Dream Views Manual (Part 2)

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WILD - The Five Phases Of WILD by Seeker's

Wake Initiated Lucid Dream, or WILD, has been called the Holy Grail of lucid dreamers. It is a powerful, yet somewhat elusive technique. Imagine, being able to pass from waking into a lucid dream with no lapse in consciousness, or being able to have a lucid dream every night; It is no wonder so many people are interested in learning to WILD.

Many questions have been asked about WILD and much information has been shared on the forum about it. This tutorial is an attempt to guide you, step by step as you learn to WILD using techniques I have learned from personal experience and from reading posts on this and other websites. This tutorial is far from being a comprehensive guide, but does contain the basics and some pointers that will help you learn to WILD. If you feel any of this is in error, or have anything suggestions on how this tutorial can be improved, please contact me.

For now, good luck learning to WILD
-Seeker

The WILD process can be broken into five distinct phases, these are:

  • Phase 1: Preparation
  • Phase 2: Awakening
  • Phase 3: Relaxation
  • Phase 4: Transition
  • Phase 5: Stabilization

Since this tutorial is so long, it has been broken into a series of posts, one for each phase. Please read and apply them in the order they appear in this document. It is not necessary to master a phase before continuing to the next phase, but mastery of all phases is required if you wish to become proficient with WILD.

Phase 1: Preparation

This is the easiest phase! I guarantee you can do this on your first attempt. Before you can hope to have a successful WILD, some preparation is required. This is true of both the case when you WILD during the night or when you WILD from an afternoon nap. The following preparations should be made:

  • Environment. Make sure your environment is a calm and relaxing one. There should be no sudden noises that could disturb you. This is especially important in the later phases when disturbances will most likely jolt you awake. There are few things that can break your concentration faster than someone in the room coughing, or your partner tossing and turning. You might want to consider using earplugs or purchasing a white noise generator.
    Make sure the room and your bed are at a comfortable temperature. Discomfort tends to grow and turn into extreme frustration while you are attempting to relax. A bed that is too warm will continue to annoy you and will begin to feel like an oven as you progress. A bed that is too cool will soon feel like an icebox.
    Your room should be dark or have a constant low level of illumination. If car headlights are constantly shining on your walls, they will become a distraction. Also, some people have reported that they have trouble keeping their eyes closed during the transitional phase, a dark room will help!
  • Intent. You have to make up your mind that you are going to stick with it. You must realize that you will most likely be giving up 30-60 minutes of sleep. You will begin to become frustrated and be tempted to just give up. Keep trying, it is well worth the effort!
    Mentally picture yourself having a WILD. Daydream about what it will be like. Now is also a good time to decide what you want to accomplish in your lucid dream.
  • Mental alertness. Nothing will spoil a WILD attempt faster than not having a clear head. This means that you should keep refrain from drinking or taking drugs before bed. Stay away from anything that will affect your mental clarity. This also includes Melatonin, which, although is a great sleep aid, generally makes your thinking too fuzzy to successfully WILD in the morning.
  • Time. Decide at what time you want to attempt your WILD. If it is during an afternoon nap, there is little to do here, however, if you plan on WILDing during the night, you need to set an alarm clock for 5-6 hours after you fall asleep. You will most likely have to experiment and refine the time as you progress. Try to find a time during which you can wake up enough and get back to sleep in a reasonable amount of time.

You are now ready to sleep and wait for the awakening phase.

Phase 2: Awakening

The alarm clock goes off, time to WILD! Dazed, you wonder what to do. This is a critical point in your effort to WILD, it is also an excellent time to empty your bladder. A full bladder can become a major distraction in later phases. During this phase, you must awaken your analytical mind somewhat. The trick is to find the right balance. If you fail to awaken your mind enough, you will awaken again in a few hours and be upset because you fell asleep. If you awaken too much, you will spend a LOT of time trying to become relaxed. You will need to experiment and find the right balance for yourself. With practice, you will be able to achieve a good balance most of the time. Here are a few hints to help you find this balance:

If you find that you are falling asleep before completing WILD, try one or more of the following actions:

  • Sit in your room with the light on for a few minutes
  • Work some multiplication problems in your head
  • Work a few lines of a crossword puzzle
  • Open a window and let some fresh air in
  • Drink a caffeinated beverage

If you find that you have difficulty becoming relaxed enough to continue, try one or more of the following actions:

  • When the alarm goes off, just lay in bed in the dark with your eyes open
  • When you go to empty your bladder, keep the lights off
  • Think of calm and relaxing things
  • Think of how nice your bed feels
  • When the alarm goes off, just lay in bed in the dark with your eyes closed, do not allow yourself to awaken too much.
  • Lie there and imagine or daydream of a dream landscape you would like to visit. Do this calmly, try to be observant without allowing your conscious mind to engage fully.
  • This method combines this phase with the relaxation phase and will result in some cases in your passing directly into the transitional phase.

You are now ready to begin relaxation.

Phase 3: Relaxation

This phase has been reported by many as perhaps the most frustrating part of the whole WILD experience. You will usually be all hyped up and ready for your WILD. This in turn makes it more difficult to relax so that you can WILD!

Little things will annoy you as you try your hardest to force yourself to relax. If you are having problems relaxing, it is recommended that you review and practice one or more relaxation techniques.

The most important thing is to relax. You must let it come naturally and unforced. Forcing yourself to relax is about as effective as putting out a fire by throwing gasoline on it!
It is also helpful to daydream a little at this point. Imagine yourself floating on a raft out in a calm ocean. Can you feel the waves rocking you gently? Can you smell the salt air and feel the sun warming your body? Can you hear the gulls in the distance and feel the light breeze blowing through your hair? The more relaxing and realistic your daydream becomes, the quicker you will find yourself relaxing.

One very important thing is to find a position from which you can relax. You can WILD from your back, front, side, it does not matter as long as you can be comfortable and relax. Please note that everyone's experience is different. Some people experience very vivid imagery and sensations, others experience nothing at all. Some people experience these sensations for a few minutes, some only for seconds. As you relax, you may experience one or all of the following:

  • Light patterns. As you begin with your eyes closed, you may begin see light patterns behind your eyes. These might points of light that change and move around, or they might be more like curtains of light that float across your field of vision. Watch them passively as they float and evolve. Do not stare too intently; this will wreck your relaxation. If possible, just lie there quietly and pretend you are watching a movie about light patterns.
  • Hypnogogic Imagery. As relaxation progresses, you will begin to see images or dream sequences. At first, these will be fleeting and will evaporate if you focus on them. Again, try to view them passively. As you become more relaxed, they will become clearer and will last longer, however, keep vigilant! If you let your attention get caught up in the hypnagogic imagery, you will most likely fall into a non-lucid sleep. Along with images, you may experience sounds. It might be a mild and soothing sound, or it could become quite scary. I've have heard loud sounds like the screeching of tearing metal. Just remain passive and watchful, do not allow it to scare you into full consciousness.
  • Physical Sensations. In the final stages of relaxation, just before your body begins to enter sleep paralysis, you might feel like you are floating or that your body has become numb. Everything will feel a little fuzzy. Hypnagogic imagery can increase in vividness at this point. Just go with the flow and observe these in a relaxed state.

You are now entering the transitional stage. As the hypnagogic imagery and physical sensations increase, begin to count and repeat over and over that you are dreaming:

“1, I am dreaming”
“2, I am dreaming”
..
..

Try to stay focused enough so that this does not just become an automatic thing. If you find that you are losing your place, concentrate a little harder on what you are doing. If you find that you are spending too long counting, then drop the numbers for a little while and just repeat “I am dreaming” until you relax some more. Continue this as you enter into the transitional phase.

Phase 4: Transition

The transitional phase of WILD can be one of the most exciting aspects of the whole process. Some dreamers report strange and unusual sensations and sounds. It is also this phase that scares the most people, some to the point of abandoning their efforts to learn to WILD. To state it simply, transition is the process by which you pass from waking into the dream. During this time, your body fully enters sleep paralysis and your senses to the outside world are severed. There is nothing unnatural or harmful about this phase, it happens to you every time you fall asleep. The only difference is with WILD, you are conscious and can experience the transition. Transition seems to be experienced differently by each person. Some report mild or no sensations, for others, it is a ‘wild’ ride. Each transition seems to be unique for a person as well. Each time I WILD, there are a different series of sensations.

Do not forget to continue counting as you go through transition. As transition progresses, you will probably experience one or more of the following:

  • Physical sensations. During transition, physical sensations are wide and varied. Some people report only numbness, others report a gentle sinking sensation. Some people report experiencing a gentle buzzing sensation, while others report vibrations so intense that they feel they will fly apart. Many people report a feeling of being pulled into the dream with extreme acceleration. The best thing to do with physical sensations is to create a ‘daydream’ around them. If you feel extreme vibrations, imagine yourself flying through a series of force fields and that every time you pass through one, it makes a vibration. Imagine that you are flying toward your lucid dream.
    Some have reported that they can feel their eyes begin to move rapidly back in forth as if they were in REM, making it difficult to keep their eyes closed. There are a couple of things that can be done to fight this. The first is to make sure you are sleeping in a dark room so that when your eyes open slightly, you will not become distracted. The other is to wear a sleep mask to bed. Sometimes the little extra pressure on your eyes help to keep them closed.
  • Visual imagery. While in transition, visual imagery varies greatly. You may see total blackness, or perhaps only see a still image. You may see geometric patterns chasing each other or streaming past your vision at a high rate of speed. One time, I watched an incredibly blue butterfly slowly open and close its wings while I was in transition. Again, do not examine them too closely, pretend you are watching a very odd movie. If possible, also incorporate this into you ‘daydream’. Often, when I see a bright light in front of me, I pretend that it is my lucid dream and that I am flying to enter it!
  • Audio/voices. Many people report hearing things, others hear nothing. Sometimes a person will hear nothing, the next time, they will hear voices. The important thing to remember is that these sounds cannot harm you, they are either totally inside your head or ambient noise that is being distorted as you transition. It is best to just sit and passively listen to and accept them as part of the WILD process. If you become nervous or frightened, you will fail at WILD. Likewise, if you become too fascinated with them and concentrate on them too much, you will also fail.

In the final stages of transition, all sensations you have been experiencing will begin to fade. Be careful at this point, it is very easy to slip into a non-lucid dream or to wake up.

*Phase 5: Stabilization

Congratulations, if you have made it to this phase, you have successfully WILDed!

It is important to stabilize your lucid dream at this point. Many people make it this far and then lose it, what a waste after so much effort!

A number of things can happen after transition, fortunately, all of them can be dealt with.

  • Blackness. Sometimes you will exit transition into blackness. This can be very frustrating because most likely you will assume that you are back in the relaxation phase and have failed. If you find yourself in this situation, open your eyes slowly. Chances are that you only have your dream eyes closed and will be opening them into a lucid dream.
  • False awakening. On occasion, you will exit transition and find yourself right back where you started, lying in your bed. Be careful, it could be a false awakening! If you find yourself back in bed, immediately perform some reality checks. Chances are you are dreaming at this point.
  • Becoming excited. OK, you’ve done it! You are now looking around in the world of your lucid dream. You become excited, your heart races, the dream fades. It is so easy to become overexcited, especially when you have completed your first WILD. Remain as calm as possible and execute stabilization techniques such as spinning.

How to WILD, by BillyBob

WILD

Before we start I need you to clear your mind of all the preconceived notions you may have about WILD. All of this crazy-advanced-hard-to-understand mumbo jumbo thats been being piped into your head was based on false premises. The people that were trying to teach you how to WILD actually had no idea what was happening when they laid down and WILDed, they just knew that what they did worked for them, and thus it must work for others.

Alright, so that was a very big statement that I'm sure offended a whole bunch of good people. Let me call out one fact to justify what I've just said: have you ever heard of a WILD technique that works for everyone?

Understanding WILD can seem incredibly daunting. Why is it that some people seem to be incapable of WILDing, whereas others go to bed and get it right on night one? Also, why don't we all just WILD randomly during the day as we're lying still watching the tube?

I've been WILDing for a very long time. To be perfectly honest, I haven't been able to go one week without thinking about what the heck separates me, and others that can WILD, from everyone else. About a month ago, it all started making sense.

Ok, so enough ranting. What the hell is "WILD," and why is it so damned hard?
It all started a very, very, long time ago. Surely before Homo-sapiens ever walked the earth. To make things a bit more understandable for you however, I'll just pretend it started with us. Imagine you are early man. All you would have to kill your dinner with would be like, a rock or stick. We aren't very stealthy animals. Our smell, height, and lumbering two footed gait would warn any prey of our location long before we got anywhere near close enough to kill it. Instead of dying out, we learned to lay in wait for our prey so as to kill it when it got too near. This involved very long bouts of lying perfectly motionless in our hiding spots, listening intently for either the sound of prey approaching, or the sound of a predator coming near (both would mean the difference between life and death).

Now imagine that you pass out into the dreamworld/sleep paralysis while lying there. You're dead. Your genes never got passed down. The reason you have never been able to WILD is because of the system evolution set in place to solve this "passing out" problem. The first step to learning to WILD at will is understanding the system.
What is the system? Like all good evolutionary solutions to problems, it is elegantly simple. "Do not enter REM/sleep-paralysis when you are waiting for something to happen."

Think of the human laying there waiting for a sound. He has done this a thousand times over the course of his lifetime. Sitting here is second nature to him. Maybe he's thinking about his woman's beautiful, soft, supple cooking or something like that. His conscious mind is wandering, only barely thinking about the hunt. Yet he does not enter his dreams. The reason for this is because, subconsciously, he has told himself to "listen out for any odd sounds, and then alert my consciousness instantly/shoot me up with some adrenalin when you hear something so I can make the kill."

Do you see the connections between this and what almost everyone does when WILDing?

When learning to WILD, the majority of people learn about these crAzY things like "Hypnogogic Imagery, Sleep Paralysis, Auditory Hallucinations, etc." and are then told that these things "lead up to" dreams. What happens when they lay down to WILD? They subconsciously tell themselves "watch out for hypnogogia/paralysis/voices as these things mean you are closer to lucidity!" This is the exact equivalent of what the prehistoric human thought. This is the exact thing the system watches for to keep you from falling into your dreams!

Something that few seem to realize: all WILD techniques are simply mind exercises to keep you from thinking about what you're trying to do (ie. get into the dreamstate) as you do it. They are merely attempts to keep you distracted as you slowly drift off to sleep. As I said earlier, all of these techniques are, unfortunately, completely misguided. The inventors of them are merely trying to teach others what they personally found out how to do through trial and error, without having any idea of what the heck is going on.
This has led to methods that would have you lay doing a mental exercise for 15, 30, 60, or even 120 minutes before you fall into a dream. Insane.

These lengthy WILDs work by having the user focus all their willpower on counting/relaxing/seeing a visual image. With all their willpower directed at this one task, thoughts of "was that hypnogogic imagery" and all other forms of waiting for something to happen vanish. Unfortunately now that all of their conscious mind is focused on getting a task done, it becomes impossible for them to fall asleep (and thus dream). Only an hour later when lying still for so long finally overcomes their conscious willpower do they enter a dream (this is the best case scenario. Most just pass out).

