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

Welcome, Ashx6!

Though they don't seem to be LD's, you made it further than most on their first attempts; very nice!

I'm not sure if you read through the sessions of my WILD class, of which this thread is part, but I suggest that you do. It might help you refine the steps you're taking, which BTW seem very much in the right direction. If you've already read the class, I suggest you review the Notes about the Noise and Forming Your Dream sessions, as they may be most helpful for you.

So good first effort, and I hope we hear back from you on future successes!

Thank you ! and thank you for your kind help,i will go through the classes and try again later this evening

A good deal of the time when I wake up and try to WILD, I just feel like I can't. I feel like I won't be able to fall asleep. This is mostly in the morning hours too. Do you have any comments on that?

^^ Only comments you might not want to read!

For instance, if you wake up with the feeling that you won't be able to WILD, you might as well just go back to bed and get some sleep. Why? Because you have pretty much guaranteed yourself that a WILD isn't happening today. I have that feeling myself occasionally, and tend to remedy it by going back to sleep (or staying up and starting my day). I have tried, many times, to WILD when my confidence level is low or negative, and I have consistently failed. A positive attitude is critical to WILD success. And DILD success.

If you just feel like you can't fall back to sleep, however, I suggest you try to WILD anyway. If you're in the midst of your sleep cycle (as you should be with WBTB), you probably still have some sleep in you, even if your (recently nudged by you) reticular system is trying to tell you otherwise. So lie down anyway, ignore your concern about being stuck in wake mode, relax, and maybe give yourself a little extra time to fall asleep; I bet you will. And above all, stay positive -- in LD'ing, attitude is everything!

Thank you. That makes complete sense

Whenever i try to lucid dream my throat starts to close. Does anyone else have a problem with their throat closing when they stop tensing it? i don't mean completely it's just harder to breath and when I'm extremely close to reaching lucid dream i end up having to swallow or re tense my throat which obviously prevents me from reaching lucidity. so do you have a wide throat that just stays wide all the time and that's why you can lucid dream? or do you experience what i do with my throat and if so how do you deal with it? THX

^^ I don't have that problem myself, but here are a couple of suggestions:

Do a search of this site for this problem; I've seen it get mentioned a few times, so maybe it's been dealt with indepth somewhere else here.

You might try changing your position, maybe sleeping on your side or adding/subtracting a pillow if you're on your back.

Try drinking a glass of water before bed.

Try telling yourself that your throat isn't actually closing, as it may only feel like it is doing so. Relaxing and ignoring the problem might be all you need to make it go away ... of course, if your throat is indeed closing and you are unable to breath, just ignore this bit!

WILD isn't the only way to LD. If this problem is unavoidable, you might want to look into trying DILD or MILD, as they don't require the "lay down, hold still, and wait" step that WILD uses.

I just had quite an experience! Since my last post here, I took an 8 month break from lucid dreaming (if you remember, I was terrified of WILD'ing). Upon restarting, I formed an addiction for Assassin's Creed and in nearly three weeks completed 1, 2, and Brotherhood, and started Revelations. I am currently at a camp and one of my friends, Walker, reacted unusually when I told him the weirdest thing that ever happened to me (BTW that is that I have had two dreams ABOUT lucid dreaming, with no reaction from the real-life me, of course). He broke out laughing, like he knew what I was talking about. Since then he and I have been talking nonstop about LD's. I was tired today, so I was to take a nap after coming home. I decided that it was going to be an attempted lucid nap. It was the most unique experience I have ever had

It seemed to me that the SP came down in layers. At first I thought it was a lot, but by the time I had to get up to eat dinner (it was about 41 mins that I had been laying there) it was no longer crawling unnoticeably up my legs, no. It was about to start leaping up my body! It was so cool! Mainly thanks to the daylight and my new perspective! I may even try it tonight! When I got up, my legs were unusually weak, and I could tell why. Seriously, that was worth it!

So anyway, I had a problem keeping my right eye closed. At times, it would just a slit. Also, in the beginning, when I first started felling SP, I saw a few colored pictures I hadn't thought up, but then those disappeared and didn't come back. I fell like they would have had I waited longer.
Ya thanks for your opinion!

Welcome back Yost, and congrats on your experience!

I suggest you look back at the WILD session on this forum, though, especially session 3: Notes about the noise.

Though it sounds like you had an exciting time, remember that you are trying to fall asleep while awake so that you can be aware that you are dreaming. You really are not supposed to be trying "to get to SP," as that thing they call SP on the forums here really has nothing at all to do with WILD, and pretty much nothing to do with actual SP. Try to remember that the dream is your goal, and not the "noise" you might encounter on the way.

Regarding keeping your eye closed: you might do better to get yourself a sleep mask to keep the light away from that pesky eye. It is not unusual for eyes to remain slightly open during sleep and usually it doesn't matter because you're, well, asleep. But I could see how it would be a hassle when trying WILD.

