanks for sharing, and good luck with your next dive!

Hi Sageous,

Thanks for advise! I can't believe I was almost there! That is exciting for me to know I am so close to accomplishment. So, in regards to the 'massive energy surge,' next time I feel this, I should immediately go to my dreamscape and mentally 'move' myself in that direction? The energy surges were so strong, they literally took my breath away. This is my plan, as the energy surges appear, put myself in the mental frame of mind (dream scene) and go on my adventure. Sounds simple enough, but I understand it is going to take practice. I will keep you posted!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

^^ Sounds like a plan!

Good luck, and remember: the best stuff is never easy.

Fail :l I went to sleep again trying to be aware.

I saw all those HI and my heart began beating hard.

I was controlling my fear saying its ok just some more and u will reach ur dream land



When suddenly my body jerked.

I was afraid so i got up and saw the HI images that wont surprise me its kinda natural to see them after opening ur eyes.

But i am still kinda disappointed my body jerked

^^ Sounds like a decent attempt, SonGoku!

You seemed to be focused and ready, and not taking the noise too seriously, even if it was trying real hard to interrupt your dive.

I've experienced jerks like that many times -- there is a technical name for them which escapes me, but I call them Napjerks, myself. When they occur they have a nasty tendency to ignite your reticular system (the part of your brain that snaps you into immediate waking attention, no doubt an evolutionary holdover from when we needed to wake up fast after we, say, sensed a predator or were falling out of the tree in which we slept). Once your reticular system gets to work, it becomes next to impossible to stay asleep. Sometimes it's best to allow yourself to wake up and try again in a few minutes.

Interesting about the lingering HI, too ... I often use that to initiate DEILD's if I can get back to sleep quickly.

Thanks for sharing!

Yep, the pesky hypnic jerk, for me usually accompanied by a dreamlet of falling down the stairs. Scares the crap out of me.

Originally Posted by Sydney

Alright, so I think I've found a pretty good time to stay up for in WBTB, so that I don't immediately start daydreaming as soon as I hit the pillow.
I stay up for 15 minutes during WBTB, all the while leaving the light on the whole time. I then RC and think about my goals, and read my previous dreams if I have some time left.

Now for the past 2 nights I have tried this, I am able to start doing my relaxation process (because I am more focused and able to stay on track), but soon, probably after counting (I relax while focusing on my breaths, "1, I am dreaming. 2, I am dreaming", etc.) to the 50 - 60 mark, I forget what I'm doing and start daydreaming, or moving around trying to get comfortable. I eventually just don't remember I was attempting to WILD and fall asleep.

Do you think it's because I'm not awake enough? Or that I don't have as much focus? Any feedback, Sageous, would be much appreciated.

Hey Sageous, I don't mean to bother you - but do you mind giving your feedback on the reply above? I'm still struggling a bit with it, but I'm attempting to get better.

^^ Sorry Sydney, that one got by me...

It probably wouldn't hurt to experiment with longer WBTB times, because 15 minutes is a bit brief. But from what I read, that might not be the problem.

Since you seem to have no trouble falling back to sleep, you might consider just repeating your mantra and backing off a bit on the relaxation exercise. In a sense, you might be making yourself too relaxed, thus making it easier to lose track and drift off to sleep.

Also, consider a mantra that's a little more specific, so you have something on which to focus your mind as sleep approaches. That way you'll have one more thing to hold your interest when your body tries to get you to skip the WILD and just go to sleep.

Hang in there Sydney; you seem to be making progress, even if you're not so sure yourself. Just be positive, remember your mental prep, and keep on trying!

Hey, been a long while since I posted on here. I've been focusing on DILD, and most recently am struggling with recall. Last week or two have been really rough, my recall went from 3-4 dreams a night in moderate to good detail, to absolutely nothing over night. Been improving it through mantras, but progress is slow. This lack of recall really upset my progress with DILDs I think, but whatever. Time will cure it.

Anyway, this morning I had some sort of WBTB, kind of. I woke up around 5am, and immediately got something in my eye. I spent the next two hours trying to get it out using everything I could. I think I eventually got it out, or at least somewhere that it wasn't painful anymore. The whole damn thing was infuriating, and by the time I got back to bed I was very ready to sleep. I had a nice (and very long) non-lucid, and then the WILD came. I woke after the non-lucid and laid there more than half asleep for I don't know how long. Eventually I blinked and opened my dream eyes for just a moment, before opening my physical eyes.

Realizing that I was in the perfect spot for a WILD, I went for it. I kept drifting forward and getting vibrations as I tried to enter a dream, but I kept 'rubber banding' back into my body. Eventually I broke free, and was able to get into a dream. My HI during the dive included Earth spinning beneath me as I watched, and the dream was initially me in a bed on a spaceship. I reach out (don't ask me how, haha) and grab some asteroids which are smaller than pebbles in my hand, though they looked bigger before. As I pull my hand back, I am transported to my room. I climb out of bed and walk towards my desk. The world is warping and twisting under me, and it's very hard to walk. I shout, or attempt to shout "Stabilize", and then stare at my hands and other things on my desk when I get there. Things calm down a bit, and I notice everything seems a bit too large, and chunky. The colours are all golden-tinted, like my whole house is exposed to some golden light, even where shadows should be. I also notice my computer has a screensaver going, with a picture of a canyon wall. I walk past my desk and out my bedroom door, where everything becomes unstable like before. I am doing all I can to not fall over as I walk into the hallway, and attempt to stabilize again. I wake up.

Anyway, this was probably the longest, and (laughably) the most stable LD I've had. In 6 or 7 months of trying. I've had one WILD in the past that I talked about here, and it was probably the record holder until now. All of my DILDs end within 10 seconds of becoming lucid. I think I've figured out how to not wake up, but like I said my progress is at a standstill until I can get my recall back up. Just thought I'd post and let you know that WILD has been good to me. But I don't want my only lucids to be when I can WBTB, or wake up well enough after a dream to try WILDing. I'll probably attempt mastering it in the form of DEILD after I get stable DILDs going.

^^ Thanks for sharing. Sambrosia; sounds like you had an excellent time (after you got that thing out your eye, of course!)!

I think your experience was closer to a DEILD (which actually is WILD, so it still counts), but who cares, right? It's the LD that matters, and you got there.

I understand your problem with having to time WBTB, too. But here's a thought: if you put more work into WILD/DEILD, and have some success, you might find DILD's coming to you a bit more easily. DILD's are very reliant on expectation and intention, and the more WILD's you have, the more your dreaming mind will be influenced by your expectations of being lucid. And, for what it's worth, your dream recall might imprve as well, simply because you're paying attention.

Don't forget about MILD, too...

@Sageous; What is your weekly LD regimen, (timingwise)? Or do you just wait to wake up then DEILD based on expectations and mental prep?

Thanks Sageous

Also I noticed my earlier post might seem slightly negative, but today was actually quite nice. I feel like I am so close to reaching the point where I don't wake myself accidentally as I tend to do. (and apparently others do it too)