So, what does it actually take to successfully WILD?

WILD Simplified

Fortunately, WILD is very simple indeed. There are only five steps:

  • Sleep beforehand
  • Get up for a little while
  • Calm your body/mind
  • Use an anchor
  • Fall asleep

"Fall asleep!? But I thought I was trying to consciously enter a dream!" This is where the Anchor comes in.

The anchor is something you passively "keep track of" as you let your mind more or less wander. It is the tether that holds your prefrontal cortex just functioning as you drift into the dreamworld. Notice that this is an extremely passive method of entering your dreams. It is the shortest approach possible. If you have something like "FOCUS ON YOUR BREATHING" dominating the forefront of your mind, its going to take a very, very long time to actually enter a dream. Using the anchor method however, you're bargaining away part of your awareness for a speedy entry into a dream. You could literally enter a dream within one minute once you have this down.

So how is this possible?. I'm sure some of you have heard of "FILD," "DEILD," and tactile WILDing. These all use anchors in the same way what I'm explaining now does. Unfortunately, they use really shitty anchors. Anchors must be extraordinarily 'solid.' You have to be able to sense them while your body is numb - on the brink of losing consciousness.

What is the best anchor I have found so far? Dull aching pain. Its as simple as arranging your legs into a slightly different position that creates pain. Perhaps putting a hand beneath your body... Pain works best because it is one of our most primordial feelings. It easily reaches you as you drift off.

Ok, ok. Perhaps I've gotten a little ahead of myself. Let me explain what would be typical of this WILD:

1. Sleep first.
This WILD depends on you being both pretty tired, as well as you being near a REM period. Sleep through one or more REM periods before getting up to do this. Typically somewhere between three and eight hours. I usually sleep for six. Use trial and error to find a good time for you. Everyone is different.

2. Get up for a little while.
If you just woke up, reached over and hit your alarm clock, then rolled over and started WILDing, chances are you'd fall unconscious. Some people can simply lie in the dark for a second and then start and get it to work, but the majority will be very groggy at this point. Get out of bed, maybe turn on a lamp, use the restroom, get a sip of water, or whatever. I would do some reality checks now, which help to wake up my prefrontal/logic.

Usually I stay up for about ten minutes just sitting cross legged on my bed staring into space/reality checking. If I feel any fear about the impending WILD (for example, if I just came out of a nightmare), I'll look at some soothing or beautiful pictures that I have printed out lying beside my bed. Basically you don't want to think about anything much during this time. Don't get on the computer, or crack open a book etc. You want to be able to pretty easily fall back asleep once you start WILDing (but again, you don't want to instantly pass out). Use your own discretion.

After a little while, when you're feeling tired, but not like you're going to conk out (would you drive your vehicle without fear of falling asleep behind the wheel?) go ahead and lay down like you normally would to go to sleep. The time you stay up can be anywhere from five seconds, to fifteen minutes. Depends on the person. Trial and error.

3. Relax.
Now you want to relax. This will serve the double purpose of keeping you from insta-passing out and also give you a moment to clear away any pre-WILD expectations.
As a rule, you're going to want to think about the coming dream as little as possible from the time you wake up until the next morning. Remember the caveman? You don't want to fall into the trap of expecting something to happen. Just passively relax.

I usually relax body part by body part. for example, I'll start at my legs, relax them a little bit with each exhale, then move on to my arms, torso, etc.
Do this organically. Don't be thinking "OK! Going to relax my left arm for 10 exhales, then go to my right leg for 10 exhales etc." Your body is already going to be pretty relaxed since you just woke up. Just relax randomly and in whatever order you want. This is all really just a way for you to allow your mind to unwind and start getting closer to sleep.

4. Use the anchor.
If you're using the pain anchor I mentioned earlier then you should have initiated some type of dull throb when you first laid down. If you're on your side, put your knees in a strange position where they're slightly uncomfortable (the pain will increase as time passes). If on your back, put your hand underneath you, etc. Use your imagination, just don't be stupid and cut off the blood to something where you're going to have to get it amputated when you wake up. Now that you've finished relaxing yourself just lay there and allow your body and mind to drift off to sleep like you normally would. As you're drifting, keep that pain in your awareness. Don't let it dominate your awareness, just continue to notice it.

That pain is your anchor to consciousness. Just keep noticing it as you slowly go deeper and deeper into sleep. Rather than just passing out like you normally would if you did this before sleeping for 3 to 8 hours, you will eventually, inexplicably, be in a dream.

___

To recap:
WILD is simple and has five steps,

  • Sleep for 3 to x hours
  • Wake up for a little while
  • Lay down and relax your body and mind for a short period
  • Notice your anchor as you drift into sleep.
  • Drift into sleep

Do NOT think about the logic of what I've explained in this tutorial when you get up to WILD. Just get up and do what you know you have to do. Its as simple as getting up and then falling back asleep. As an important side note: do not move during your WILD. It is imperative that from the time you lie down to WILD to the time you wake up the next morning that you do not move. Yes, you can swallow, burp, etc. Just don't move your body. Moving will interrupt your body's natural progression into sleep paralysis/the dreamworld.

CONTINUATION: WILD - The Guide To End All Guides

Welcome to my WILDing guide.

There's three different tutorials in this one topic, the way this works is that you read through the post just like normal until you come the method selection section, you can either go with the "concentration induced WILD" , "The Third Eye Technique", or go all freestyle on my ass and use the "Make your own method- method".
___________

WILDs are very strange things... sometimes you'll fall directly into the dreamstate like 10-20 minutes after starting, and other times it can take a good 2 hours to begin to actually enter a dream. Keep in mind that very rarely will two WILDs be exactly the same. Yes you can go to bed a couple minutes after you wake up, the important thing is to have been asleep 5-7 hrs before getting up to WILD, everyone's different with WILDing, thus what you have to do is adjust the WILD to fit with your bodies needs, ill try and make out a step by step list of things I do before, during, and after I WILD. Ill also mark the parts that can be changed for your special needs. I'll label these in steps.

  1. Try to have had a steady sleep schedule for the past couple of days (ex: going to bed at 8 PM and getting up at 6 AM for the past three days)
  2. Now go to sleep at the time you've been going to sleep at for the past three days and set an alarm to wake you after you've slept for 5 1/2-7 hrs (I usually go to bed at 8 PM and set my alarm for 3 AM on WILDing days)
  3. Wake up at the set time (remember you MUST have slept for at least 5 1/2-7 hrs or else it will be extremely hard to WILD, also I find it helpful to have at least another 2 hrs of darkness outside when you wake up after your 5 1/2-7 hrs, but its not necessary) at this time you'll most likely feel outright like a pile of shit ( yeah I tried) but seriously even if you don't feel you need to, you should use the restroom and get some water. Just don't drink a glass or something for obvious reasons.
  4. Commence The WILDing method you've chosen,

___________

When your LD ends wake up, and DO NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP, no matter what. Even if you feel that you could WILD again just DON'T, because all that dream imagery you just saw and heard would be deleted, you should also remember to do a reality check or two right after you wake to catch any pesky false awakenings. Write down your LD and have a good time reminiscing about it all day long (again, don't go back to sleep no matter what. when you get up the next morning [even if you only sleep for 20 minutes] that amazing LD you just had will feel like it was just a normal dream, foggy and broken.

=========================

IMPORTANT NOTES:
These are things I might not have put into that huge lump of text.

  • Have a regular sleep schedule; this helps LDing in every method
  • Reality check all the time, any time you see something that's either "wrong", just slightly odd, or unexpected... do reality checks, and really test your reality, think about what could happen if it were a dream (think happy things not nightmarish scenarios) do a nose reality check and then look at the back of your hand a few times to see if you have six fingers
  • The days before you WILD work out a scenario for what your going to do, what I used to do (and still occasionally do) is the day before WILDing I think about exactly what I'm going to do in the LD such as: "get out of my dream-bed, do a reality check to see I'm dreaming, focus on hand, focus on sound, jump out of window and fly to work, tell boss off, punch boss, attack co-workers, etc.". (This isn't at all necessary but it gets you fired up for the WILD). go through exactly what your going to do over and over the day and night before you WILD until you have it totally set in your mind, when you wake up to WILD go through it in your head maybe once, but don't think about it too much or you'll have problems focusing when your WILDing.
  • Do reality checks a lot during the 5-70 mins before your WILD
  • Don't eat during the 5-70 minutes your up before WILDing. If you do, The WILD will likely be harder (not sure why, I think it has to do with their being a taste in your mouth as your WILDing, thus drawing your attention to this world, which in affect makes it harder for your subconscious to create a fake world. or maybe its just a mental handicap I've put on myself, I've never been able to WILD after eating.)
  • If you feel an itch or start to feel super uncomfortable during your WILD, DO NOT MOVE, it will go away very quickly if you just focus more on doing to the WILD (ie. breathing in and relaxing further) In the event that you were to move then just go ahead and roll over and hope you get a DILD
  • In the middle of WILDing some people say that they suddenly feel their pulse rising exponentially, don't get freaked out. Keep in mind that anything you experience is totally natural and happens EVERY TIME you go to sleep at night, it's just when your WILDing you get to consciously spectate

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
Ok I'm gonna put some common questions that almost every noob asks in here, and ill try to into depth about the answers.

Q) How do I know when I should begin WILDing after my 5-7 hrs of sleep?
A) This is one of those questions that everyone asks and almost no one knows the answer to. The truth is, you don't know when to go back to your bed for WILDing, this alone is the reason why so many noobs have trouble with the WILD method.
Finding your target amount of time to stay awake before WILDing can take quite a few nights worth of failures (its worth it though, because once you find it you can use it indefinitely). Anyway, here's how I first found my target wake time; it took me about a week:

I went to bed at a set time every night and got up to WILD at a set time (went to bed at 8 PM and got up at 3 AM) this will change for everyone so just set a time where when you get up for your WILD in the night you still have 2 hrs of total darkness (i.e. if the sun is rising at 6 AM get up at 4 AM). Now that you've been going to bed for the past 3 nights at say, 8 PM and getting up at exactly 6 AM every morning (without the WILD in-between) you can begin to find your target WILDing time. Go to bed at 8PM at get up at 3 AM (again your hours will likely be different just be sure that you have 5-7 hrs of sleep before you get up to WILD [excluding an added 30 mins of relaxation after you get in bed] ). Now when you wake up to WILD, stay up for 30 minutes without cola or any substances to wake you up, then go to bed and WILD. If you find that you almost instantly become incapacitated and fall asleep then up your time to an hour, but if you find that you're TOO awake to WILD (you lay there doing your technique until its time to get up in the morning) then you should down your time by up to 10 minutes. Keep adding and taking away minutes in 10-minute increments until you find a time where you can lay doing the technique for at least an hour and by then you should have had a WILD anyway.

Q) Is it possible to WILD before sleep?
A) This all depends on the person. Some people have reported only being able to WILD before sleep, some only after sleep. Others say they can WILD at will- that there's no difference in WILDing before or after sleep. Personally I've WILDed both before and after sleeping. It was just a little harder to do before I slept (not impossible). Still I only do it after sleeping. The WILDs themselves are much longer, more vivid, and more coherent.

Method number 1: Concentration Induced WILD

For starters, you absolutely should NOT be waiting for HI or any other thing that people say they see, I myself rarely feel SP or see HI, I don't "see" anything because I'm so focused on my breathing. Lay on your back in a comfortable position, make sure there's no pressure points on your body that are going to interfere with your relaxation (ie. a pillow that's making a slight dull ache on the back of your head or something like that). now that your in a comfortable position make sure your arms aren't laying on your body and begin to breathe deeply through your mouth (by deeply I don't mean try and suck in as much air as you can, but rather as much as feels comfortable. Also, you want to stimulate a slight {note the use of the word slight} noise when you breathe in {don't try to be totally silent as your sucking in}) as you breathe in say in your head "one", then as you breathe out say "I'm dreaming". As you breathe in and say the number your at, its helpful (for me) to see the number scrolling into my view with the numbers before and after it on the top and bottom of it (try to see all this as your saying the number) also try and see the words "I'm dreaming" appear and fade out in your head as you say them. You only have to see them until you get to about number 100-150, then you'll find that its much easier to concentrate and not have random thoughts pop into your head by just listening to yourself say the words
You will have trouble concentrating at first, if you ever find your mind wondering off thinking about what you watched on TV last night or something random just put more force into saying the number and sentence, If ever you feel that nothings happening just keep in mind that your body hasn't moved for X amount of time. Keep doing this until your in the LD. Don't get discouraged if you count to like 400 or something, that just means the WILDs 400 breaths closer

Look at the entire WILD like this: Your mind doesn't get any stimulus from you saying stuff like: "move my eyes" or "reposition my left arm". your mind doesn't get any commands to move your body for so long that it says: "wtf he must have fallen asleep or something."
Also, (just so you know) the reason your focusing on your breathing is to keep your mind awake and aware (If you didn't have something you were concentrating on you would begin to think about random meaningless thoughts that would lead to you losing consciousness)

Eventually you will find yourself experiencing one of the following, this will tell you that your entering a dream:

  • falling through your mattress and landing on your dream-bed.
  • suddenly finding yourself standing up in the middle of some random dream location fully aware of your lucid state (a massive eternal field of flowers for example).
  • seeing a light in your vision and suddenly being pulled towards it at what feels like an extremely fast speed.
  • Suddenly you find that your eyes are open and your sleep mask gone
  • You feel a single wave of energy pulse through your body, suddenly you feel revived and like you just cant WILD any more
  • You don't feel anything at all, you just have to risk all and do a reality check (this is very uncommon, remember that if you do a reality check then your giving up all chances of having a successful WILD after that. {in the event that it says your not asleep})

(those are just a few, the experience varies with the person)

Method number 2:The Third Eye WILD

Lay on your back in a comfortable position, once you get good and ready tell yourself "I will not move until I make it into a dream"

This promise is important, if ever you move after saying this, you pretty much void all the time you've spent relaxing your body. Now that your laying down on your back in a comfortable position, its time to begin the method. I've outlined it in two easy to read steps :

Step One:

Bring your body into a state of total relaxation and freedom from your inner voice, you can do this many ways but the one that I've found to be most efficient is as follows:
(note: your not trying for vibrations, or magical balls of light to be floating around your vision, your merely trying to relax as much (and more than) the amount your body is capable of relaxing)

My Relaxing Method: Begin to clear your mind, do this by counting off your breaths (ie. "breathe in, breathe out- one" "breathe in, breathe out- two" etc) every time you notice your mind is wandering focus harder on the numbers your counting off.
Keep doing this until your mind is free from crazy thoughts and rampant worries (it usually takes me about 10- 20 minutes, or about when I reach my 300th breath out, this may vary for everyone, but its best to at least count to 300 (I've been doing it every other night for 13 months and it takes me to 300 before I'm "there")

Step Two:

Now your body and mind are in a tranquil state of awareness. your mind is calm, your body numbing, at this point all there is in this world is your body, your not thinking about whats going on around you or anything other than that. DON'T TRY TO BECOME MORE AWARE If you did what I just told you to do in step one, then your mind should be free of thoughts, the serenity of it will be amazing. you wont be thinking verbally, but in thought packets, that you can't hear (sounds odd now, but its totally natural when its happening, if you don't experience this then go back to counting off your breaths until your mind is free of thoughts. then continue this step).
Anyway here's your task, do it, and you'll be thrown into an LD:

Task: continue to only think about relaxing your body, your no longer counting your breaths, but your still noticing them. every time you breathe out make your body more numb/relaxed than it was before.
Do this for a little while (not being too excited about what's happening, but still relaxing with every breath out) eventually you'll start seeing vivid images in your head, these go on for a little while (you've stopped focusing on your body but your still trying to relax when you breathe out) eventually these HI will be extremely vivid (I can't give you a time-frame because this state of mind is timeless, your breaths blend into one another and you lose all perception of time and space), you'll see a random object, maybe it'll be a cup, or a lollipop. suddenly that cup/ Lolly will be setting on a table or on the ground or something (it'll be more than seeing it in your head, its more of your looking at it with your eyes) This is when you have to start thinking a little bit.