Those color pictures you saw ere likely Hypnagogic Imagery, and can also be ignored -- unless you choose to use them to help you form a dream, of course.

Good luck with your new quest, Yost, and I hope you reach the dream soon (and that you don't just dream that you did! )!

Well, I guess you're right. After speaking with my friend, I was super excited about the crazy stuff that was going to happen, rather than focusing on LD'ing. I guess I can calm down now, because I experienced it again and I thought it was cool. Maybe next time. Although I am still not comfortable with doing this in the dark, so it's all lucid naps for me. Well, maybe not. I could set a subtle alarm at about 5:30 AM when it starts getting brighter outside (I've never noticed it this early) and then do it. I guess that might be a good time, maybe make up earlier though. Anyway, maybe after completing one successfully in the the half-light of dawn, I would become more accustomed to it and could do them at 3:00 AM, or whenever.

Anyway, thanks for your feedback!

^^ That sounds like a plan; let us know how it works out.

And for what it's worth, pretty much all of my LD's occur in the cold light of day (sleep mask in place, of course)! Though there is no need to fear the dark, with LD'ing there's no real need to work in it either...

Okay, I'm asking this question again, as it seems - I just cannot stay awake long enough!

I say this before I went to sleep at the beginning of the night, "I AM going to wake myself up during WBTB!" I made sure so I wouldn't forget it.
My alarm went off for WBTB. I got up and went to the bathroom. Then I rubbed cold water on my eyes. Then I sat on my bed for a minute doing simple multiplication problems in my head.
Feeling pretty awake, but still a bit fuzzy, I lay back in bed. I noticed that I was still too tired to really move to a comfortable position. I remember me thinking, "Alright, no funny business. Time to WILD!" ..then I fell asleep.

I don't get it Should I stay up longer? I was up for maybe 10 minutes tops. (With the light on)

^^ Ah, Sydney...

My first feeling upon reading your post was a pang of jealousy. Seriously; I would love to be able to just fall back to sleep -- I can't begin to count the number of times I lay for two hours, wide awake, with no hope of sleep. To be able to just drop off after a few minutes would be golden for me. But I do understand your question, so let's just move right to my second feeling:

Remember, Sydney, that falling asleep is indeed an important part of WILD. It can be problematic if you do so too quickly, before properly gathering self-awareness, but try to keep in mind that in order to successfully WILD, and enjoy that LD, you do have to fall asleep.

So here are two suggestions:

a. Yes, stay up a little longer during WBTB; even a lot longer. Ten minutes is not very long (LaBerge suggests a minimum of an hour), and there is an excellent chance that you simply have not yet woken up enough to maintain waking awareness. Try not to do much during this time, except for having dreamy thoughts.

b. Consider putting your tendency to fall asleep to work for you. During WBTB, set your intention, imagine what you'll be dreaming, and just think generally dreamy thoughts. During the WILD, just relax, use your mantra, and do nothing more than get ready for your dream. Since you're not going to encounter them anyway, don't worry about all the "noise," and don't even worry about too much about holding still. Just be ready for your dream. Here's the catch: The LD you finally have may be a DILD, because you may have lost awareness for a moment, but it's still a LD, so enjoy!

Originally Posted by Sageous

^^ Ah, Sydney...

My first feeling upon reading your post was a pang of jealousy. Seriously; I would love to be able to just fall back to sleep -- I can't begin to count the number of times I lay for two hours, wide awake, with no hope of sleep. To be able to just drop off after a few minutes would be golden for me. But I do understand your question, so let's just move right to my second feeling:

Remember, Sydney, that falling asleep is indeed an important part of WILD. It can be problematic if you do so too quickly, before properly gathering self-awareness, but try to keep in mind that in order to successfully WILD, and enjoy that LD, you do have to fall asleep.

So here are two suggestions:

a. Yes, stay up a little longer during WBTB; even a lot longer. Ten minutes is not very long (LaBerge suggests a minimum of an hour), and there is an excellent chance that you simply have not yet woken up enough to maintain waking awareness. Try not to do much during this time, except for having dreamy thoughts.

b. Consider putting your tendency to fall asleep to work for you. During WBTB, set your intention, imagine what you'll be dreaming, and just think generally dreamy thoughts. During the WILD, just relax, use your mantra, and do nothing more than get ready for your dream. Since you're not going to encounter them anyway, don't worry about all the "noise," and don't even worry about too much about holding still. Just be ready for your dream. Here's the catch: The LD you finally have may be a DILD, because you may have lost awareness for a moment, but it's still a LD, so enjoy!

