WILD feedback and help needed...
I have been attempting WILD and may be making progress. I just need help getting a little further.
Here is what I am doing. I drink a full glass of water and head to bed around 10 pm. Around 3 am I wake to take care of that water I drank. I return to bed and start working on the WILD. I continue to focus on increasing Hypnogogic Imagery. Eventually I think I feel the vibrations that many talk about accompanied by static images of things (people, scenes, it varies), and sometimes sounds and voices. Once the images and/or sounds start is where everything falls apart; I either become aware and wake up again fully or I just fall asleep.
Am I on the right path? If so what can I do to take this further?
Well, hearing the voices/noises is a definite good sign. If you become fully aware again, try counting down from 99-1 calmly and slowly. When you get to 1, count back up to 99. Once you're totally relaxed again, start attempting your Hypnagogic focus again.
Honestly, it sounds like you're doing just fine. Completely on the right track. Keep allowing yourself to drift in and out of that sleep/awake state. :)
Well I made more progress last night but with a crutch. I used the glass of water to wake me after several hours of sleep (my wife would never stand for an alarm going off in the middle of the night.) This time I cheated a bit and took 2 calea zacatechichi capsules that I made then returned to bed to attempt WILD.
Soon after time spent relaxing I starting to see the same hypnagogic images (HI) that I have been seeing during other attempts. But, eventually there was a very big change in the HI. I felt like I may have slipped in and out of sleep when the HI really changed to a "swirl" of both very dark and very light images. This view seemed to melt away during another episode of slipping in and out of sleep (quite an amazing feeling.) I found my self in the basement of the home I grew up in as a kid. I realized that I was dreaming and started to walk up the stairs. Unfortunately about two stairs into my climb I slipped back to the swirl of HI which shocked me back into full awareness.
I tried to repeat the process but could get nowhere. I breathed, relaxed, counted up and down and sideways and back to 99 but could never really get back to any serious HI; I eventually gave up, rolled over and just went to sleep. Throughout the whole night the only dream I can remember is that 20 or so seconds in the basement.
Questions:
I don't intend to use calea zacatechichi more than once or twice a week every so often. Does the transition to dreaming feel different use calea zacatechichi than it does without or does it feel the same but perhaps easier? I guess it may be different for everyone.
Should I be attempting WILD every night or is some less aggressive schedule better for developing this skill?
Attempting every night is perfectly fine, so long as you're using the same patient and steady methods. Trying every night can be very frustrating, especially if you're not seeing results. I haven't had a WILD in months, but I've only been making serious attempts for two or three weeks now. Just analyze what you're experiencing on your journey through each attempt. You should learn a lot and be that much closer to setting yourself up for success. :)
[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
satopnek wrote: I have been attempting WILD and may be making progress. I just need help getting a little further.
Here is what I am doing. I drink a full glass of water and head to bed around 10 pm. Around 3 am I wake to take care of that water I drank. I return to bed and start working on the WILD. I continue to focus on increasing Hypnogogic Imagery. Eventually I think I feel the vibrations that many talk about accompanied by static images of things (people, scenes, it varies), and sometimes sounds and voices. Once the images and/or sounds start is where everything falls apart; I either become aware and wake up again fully or I just fall asleep.
Am I on the right path? If so what can I do to take this further? It sounds like your doing fine, sticking the "landing" is the hardest part, so just keep it up you'll get it
I agree with the first few comments up top. You are damn close dude! Just keep doing it. The more you do this per week, the better! I was getting pretty close every night for 3 or 4 days but suddenly lost it. Probably due to my sleep schedule and daily activities, work and exercise tiring me out or stressin me, whatever it may be. Keep your daily conditions as consistent as you can and keep at it!
Thank you all for the feedback. I have noticed that on nights where I am tired or feeling the pressure of life I do not make it very far into my Wild attempts. I guess I am so tired that I spend a lot of time fighting the urge to fall asleep. So for me it seems my best attempts are from Friday night to Wednesday night.
So after reading this last night, I went to sleep and rolled over onto my side which felt most comfortable for me at the moment. (Rare to do a WILD attempt on my side). I decided to go with counting down from 100 to 0 to try to calm down and induce HI. The HI came before I even got to 50. I tried to lightly influence the HI which went incredibly well ( I used a story concept I am working on, since I am a writer, to guide my HI, it was badass) and then the craziest thing happened. When I got to 1, the switch like went on and suddenly my mind was beginning to head towards the dream world. I call it a Surge, but I'm pretty sure its what is known as Vibrations. Its like I was counting down to lucidity xD I lost focus though cause I always get too excited.