The cup is now sitting on the ground, notice what type of ground its one (ie. "oh the cup's on cement") the trick is to not say "the cup will be sitting on grass" or something like that. Your not making the scene, the scene is being built in front of you. you just have to stay conscious while this is happening.
This all happens in an instant. you'll see a cup, then the cups sitting on the ground, then you suddenly (without conscious action) look up and see a bouncing highway, then you realize your legs are moving, and finally your fully in, it turns out that the scene you just watched being created was you taking an afternoon jog down the sidewalk in front of your house. your now in a lucid dream, you can do anything your heart desires

Method number 3:Make your own method- method

(use this only if the other two don't work, it's basically a last resort.)

This isn't so much a method as a way of making your own method. It's the simple rules that lay at the core of every WILDing technique. Here's the rules for you, I'll explain them as I state them:

  • Find a way to relax your body to a point where it can no longer relax further. There's a lot of ways to do this. This is the first thing you do as you WILD, relax totally, then start your technique
  • Don't move during your WILD. Basically you can't move at all after you lay down and say "I'm starting my WILD right now".
  • Don't be thinking about What your going to do when you get into the dream as your WILDing. (or about anything else). Thoughts about what happens when you enter the dream, or about what Jimbob's doing right now break the concentration that you must have to WILD, you can't be thinking "I can't wait to get into the dream" or anything like that at all.
  • Find one thing to concentrate on. This can be your breathing, a vivid mental image, a tactile sensation, basically anything that's either very repetitive (ex. your breathing), very unchanging (ex. a mental image of a lighter sitting on a table), or both. The key to this is that you have to really concentrate on this one thing non-stop throughout your entire WILD. never changing it (in other words don't go from seeing a lighter on a table to focusing to your breathing halfway through the WILD).

So there you have it, the base of all WILDs.

Mzzkc's Comprehensive WILD Guide

Hello! Welcome to my humble guide. In the paragraphs that follow, I'll be cataloging just about everything you need to know to have a successful WILD. I'm probably going to miss a few points, but that's what peer review is for. XP

Introduction:
Before I can go any further, I need to explain what WILD is all about. BillyBob has an excellent, in depth, tutorial that should be required reading for everyone. When I first read that, the message behind it didn't truly sink in until over a year later, after I had my little revelation. The short of it is, you need to fall asleep. Yes some level of awareness is necessary, but you can pass that chore onto an auxiliary process with the use of an anchor, as BillyBob describes. Really, everything you need to know is covered in those two threads, but it's all buried. The purpose of this thread is digging it all up and putting it on display for everyone to see.

The Building Blocks:

To wild successfully, three things need to happen:

  • You need to be close to REM.
  • You need to fall asleep.
  • You need to retain awareness.
Block 1: Prior Sleep

The first point is incredibly important and shouldn't be overlooked. While yes, it is possible to WILD before getting any sleep whatsoever, WILDs such as this won't last very long and the quality of the LD will be horrendous. Furthermore, it will take more than an hour to pull off, assuming you know what you're doing and won't mess up at all. Compare this to a WILD attempt after six or more hours of sleep, where REM is mere minutes away and may last a very long time.

To compare:

  • WILD Without Prior Sleep: Poor quality, short, difficulty is next to impossible, takes over an hour to pull off.
  • WILD With Prior Sleep (Including Naps): Quality is what you make it, length is what you make it, takes no more than 15 minutes to pull off.

That's right, a successful WILD need not take more than 15 minutes to make the transition. If it's taking you longer than that (and you're definitely getting the right amount of prior sleep), you're probably having trouble with the next building block.

Block 2: Falling Asleep

Straightforward, right? Well, you wouldn't know from the number of failed WILDs people are having. This piece is just as crucial as getting prior sleep and is often where people have the most trouble. Here's a checklist to make sure you're going about this sleep thing in the most productive manner possible.

Are you:

  • in an environment with minimal distractions such as light and the occasional sudden noise?
  • physically tired, and feeling the need to sleep?
  • in the “falling asleep” mindset?
  • in your usual sleeping position?
  • comfortable?
  • relaxed?

Environment: If this first one isn't checked off, that's typically an easy fix. Simply invest in ear plugs and/or shades of some kind, maybe a sleeping mask. The sleeping mask and ear plugs can even double as an anchor if you're so inclined.
Being Tired: This one is harder to judge, but it's safe to say that if you're loaded up on caffeine, or some other stimulant, you probably aren't going to feel like sleeping any time soon. Other than that, you don't want your WBTB to be too long. I know of several WILDers who have cut their WBTBs to mere moments. Mine typically consists of emptying my bladder with the lights off before returning back to bed. This way I can capitalize on how tired I am directly after waking up. Keeping your WBTB to a few minutes or less might prove beneficial to you as well.
The Right Mindset: Next is the trickiest, because it's the hardest one for most people to “get.” Put plainly, you shouldn't be waiting for SP, looking for HI, or anything similar. You're trying to fall asleep here, not track your progress through a series of events. Therefore, don't try to “WILD”; go to sleep instead.
Sleeping Position: Building on that is this next box, which is another common misconception about WILDing. You don't have to WILD on your back. In fact, WILDing in the position you normally sleep in may be just what you need to finally take that extra step towards lucidity.
Being Comfortable: Now, if you aren't comfortable, how do you ever expect to get to sleep in a timely fashion? Things that typically fall under this category are swallowing, scratching, and moving. If you absolutely need to do any of these things during your WILD, do it and be done with it. Don't give it a second thought, and continue your attempt unfettered.
Being Relaxed: Many tutorials spend some time going over relaxation techniques like The 61-Point Relaxation Technique. Which is all well and good, but I wouldn't be surprised if most people skip that step. Honestly, that's the only thing most WILD tutorials put towards the actual falling asleep aspect of the WILD. And while it isn't absolutely necessary to do something that in depth, being anxious or excited is counter-productive. If you find yourself getting worked up or scared, at the very least, take a few deep breaths and remember: you're just going to sleep. Nothing special.

[The 61 Point relaxation Technique

  • 1. 61 point relaxation technique
    Study = This figure:

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This figure illustrates 61 points on the body. To do this exercise, you need to memorize the sequence of points. (This is not difficult, because the points are arranged in a simple pattern) They begin at the forehead, travel down and up your right arm, then across to your left arm, down to your torso, down and up your right legs, then back up your torso to the forehead.

  • 2. Focus your attention on one point at a time
    Begin at your forehead, focus your attention between your eyebrows and think of the number one. Keep your attention fixed at point one for several seconds until you feel that your awareness of the location is clear and distinct. Think of yourself being located at this point. Before moving on to the next point, you should feel a sense of warmth and heaviness at this spot.
  • 3. Move through each point in sequence
    In the same manner, successively focus your attention on each of the first thirty-one points. Proceed slowly, and imagine you self being located at each point as you reach it. Feel the sense of warmth and heaviness before moving on. Do not allow your mind to wander. At first you may find this difficult to do: you will find that at times you suddenly will forget that you are doing the exercise and start daydreaming or thinking about something else. IF you lose your place, return to the beginning or the last numbered point you attended to, and continue. Practice with thirty-one points until you can attend to them all in sequence without daydreaming or losing track.
  • 4.Extend your practice to include all sixty-one points. When you can attend to thirty one points in sequence, repeat steps 1 and 2 with all sixty-one points. Practice this until you can do all points without losing your focus. Now you are ready to use this exercise with lucid dreaming induction techniques.]
Block 3: Retaining Awareness

Here comes the part where you all start to hate me. As it is, there is no “right” way to retain awareness. Before everything is said and done, you're probably going to have to come up with your own solution. The key is understanding how you can maintain awareness without impacting your ability to sleep.

BillyBob suggested the use of anchors. But what is an anchor?

BillyBob: [An] anchor is something you passively "keep track of" as you let your mind more or less wander. It is the tether that holds your prefrontal cortex just functioning as you drift into the dreamworld.

As it turns out, at their core, every “awareness technique” out there right now is an anchor. Some are easier to use than others, depending on the person, but there remain two distinct types of anchors:

  • Environmental Anchors
  • Mental Anchors

Environmental Anchors are anything you can latch onto outside your mind as you work your way through a WILD. These can be anything from background music, temperature variations, wearing clothing you don't normally sleep with, pain, etc. The most important thing about Environmental Anchors is they shouldn't disturb your ability to sleep. I suggest you practice sleeping normally with your anchor of choice before you attempt to WILD with it. This way, you'll know what to expect.

Theory is easy. Actually using an Environmental Anchor to retain awareness is a different beast entirely. There's a fine line between giving the anchor too much attention and too little. This is something you're going to have to play around with until you get it right, as there's no way for me to relate that balance short of having you experience it for yourself. The best advice I can give is to follow BillyBob's advice and engage the anchor passively as you drift into dreamland.

Mental Anchors are ideally dealt with in the same manner. Common Mental Anchors such as counting, breath tracking, and mantras should be reduced to auxiliary mental processes that work solely in the background of your mind. Visualization, too, should occur with little involvement from your end. The only time you should be actively directing the Mental Anchor is when you're setting it up. For instance, two Mental Anchors I developed awhile back involve a bit of prep to work properly. In one, I use various MILD techniques to set a “sentinel of intent” to alert me right as I hit the transition stage. After that, it's a simple matter of falling asleep normally and hoping the sentinel kicks in when I need it. Luckily, the other gives me slightly more control over the WILD. That one starts with me playing a game of word, phrase, and image associations with myself, gradually picking up speed until the associations occur automatically, one after another; it has the added benefit of emulating what actually happens to our thoughts as we begin sleeping. But the important thing is they eventually work in an autonomous fashion, which is the overall goal for Mental Anchors.

Of course, the anchors I've listed aren't your only options. In fact, most of these probably won't work for you. Inevitably, you're going to have to find an anchor that does work for you. No one can do that except you. And that's where I'll leave you.

Conclusion:

Hopefully, this has shed some overdue light on what it takes to WILD. Remember, these building blocks all work in tandem; keep that in mind when you begin design on your own WILD style. As always, if you have questions, comments, concerns, or flames, I'll be sure to address them. But I'm warning you right now, I'll likely ignore any questions that are explicitly answered by bolded portions of the OP.

So, until next time. . .

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CONTINUATION: Why You May Fail at WILDs

In the following article I will be sharing insights I have gained over the past two years in regards to the fine art known as WILDing. Keep in mind, all of this comes from personal experience, and you should probably take it with a grain of salt, much like the title of this thread. Prepare yourself. A wall of text awaits!

My history:

When I first learned about LDing, I became immediately drawn toward the phenomena referred to as a Wake Induced Lucid Dream. Wow! I thought, A way to become lucid any time I want? Sign me up! I did my research right here on DV, learning the 'ins and outs' of WILDing from your typical WILD related posts. My early readings did include Jeff's famous "How to Trick Your Body Into Falling Asleep" thread, but the majority of my initial knowledge came from threads similar to this. Ever an eager noob, I often committed the cardinal sin of attempting a WILD before racking up a decent amount of sleep beforehand. During these attempts, which were doomed to fail from the start, I would utilize my shoddy knowledge of what I believed the 'proper technique' was, keeping track of the 'stages' as I went. All my time and energy would go into performing this super-cool thing called a WILD. Hell, I once spent a good four hours on one attempt. My commitment was met with resounding failure. Obviously, dedication alone wasn't cutting it. Broader research would be needed if I was going to figure out how to pull this off. Utilizing the search function, I garnered even more information about how others had achieved their WILDs, all the while trying to WILD in my free time by making use of every new tidbit and little known 'fact' I had learned. And still, after months of trying, I was getting nowhere pretty freakin' fast. Then, one fateful school night, I did it. I accomplished, almost effortlessly, a feat that had eluded me all that time. But I was baffled as to how. My first WILD occurred late at night, after I had awoken in the middle of a sleep cycle. As I drifted back to sleep, somehow, someway, I had retained consciousness all the way into the dream state.
Despite that glimpse of success, for well over a year, I would remain oblivious to the most blatantly obvious thing about WILDing. During that time, I would begin development on a number of my own techniques, all based on the findings of others, all of which weren't wildly successful (Har har). It wasn't until I started focusing on my own experiences that real progress commenced.

Why you should care:
How about because I could potentially, right here, right now, save you a huge portion of the time and trouble I went through in order to reach that point where WILDing became par for the course. Sound good? Then go back and read the above if you haven't already. . . lazy bum.

Done already?

Good.

Now for the meaty stuff.

Analyzing the past:
I believe my story is an excellent example of a typical fledgling WILDer. Eager to learn, but searching in all the wrong places. WILDing, like just about everything concerning LDs, is a personal experience. You can only get so far on the accomplishments of others. To truly be successful, you have to dig deep and do a crap ton of introspection in order to figure out what works for you and what doesn't. Of course, that's nothing new, everyone who's done decent research and has a fair amount of experience has probably come to the same conclusion a dozen times over.

My "Contribution":
So what can I possibly offer that's new, unique, and exciting? Unfortunately, as I've said before, what I discovered was so ridiculously obvious that everyone already knows what is. In fact, it lies at the very root of the definition itself.

WILD - To fall asleep, into a dream state, while retaining consciousness.

"To fall asleep,"

Now, before you ZOMG RAGE QUIT! let me explain the implications of these three words. By the generally accepted definition of a WILD, it is impossible to WILD without first falling asleep. Secondary to falling asleep is maintaining awareness of the event. Key word: Secondary.

All this emphasis is being placed on the awareness part, but what's sorely missing is respect for the most basic and fundamental part of WILDing. That, I feel, is the key to successful WILDs. It is, after all, what I've based my current method on. In fact, my very first WILD was a result of this exact concept.

Applications:
This theory is all well and good, but you're probably wondering about practical applications. Below I will outline the steps I followed to turn this idea into something usable. Hopefully, this will be enough to get some of you jump started on finding your own WILD style.