Thank you for the tips. ^^ I think I will try to stay up longer then, and maybe read some other users' lucid dreams on DV while I'm at it, to get me in the "mood". I'll make sure to make use of my inability to keep awake.. XD

But I WISH I could fall asleep that fast at the beginning of the night. At a minimum it takes me around 15 - 20 minutes to fall asleep most nights.

When I first started WILDing a long time ago, it used to take me hours to fall asleep during WBTB; and I don't know how it changed. But I'm actually thankful for it now, as you brought it to my attention that you need to fall asleep to WILD.

Thanks for the tips, Sageous, and I'm sorry that you keep awake whilst trying to fall asleep. :/

Basically what I do is set an alarm clock for around 3 or 5am, then try to go right back to sleep while telling myself "this is a dream. you are having a lucid dream." over and over again until I enter the dream. It has worked for me several times. I don't go through all those relaxation steps or anything like that.

Hey! So I have attempted a WILD about 10 times now with no success. What tends to often happen is I will lie on my back for ages (the longest was 2 hours without falling asleep) and I will often feel like I'm experiencing hypnagogic imagery (light patterns and swirls through the darkness) and even symptoms of sleep paralysis - though never entering a dream. During my lay-down, I will feel a sort of wave of heaviness come over me, though I am not fully sure that it is sleep paralysis, as I don't want to move and have to re-start my attempt if it is - I would describe it as a very intense feeling, where the lights and imagery will intensify and my body will feel numb almost, lasting about 10-20 seconds, and then it will seem to fade away. This often happens to me several times during an hour of attempting to WILD. I feel as though my problem may have to do with me not actually falling asleep, or perhaps to do with my being unable to launch myself into the dream? I usually try to focus on what I want to dream about but still have trouble actually entering the dream. I'll never give up though - thoughts on what I could do to improve?

Welcome Arcanik!

I suggest that you read through the WILD class of which this thread is a part, as it should answer most of your questions, and might offer a couple of helpful hints.

Good luck!

So I got really tired today and decided to take a nap. I just tried a basic WILD technique, using a mantra to stay aware. It was, "I am dreaming." With every breath. After a while, I got small vibrations. I tried to ignore the "noise", and focus on my mantra, but nothing really happened. What should I do from there?

It was around 5pm today, and I had just finished doing some light house work when I decided I will just lay down and ‘rest’ my eyes. I was not expecting anything at all to happen since I just finished doing my hourly RC and I have been in a dry spell for at least 6-8 weeks. I have never made it to the point to consciously be lucid, but I have been practicing MILD & WBTB. My main goal for the last two months was to WILD (King Yoshi's WILD method). I have not been deterred by how difficult WILDing can be so I was expecting to put in months (if not years) of reality checking, daily awareness, and meditation time if I had to…enough of this rambling, here’s what happened!

As I was resting my eyes, I had that old familiar feeling of vibrations starting from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. I was in a shock , as I don’t remember falling asleep, so I knew I wasn’t dreaming. I knew what the vibrations meant because I would always have vibrations and the sleep atonia with my spontaneous OBE's. The vibrations were strong, but I held onto my composure until I felt my spiritual self wiggle itself free…like magic, I was out !!! I immediately reminded myself not to get too excited and remember to stabilize myself (but, I couldn’t help but get excited, I have been waiting for this very moment!). I had practiced stabilization techniques in real life and what task I would do when (not if!) it was going to happen. Immediately I called out for 'clarity' and I needed to find the nearest mirror. I could tell I was still in my bedroom as I was able to make out my bedroom furniture and I had placed a big, full-length mirror in the living room 2 months ago just for this very moment. I already knew I was going to look at myself in the mirror…so that is exactly what I did! I ‘flew’ over to the mirror so I could look at myself and…well…I must be a vampire or the invisible woman because I didn’t have an image ! I had no image whatsoever! This threw me a little and I felt myself fading away and I began to feel myself go into my physical body. So, I lay still in the physical paying no attention to my physical, kind of like I was playing like I was going to sleep. Then, I felt the vibrations return and I patiently waited to separate from my body and once again…I was out !!! ‘Okay,” I tell myself, no bullsh#t this time, I have to go back to that mirror (TOTM or bust baby!)!!! I try to walk to the mirror, but instead I fly at warp speed towards the mirror (I tell myself, if I can’t see myself in the mirror at least I can teleport to the pyramids of Giza, like I had planned as backup). But, instead of going through the mirror, I over shoot my aim and I go over the mirror and go through the wall instead ! Frustrated, I lose focus and slowly I’m pulled back into my physical body…again. I tell myself, okay, let’s do this one more time! I play sleep and patiently wait and sure enough…the vibrations come back and I pop out for the third time !!! Yes, I’m out again! Okay, so I have a slight problem from here. I’m out for the third time and two of my attempts at my tasks have already failed. The only thing I can think of to do was to just get a little practice in with stabilization techniques (hey, this is my first conscious WILD!)…as I don’t have my ‘lucid-legs’ yet. I do stabilization drills such as focusing on my bedroom furniture and shouting ‘clarity now!’ just to see what happens. Then, something weird happens, some type of wind suction starts pulling me backwards with a force I can’t fight and I find myself being pulled off of my feet (if I have feet). This scared me because I did not know what this force was and why was I going backwards??? I called on JESUS, I called on my friend Sibyline, I called for my mama! All I felt and saw was wind (if you can see wind)! As I wrestled with this ‘suction’ I felt my physical body moving and WHAM! I was back in the physical. I sat straight up in my bed wide-awake now and not willing to chance me forgetting what I just witnessed, I get my dream journal and write down everything with a vengeance!