KylePK, your experience sounds similar to where I get stuck at. Frequently just before I decide my WILD attempt has failed I have a feeling of my HI turning into a tunnel that I am getting sucked into. As soon as it starts it all breaks down and I get extremely aware that I am in bed attempting WILD. After it breaks down I never seem to recover for the night. Perhaps I need to practice meditating my to empty my mind.
One thing that I know I am missing is that I do not really try to paint a dream to enter into. My only WILD success that lasted like 30 seconds put me into the basement of the house I grew up in as a kid. I wonder if my attempts would be more successful with a better plan going into them.
Satopnek, I don't think its a matter of pre-developing a dream so much as maintaining the HI. Thats how I feel anyway :P
Well I had a wonderful night last night. I had my first awesome LD that I intended to have. I have had them over the years but just by chance and at best they were foggy. This one I intended to have and it was real life vivid.
Okay. I cheated and used galantamine (8mg) and choline; I also have added in daily supplements of quercetin. I had upped the galantamine dose from a previous attempt a week earlier. I attempted Wild and several times a dream would start but almost instantly crash. I decided I needed to remember to stabilize the dream.
I guess I just fell asleep. I ended up having a DILD that was amazing, vivid, I acted on previous intent to visit a cruise ship I was recently on. I remembered to stabilize the the dream; spinning did not work, it only made everything start to fade black. I fell backwards twice in a row and everything popped vivid. Several times during the dream I reminded myself that I was dreaming, I would rub my hands together to stay aware.
I flew, passed through ship decks (a little trouble with that), controlled people, pushed people away as if using the force, and controlled the lights with my mind.
It all ended when I felt like I was getting very tired. I told myself "don't fall asleep, stay awake"; mistake... as soon as I said the word awake I opened my eyes in bed.
The whole dream I guess lasted about 15 to 20 minutes. :D
Thank you so much Rebecca for your great site. I could not have had this experience without the info here. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply to my forum posts your guidance certainly help me.
Oh yeah, two people like cops were in my dream. They were different than all of the other automatons. They told me they wanted to talk to me. It seemed I was in trouble with them. I pushed them back like using the force and told them that I was in control and it was my dream. They put their hands up and said okay, you are in control. What was up with these two guys? They seemed different than everything else in the dream. Could they have been my subconscious or dream guides or something?
I could be wrong but I am fairly sure they were agents, but then they realized you were the one and gave up :D
what are all those pills for? what do they do?
btw nice experience :)
Haha, that dream sounds like a great experience!
I've only had one lucid dream myself, so I can't speak from experience yet. However, I've read about a lot of people's lucid dreams, and to me it seems that when you have one, your brain is initially very resistant to the idea that you're dreaming. It will, at first, try to trick you into losing your lucidity and just accepting the dream as reality again.
When I had my lucid dream, I told my auntie that I was dreaming and that she wasn't really there. She just smirked at me as if I was being an idiot. I think these cops could have been doing the same thing in your dream - trying to assert some control and convince you that the situation was real. From what everyone says, it seems that once you push back and assert your own authority, the dream characters will accept this and let you take charge.
Just my little observation. Who knows, I could be wrong. All very interesting stuff, nonetheless! :)
Sorry Ronalds141 I missed your inquiry about those supplements. Quercetin is a flavonoid which enhances the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. It is closely related to vitamin C. Some people claim that apple juice increases their chances to LD. Quercetin is derived from the skins of fruits including apples and may be the ingredient that helps with LD. For this reason I added it to my daily supplements in place of drink a bunch of apple juice.
The galantamine and choline are commonly used to increase the chances to LD. Search this forum or google for more info. I have had the best luck with galantamine and choline where 3 weekends in a row I had multiple LDs per night using it (Saturday nights). The forth weekend I tried it again without luck but my sleep patterns and life was all jacked up due to work and life stress.
I know there are mixed opinions about using herbs and supplements to LD. I have had a lot of luck using them and have not had a ton of time to work on meditation.