  • Learn the basics. At the end of this post I shall provide a list of information every WILDer should know. I insist you do your own research on each one.
  • Figure out the most opportune time to WILD. This will always be whenever you are closest to a REM period. Typically, six hours after first falling asleep is a good time, but it can vary from person to person. For instance, I generally need eight. However, I've found naps to be an even better time to WILD. The trick here is that the time should be one in which you are not only close to REM, but also one where you are tired enough to fall asleep very easily.
  • Recognize what happens when falling asleep. This is pretty straightforward. Simply recall moments where you were about to fall asleep, but were suddenly forced into alertness. Those with WILDs already under their belt can use those experiences to help better determine even more of what goes on when falling asleep.
  • Don't WILD. "Lawl, wut?" What this means is that when making an attempt, the focus should be put on falling asleep, first and foremost. Don't try to recognize SP, don't do anything you wouldn't normally do to help yourself fall asleep. Things like Reverse Blinking, if they work for you, are totally okay, as long as the point of the exercise is to help you sleep.
  • Work on Awareness. Finding something that helps keep you aware, without hindering your ability to sleep is what you're aiming for here. Common sense and experimentation will prove the most beneficial.

Tips For Success:

  • Know how sleep works.
  • Don't get caught up on SP.
  • It's okay to swallow, really.
  • Experiment when appropriate, but try to stay consistent as much as possible.
  • Afternoon naps can often be great times to WILD.
  • Start attempts in a comfortable position.
  • Don't stress out about moving.
  • But try not to move unless absolutely necessary.
  • FALL ASLEEP!

Mancon's In Depth WILD Guide

Hey everyone, I have been practicing WILD for a while now, and pretty much have it down, Mostly thanks to Naiya and the helpful guides here on the site! Now I want to make my own WILD guide to help you guys! Let's jump right into it:

Abbreviations you should know:

  • WILD = Wake Initiated Lucid Dream
  • SP = Sleep Paralysis
  • HH = Hypnotic Hallucinations

What is a WILD? +Other definitions
A WILD is a wake initiated lucid dream, but what does that mean? It means you go directly from waking state into the dream state. You trick your body into thinking you're asleep, but really you are awake!

What is Sleep Paralysis? Sleep paralysis is when your body becomes temporally paralyzed so you don't act out your dreams! During a WILD, when you reach sleep paralysis you often see HH.

What are Hypnotic Hallucinations? HH are hallucinations created by the brain when you are deeply relaxed. During SP many people experience HH and sometimes it can be quite scary. Don't worry! The HH is NOT real and will not harm you! HH can also come in all 5 senses. My first experience involving HH, I saw/heard/felt frogs all over my bed!

Before You Get Started
Like I say to everyone, confidence is important when it comes to everything involving lucid dreams. WILDing is easy, you WILL do it! Close your eyes and visualize yourself getting to SP, and then into a dream! That will be you in the future! It won't maybe be you, it WILL BE! If a negative though comes into my head, I imagine the thought in a ridiculous voice and don't take it seriously.

When Should You WILD?
When I was new to WILDing, I wanted to get into it right away! I decided to attempt WILDs before bed, instead of waking up in the middle of the night. Bad idea. I had no success whatsoever. Yes, WILDing before bed is possible but definitely not recommended especially with newbies!

I would definitely recommend doing a WBTB in order to WILD.

So how long should I sleep before waking up to WILD?
Well, you need to wake up right before, or during REM, and everyone's REM time is different! I would try waking up somewhere between 4-7 hours after you fall asleep in order to attempt a WILD. Just experiment with waking up at different times and you will find the right time for you!

Waking Up?
When you wake up for your WILD you could be too awake or too sleepy, this is what I do:

1. I am too awake!
You need to focus on relaxation.
I have put together a list of what I do when I am too awake.

A. I have seen a great relaxation technique in other guides here on the site, and it is called the Tense-Relax technique. The idea is to focus on each separate muscle, tense it, and then relax it completely. Start from the bottom up or the top down, focusing on each muscle.
B. Breathing is very important when it comes to relaxing. I start by breathing in air through my nose, holding a few seconds, and then letting it out. It helps me if I imagine breathing in positive things through my nose and then breathing out any negative things through my mouth. It improves my confidence, and ability to WILD.
C. If you are still not relaxed, listen to some calming music. I have put together a list of music I listen to for relaxation:

  • Relaxing Ocean Waves
  • Tranquility
  • Fireplace
  • Relaxing Nature

It also helps to visualize myslef somewhere relaxing while listening to the music.

2. I am too relaxed!
You need to get up and walk around. Pay attention to objects, what they look like, smell like, taste like, etc. If I am really tired I put some cold water on my eyelids. Drinking water always helps me too. Remember to empty your bladder before WILDing!

Starting the WILD
Lay down, and stay still. Don't focus on anything too hard, and just let your thoughts run through your head. Don't pay attention to your thoughts too much, but be aware of them. These were my thoughts when I first attempted WILDing:

Okay, so I just stay still.
Stay still
Stay still
Keep still
That itch is itchy, but I need to stay still.
I want to move.
Oh my gosh, I am attempting a WILD
Keep still
Will I ever get into SP?
keep still
stay awake
Why isn't this working?

I was focusing on my thoughts too much, and way to worried about WILDing. You have to let them pass through, if you want to get to SP and remember you can WILD!

After 10 minutes of laying completely still, I roll over, as suggested in Yoshi's Technique. Then if I don't enter SP after 10 more minutes, I roll over again.

How Do I Stay Aware?
Sometimes, if I feel like I am falling asleep I focus on my breathing and count my breaths from 1-10. Once I get to 10 I start back over at 1. Sometimes, I listen to a noise in the background like a fan, but remember not to focus too hard on the sound.
I have seen people suggest causing physical discomfort while attempting to WILD in order to stay awake. I don't recommend this because you think about your physical body too much, and it isn't comfortable.

I don't think I ever have SP...
Unless you sleepwalk, or have a sleep related illness that lets you act out your dreams, you have SP. Don't worry!

How do I know I am in SP?
Not everyone experiences HH, so how do they know they are in SP? Usually you will fill heavier, and a bit of numbness. Sometimes, you have a change in awareness or thoughts during SP. Remember, do not try to move to test if you are actually in SP! Just stay still, and stay relaxed.

You're in SP!
Congrats on making it this far, but remember not to get too excited! Once you enter SP you might start to experience some HH. Don't focus to hard on your HH, just watch it come and go, calmly. Remind yourself that HH will not harm you in any way. After a couple a minutes, images should expand and you are in a dream! Congrats!

So, is it possible to alter your HH?
Yes, it actually is! When SP is starting imagine your HH changing to what you want it to be. For example, If I wanted to see a park I would imagine how that park looked, how it felt, who was in it, what is sounded like, etc. This works very well for people who have a vivid imagination.

What are common HH?
Colors, whispers, stars, and vibrations are all common when it comes to HH.

Dream Stabilization
Stabilizing your dream is important to do with any lucid dream, but especially with WILD. So how do you stabilize your dream? Stimulate your senses. Look around at your dream scenery and concentrate on what everything looks like. Feel the ground, smell the air, taste any food, etc. It is also recommended to spin around or rub your hands together to stabilize the dream.

False Awakenings
Sometimes you think the WILD has failed when really you are having a false awakening! A false awakening is when you dream of waking up. This is quite common when it comes to WILDs, and if you think the WILD has failed ALWAYS make sure to do a reality check to see if you are having a FA!

Problems

Itching
Help! I itch everywhere when I try to WILD! How can I stop this?
Well when you are first starting the WILD out and you start to itch, it is best just to scratch it and not focus too much on it.
When have an itch, it takes over your thoughts which is bad. Once you get deep into the WILD and have an itch, I either try to ignore or focus on it. For me, if I focus on an itch then it will go away. Remember, try not to let itches take over your thoughts, think of something else. Sometimes if I think about water, the itches go away.

The Urge to Swallow
If you have the urge to swallow, go ahead and swallow. Thinking about the urge, will make it worse. Just stop thinking about it. If you have real issues with this, then during the day focus on your breathing, take control of it, and then let go of the control. You did this by distracting your thoughts. If you find it hard just keep practicing and it will get easier!

Yoshi's WILD Technique...

Alot of people have been asking me about my WILD technique lately, so instead of explaining this everytime, I figured I would type it up here. I have been using this WILD technique for some time now and it seems to work wonders. Only problem is, I am a natural at entering SP (sleep paralysis) anyway, so I wonder how well it really works. If any of you give it a shot, let me know how it went. Its actually a simple technique, but I explained it rather thoroughly to help you understand. Here it goes...

(Use this technique with WBTB or during Naps.)

Step 1: Relax
If you are using WBTB your body should be properly relaxed already. If not, use your favorite relaxation technique. I lie down and read a chapter or so of a book to relax. It works for me and isn't boring or complicated like other relaxation techniques.

Step 2: Flex Freeze
This step is used as your final relaxation. Lie flat on your back and close your eyes. Try and keep your eyes in a fixed, but relaxed position. Flex your arms/hands/shoulders, hold the flex for a second, then allow them to go completely limp (don't move them again after you have done this). Next, Flex your legs/feet, hold the flex for a second, then allow them to go limp (don't move them again after this). Now flex your neck muscles, hold it, go limp (don't move your head/neck again). Finally, flex your stomach/abs, hold it, go limp. From here on, do not move any part of your body if possible.

Step 2.5: Reverse Blinking
This is where you can add the reverse blinking technique if you wish. After completing the previous step, begin your reverse blinking session. Once you begin to feel tired (your eye lids getting heavier and heavier) and feel like you could easily fall asleep, carry on to the next step. To reverse blink, close your eyes for a minute or so. After this short period of time, begin to flick your eyes open and closed again every few minutes. You want to try and mimic a normal blink as much as possible (only in reverse of course ). Make sure you aren't slamming/forcing your eyes open and closed. Keep your eyelids nice and relaxed as you quickly flick them open and closed. After performing this for a period of time, your eye lids will feel heavier and heavier. At some point, you will not be able to reverse blink your eyelids without forcing them open. This is the point where you should stop reverse blinking and move on to the next step.

Step 3: Getting into SP
This step is simple. Lay completely still and try not to move at all. Let your mind wonder, but do not focus on any of your thoughts. Just casually allow them to pass through your mind without truly focusing on them. Make sure you are aware of your thoughts so you don't fall asleep, but don't think upon one thought for too long. After laying completely still for about 7-10 mins or so, Change position. I roll over to my side. Keep your eyes closed during the position change. Once again lie completely still and let your mind wonder freely. Keep changing position in 7-10min intervals until you begin to enter SP. Most of the time, I enter SP right after my first position change.
(Some may ask, "Why would this work?" I believe this works because subconsciously or consciously someone attempting to WILD often becomes frustrated and overcome with doubt when laying still for long periods of time without results. Remember, if you don't believe you can succeed at WILD, then most likely you will not. I think that the mind sees your position change as a fresh start. You don't worry about and focus too much on not moving because in 10mins you know you can move again. Because of this your mind is more relaxed during the 10min intervals and I believe this allows for better success entering SP.)

Step 4: SP
Once you enter SP, casually watch any Hypnagogic Hallucinations you may have. Just like your thoughts from before, do not focus on the HI, just casually watch them pass by your "mind's eye." Similar to watching a t.v. show that you don't particularly care for. If you get freaked out just think to yourself "Its not real...Its all in my mind...I can't be harmed" Make sure you remain still and as calm as possible during this time (if you happen to move or get excited, don't give up or start over, just carry on with the process trying to remain calm and relatively still). Just allow the process to do the work for you. Once you see a full dream scene (with WILDs you will generally see the ceiling or the sky from your laying position, it is often referred to as seeing through your eyelids), stand up from your resting place and you should now be lucid! I suggest performing a RC upon waking, especially if you think you have failed. Often times with WILD your dream starts right where you fell asleep in waking life. The room can look exactly like it should and this can sometimes fool you into thinking you have failed. Plus, it is very possible to have a False Awakening as soon as you transition.

I have seen more than a few members across the forum who are having trouble achieving lucidity no matter what technique they try. They either can't seem to either achieve lucidity for the first time (which can be the hardest for many dreamers), or are in a long dry spell and can't seem to get out. I have suggested this to a few already, but I figured I would go ahead and post this technique for everyone to see (plus I don't want to have to type the whole thing up every time ). I don't use this every night, because I don't want it to become routine (it probably won't work as well if you overuse it). It works like a charm for my dry spells though...

Dry Spell Killer: The Actor's Technique
For anyone experiencing a dry spell or having trouble achieving lucidity for the first time you can try this simple "mind over matter" technique. I use this to help break out of dry spells and I generally suggest it to others who are experiencing dry spells. I think it will also help first timers achieve lucidity. Basically here it is...Upon laying down to sleep you need to alter your state of mind. Basically, act as if you are an expert/experienced lucid dreamer and you know 100% that you will have a lucid dream. Don't only say/think to yourself that you will have a lucid dream, but truly 100% believe that you will achieve your goal easily. The best way to describe this "state of mind alteration" is to compare it to acting. Many actors and actresses "get into character" for their particular roles. They will spend several days (or even longer depending on the actor/actress) acting as if they are a completely different person to better prepare and play their role. Basically, you are trying to "get into the character" of an experienced/expert lucid dreamer. You could even go as far as getting into the character of "The Best Lucid Dreamer Ever." The idea is to fall asleep knowing and expecting yourself to become lucid, because you have done it millions of times before and it is easy for you. If you can do it correctly, and truly convince yourself that you will achieve lucidity, than it will greatly raise your chances of success. During a dry spell, I do this for as many nights as I need to break it. I usually am able to overcome my dry spell the very first night trying. Make sure that if you do not succeed, that you stay "in-character" and tell yourself/convice yourself that last night was a fluke and there is no way you won't become lucid the next night. You would be surprised how well this simple method can work. All it takes is a bit of "acting" !

Note: This isn't a WILD method, but you could try it with WILD if you like (I actually have never paired it with a WILD before). I simply use this as I fall asleep normally. Usually when I succeed, I just randomly become lucid in my dream. Essentially its just a DILD/MILD method.

KingYoshi's Complete WILDing Guide - All my techniques & secrets revealed (WILD,DEILD,WBTB+more)

My previous WILD thread, Yoshi's WILD Technique, explained my personal technique and how to perform said technique. This is going to be a complete and all-around guide to WILDing & DEILDing using my techniques and experience as a basis. The first half of this guide is an in-depth explanation on WILD. The second half is my personal technique. So, as usual, sit back, fire one up, and learn to WILD/DEILD...the Yoshi way!

My DILD tutorial can be found here, All Day Awareness, A DILD tutorial by KingYoshi

General Keys to Success
With any induction method/technique there are three keys to long-term success.

  • Effort - Aside from the handful of natural lucid dreamers out there, the rest of us have to put forth the effort and work toward lucidity. Without that drive, you aren't going to have the kind of results you are looking for.
  • Confidence - This one is as simple as the first. You need to be confident in your abilities. I don't care if you just joined yesterday and literally have no clue what you are doing. EVERYONE can lucid dream regularly.
  • Experience - You don't even have to do anything special for this one. Every single thing you do while practicing lucid dreaming, works toward experience. Just keep practicing and gain experience from every success as well as every failure.