I know this was long, but I wanted to put everything in detail because someone out there is frustrated right now with their attempt in lucid dreamng and they believe they will never be lucid and all their practice is just in vain. I'm here to tell you that it is not! I practiced everyday and did everything the seasoned dreamview facilitators, moderators, and members tell us to do. You just have to wait and let your mentality decide what is correct...this takes time. It may not happen as fast as you want it to, but you must understand you are different from everyone else. Don’t try to keep up with anyone! Go at your own pace, nice and slow! I’m here to tell you IT WILL PAY OFF! Keep practicing! Keep doing! Keep talking about it! Most importantly, be thankful for your set backs and your advancements, never give up and KEEP BELEIVEING!

My thank you speech:

First of all, I would like to thank my higher power that continues to give me faith, hope, and love. I would also like to thank my friends at dreamviews for your constant encouragement: Sibyline, MasterMind, CanisLucidus, Zoth, OphiliaBlue, King Yoshi, Mr.0Blonde, Checker666, Gab, Paigeyemps, Xaneous, realdeal magic, sivason, Sageous, Chimpertainment, Brandonboss, dutchraptor and all dreamview family members and friends. You may not think that your postings make a difference, I'm here to tell you...they do.



One Love.

Congratulations, Bemistaken, and you do indeed rock! Thanks for sharing, and I'm sure your post will inspire!

Originally Posted by Sydney

So I got really tired today and decided to take a nap. I just tried a basic WILD technique, using a mantra to stay aware. It was, "I am dreaming." With every breath. After a while, I got small vibrations. I tried to ignore the "noise", and focus on my mantra, but nothing really happened. What should I do from there?

One thing you could try is stick to attempting WILD's only at times that you have scheduled, planned, and given lots of forethought to, so that your mind and expectations are in the right place. Just having a go at WILD when you're tired and lying down for a nap isn't always the best route. I know you were working on timing and scheduling, be sure to stick to that. See, your WILD was progressing nicely, but your mind might not have been "ready" to do the heavy lifting of things like forming the dream. Mental prep is the biggest part of WILD, don't leave it behind!

As long as I'm here: you said nothing really happened. By nothing, did you just wake up later, or were you really in a world of "nothing?" If it was the second choice, it could just be that you found yourself in NREM, where you were actually lucid, since you were asleep and aware, but in NREM there really isn't much to do (which is why that mental prep is so important, because you could be forming a dream at this point in anticipation of REM).

Oh, and being asleep and aware in NREM still counts as a WILD, in my book. Next time, just hang out, visualize your dream, or just wait for REM, and the dream, to arrive.

If you just woke up after your nap, well, there's always next time!

Thank you for the reply, Sageous!
What I meant by "Nothing really happened" was that I kept feeling the small vibrations until they eventually faded away after some time. I waited patiently for a couple minutes for them to come back, but to no avail. So I got up.

I will try visualization next time, and planning! I totally forgot about visualizing the dream at the time.

Sageous, your private message box if full?
So I'll have to post this here, hope that's okay

-
Hi there friend

You're WILD tutorial is great and atm I'm really trying to follow it, I feel I will be very capable of doing it, I just have one problem.
I'm just not so good with all this 'Self-Awareness'... I can do what you say, I guess, but I'm not sure If I get the 'wonder'...

However I do think a lot "I am omnipotent", and get filled with wonder, knowing I'm a god of my own multiverse of infinite possibilites, but that's not the same is it..
Perhaps you could elaborate, or just help me out somehow, other than that (which is an important part) I should be good with this I think...

I have skype and am on 24/7, so if you could add me that would be great, if you have it..

Skype : IsaacPorter1991

Thanks a lot!

My WILD attempt was pretty strange: I remember laying in my bed after a WBTB waiting for the dream to form. I guess I wasn't very aware as I hadn't noticed the dream which had formed around me; I was basically sitting at this racing arcade machine with the wheel in front of me and I remember continuing to wait for something obvious to occur. I guess the transition for me is a lot smoother when compared to DEILD attempts. In those, I usually feel intense rumbling/vibrations. Oh well, it's definitely progress because I've never been able to get that far before.