WILD experience and trouble (need some advice)

Okay, I’ll just get right to it. About two years ago I started getting into Lucid Dreaming and lurked around on ld4all and spent a little time on it. I had two LDs as a result within a month of each other but they were very short (10 seconds or shorter) due to excitemtent. I gave up soon after that.

Last week I decided to pick it up again after I found an old bookmark to this particular webpage. I had a short LD about two months ago and decided to look it up again. I’ve spent dozens of hours reading on just about every technique on this site (and forum), scrutinizing the stickies and visiting other web pages about Lucid Dreaming. This is effectively the ninth day that I’m really into it. I know about the most basic techniques, MILD and WBTB, but when I really started reading up on WILD and everything that had something to do with it I became intrigued. People were experiencing things that sounded like they were on drugs and I decided to give it a go, knowing full well that it was a difficult technique, especially for beginners.

However…

The first day I tried WILD (that was Wednesday, last week) I actually had one of the most profound experiences in my life, ever. I started to relax, counting my breathing (after a WBTB) and after a while I switched from focusing on my breathing to focusing on the flashy colors you see when you close your eyes. After some time I started seeing these vivid and colorful images (HI), which kept getting clearer and clearer. I could also hear some strange sounds that I couldn’t identify. Then my whole body started to feel very heavy and my head felt lighter. I got a tingling feeling in my limbs and shortly after that it felt as though my whole body was being electrocuted (though not in a painful manner). I knew that most people got these vibrations, so I wasn’t scared, but extremely surprised as I had never felt such a sensation before.

After the vibrations stopped I felt disconnected from my body, as though I couldn’t move it if I wanted to. The vivid colors and mosaic patters I saw started to diminish and my vision became darker. I saw some sort of darkish tunnel around me (like a cylinder shape) and I was sort of floating in it. Then stars started appearing in that tunnel. I could see it all very clearly and I kept watching passively. I’d read before that this was the moment where my mind was about to enter the dream state, but I messed up here. I got a nagging feeling that I should try to move my body. I rolled over to the left, thinking I’d roll into my dreamworld, but after about five seconds of complete disorientation I noticed that I was actually awake again. I did a RC and that proved it, my first attempt at a WILD had failed.

But I did have one of the most unique (to me anyway) experiences ever and I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep the rest of the night.

Having had three short LD’s before (two ending in awakening after a few seconds and one failing because I lost lucidity and went with the flow of the dream again) and having experienced this WILD attempt, I knew it was possible for me. I had done it, there was no doubt in my mind.

I tried WILD almost every day (except for last Monday and Tuesday because I had to get up earlier than normal for University), but I could never even get to the point where I’d see Hypnagogic Images anymore. Where I “succeeded” on my very first try, without even knowing what to expect, I seemed to no longer be able to even start the process of a WILD. Now, Lucid Dreaming is what I’m aiming for and I do intend on working on MILD and WBTB methods (working on my Dream Recall right now). But WILD was so interesting that even if I can’t manage to get into a LD, at least I’d like to be able to experience it again. The first few days that I tried it again were the worst, since I became a semi insomniac. During the two days where I didn’t attempt to have an LD, I actually had one, though, again, a very short one. It was just a DILD, and after I became lucid it wasn’t the excitement that woke me up, but because I just couldn’t hang on to the dream (should have interacted with my dream environment more).

Anyway, the past three days I’ve tried WILD again (all after a WBTB), but as before I couldn’t even get to the point of getting any HI. The thing I usually do is start off relaxing my body by using the 61 point relaxation method, or slowly controlling my breathing. After getting relaxed I started counting my breaths again, as I did before and sometimes I’d look at the inside of my eyelids instead. Now, I’m the sort of person that takes a long time to fall asleep (half an hour at the very least, even if I’m exhausted), been that way all my life. But I just can’t get my body to fall asleep anymore. I get the feeling that I’m just too aware of things or something. The last two days I spent over an hour a night trying to WILD (single attempts, not several), the last attempt taking almost two hours before I finally gave up. The first time I tried it took roughly 45 minutes before I started getting anywhere. Even if I stop trying to fall asleep consciously (or even on regular nights) I take a long time to fall asleep. I even tried just waiting till I was about to really fall asleep and then start lightly focusing on something, but even if I succeeded (usually I fell asleep) I’d be wide awake again after attempting WILD.

I’m really hoping some of the more experienced practitioners among you can offer me some advice. I have a healthy sleeping pattern, I’m usually decently tired when I get home from university (have to walk a lot too), and I’m pretty good at relaxing my body. I just can’t seem to even get into the WILD anymore. It’s not that I desperately want to succeed with just this particular method, but it’s the one that intrigues me the most and I almost find it more interesting than an LD itself (almost, but not quite ).

Where should I go from here? I’ve done it before, I know it’s possible, it’s just that I can’t seem to repeat my performance. Or was it just beginner’s luck because it was my first attempt?

Thanks in advance.

Okay, since nobody else seems to be taking the time to help, I’ve decided I WILL ,but mostly for the fact that: 1) I know what it feels like to type a lot (it takes effort) and 2) You and I seem to be having the same experiences regarding lucid dreaming.