What is a WILD?
WILD stands for (W)ake (I)nduced (L)ucid (D)ream. Basically, it is where you enter the (lucid) dream state, directly from the waking state, WITHOUT a lapse in consciousness. You stay aware throughout the entire process. You fall asleep, see the dream form, and enter the dream state without ever "blacking out"/losing consciousness.

What Everyone Needs to Know Prior to a WILD Attempt.

  • No matter when, where, how, or why you are attempting a WILD, there is only one thing you need to do every time. That one thing? FALL ASLEEP. Its simple and no matter how perfect you are at performing a technique/method, if you don't fall asleep, you can't WILD. Its as simple as that. If you find yourself struggling, ask yourself, "Am I just not falling asleep?"
  • There is only one root difference in falling asleep "normally" and WILDing. That is your level of consciousness. During "normal" entrance into the state of sleep, we fall unconscious. During a WILD you want to fall asleep exactly like any other time, but maintain a certain level of consciousness. Basically, you want to fall asleep AND witness/observe this process as it is happening.
    These two concepts apply to every single valid WILD technique and method out there. Now, its very possible to use this knowledge alone to go perform a successful WILD. The rest of this guide is going to help explain certain aspects of the process to help further your success.

SP and Why I Use the Term.
SP stands for "Sleep Paralysis." If you grab a medical book or any other "official" explanation on SP, it is described as an actual sleep disorder/condition that effects very few individuals. The state that most people refer to as SP, is actually called Sleep Atonia. I'm just going to tell you right now, all this may be true, but I don't care nor does it matter in the least. There is absolutely no need to differentiate between the two. They both have similar effects, the on-set of both can help you complete your WILD, and they both provide a unique experience almost every time you witness them. Between the asterisks is a little extra, personal insight on the two that is meaningless to this Guide and WILDing in general.

I, personally, don't even believe these are separate conditions. There is no hard evidence or facts that differentiate the two. Only research based on observations. A disorder based on an "educated guess" diagnosis is not something I put faith in. I need hard facts, otherwise I'm basing my belief on my own experiences and observations. My educated guesses > others educated guesses, any day of the week. That is just my two cents. If you disagree with this, that is perfectly fine. My opinion on this matter and whether I am right or wrong on this matter, is completely irrelevant to this guide and WILDing in general.

If you are a "by the books person," you may disagree with my logic, but I've been doing this for years and it truly makes no difference how you look at these two. I have experienced both the on-set of paralysis and the on-set of atonia more times than I can count. So, I'm telling you now, I'm going to use the term SP as a "general term." Think more along the lines of (S)leep (P)re-stage when I type SP.

When to Perform a WILD for Optimal Success
Like everything else involved in dreaming and life in general, there are very few definites. Though, in my experience, I have been able to gather enough information to help figure out your optimal WILDing window. I'm going to separate these into two categories, Standard Sleep Time (SST), and Naps. I'll also give a little information on the sleep cycle, and REM sleep, (R)apid (E)ye (M)ovement, so you understand the concept behind everything.

Standard Sleep Time (SST) & Wake Back to Bed (WBTB)

  • SST: Everyone's SST is going to be different. If you work night shift, your SST is going to be during the day. Vice-versa for those who work during the day. Basically, SST is the period of time that you are experiencing longer durations of sleep. For an even more simplified explanation, this is when you say, "I'm going to bed/sleep," as opposed to, "I'm taking a nap" . When performing a WILD during your SST, you want to pair it with the WBTB (Wake Back to Bed) method.
  • WBTB & REM: The idea behind WBTB, is to wake up during or just before your REM cycle. That way, its much easier to get into the dream state directly from the waking state. You don't have to be in exact unison with your REM cycle. You just want to be "close enough." Between the asterisks, I'll explain a little more about the sleep cycle, so you understand the concept behind WBTB. I'm not going to go too in-depth on the sleep cycle, because all of that information isn't necessary. Plus, the sleep cycle is nowhere near an exact science. It can vary greatly depending on a plethora of different factors. So, use all this information, in the "general sense." Its just more for you to get an idea of how it works.

I'll try to keep it as simple as possible. On average, a person experiences multiple periods of REM sleep each night. Its not a requirement to WILD during REM sleep, but that is the optimal stage in the sleep cycle for lucid dreaming. REM is the stage of sleep when most dreaming occurs after all. The first REM period begins 90 minutes after sleep (on average). You can use this as a template for figuring out your REM cycle. Start with the base that REM occurs every 90 minutes. Now, keep a few things in mind....

  1. The early REM periods do NOT last very long. Only a few minutes, so you don't necessarily want to try and WILD during these. Otherwise, you are going to be fighting against your body's natural sleep cycle to stay in your dreams and stay in REM. The further along you get in SST, the longer your REM periods will last.
  2. As you progress in your SST, your REM cycles become closer together. They may start out 90 minutes apart (on average), but with each successive REM period, that number is reduced. Toward the end of your SST, you will be firing REM cycles back to back with very little time spent in between.

So, now you have the information on WBTB, but where do you start?
I tell aspiring WBTBers to try and wake up after 2-4 hours of sleep, if you want to make multiple attempts on the night. If you remember a dream (even a fragment) upon waking up, then great. You have started your REM cycle and are good to go. If you can't remember anything, you may not have started your REM cycle yet. Try to sleep for 30 mins to 1 hour longer. Repeat the process until you are able to remember something. Even a fragment tells you, "Hey! My REM cycle has started." If you just want to perform a single WBTB attempt on the night, try getting up after about 5-6 hours of sleep.

How long should you stay awake during a WBTB attempt before attempting the WILD?
The idea is to try and stay awake long enough to where you won't lose consciousness easily, but at the same time, you HAVE to be able to fall back to sleep. So, you don't want to stay awake too long. No matter how long or short a period of time you stay awake, it won't hurt your ability to WILD. You can still do it no matter the time period you choose. That is strictly based on your ability to fall back to sleep. If you have trouble falling back to sleep, don't stay awake as long before returning to bed. If you find that you keep losing consciousness early on in the process, try staying awake a little longer. Its simple logic, so don't think about this too hard. Too many beginners over-complicate this part of the process and it is unnecessary. I, personally, only stay awake for 4 or 5 minutes before performing my WILD attempt. Others have reported better success after staying awake for 15-20 minutes. Just test it and find out what works best for you.

Extra WBTB Tips

  • Use this WBTB information as a guideline only. None of this information is exact, so just play around with this information and figure out what works best for YOU. Most of these times are averages and "in general" statistics. That doesn't mean they are optimal for everyone, so feel free to increase, decrease, or branch off from any of this information. Lucid Dreaming, especially WILDing, is a unique experience for everyone. So keep that in mind. I'm just trying to help everyone understand the process, logic, and ideas behind it all. I'm not trying to set any standards because with Lucid Dreaming, there are NO standards.
  • I'll tell you my personal method for performing multiple WBTBs. I set my alarm for after 2 hours of SST. I do the usual, "Have I dreamed yet," test to see if I hit my REM cycle. I set my alarm in 2 hour increments for the first 6 hours. Then, I set my alarm in 1 hour increments for the rest of my SST. Obviously, the longer you sleep the more attempts you'll get in. Even if you don't succeed in your WILD attempts, each time you wake up, you are recording a dream. So, at worst, you are journaling a bunch of dreams and building up your recall. This is one of the great benefits to WBTB. Even if you don't succeed in WILDing, you are building up recall
  • Another great benefit of WBTB WILDing, is getting spontaneous DILDs from failed WILD attempts. You are trying to have a lucid dream, so even if you lose consciousness and fall asleep "normally," your mind was JUST on lucid dreaming moments ago. This alone can help lead to DILDs.

Naps
Naps are, personally, my favorite time to perform WILDs. For one, you don't have to bother waking up in the middle of the night, which takes motivation and discipline. I tend to be half asleep and say, "Fuck it." I just turn off the alarm clock and go back to sleep without trying. I then wake up in the morning and am like, "Damn it!!! I did it again!" With naps, this isn't a problem. Remember the #1 rule for WILDing though, you HAVE to fall asleep. So, if you are all jacked up on Mountain Dew, its not going to be easy to have a successful Nap WILD.

Why is WILDing during naps effective?
Just like SST WILDing, for naps, you are wanting to play to your greatest strength, the REM cycle. Of course, you are awake, so you obviously aren't entering REM. However, your body just experienced the sleep cycle throughout your SST. It got adjusted and used to this cycle as SST progressed, until it was firing off REM cycles in rapid succession (toward the end of your SST). If you are able to sleep for more than 8 hours, that cycle will keep on going for as long as you sleep. You are awake, but your body had gotten used to that cycle and can easily hop right back into it after waking in the morning. The longer you wait after waking up in the morning, the harder it will be to nap WILD, because your body/mind has gotten more and more used to being awake. It'll be harder to get into that sleep cycle rhythm the further away from it you get.

Sleep Cycle example theories
Think about this. You didn't get enough sleep last night, but you have to get up and go to work. You are real tired until you get in the shower/etc and fully wake yourself up. Once you get to work you are good to go. After an hour or so, you hit that first wall where you are feeling tired. You power through because you have to and get your "second wind" and are good to go again. This is just your body wanting to get back into that sleep cycle it had gotten used to the night before. Since, you didn't allow yourself to go back to sleep and powered through, that second wind is your body/mind accepting that you aren't sleeping right now. This can happen several times and most everyone has experienced this before. Getting tired in a cycle during the day. Caffeine and other things like it, help deal with this and its not a problem You ever heard of someone being intolerable because they didn't have their morning coffee? Its because that coffee has helped them deal with this process. Without it, that internal cycle is still going on, or rather, "wanting" to continue on. This can create moodiness and "rolling" behavior, if you will.

What is the best time frame to perform nap WILDs?
This depends on the individual. Just keep in mind that the longer you wait, the harder it may be to get the WILD process started. I suggest trying 1-6 hours after waking in the morning. Now, you can be successful outside of that time frame, but this is the easiest time frame in my experience.

Now you know everything you need to know about WILDing. You can create your own process/technique using this information. You can also search around the forums and find a plethora of different techniques and styles. Find something that works for you and you are comfortable with. If you love a technique except for one single part of it, don't hesitate to change that part of the technique to suit your comfort. No technique has to be done exactly the way it is written. Use any technique or method you read as a guideline for your own attempt. Play around with things and mold it to suit your needs and comfort levels. Anyway, the next section includes my exact techniques. I'll tell you how to perform them and I'll explain my views on why they work. This doesn't mean it will work for everyone, but if something sounds good to you, go ahead and give it a try. Don't be afraid to tweak the techniques in your attempts.

KingYoshi's WILD Technique, "Rolling Victory"
Step 1: Relax
If you are using WBTB your body should be properly relaxed already. If not, use your favorite relaxation technique. I lie down and read a chapter or so of a book to relax. It works for me and isn't boring or complicated like some of the other relaxation techniques. This step is purely used to get you prepared for sleep. You don't need to over-think this one. Just get relaxed.

Step 2: Flex Freeze
This step is used as your final relaxation. Lie flat on your back and close your eyes. Try and keep your eyes in a fixed, but relaxed position. If they move around a bit, that is fine. You are just wanting to keep your eyes calm and relaxed. No, Flex your arms/hands/shoulders, hold the flex for a second, then allow them to go completely limp (don't move them again after you have done this). Next, Flex your legs/feet, hold the flex for a second, then allow them to go limp (don't move them again after this). Now flex your neck muscles/face muscles, hold it, go limp (don't move your head/neck again). Finally, flex your stomach/abs, hold it, go limp. From here on, try not to move any part of your body too much. If you move some that is fine, don't worry about it. You just want to stay relatively still after the flex freeze simply so your muscles stay relaxed and aren't being worked too much.
Note: If you are sufficiently relaxed, you can skip this step, but I strongly recommend it. It quickly gets my muscles relaxed in preparation for sleep. I quite like it.

Optional Step (2.5): Reverse Blinking
This is where you can add the reverse blinking technique if you wish. After completing the previous step, begin your reverse blinking session. Once you begin to feel tired (your eye lids getting heavier and heavier) and feel like you could easily fall asleep, carry on to the next step. To reverse blink, close your eyes for a minute or so. After this short period of time, begin to flick your eyes open and closed again every few seconds/moments. You want to try and mimic a normal blink as much as possible (only in reverse of course ). Make sure you aren't slamming/forcing your eyes open and closed. Keep your eyelids nice and relaxed as you quickly flick them open and closed. After performing this for a period of time, your eye lids will feel heavier and heavier. At some point, you will not be able to reverse blink your eyelids without forcing them open. This is the point where you should stop reverse blinking and move on to the next step.
Note: I perform reverse blinking sometimes and sometimes I don't. Its a personal preference thing. A lot of people asked about this in my last thread, so I put it in here to show where you would perform this technique, if you choose to try it.

Step 3: Getting into SP
This step is simple. Lay fairly still and try not to move too much. If you do happen to move, that is fine. Its not going to "break you." The idea of staying fairly still is solely used to help your body get closer to sleep. Let your mind wonder, but try not to focus on any of your thoughts. Just casually allow them to pass through your mind without truly focusing on them. Make sure you are aware of your thoughts so you don't fall asleep, but don't think upon one thought for too long. After laying still for a while you may start to feel uncomfortable or get that, "nothing is happening," feeling. Now, change position. I roll over to my side. Keep your eyes closed during the position change and try not to exert too much energy during your roll. Just casually and calmly roll over to your side/a different position. Once again lie pretty still and let your mind wonder freely. People often ask, "When do I change positions/roll over?" Its not an exact time. Start with the base of every 7-10 minutes or so you can roll over. You don't have to hit that time window and try not to focus on this time window either. The idea is for the roll-over to be used as a "refresh button"

So you said to change positions about every ten minutes or so, but wouldn't that wake you up? Why does it put you in SP?
The ten minutes is just an average guesstimation based on my experiences with the technique. Basically, you lay there until you are getting uncomfortable or feel like nothing is happening. Its hard to fall asleep when you are uncomfortable and/or frustrated, right? The average person repositions themselves before falling asleep, or at the very least, gets into a comfortable position before falling asleep. The goal of WILDing is to be able to fall asleep first and foremost. Too many inexperienced WILDers put way too much emphasis on not moving. If you are worried/thinking about not moving and being still, this is a recipe for failure. I always found it so much easier to just not worry so much about a stationary position and I put more emphasis on comfort. When I roll over and move, I perform this process slowly as to not exert too much energy. I can't count how many times I have hit SP right after rolling over. I'll be on the brink of sleep, but I'm uncomfortable or have a body numbness that is distracting (the numbness not to be confused w/ SP vibrations), so I roll over in a comfortable position and my body is like, "Oh Yeah! Thats the spot!" And BAM!! SP sets in and I've begun the process of the transition. The reason most claim you need to stay still, is to get your body in the state of rest. They aren't wrong exactly, but they don't always explain why they are telling you to stay still. I don't know about you, but I when I'm going to sleep normally, I don't focus on being completely still and trying not to move. I just get comfortable and drift away. Same principle with my technique. Only difference is keeping the awareness as this happens.

