WILD help

This is a pretty straight forward question but, when exactly can I WILD successfully? Can I do it as soon as I lay down to sleep? Can I do it when I take naps? Or do I have to do it AFTER I sleep for 4-6 hours?

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oneironaut.ld wrote: This is a pretty straight forward question but, when exactly can I WILD successfully? Can I do it as soon as I lay down to sleep? Can I do it when I take naps? Or do I have to do it AFTER I sleep for 4-6 hours?

Hi!

The answer to all three of your questions is probably yes.

You can start WILD as soon as you lay down, yes (though it could take anywhere from 10-40 minutes to actually get into the lucid dream, depending on how tired you are and how experienced you are at the WILD technique).

You can absolutely try it for a nap, but I've never tried this so I'm not sure. I don't see why it wouldn't work though. I've heard of mid day naps working really well for lucid dreaming, but i cannot speak from personal experience.

Last but not least, yes, you can also do it after sleeping for 4-6 hours. This is a combination between the WILD technique and the WBTB (wake back to bed) technique. WBTB is when you wake up after sleeping for a few hours, stay up for 20-60 minutes, and go back to bed thinking about lucid dreaming (this technique has worked very well for me personally). So yes, you can wake up after 4-6 hours of sleep, stay up for a few minutes, and then try to WILD yourself into a lucid dream. This may be a good one to try, since your body will be relaxed already to some extent.

So basically, you can use WILD for any type of sleeping. Remember, the point of WILD is to let your body fall asleep while your mind relaxes but stays awake. So as long as you have enough time to relax your body and have a full lucid dream, you can do the WILD technique any time. You just have to see which kind of sleep works best for you to do the technique, whether it be naps, going to bed at night or returning to sleep after a few hours. You'll figure it out after you try it a few times.

Keep working at WILD and don't forget to try other techniques too, you never know what may work for you.

Hope this helped.

Ah thank you! That makes me want to try WILD more ^-^ but I can usually lay still for 2 to 3 hours and nothing other than visualization and spinning happens. I start spinning after about 10 minutes. Then I see streaks of light. Maybe some flashing dots. I hear voices for a split second. I feel like my eyes are trying to open so I close them. Also, I feel little surges of electricity run through my body from head to toe. Usually through my back. How would I enter the dream? How do I know when I'm close?

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oneironaut.ld wrote: Ah thank you! That makes me want to try WILD more ^-^ but I can usually lay still for 2 to 3 hours and nothing other than visualization and spinning happens.

You probably shouldn't have to lay still for 2 to 3 hours to get to the dream. I think for most people it won't take more than an hour, but this varies of course.

oneironaut.ld wrote: I start spinning after about 10 minutes. Then I see streaks of light. Maybe some flashing dots. I hear voices for a split second. I feel like my eyes are trying to open so I close them. Also, I feel little surges of electricity run through my body from head to toe. Usually through my back.

The stuff you are talking about with the streaks of light, hearing voices and that spinning feeling is called "hypnagogic imagery". These are sensory distortions (hallucinations) that you experience in the state between wakefulness and sleep. The fact that you were experiencing the hypnagogic imagery means that you were beginning to fall asleep, which is good.

But if you're laying there for 2-3 hours, I would suggest working on relaxation (mental *and *physical). If you don't already, I would suggest meditating in some form. Meditation will help your relaxation skills and will get you better at WILD, as well as lucid dreaming in general. The real trick with WILD is letting your body and mind relax, while being aware that it's happening (because otherwise you'll just fall asleep). But, you can't try too hard to relax either, because you won't relax at all then and you'll stay awake. You have to just sort of "go with the flow" but be half aware that you're doing so. Meditation can help greatly with that.

How would I enter the dream? How do I know when I'm close?

For me personally, it's hard to know for sure when I'm close to the dream state. The reason being, the closer I get to it, the less control of my awareness I have. So by the time I'm very close, I'm much less aware than usual and it's hard to remember (keep in mind, I'm not a WILD expert) But I'll try to explain what I experience:

Usually my body will be almost fully numb and my mind will be wandering a lot. Then out of nowhere, for about 3-5 seconds, I feel an enormous pressure on my entire body, as if I'm leaving it (very hard to explain this feeling). Then, upon fully disconnecting from the body, a dream scape instantly appears in front of me out of the dark. This can be really bizarre the first few times it happens because it can also be unexpected. Keep in mind this is just my own experience.

DataTunnel wrote:

oneironaut.ld wrote:Ah thank you! That makes me want to try WILD more ^-^ but I can usually lay still for 2 to 3 hours and nothing other than visualization and spinning happens.

You probably shouldn't have to lay still for 2 to 3 hours to get to the dream. I think for most people it won't take more than an hour, but this varies of course.

oneironaut.ld wrote: I start spinning after about 10 minutes. Then I see streaks of light. Maybe some flashing dots. I hear voices for a split second. I feel like my eyes are trying to open so I close them. Also, I feel little surges of electricity run through my body from head to toe. Usually through my back.