Hmm, how should I start? I guess the best way would be to post my past experiences/ posts so you can see the similarities.

1st Post on ld4all, almost a year ago
Note: I was 16 at the time, so my grammar and spelling leave something to be desired (AP Language class does wonders). Also, too many emoticons…

"Later that night, right before going to bed, I ate a banana, after eating a sandwich with a glass of milk about half-an-hour before. I go to bed, feeling very confident that I will have a dream tonight, after reading up on the subject for about 3 hours and eating nutrients that might help with the process.

I lay down with the intention of doing a MILD, and I start off doing so, but then I when I think that I can try a WILD, because I’m actually counting something and telling myself that I’m dreaming, I start counting, imagining I’m walking down stairs, with each step counting as a number, and reminding myself that I will dream, then wake up and remember my dream. This continues for about 10 mins, and then I start to feel as though the room is shaking. I tell myself that I must be starting the 1st stage of sleep, because my eyes must be starting to roll. This is weird though, because I was still conscious. Another couple of minutes after, I guess I must have entered the 2nd stage, because the room stopped moving, or at least it felt like it. This is when I think I start to see hypogonic images, but I only see 2 in all. The first was a kinda faded picture of a kitchen. The next was extremely clear and close-up picture of a PS2 controller, with it being tilted and the center of the image focused on the “select” and “start” buttons. Only a second after seeing the image, I discover that I’m beginning to dream! I become excited! I wasn’t even thinking of this, but it makes sense that it would show up because i had played PS2 with my friend for 2 hours that day, so…

Anyway, this is when I get mad . When I see the very clear PS2 controller, I try to focus in on it and pretend like I’m holding it in my hand, in the kitchen. But I realize that my heart is beating very fast now, and I loose my concentration, and the image is lost . I open my eyes, and just wondered what the hell had happened. Then I go back to sleep, but I never thought of the controller again (I really should have, and now I realize I could have changed the process into MILD and probably had my first lucid dream ). I end up waking up every 3 or 4 hours later throughout the night, not with an alarm clock, but because I am sick now. I never recalled any dreams that night except for the 2 images.

Did I go straight from the 2nd stage of sleep, during using WILD, straight through a very fast 3rd, 4th, and onto the 5th stage of sleep? It seems probable. Did I get close to finishing the WILD technique? I don’t know. I didn’t bother to write this down in my journal either, because I don’t consider it a real dream."

Interesting, eh? Aside from the HI, me and you both “almost” completed a successful WILD. Ahem, next…

2nd post, still a year ago

"Man, that’s pretty sweet if I can almost do a successful WILD on my first night . Anyway, the night after I did try a MILD, and I had my first lucid! . It was pretty faint, but I remember having a FA, and thinking that my mom had just come in to wake me up for school, usually when my alarm doesn’t go off…but when she woke me up, I pulled back my covers and immediately looked down at my hands, out of instinct. My left hand was missing a pinky! I realized I was dreaming, so just to confirm, I did a hold-the-nose-and-breathe reality check, and I could breathe ! I get up out of my bed, yell to my mom that I’m dreaming, and try to yell “Increase lucidity by 1000X!” But I think it didn’t do much, then I tried to spin to increase the vividness, because I must have entered at a low lucid level. The last thing I remember doing is spinning. Then I lost control, and I just continued to have a vivid dream. When i woke up, I write down as much as I could, but know I was missing chunks of my dream. I have a faint memory of flying, but I’m not really sure.

So I need to increase my dream recall, definitely. I think I’m just going to try and perfect WILDing now. I try a VILD and a MILD last night, but to no avail. I didn’t remember anything. "

Ok, now that you see the similarities, I can get to helping you. Almost a year later, I get back into lucid dreaming, after spending just a little time with it during Easter vacation. I was doing a WILD last night, and got far, but not far enough. It seems, after reading that I “tried” too hard to see HI, and get the process to work, that I wasn’t passive enough, a keyword you used in your post when you first did a WILD. Could it be that you tried too hard to replicate your first time WILD again? You waited for the HI, but it didn’t come?

Third-something post, today

"Hey guys, here’s my WILD experience I had just last night:

I get to bed around 9:30 PM and put in my earbuds so I can listen to some tunes on my phone while I get relaxed (listening to music always helps me get to sleep faster). For some reason, I decided I would try to do a WILD before doing WBTB (I guess I just wanted to try it ). I’m naturally good at doing WILDs (this I figured because I can always get my body relaxed and numb, and feel “sensations” every time I try; I got HI on my first WILD ever ), so I wanted to get back into lucid dreaming my way.

Anyway, I got relaxed and thought about where I would show up in my lucid dream, and what I would do. Soon, my feet started to feel numb, and the feeling crept up my legs within time. Now, I must admit that the music did get annoying when I was trying to focus in the later period (I didn’t want to move my hand to shut it off ), and I was having a hard time keeping my eyelids relaxed as well. Nonetheless, I felt a warm surge of “static numbness” wash over my body after a few more mintues, and then I felt as if the blackness behind my eyelids got closer to me, and I felt it move…It was weird .