Step 4: SP
SP can be different for everyone. Sometimes you will feel paralyzed, sometimes you may not. Sometimes, you will get vibrations, sometimes you won't. Etc, etc. Once you start to enter SP, you are going to notice something. Usually, people experience some sort of Hypnagogic Hallucination (HH). The most common, in my experience, are auditory hallucinations (hearing noises/things that aren't really there) and visual hallucinations, aka Hypnagogic Imagaery. Just like your thoughts from before, do not focus too much on any particular HH/HI. For HI, just casually let them pass by your "mind's eye." Similar to watching a t.v. show that you don't particularly care much about either way. Make sure you remain still and as calm as possible during this time (if you happen to move or get excited, don't give up or start over, just carry on with the process as if you never moved or got excited in the first place). Just allow the process to do the work for you. Same with auditory hallucinations. Just casually listen to them as if they are a tv program in the background. Try not to understand or pay too much attention to the hallucinations. Just let them do their thing and keep staying relaxed. Keep in mind that at this point, you are transitioning into sleep. Your body/mind is falling asleep and this SP is the beginnings of your dream. Think of any hallucinations you experience as the very first part of the dream you are trying to enter. Its beginning to form, this is just the first step. Relax and just let the dream form on its own. You are just observing the process, you don't need to actively try to create a dream scene. That part will take care of itself. Trying to do too much during this process, can cause you to inadvertently wake yourself up. You are falling asleep, allow it to happen. A lot of strange things can happen during the transition of a WILD. Often times, m body just starts sliding and floating all around the room. If this happens, I simply wait for it to stop sliding and moving. This is yet another hallucination that is occurring during my transition. Just relax and wait it out. Try not to get impatient and lay there until things become relatively stable. It really takes a feel to get used to when the transition has completed. Just gain experience and learn from each WILD attempt and each trip into the transitional phase.
Once you see a full dream scene (with WILDs you will generally see the ceiling or the sky from your laying position, it is often referred to as "seeing through your eyelids"), stand up from your resting place and you should now be lucid! I suggest performing a RC upon at this time, especially if you think you have failed the attempt. Often times with WILD, your dream starts right where you fell asleep in waking life, so you may not always notice that you have succeeded. The room can look exactly like it should and this can sometimes fool you into thinking you have failed. Plus, it is very possible to have a False Awakening as soon as you transition.

Why do I never get HI? I've done WILD lots of times, and I feel the vibrations (it's really small, like in my legs) and I can hear a really quiet buzzing noise and I feel all prickly and stuff but I never get HI. I've tried to like get the scene going and let my dream take over, but the second I stop providing it nothing happens. Can you help me? And also, one more question. How do you know your in SP, like without moving to see?
Well, HI happens most of the time, but not all the time. I've had plenty of successful WILDs where I didn't get HI at all. Its a lot more uncommon to not get HI in my experience, but it does happen. If you hit full blown SP, you will know it. You will hallucinate and dream elements will begin to happen. The hallucinations can be different every time and often times, unique to YOU. You are going to feel/notice the body change. Its going to feel like you are falling asleep and making progress. The HI is one of the last things to kick in on most dreamers, so if you've never experienced that full on SP, its not that surprising that you haven't saw HI. It really sounds to me like you just aren't getting to the stage where you are actually falling asleep. The small vibrations are numbness which is one of the first things that can happen, along with the light buzzing. You are right on the verge of hitting that full blown SP. Also, don't try too hard to force things. Just casually gaze into the darkness of your closed eyes. Stay calm and just let things happen on their own. If you are trying too actively to get the scene going, that is going to hinder your progress. The primary goal should be relaxing and striving toward sleep. The idea is to teeter right on the line between consciousness and unconsciousness. That is why WILDing consistently is such a delicate process. My best advice to you is to just keep trying and keep practicing. Makes sure you don't try too hard to push the process along. The best way to speed things up is to just fall asleep faster. Best way to do that is to relax and stay comfortable. Casually observe the darkness and the HH will start to slowly show itself. Don't be looking around for it in the darkness, just observe and let the process play itself out.

KingYoshi's Quick Guide to DEILD
First thing's first, DEILD can be the easiest technique to inducing a lucid dream. What you have to do, is simply become aware of yourself waking up before you fully wake up.

When and how to DEILD

At the End of a Lucid Dream (Chaining Lucids)
There are several opportune times you can successfully DEILD without any sort of premeditation. The easiest of which, is at the end of a Lucid Dream. This is known as "Lucid Chaining" and it is very easy to do. If you are within a lucid dream and you feel yourself starting to wake up/losing the dream, don't try to fight it or hold onto the dream. Immediately, lay down and close your eyes. Even if you are still in the dream environment, but feel the dream starting to slip away, just lay down right there and close yours eyes. Now, keep your eyes closed and stay as relaxed as possible. Try not to move much at all. If you do, its not the end of the world, but since you were lucid and prepared to DEILD, just lay still and calm. Try to keep your mind "quiet" by just relaxing and just observing the process. Much like during a normal WILD, you don't want to do anything. Just lay there relaxed and let the natural process do all the work for you. You will be able to feel it in your body as you wake up and then slip right back into sleep. Most of the time, in my experience, the DEILD process only takes a few short moments. Sometimes there is a WILD-like transition with a few brief hallucinations, but most of the time, you just wake and then go right back into the dream. Most of the time I either end up right there in the dream environment that I initially laid down in, or I'm in my bed/place of rest that I actually fell asleep in. If you think you failed, be sure to perform a few RCs. You can sometimes be fooled by a False Awakening or the setting in which you return to the dream state.
Using this method, I have chained 8+ lucid dreams before. It is great for keeping the experience going if you accidentally get too emotional and kick in your adrenaline. Keep in mind, that the more dreams you chain, the easier it gets to forget the very early parts of the chain. I usually chain 2-4 lucids and the just allow myself to wake up so I don't forget anything.

Upon Waking from a Non-Lucid Dream
This one is a little more difficult, but its not hard if you can catch yourself early enough. Basically, upon waking up, you just simply try not to move too much, close your eyes, and go back to sleep. Your body is already relaxed from sleep, so this is like you are performing a normal WILD, but you are very far along in the process already. So, the key is to stay relaxed and just witness yourself falling back to sleep. Just casually observe the darkness behind your eyes and drift slowly into the dream state as you teeter on the line of consciousness and unconsciousness. The success rate will be higher the less you move upon waking up. Also, if you can keep your eyes closed, that is going to help as well. Neither of those things are required and you can definitely DEILD even after you have moved and opened your eyes, so don't give up. Like every WILD/DEILD attempt, if you fail, perform a few RCs just in case. You may have been fooled into thinking you failed.

Using an External Device
Basically, using some sort of alarm to wake yourself up. The key to this is to recognize the alarm sounds as quickly as possible. As soon as you recognize the sound, hopefully before you are fully awake, go right into the DEILD process. If you catch the sound while you are in the dream or waking from the dream, just lay, down, close your eyes, and relax. Basically, use the DEILD Chain process. If you woke up, just use the "Waking from a normal dream" process. You want to use an alarm that doesn't last too long and shuts off automatically. You also don't want to use an alarm that is going to jar you awake. You want it to gradually wake you up. The best alarm would be one that starts off quiet, keeps a consistent sound, and gradually becomes louder and louder. The consistent sound can help you recognize the alarm, especially after several attempts. You will slowly learn to recognize the alarm sooner and sooner. Even to the point that you recognize it while still in the dream. The gradual increase in volume can help ease you awake, so it doesn't startle you awake and hurt your chances.
If you start the DEILD process and the alarm hasn't gone off yet, don't worry. Just pretend it is one of the WILD hallucinations and don't even pay attention to it. Just casually observe everything, the alarm included. Stay calm and continue to fall back to sleep. Its the same concept as falling asleep with the TV on. You can still fall asleep with sound going, just don't focus/lock in on it. Let it be normal background fodder as you carry out your process.

DEILD Closing Tip
DEILD is pretty easy and very basic. You pretty much just lay there relaxed, calm, and fall asleep. DEILD is a specific form of WILD and you should treat the process as such. Just imagine during your DEILD that you are performing a WILD, but you have basically skipped 75% of the early process and you only have to go 25% more to complete it and be successful. Just like a "normal" WILD, you have to fall asleep first and foremost.

Bonus Technique
Dry Spell Killer: The Actor's Technique
I have seen more than a few members across the forum who are having trouble achieving lucidity no matter what technique they try. They either can't seem to either achieve lucidity for the first time (which can be the hardest for many dreamers), or are in a long dry spell and can't seem to get out. I have suggested this to a few already, but I figured I would go ahead and post this technique for everyone to see (plus I don't want to have to type the whole thing up every time ). I don't use this every night, because I don't want it to become routine (it probably won't work as well if you overuse it). It works like a charm for my dry spells though...
For anyone experiencing a dry spell or having trouble achieving lucidity for the first time you can try this simple "mind over matter" technique. I use this to help break out of dry spells and I generally suggest it to others who are experiencing dry spells. I think it will also help first timers achieve lucidity. Basically here it is...Upon laying down to sleep you need to alter your state of mind. Basically, act as if you are an expert/experienced lucid dreamer and you know 100% that you will have a lucid dream. Don't only say/think to yourself that you will have a lucid dream, but truly 100% believe that you will achieve your goal easily. The best way to describe this "state of mind alteration" is to compare it to acting. Many actors and actresses "get into character" for their particular roles. They will spend several days (or even longer depending on the actor/actress) acting as if they are a completely different person to better prepare and play their role. Basically, you are trying to "get into the character" of an experienced/expert lucid dreamer. You could even go as far as getting into the character of "The Best Lucid Dreamer Ever." The idea is to fall asleep knowing and expecting yourself to become lucid, because you have done it millions of times before and it is easy for you. If you can do it correctly, and truly convince yourself that you will achieve lucidity, than it will greatly raise your chances of success. During a dry spell, I do this for as many nights as I need to break it. I usually am able to overcome my dry spell the very first night trying. Make sure that if you do not succeed, that you stay "in-character" and tell yourself/convice yourself that last night was a fluke and there is no way you won't become lucid the next night. You would be surprised how well this simple method can work. All it takes is a bit of "acting" !
Note: This isn't a WILD method, but you could try it with WILD if you like (I actually have never paired it with a WILD before). I simply use this as I fall asleep normally. Usually when I succeed, I just randomly become lucid in my dream. Essentially its just a DILD/MILD method.

Jeff777's Free-falling WILD technique

Step 1 - Free-fall With this method, WBTB (Wake Back to Bed) not required for entering Sleep Paralysis, but it's very helpful in entering into a WILD. Lie down in whatever comfortable position you want, and let your mind chatter or go over what it was doing that day. This is good. Most relaxation or SP induction exercises teach you to clear your mind and focus on something.. But doesn’t your mind usually trail off to something else? That’s because your brain has processed a lot of information that day and needs time to unwind, just as you, after a hard days work, need time to unwind and relax when you get home. Passive awareness of your thoughts at this stage is key for moving into the next stage.

Step 2 - Chaos theory Once you start noticing illogical images and patterns (only the illogical ones signals the cue to move on!) making its way into your mind, then you’re ready to move to step three because at THIS point, your body is going to sleep and the part of your mind that deals with logic and reasoning along with it. Any sudden thought that, with conscious logic and alert reasoning, does not make sense is considered an "illogical thought"; and for understanding purposes, the term chaos refers to illogical images and random thought patterns. If you’d like to speed up the free-fall into chaos process.. try free-falling "with a weighted jacket on". You can do this by creating illogical images and thoughts yourself. This essentially speeds up the shut-down process. After 5 - 10 minutes of doing this, you should have effectively triggered the neocortex/frontal lobe to begin hibernating, thereby tricking it into creating illogical thoughts and images now on its own accord, without your assistance anymore. I only recommend speeding up the process if you're good at passively observing your thoughts and have no problems catching yourself before you fall too far.

  • Sometimes these thoughts will shift in quickly when you’re relaxing. When the first one hits my mind, I like to mentally recognize it and sit in a little chair and watch where else my mind continues to go until I think its time to stop free-falling into chaos and begin the next step.
  • I call this the free-fall relaxation technique because unlike most tutorials that want people to creep into the SP process, I encourage one to free-fall to great depths but to catch oneself before hitting the ground (unconscious sleep), by using all 5 steps. The steps used in this method cut my learning curve down and allowed me to enter into WILD's more quickly because I'm able to enter SP more quickly. If you’re sufficiently relaxed and you’ve passively noticed your thoughts becoming illogical (free-falling into chaos), you're ready to pull that rip-cord and move on.
  • If you feel as if you haven’t let yourself fall far enough.. resume the free-fall technique until you’re deep enough to move on. Passive awareness IS KEY.

Step 3 - Readjustment If you weren't lying on your back already, then the next step is to lie on your back. Some sleep studies suggest paralysis is easier to attain when lying on ones back. If you find it difficult to stay in this position comfortably because you are accustomed to sleeping on your side - tilt your head sideways on your pillow. That should offer some balance.

Step 4 - Deep Breaths What you want to do next is elongate your breathing. You want to mimic the body's natural breathing pattern when it's asleep. When sleeping, we tend to breathe deeper. You don’t want to take very deep breaths but you do want them to be somewhat longer than how you breathe when you are awake. Like with Chaos Theory, after about 5 - 10 minutes of doing this step, your body should naturally take over this rhythm and you won't be required to force this breathing anymore.

Step 5 - Maintaining State Your body is sufficiently relaxed, your breathing is as it is when you are sleeping and your mind has free-fallen enough to where its logic and reasoning centers are trying to shut down, - Now that the hard part is out of the way, it should be smooth sailing from this point on! So now, let’s maintain awareness.

  • If you notice yourself slipping away, try doing basic math. Nothing complex, but something that requires some actual thinking… not automatic answers.
  • One thing I’ve found that helps me is by mentally repeating, in between breaths, “I remain consciously aware as my body falls to sleep”. If you want to maintain logic, reasoning and awareness as your body falls to sleep, - in between breaths, mentally count down from 100 - 1. You should shift into sleep paralysis before you get to 1. If you haven't shifted yet, Count down again. The shift is unmistakable. You may feel vibrations, a wave of energy sweep over you, a lead blanket being pulled over you, or you may even notice your hearing shift from external to internal (real time hearing). All of these are indicators that you've successfully (and consciously) entered into sleep paralysis.
  • Try to remain as still as possible. Swallowing saliva won’t help you but won’t hurt that much either. It all comes down to awareness and focus. Energy flows where attention goes. If too much focus and attention is going to your throat (to swallow or not to swallow!?) instead of relaxing, then more energy is going there as well. Result? You won’t be going to sleep anytime soon. For more simple solutions I give to combat swallowing, eye movement, twitches and more.

Something every LD'er should know

Hey guys, this will be pretty short. From reading over the questions posed to me by many attempting the "Trick your body into fall asleep while keeping your mind awake" method...it's become quite apparent that a majority of the people i'm approached by have similar problems that they can't seem to shake, but in my opinion are the easiest to solve. These problems i'm referring to are as follows...Attempting to LD at night, how to keep your eyes from moving/opening, how to stop swallowing (or at least how to do it without reseting your internal clock), and the "wave" of Sleep Paralysis. Although i've posted some very helpful information to assist you with said information in the aforementioned link, i'll go a bit more in depth here.