The stuff you are talking about with the streaks of light, hearing voices and that spinning feeling is called "hypnagogic imagery". These are sensory distortions (hallucinations) that you experience in the state between wakefulness and sleep. The fact that you were experiencing the hypnagogic imagery means that you were beginning to fall asleep, which is good.

But if you're laying there for 2-3 hours, I would suggest working on relaxation (mental *and *physical). If you don't already, I would suggest meditating in some form. Meditation will help your relaxation skills and will get you better at WILD, as well as lucid dreaming in general. The real trick with WILD is letting your body and mind relax, while being aware that it's happening (because otherwise you'll just fall asleep). But, you can't try too hard to relax either, because you won't relax at all then and you'll stay awake. You have to just sort of "go with the flow" but be half aware that you're doing so. Meditation can help greatly with that.

How would I enter the dream? How do I know when I'm close?

For me personally, it's hard to know for sure when I'm close to the dream state. The reason being, the closer I get to it, the less control of my awareness I have. So by the time I'm very close, I'm much less aware than usual and it's hard to remember (keep in mind, I'm not a WILD expert) But I'll try to explain what I experience:

Usually my body will be almost fully numb and my mind will be wandering a lot. Then out of nowhere, for about 3-5 seconds, I feel an enormous pressure on my entire body, as if I'm leaving it (very hard to explain this feeling). Then, upon fully disconnecting from the body, a dream scape instantly appears in front of me out of the dark. This can be really bizarre the first few times it happens because it can also be unexpected. Keep in mind this is just my own experience. IM a newbie. I learned a lot from your experience. Thx. Which one is easier? DILD or WILD ? im learning DILD now, though i never have my LD till now.

One last thing. Do I let myself drift off to sleep once I get into the HI state? Or do I keep my mind awake the whole entire time?

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oneironaut.ld wrote: One last thing. Do I let myself drift off to sleep once I get into the HI state? Or do I keep my mind awake the whole entire time?

You have to keep your mind awake, but not too awake. I know it sounds paradoxical, but this is the trick of it you see. If you keep your mind too awake, you wont sleep, because you're trying so hard to stay aware. On the flip side, if you allow your mind to drift and relax too much, you'll lose consciousness. This stuff isn't so easy to describe in words, because it's more of a feeling than anything else.

You have to find a balance, as I said earlier- Allow your mind to relax, but stay somewhat aware of the relaxation that's happening. It sounds like a contradiction but it is possible, you just have to practice. Eventually, you'll get used to the "floaty" state you get before falling asleep, and you'll be able to relax fully and go lucid.

This is why I recommend meditation. Meditating will get you used to the feeling of relaxing while staying just barely conscious of what you're doing. Again, in meditation, we have the same balance. If you TRY to meditate too hard, you will get nowhere, because you're trying to hard to make it happen. You have to let go without trying too hard. Hope this helped! :mrgreen:

Also, remember to try some other techniques too if you haven't already!

Ah alright! I was confused on whether or not I should let myself sleep or not, but thank you heaps ^-^ I'll keep trying this, as well as FILD!

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IM a newbie. I learned a lot from your experience. Thx. Which one is easier? DILD or WILD ? im learning DILD now, though i never have my LD till now.

Neither is really easier or harder, they are just very different techniques.

DILD involves waking up the logical part of your mind while in a dream. WILD involves going into the dream with your logical mind awake from the start. They're almost opposites as far as lucid dream techniques go.

If you know how to relax your body and mind, WILD won't be that difficult for you. Some forms of meditation and other relaxation techniques will help you with this

DILD relies on reality checks and being more aware while you're awake, so that you'll end up aware in your dreams.

It seems (at least for myself) that DILD is a bit more random. Some dreams I realize I'm dreaming instantly, and others I don't at all. It depends on a lot of things.

WILD can be a bit more reliable if you get skilled at it. What I mean is, you can decide on any given night that you want to have a lucid dream and make it happen, but that's if you're a real expert.

Let me ask you this- for DILD, are you using reality checks and keeping a dream journal? And have you had a lucid dream using DILD or any other technique, or are you yet to have a lucid dream?

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oneironaut.ld wrote: This is a pretty straight forward question but, when exactly can I WILD successfully? Can I do it as soon as I lay down to sleep? Can I do it when I take naps? Or do I have to do it AFTER I sleep for 4-6 hours?

Yes to all those, I suggest to experiment with all these till you find what works best for you. ..........