Soon after, I feel like I’m rocking back and forth; like I’m in a ride at a circus that is going in a vertical circle, but the pod you are in is spinning as well. (That’s as best as I can describe it). My music then shut off, and I was just lying there, hearing my breathing and counting in my head (1, I’m dreaming, etc.) I tried to “look” for HI and wondering my it wasn’t showing up, but I was having a hard time keeping my eyes relaxed, and I started to get warm. I thought about whether I should keep going or not, but then decided to quit because I thought it would do no good: the combination of the bad timing, music, and sleep needed drove me to end it. I went to sleep normally, got up at 4:30 AM, went to the BR, laid down, found out I was hungry, had a hard time getting relaxed because I was hungry, and tried to go to sleep. (I found out you should always satisfy your bodily needs before trying to sleep, AT ALL. )"

Now, this experience didn’t affect my outlook on lucid dreaming; it was more of a test, to see if I could perform under stressed conditions.

I don’t really want to totally explain how to become more relaxed, since I can do that fairly easily, but this guys over a Dreamviews helps put the WILD into steps that help alot:

The 5 Phases of Wild

My advise would be to chill out about lucid dreaming in general: it doesn’t need to be the number one priority. I know it has been for me in the past, but now I feel a little less excitement for it, and I think it helps me in the process when I’m trying to WILD. Relaxing should some easier: make sure your bladder is empty, your mind is not conflicted with thoughts, and your not hungry. Sleep for 5-6 hours before you go to try WILDing, as will I. Also, try not to move when your relaxing. And finally, BE PASSIVE about the experience, it will be easier and will happen more often. I’m sure you want to experience that feeling again, but it doesn’t need to be a thing to lose sleep over. That’s all I have to say. Good luck in your dreaming quest.

P.S. People on this forum need to be a little more helpful: this post has like 150 views but nobody posted to help Svenshinhan out, except me .

First of all I’d like to say thanks for your input, I really appreciate it. Secondly, I can understand why not many people would want to read a post the size of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy It was to be expected. I always get carried away and type way too much.

Indeed, your experiences and mine were very similar. It’s been a while since I last posted here and since then a few things have happened that have changed my outlook on Lucid Dreaming (in a good way).

A week and a half ago I had another one of those half-WILDs. Only instead of a starry tunnel I had a blue cel-shaded ocean (like in Zelda: The Wind Waker) that I was floating over. I started thinking too much and my thoughts appeared as white letters on the water, including the “Don’t think, just watch”-thoughts

But anyway, I learned that I just tried too hard in general and that I also tried too hard to stay aware and focus on incoming HI. The night where I had the second half-WILD, I wasn’t actually planning on doing it. I just sort of sensed that I was about to fall asleep and thought to myself “might as well see if there’s any HI” and soon it started coming. Of course, the next thing that happened was that the nights following that experience (which was very similar to the first one and gave me an adrenaline rush as well, though not as big) I was just TOO relaxed about it and kept falling asleep. I became too lazy and “careless” and just thought “forget about it, I’ll just go sleep”.

So now I just have to find my balance. I’ve done it twice now, so I know I just have to learn MY way of doing it, since it works differently for everybody.

On a side note: I have been keeping a dream journal since late September and after a while I started remembering more and more dreams, up to 4 a night (the average is about 2 vague dreams on weekdays and 2-3 dreams on weekends with 1 or 2 VERY long and vivid ones). There have been a few days where I didn’t remember any dreams, but the past week and a half not one night passed without me at least remembering one dream.

And then it happened. Three days ago I had my first full Lucid Dream (DILD, something weird happened and I did the nose-breathing RC). And by full I mean lasting more than ten seconds (I’ve had 5 of those, waking up due to excitement, lack of focus or losing lucidity and fading back into an ND). The LD lasted for about 10 minutes and I really got a feel for my “powers” (flying, running fast, walking on water and materializing a carnival in my hometown’s center :D), and when I woke up from it I felt really satisfied.

Consequently, the past two weeks I haven’t been as zealous about this whole LD thing as before. After I sort of “gave up” on WILD, I just focused on remembering more dreams and then came that natural LD. Now I know I’m ready to start practicing more seriously, analyzing my dream signs (I have like 40 dreams in my journal now, so I’m sure I can get a few useful ones out of there) and trying to MILD and WBTB more (well, on days where I don’t have to get up early anyway :P). Thanks for your advice. Everything you said is true. When I started relaxing about it, instead of fretting over my failures, I started remembering more dreams, and ended up having a great Lucid one. I also lost my temporary insomnia (a result of the WILD attempts :P).

I now automatically wake up after most dreams (usually 4-5 times a night). At least half the time I will remember the dream upon waking up, and I record it by using my mobile phone (voice recording is so much easier than writing in the middle of the night lol) and I write it down later during the day or week.

Two weeks from now I will have roughly a week and a half off from University, and that’s when I’ll try to WILD in a more relaxed manner (but not TOO relaxed like I did the last two weeks lol).