Q: Why don't I ever seem to succeed when Ld'ing at night!
A: Because you're doing it...at night. Look, LD'ing or having an out of body experience without a couple of hours of sleep under your belt is as i've said time and time again "like fighting an uphill battle." It's not easy, believe me I know...but keep at it. And to add more credibility to WBTB's i'd like to inform you that 99% of my LD'ing and OBE'ing success has been because i've gotten sleep first and woken up after a few hours, only to go back to bed again. Don't make it harder on yourself...but if you still don't believe me and you're of the mind "Jeff, wtf do YOU know!! I'm gonna do it wheneva wheneva wheneva I want!". Fine go ahead. But let me explain something to you first. Your body is a chemical producing machine. It produces certain chemicals to keep us functional on a daily basis. The chemical responsible for awareness/clarity/consciousness dwindles down through the day from being used and only through sleep can that chemical be increased. My point being, biologically...it's harder to LD at night.

Q: My eyes won't stop twitching and moving! It's hard to keep them closed and whenever I get deeply relaxed...they want to open again!!
A: Got a case of the "over-eager and don't want to stay closed eye syndrome?" Copyright Pending. Sadly folks close-sesame won't work for this. The thing you MUST understand is that your body is a complex machine...your exterior is physical and there are certain things you must do for/to it if you want it to work in your favor. Again, i'm coming from a scientific and biological standpoint regarding this matter. You see the thing about your eyes is that throughout the day they are constantly on the move (this is called "micro-movements"), looking in many many directions, literally moving thousands of times before you turn in for the night. So your eyes are on redbull, what can you do? Work WITH the body versus against it. Before you attempt to do your LD, (If you haven't done a WBTB and you're just doing it straight off) Turn your lights off 30 minutes prior to attempting (Yes, stay in a dark room for 30 minutes...this gives your eye muscles a chance to relax without trying to keep them forced-closed. This works wonders for me...100% success rate wonders. A very dimly lit room can work as well, but it's not as effective as total darkness. I'll illustrate this point in a scenario i'm sure everyone is familiar with. While in a dark room, sleeping at night...ever had someone come in your room and turn on the light only to find this upsets your eye muscles and you quickly find yourself squinting so as to let as little light in as possible? Your eyes hurt just a bit because they have "adjusted" to the darkness, just as they'll have to "readjust" to the light. If you decide to WBTB before attempting, then the lights off or dimming isn't necessary pre-WBTB, though it is necessary your lights be off when you wakeup...during your WBTB time, keep your lights dim, preferably off. How important are the eyes you may say? The eyes don't matter that much you may think? The eyes are a critical component when it comes down to WILD'ing, whether you're moving your arms or you're moving your eyes...you're still moving and that can halt your chances of success.

Q: I can't stop swallowing! Everytime I try and focus on stopping myself from swallowing, I do it even more...it hurts and the saliva wells up in my throat! help!
A: Ah yes, now we're down to the infamous swallowing. Fold a towel and place it under your head to tilt your head slightly up so that saliva can naturally slide down instead of welling up at the back of your throat. That's about 30% of the victory when it comes down to not swallowing. The other 70% is by NOT FOCUSING ON YOUR THROAT. So many people will tell me "Jeff, I can't help it...I tried so hard not to swallow but then..." Energy flows where attention goes and attention goes where energy flows. What's that mean? That means the more you focus/direct your thoughts to something, the more you're going to increase that things chances of occuring. Sort of like the law of attraction. I had the hugest problems with trying "not to swallow"...but that only ended up in me doing it more and more. Focus/direct your thoughts to something else...monitor your body passively and let it do it's job without you focusing on every aspect of what's going on...what job is that? (TO GO TO SLEEP) When I stopped focusing on my throat and tilted my head up...swallowing when attempting a WILD was never a problem for me again. In the end, if you have to swallow...let it be something that's natural where you almost don't notice it...instead of consciously debating in your mind when the urge presents itself, whether you're going to or not.

Q: I've never felt a "wave of energy" when attempting, i'm a failure!
A: And you very well may never feel this "wave" i've heard so many talk about. I can recall only experiencing this "wave" once when transitioning into sleep paralysis. In my experiences with sleep paralysis...i've sunken through my bed, felt this "wave" of energy, felt vibrations, heard very loud beating on my bedroom door, and heard horrible blood-curdling screams right outside my bedroom door. These are (but not limited to) what you may experience. The buzzing sensation, ringing/roaring in the ear, and music being played are things that are a common occurrence during sleep paralysis...though i've never experienced them. Point made.


To each and every one who has been trying and progressing (And by progressing, I mean learning more and applying what you're learning to change the results you're getting; eventually yielding better ones) I'm proud of you and through persistence and competence...I don't doubt that we will eventually reach our goal of being able to LD

WILD - How To Fail A Wild, by AllInYourHead

How to Fail a WILD

From all the information I have read in the past about WILDs, I've been told countless amounts of times about "How to do it". I've taken a different approach in this tutorial, rather than telling you how to do it, I'm going to tell you how not to do it as I feel it would be more beneficial. Well, here we go:

Barrier No.1: Not being relaxed/Being stressed.
If you've had a hard days work or just have something on your mind, nagging at you, then its probably a good idea to try solve the problem, or if not possible, try spend more time in the relaxation stage before attempting a WILD. Reason is: your not going to be able to get a good or constant level of concentration, which, of course, is needed to enter the later stages of a WILD.

Barrier No.2: Talking to yourself(Inner dialog).
Again this falls under the category of concentrating; the mind needs to be almost blank to enter the deep stages. To achieve this, use techniques like concentrating on your breathing or an object in your head. You'll find that concentrating on one thing for a period of time is actually much harder than it sounds. Having said you should concentrate, try not to over-concentrate(ie. Putting all your efforts and mindpower into the task) as this can prohibit you from falling asleep. From all the resources on WILDs I have read on the internet, not one has ever specifically mentioned this, resulting in me staying awake for up to 60-80 minutes before without any end product(Well done me). Do try concentrate but also try to relax on the effort if that makes sense.

Barrier No.3: Fear.
Fear is probably the most common cause of a failed WILD attempt. Even though you've probably heard people telling newer members that there's no reason to be afraid, they too were probably afraid at first. I was startled and afraid the first time too. It's a new experience and you have to get used to it. But trust me, if you can shake away that fear(which will shake itself away anyway after a few times anyway) it should be a fun ride through the vibrations. Theres absoloutely nothing solid behind the fear, its just a fear of the unknown.

Barrier No.4: Using a technique that doesn't suit you.
When I was starting WILDs I made the mistake of using techniques that weren't suited towards me. For example I tried to use a technique involving focusing on hypnagogic imagery when I could rarely ever see hypnagogic imagery. I used to also try intense visualisation methods, though I'm not very good at it. I know it's harder than it sounds, but try to find a technique that suits you.

Barrier No.5: Having a distracting environment.
I don't remember how many times I've been trying to WILD when my little brother or sister run into my room and start pounding me silly(I know they love me) or when a football suddenly bangs off my window and jolts me awake. Try to choose a time where you wont be disturbed during your attempt, and maybe don't attempt if there is a good chance you will be distracted or woken as it may just frustrate you. Also as a sub-note, make sure your not hungry, thirsty or need to go to the toilet before you attempt.

Hope this has been beneficial to you, and good luck with your WILD attempts - Allinyourhead

MILD - "Mnemonically Induced Lucid Dream"

Wiki MILD Guide

MILD stands for Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams or "Mnemonically Induced Lucid Dream". This technique makes use of your ability to recall your intentions in the future (prospective memory), making you more likely to remember to question the dream or your intent of becoming lucid, or making a reality check. This can be done in several ways:

  • By the use of mantras and reality checks;
  • Visualization;
  • Exercises that improve your prospective memory.

Because some people have an easier time remembering their intention than others, the time it takes to obtain a lucid dream may vary, which is why MILD tends to be such a reliable technique for some. Over time, as your prospective memory improves, you'll notice more consistent results, not only in achieving lucidity, but also in remembering actions and plans you have for your dream adventures, and even having an easier time remembering to wake up in the middle of the night if you're trying to WILD.

Background
Dr. Steven LaBerge created this technique and wrote about it in his book, "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming." Since he first wrote about this technique lucid dreamers have developed several variations.

Preparation.
  • Dream Recall: Should you try to increase your chances to MILD by performing a WBTB, you want a decent recall in order to remember your last dream. The reason for this is because it's common among MILD users to visualize the last dream they had, but introducing a new element on it: lucidity. You'll want to take some time to recall your dream and imagining it with you lucid. And of course, you want to be able to remember your successful MILD!.
  • Reality Checking: Because the goal of a MILD might be to remember to RC in a dream, you need to be familiar with them. They are meant to help you develop the habit to do them, which will eventually make you "remember" to do one in a dream. Doing the reality check is not enough though: you want to include in it the intention of doing one while dreaming, or in the nearby future (this way, regardless of you thinking you are asleep or not, your brain will remember to do it, which is effective even if you are tricking into thinking you aren't in a dream).
  • Using a Mantra for your Intention: A mantra is any word, phrase, or sentence that you repeat to yourself to help you focus on and remember your intent of becoming lucid. There are many good mantras for MILD. You should choose one that you think will work for you. You can always create your own or change one of these suggestions. Some ideas for MILD mantras include:
  • I will realize I am dreaming.
  • I am aware/I am lucid.
  • I question my reality.
  • Lucidity is my goal.

Ultimately, it's not the specific wording that will make you lucid, but it's the connection you establish with your mantra. This means that even a simple mantra like "I am aware", if clearly expressing and reminding you that you want to be "aware in a dream", can give you great results. Remember, it's all about focusing on your intention!

Making use of Visualization.

Visualization is another powerful tool to help you achieving a MILD. By recreating a scenario where you can visualize yourself while lucid and carrying on your intent of doing reality checks, questioning if you are dreaming, or even repeating your mantra, you're increasing your chances of incorporating these thoughts in your dreams. Your visualizations don't need to be at a perfect level, because just the fact that you're thinking about your intent is enough to provide results, since your brain will make use of this "memory" to remind himself later.

  • Choosing a Dream Scene for Visualization: If you're practicing MILD by visualizing a past dream or a dream scenario, you should choose a dream that you remember vividly. Imagine what would have happened if you had noticed a dream sign or had wondered it was a dream and did reality checks. Another option is to imagine a dream scenario that includes you doing reality checks or a dream character telling you to perform them. Imagine what it will be like to realize you are dreaming. If you happen to wake up in the night while trying to MILD and remember a dream you just had you can use it instead. Just imagine that you are back in that dream and doing a reality check, like described above.
Improving your prospective memory

As you may have realized by now, the way of becoming lucid through MILD is by remembering to question your reality, do a reality check, among other things (some people use MILD to aid them remembering things they want to do in a dream!). This particular type of memory that allows you to remember something in the future is called prospective memory, and it's a very important aspect for every lucid dreamer, because it helps us in several techniques (not just MILD). So how can you improve it in order to increase your chances of remembering your intention of becoming lucid?

LaBerge itself mentioned a type of exercise that is not only very simple, but also provides great results by making you more focused on your task to remember something later on. We'll take a quick look at how you can perform it:

  • Each morning, pick 3 elements. You want them to be some what common during your usual routine, since the goal will be spotting them every time they show up, but they can range from a simple object (Example:"red car", "your watch" and "text message in your cellphone"), to an action ("drinking water", "sneezing" or even "opening a door", or a person ("your sister, your cat, your best friend"), or even a specific location ("whenever you leaving a building" or "whenever you arrive at home or school/work"). You got pretty much an infinite number of options, which will be useful later, because you want to use 3 different elements every day!
  • Now that you picked your 3 elements, try to focus on them for a moment. You want to really state your intention of reminding yourself to questioning your reality and doing a reality check every time you see one of them. Be confident that you will remember to perform these actions whenever you spot one of your elements during the day!
  • When you reach the end of the day, try to recall what happened: did you do a reality check every time you spotted them? Did you forgot? How many times did you remember them? Next day, pick another 3 elements and repeat the exercise.
  • At first, you may spot one of them and forget to question reality or do a reality check, but it's okay. As you practice and your prospective memory improves, you'll realize that you're able to remember your intention much easily whenever you spot one of your chosen elements. This is a great thing, because you will have more chances of remembering your goal to becoming lucid. In the same way you train yourself to remember to do a reality check or question reality during the day with this exercise, your intention of doing it in a dream will also be more easily recalled, just state it firmly and watch the result of your daily practice.
How to MILD at night.
  • Relax. Use whatever relaxation technique you have found works for you. Do it for 5-10 minutes, or longer if you need it.
  • Once you are relaxed repeat the mantra you have chosen for your intention over and over to yourself in your head. Keep your mind focused on your goal while you do this. You should repeat this mantra as long as you can, but you don't want it to keep you awake. Try to make your last thought before falling asleep be about lucid dreaming.
  • If you wake up during the night lay still and try to remember any dreams you have had. Write down some notes about them immediately. If you haven't had a lucid dream yet you may repeat the MILD technique if you wish.
  • If you sleep through the night try to remember any dreams you had before you get out of bed. Hopefully you had a MILD during the night and will remember it now.

Visualization

  • You can still make use of your mantra, but at some point before falling asleep, you want to move on to the visualization step.
  • Call up the dream memory or imagined dream scenario you have chosen. Add to it you doing a reality check and becoming lucid. Imagine it vividly. What emotions would you feel? Although it is important to visualize vividly you don't want it to keep you awake. If you can't fall asleep as you do this, visualize for a few minutes and then go back to the intention mantra. Try to make sure your last thought before falling asleep is about lucid dreaming.
  • If you wake up during the night lay still and try to remember any dreams you have had. Write down some notes about them immediately. If you haven't had a lucid dream yet you may repeat the MILD technique if you wish. Then visualize yourself in those dreams while being lucid, questioning your state or doing a reality check.

Speeding up the process.

  • For even better chances that you will have a lucid dream you can also repeat mantra during the day when you have a chance, or even schedule a few occasions to perform visualization. The prospective memory exercise mentioned above will also help you taking notice of your improvements and be overall more focused on your intention of becoming lucid.
  • If the visualization always makes you too awake to fall asleep do it first, then do your mantra as you fall asleep.
  • If your mind starts to drift as you fall asleep and keeping up the mantra or visualization wakes you up it is okay. You just want your last thought to be about lucid dreaming.

Article: MILD - Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams by GestaltAlteration

The following is suggested for lucid dreamers who have been working on their dream recall and have made the commitment. Remember you should have at least one dream per night to be fully effective at remembering lucid experiences. However, everyone can do it.

This will help in the following technique.

Relaxation -- Simple meditation is a good way to relax while getting ready to use an induction technique. There are many ways you can do this. One example is to observe your thought process. Let your thoughts arise and go. Picture it on a white cloud as it goes overhead and passes out of sight where another cloud appears. It is suggested that you do this for 5 to 10 minutes. Another way could be to clear your mind of everything and focus on your surrounding. Find the relaxation technique that is most comfortable to you.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
Created by: Dr. Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D

This technique is quite effective and had has helped many people step over the threshold from physical to dreaming.