I can usually lay still for 2 to 3 hours and nothing other than visualization and spinning happens. I start spinning after about 10 minutes. Then I see streaks of light. Maybe some flashing dots. I hear voices for a split second. I feel like my eyes are trying to open so I close them. Also, I feel little surges of electricity run through my body from head to toe. Usually through my back. How would I enter the dream? How do I know when I'm close?

You are doing something wrong with it seeing you are starting to get these things after 10 mins but then even after hours not gone into a dream (unless you usually take hours to get to sleep when not doing this).

From your post I'm suspecting that where you are going wrong is that you are keeping yourself too awake. You need to allow yourself to drift more towards sleep.

OR

You may be actually fighting off getting in the LD state so stopping yourself (something you said in your post has made me think you may be doing that, I'll explain in a moment).

OR

You are actually going into a LD state but so smoothly you have missed the change over to it and maybe laying there still trying to LD when in fact you may be already LD but now dreaming you are still in bed trying to LD

OR

You are needing to do a dream entry (actively pull yourself into a dream but instead you just continue to lay there. I do active dream entries into a LD when I get HI)

I suspect you are relaxed enough seeing you are getting the HI. HI is the subconsciousness manifesting and tuning into that so one should be able to get into a LD very soon after. The HI state should be indicative that you are extremely close to having a LD or ready to consciously pull yourself into one.

Anyway, you need to figure out which of these things is probably your issue.

I suggest to allow yourself to go completely asleep if you haven't had a LD after around an hour as otherwise it can end up causing frustration which isn't good for LD and also give sleep issues. From your post and how easily you go into spinning and HI, you should be able to LD within the hour quite easily.

Here's some things you should explore to try to figure out your issue

I feel like my eyes are trying to open so I close them

• What happens if you go along with that feeling and open your eyes? (this is why I said you could be actually fighting off a LD entry, it may well by your LD eyes you are feeling wanting to open but instead you may be forcing them to stay shut so forcing yourself to continue experiencing you staying in your bedroom with eyes shut. If you open them maybe you may find yourself opening to another place).

• Experiment with letting yourself fall actually completely asleep after 1 hr of trying (sometimes giving up at this point is enough to send someone straight into a LD if they were in right state but doing something to stop it or just not relaxing enough towards sleep state).

• Experiment with using your HI to see if you can use it at all to enter into a dream eg your spinning.. go with the spinning and try to spin faster and faster. (this can throw someone out of body and straight into a LD or an OBE).

I don't think it sounds like you have an issue with your timing as far as time of day/night goes seeing you can get the HI fine but rather you have an issue with this somewhere else and you just need to figure out what it is. (though experimenting with timing could still be handy eg you may have more luck after 4-6 hrs sleep if its a case of not being relaxed enough).

Thank you taniaaust1, that seems logical. I feel extremely relaxed, I don't have any problem not moving my body (even swallowing saliva), and I do enter HI in roughly 10 minutes. I feel like I should try spinning faster. I have tried just letting my eyes open when they want to without closing them forcefully, but I always just come face to face with the darkness of my sleepmask sadly. As for spinning faster, I feel like I can do that so I'll give it a go today! Thanks all for the help, I'll keep the post updated with any results :)

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I successfully had a WILD! It only lasted about 5 seconds, but it was really cool. I was very tired so I stayed home today. I decided to try and WILD. I tried spinning faster while not being so awake. I was suddenly in an all black room. I tried to turn my head and I could. I did a reality check and tried to walk, and I could. Every time I walked, my footsteps made a noise. I could hear and even see the sound waves. They were different colors. I tried to create a scene behind me, so I decided to make my house appear. It was there when I turned around, and I got so excited when I was walking towards it that I woke up XD it was awesome being able to see sound waves. Thanks guys! ^-^

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I'm trying to have my first LD. What is this spinning you are speaking of? Is it physically spinning, seeing spinning circles or what?

It'll feel like your body is floating. You'll feel as if you're spinning, and you'll probably see some streaks of light or perhaps shapes.

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I'll try to break down what I do.

First, I put in some earplugs and a sleep mask (both optional, but I find that it's easier to concentrate)

Then, I close my eyes (in bed with the lights off) and try to relax.

I lay completely and totally still. Flat on my back with my arms at my sides. I do not move ANYTHING, including my eyes. I also do not swallow saliva or anything. Note: your brain checks to make sure your body is actually asleep. It'll do things like make you want to scratch something, swallow saliva, roll over, etcetera. Just ignore these and they'll go away.

After 10-20 minutes, you'll feel very relaxed. You may feel a spinning sensation (I do in roughly 10 minutes) and/or HI (hypnagogic imagery). Sometimes you may hear voices, but it's all just a hallucination.

Now, once you're spinning, don't get too excited. Don't change your breathing or anything. Just spin and focus on the HI.

Eventually, the HI will get somewhat complex. Today, I successfully pulled off my first WILD. What I did was, once I got to this state, I let myself kind of fall asleep (you'll understand what I mean when you try this). Don't let your mind be TOO awake, or you'll most likely lay there for hours. Once you ensure your mind isn't too awake, focus on the HI. Imagine yourself standing in the middle of it. Perhaps you'll see a scene, or maybe just shapes. Try to imagine being there. Something will 'pop' in your mind, and there you go.

Remember, WILD is a pretty hard technique to pull off. It took me quite a while to get my first one, but it was worth it. If you're having a hard time relaxing, try combining this technique with the WBTB technique. I hope this helped, and if you have any questions ask me or anyone on the forum. Happy dreaming :D

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oneironaut.ld wrote: I successfully had a WILD! It only lasted about 5 seconds, but it was really cool. I was very tired so I stayed home today. I decided to try and WILD. I tried spinning faster while not being so awake. I was suddenly in an all black room. I tried to turn my head and I could. I did a reality check and tried to walk, and I could. Every time I walked, my footsteps made a noise. I could hear and even see the sound waves. They were different colors. I tried to create a scene behind me, so I decided to make my house appear. It was there when I turned around, and I got so excited when I was walking towards it that I woke up XD it was awesome being able to see sound waves. Thanks guys! ^-^

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I'm so glad the faster spinning worked for you, I could see you should of been experiencing a LD.

You getting out with an increase of the spinning you get, also probably means you were in the right state for a LD most of the time when you get that spin feeling but needing a technique to separate your mind from what you were experiencing, that being yourself on your bed. Your own thoughts/expectations that you were in bed, must of been holding you there!!

You were partly already dreaming but with your dream sensations on laying in bed matching your physical ones so not realising you were already in the right state (and sometimes there is overlap of dream and physical at the start of a WILD). Even when you open your eyes, you could possibly have a dream experience of looking at your blindfold as dreams conform to whatever we are thinking is going to happen or where you think you are at the time (you thinking you are laying there in bed and bed you may be). I don't know whether you ever thought of performing reality checks in that state. You may of found you were more dreaming then you are currently aware.

Anyway at a future time you may want to explore at what time you are really starting to go into lucid dreaming. For now I suggest to stick to that spinning. (People often spin in a dream to disconnect them from the dream reality they are in, to spin also distracts a person from thoughts of laying in bed so stops that reality hold in your situation).

Sound waves as you walk, that sounds so cool :D (that's a good one for the" things to do while LD" list).

I suggest to have a goal in mind in case you ever get stuck not knowing what you want to do for your next LD. Goals in mind can come in handy (of cause you don't have to do it but I suggest always have a goal you'd really like to do some time as it could help keep you in a dream).

Also think about doing a dream stabilization technique and have an idea of what you'd do if you find yourself needing one .. but it sounds like in this instance you just got too excited. :D

oneironaut.ld wrote:

Remember, WILD is a pretty hard technique to pull off. It took me quite a while to get my first one, but it was worth it.

"hard" .. that seems to be peoples favourite word to put with WILD :lol:

You may of had your first WILD some time ago had you increased the spin and relaxed more. I think a lot of the time people are having issues with WILD is due to something they are doing or not doing when trying it. Technique often matters!!

It's just a matter a lot of the time of figuring out what the person needs to be doing differently. Most people don't think to ask where they are going wrong and will just keep on trying and trying and sometimes never figure it out when the solution to their issue may of been in fact been very simple.

Lots of people end up being put off WILD as they cant figure it out. I think there a ton of misconceptions out there too (I couldn't believe some of what I was reading about it at another site the other day) which add to why many people find it hard.

I'm quite excited that you got to experience one. It's my favourite and easiest ..for me...method (and believe me I've tried most LD methods out there).

WannabeDreamer wrote: I'm trying to have my first LD. What is this spinning you are speaking of? Is it physically spinning, seeing spinning circles or what?

I know your question was to the other but really it often isn't helpful to focus on the sensations others get as what you get when you try to LD is often completely different to what another gets. I've been doing LD for over 10 years and I've only ever once got spinning naturally just before I entered a WILD.

I suggest to focus on just getting into a dream if you want to try WILD and not focus on sleep paralyses, hypnagogia images, spinning, vibrations or any of the other things which may or may not occur. When you try to have a WILD, its only then in which you will find out if you get these things or not and which happen naturally for you.

The other possibility is that you could get none of these and enter straight into a dream (people though due to all the focus which goes on at the websites on these other things end up expecting to get one of those other things and hence increase the likely hood that they will occur rather then just like popping straight into a dream)

The other poster was stuck so that wasn't happening for him and hence he needed to increase what he was already naturally getting to help him transition.

Go into LD with an open mind and not think in set ways you need or will have this or that happening to have a WILD. WILD should be tailored to the person for the best success. There is no one size fits all for WILD and that is the thing which makes it hard for many, you need to figure it out for you.