  1. Find a position that works for you and that you can easily and comfortably fall asleep.
  2. Relax (Refer to the Relaxation section above this)
  3. Repeat to yourself as you fall asleep: "I will wake up after every dream period and I will remember my dream" Believe that you will wake up after each dream (the first time I tried this it has worked moderately well; another way you could do this is set your alarm. Practice makes perfect). Eventually waking up after each dream should become automatic.
  4. When you wake up write down your dream immediately. Even if you can barely remember anything, write down how the dream made you feel, or how you felt when you woke up.
  5. Lie down and drift back to sleep. Imagine that you are back in the dream that you just had. This time, however, imagine that you saw a dreamsign in your dream and recognized it. As you fall asleep keep visualizing yourself in your dream, recognizing your dreamsign, and realizing that you are in a dream. Try not to let your mind wonder.
  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 every time that you awaken during the night.

If all goes well, the above will launch you into your own lucid adventure. For more information refer to Laberge's book "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming."

Small MILD FAQ –

These are some questions about MILD that may help. This information is only one of many possible options for correcting issues encountered during the MILD technique.

Q: What should I do before going to bed?
A: There are many things that can affect your dreams and the way you enter them. I would say the only important thing is comfort. Have a content stomach and a empty bladder. Those these are not essential they will aid in concentration. Also you will wake up hopefully the same way you went to bed.

Q: I didn’t wake up after my dream period! What’s wrong?
A: Though in most cases you should wake up, sleeping all the way until morning is not abnormal. You could be new to the technique, too tired or it's just a fluke. I suggest starting with an alarm if the first few nights aren't productive.

Q: I wake up but fall asleep before getting to write in my dream journal. What can I do to prevent this?
A: I’ve experience a lot of this myself and so far I’ve failed to get myself up when I’m extremely tired. There are ways to help you such as having a light next to your bed to minimize movements and having your dream journal prepared in advance. Be sure to only write key words for recalling the dream in the morning. Also try not to wake up too much during this so returning to sleep is easy. Motivation is key.

Q: I have an itch but I’m just getting into it! Should I scratch it?
A: Scratch away. Just don’t think about it and return where you left off. You will be back in business in no time.

Final advice: Make sure that your mind set is set on having that lucid dream right before you go to sleep! Don’t let your mind wander.

Good luck and Have fun!
-GestaltAlteration

Naiya's Simple MILD Technique

Naiya's MILD Technique

Introduction

Most of my lucids are MILDs. Even though it is probably one of the less popular methods, in my opinion it is one of the most reliable and versatile things you can do. The great thing about MILD is that you don't need to remember to RC or build up daytime awareness, and it doesn't require you to lose any sleep. All you need is a few minutes before bedtime. MILD is also complimented by WBTB and reality checking, but it can do very well as a stand alone method. A lot of people who are new to LDing ask what the easiest induction method is. It's hard to answer that question because different methods work for different people. Having said that, I have always thought that MILD is the perfect method for beginners. It is much more forgiving than, say, WILD, because as long as you keep trying, there really is no wrong way to do it and you will eventually succeed.

A word about consistency: one of the biggest pitfalls I see is when a person tries one method for a week or two, then decides it's not working, and switches to another method. They jump from one method to the next and believe that nothing is working for them. It's very important to understand that lucid dreaming is a skill. While some people might start out with a talent for it, the rest of us have to build up from being beginners. So switching methods would be akin to trying to learn piano one week and then trumpet the next. You never give yourself the chance to master any of them. The mind needs time to internalize what you are trying to learn before it can give you good results. With lucid dreaming, even though you may not have lucid for the first few weeks, just affirm to yourself that you ARE making progress. Practice and consistency are extremely important with MILD. To get the best results, you should be doing it every single night. If you wake up in the morning with no lucids, don't think of it as a failure. If you did the MILD before bed, then consider it a success because you got your practice done. Your lucids will come when your mind has begun internalizing your practice.

Preparation

Before you begin, it's best to make your environment conducive to MILDing. For starters, you will need to set aside at least 5 minutes just before bedtime for the MILD. If you want the best results, I recommend a little more time, maybe 10-20 minutes total. It's important to make your attempt when you feel relaxed and your mind is free of daily worries and nagging thoughts. Spend a minute or so (or more if you are a meditator) letting go of any thoughts and worries. Make it an ironclad rule to not worry about your daily life when it's bedtime. If you need to, jot down your worries and thoughts (i.e. "I need to get gas tomorrow") in your dream journal so you can read any reminders or worries in the morning. You might try imagining that you are throwing your troubles and your thoughts away in a well or a box near your bed. If you are still being plagued by worries and thoughts, affirm to yourself that the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone around you at this moment is to get a good night's sleep and be relaxed and happy in the morning.

The next part depends on how easily you fall asleep. If it takes you a long time to fall asleep (10+ minutes), then you may lie down and get comfortable as usual, and do the MILD as you fall asleep. Don't worry about trying to keep it up to the very last moment you fall asleep, because that will keep you awake. But try to make sure you keep your mind on it for at least 5 minutes before letting your mind wander or dropping off. If you are the type who falls asleep within a few minutes of hitting the pillow, you may not want to lie down for the MILD. Instead, turn off the lights, sit comfortably on your bed, and after at least 5 minutes, go ahead and lie down to sleep, keeping the MILD going as you fall asleep.

On WBTBs: If you wake up naturally during the night, it would increase your chances of getting lucid if you repeat the MILD when you go back to sleep. If you have the need or want to, you can set an alarm or two at night to increase your chances. It's not necessary, but it can help a great deal. Don't worry about being consistent in the number of MILD attempts per night--it only matters that you do at least once per night total. It's very important to keep a dream journal for MILDing, especially if you are coupling it with reality checking. When you keep a dream journal, your recall gets better, and with that, it will be easier to MILD.

It's very important to keep a dream journal for MILDing, especially if you are coupling it with reality checking. When you keep a dream journal, your recall gets better, and with that, it will be easier to MILD.

The Method

Once you have settled down your mind and you're comfortable, turn your attention to lucid dreaming. Recall your most recent dream, in as much detail as you possibly can. Imagine yourself exploring the dream as if you had been lucid in it. Believe that you are back in the dream again, only lucid. Believe that, in only a few minutes, you will soon be dreaming again, and imagine yourself knowing it's a dream, doing whatever you want. You can come up with any scenario you wish for this. It may be helpful to imagine yourself completing whatever tasks or goals you have. If you can't recall a recent dream, you can use any other dream you had, as long as it was vivid enough to remember it with a good amount of detail. This can be really helpful if you want to go back to a certain dreamscape.

Another variation of this is to use a movie, video game or book. You can make up a completely imaginary environment, perhaps something from your daydreams. Imagine yourself lucid in the environment, doing whatever you want to do. It helps if you see yourself doing fun or interesting things, because it keeps you motivated. You don't have to imagine the same thing in every MILD attempt. If you did, things might get boring and your mind will not be in an active state. So don't be afraid to change it up, use a different dream memory, or imagine new things. If you have time during the day and you want to give your MILD a boost, you can practice it in the middle of the day. Simply daydream yourself into a lucid daydream. It will help build up your visualization and creative skills, which are useful for not only MILDs, but dream control.

Using Autosuggestion

Using autosuggestion or mantras, either alone or with the visualization, will help you MILD. Remember that the mind ignores negation when you are coming up with mantras to use.

For example, if you use this mantra:

  • "I will not fail to lucid dream tonight"

Your mind will perceive it as:

  • "I will fail to lucid dream tonight."

One of my mantras used to be "I will have a lucid dream tonight." I was confused when I starting having only one lucid per night, when I normally have a few. Then I changed it to "I will have many lucid dreams tonight," and I began having more lucid per night again.

Some of my favorite mantras:

"I'm dreaming" => the best for coupling with visualization, really drives it home.
"This is a dream"
"I will wake up in a dream" => to promote FA's. Remember to couple with RCs every time you wake!
"I'll be dreaming soon."
"I will have lucid dreams tonight."

Conclusion

This method is pretty simple, but it can be powerful once it's mastered. Anyone can master it if they put in the time to practice it. You can do MILD while you're exploring other methods, so that if the other methods don't work well for you, there's always that guarantee of getting lucid eventually from your MILDs. Typically I recommend doing MILD for at least 2 months to give it sufficient time to work, but for some it may take more time. Sooner or later it will work--it's just that for whatever reason it takes longer for some people.

Good luck and happy lucids!

DEILD - "Dream Exit Induced Lucid Dream"

Official Dreamviews DEILD Tutorial

DEILD

DEILD stands for Dream Exit Initiated Lucid Dream. DEILD is also sometimes called "Dream Chaining." A DEILD is basically a shortened WILD. DEILD has the potential to let you have multiple lucid dreams each night. This technique takes advantage of the fact that as you awaken from a dream the brain remains in dream mode for a few moments, provided you don't move too much. Since your brain is still using REM waves, you can easily slip back into a dream without having to trick your body into falling asleep. However, if you are at the end of a REM phase you won't be able to DEILD. If you hit the right timing and are able to keep yourself conscious while you drift back to sleep, you'll find that it's relatively easy to enter in a dream lucid.

Background

The DEILD technique had been around for a while. Many lucid dreamers have stumbled across this technique in their own in their pursuit of LDs. Dr. Steven LaBerge outlined this technique in some of his books.

Preparation.

Dream Recall

In order to DEILD you have to have good dream recall. Not only so you won't forget your DEILD adventures, but also because you need to be aware enough of your dreams that you know when one has just ended. It is ideal to establish decent dream recall since it can be much easier to reenter the dream if it is still clearly recalled once you wake up, as opposed to visualizing a completely new one (which you may also do if you prefer).

Awakening After a Dream

Since DEILD relies on your ability to wake up as a dream ends, you obviously need to be able to do this on a regular basis. Many people wake up briefly after each dream already, but are unaware of it. There a few ways to become aware of these awakenings:

  • Some people use an alarm of some kind to wake them up during the night. A vibrating cell phone can be used, too. You will need an alarm that turns itself off after a few seconds. The shorter the duration of the alarm the better, as you don't want it to disturb you too much. Set it to go off after between 3-6 hours of sleep. You'll have to experiment to find the best time for you. If you want, you can also set it to go off every half hour after that, to give you a greater chance of waking from a dream.
  • Some people train themselves to recognize the look of their closed eyes, because this will signal that they have just woken up. To do this close your eyes while going to sleep for the night. Spend about a minute looking at the backs of your eyelids. Over time you should start to instantly recognize, even when groggy and half-awake, that your eyes are closed and that is a signal that you have just woken from a dream.

If you don't like the idea of an alarm waking you up you can try going to bed a couple of hours early. Many people find this causes them to wake up during the night more than they normally do.

Another way to skip the alarm is to use autosuggestion. With this method you come up with a short sentence or phrase (your "mantra") that sums up your desire, in this case to be aware of waking up after every dream. An example of a mantra you can use is, "I will be aware of waking after every dream." To get the most out of autosuggestion repeat your mantra over and over several times a day. The more you do it the faster and better it will work. A good way to make sure you do it enough is to repeat it:

  • Every time, the whole time as you use the bathroom.
  • Whenever you wait in line or have other "down" time.
  • Whenever you walk through a doorway.
  • As you get ready for bed.
  • For several minutes as you lay in bed.

How to DEILD.

Once your dream recall is good and you are aware of waking after many of your dreams you are ready to start DEILDing! When done properly the whole process generally takes less than a minute from awake to a lucid dream state. You awake after in a dream. Now try to hold still and avoid if possible opening your eyes. Even though scratching your nose or moving a bit does not end your chances, excessive wakefulness can cause your brain to come out of REM. You need to keep your mind awake, but still in that dreamy, in-between state.

Now a dream will form around you. At this stage you may feel some Hypnagogic Hallucinations, since DEILD is a kind of WILD.

Hints on Staying Still
  • If you find it is hard for you to remember to stay still as you awake you can use autosuggestion to plant that goal in your mind.
  • Another useful way of staying still is to set two alarms, one fifteen minutes or so before you attempted to DEILD. When it goes off, go back to sleep, but affirm that next time you wake up you will stay still. Because you did your affirmation so closely to the DEILD attempt, it is very fresh and your mind.
Hints on Entering the Dream
  • You can enter a dream scenario of your choice by imagining it while you lay still waiting for the dream to form. This is harder to do than dream reentry.
  • You can reenter your last dream by simply thinking about it. Most people find this the easiest way to shape a dream while DEILDing.
  • If you are more of a tactile person, you can imagine the sensation of movement or of touching something to help you get into a dream. As an added bonus, when you actually can "feel" the movement or object you know your dream body is feeling it and you are in the dream. This acts as a built in RC.
  • Be aware of the false awakenings. Most WILDs will start with one. If you think you've failed the DEILD, make sure with a reality check.
Chaining

Many people use DEILD not as a technique to become lucid, but as a method for staying lucid. Dreamers (especially ones who are new to lucid dreaming) tend to wake up soon after becoming lucid. The DEILD technique allows the dreamer to go back into the dream and continue it. The way to perform is right when you realize that the dream is about to end. You might know this depending on the time you started your DEILD, or if you can't seem to prevent the scenario from fading. At this point, you want to focus on your intention of waking up and remaining motionless, while also keeping focus on any dream imagery residue that might allow you the opportunity to enter in the next dream.

Puffin's DEILD Tutorial

I've learned a few things about DEILDing that I'd like to share in one post. I constantly find myself wanting to say these things whenever people ask about this technique, so I've compiled it all into one post.

* * *

FAQ

1. What is a DEILD?
DEILD is short for dream exit initiated lucid dream. It's a lucid dreaming induction method that involves the user remaining still, relaxed, and breathing normally right after exiting from a dream. If successful, the user will be pulled into a new dream while keeping their awareness, like a shortened WILD. DEILDing is key if you want to chain multiple dreams together, one right after the other, so you can continue doing whatever you were doing when the dream ended.

2. When is it easiest to DEILD?
From experience, I find it easiest to DEILD directly after a lucid dream. This way, I know that I'm dreaming and when I am going to wake up. Most people feel their dreams fading; this is a good time to close your eyes, still in the dream, in preperation for DEILDing.

3. Does DEILDing have the same effects as WILDing?
DEILD is in the same family as the WILD technique, meaning it involves tricking your body to think it's asleep. Because of this, using either technique results in sleep paralysis, a naturally occuring state in which you may experience auditory, visual, or even kinetic hallucinations. Nothing can harm you, though.

4. What does it feel like?
Different people have different experiences with DEILD. I often feel my bed right after I wake up from a dream, my eyes still closed and my body motionless, but I try to feel the last moments of the dream I just awoke from. After a few moments, I usually feel a strong but not overwhelming "pull/acceleration" forward or backwards, and this is the dream "pulling" me in. The user may also experience sleep paralysis until they find themselves in the dream, but it normally doesn't last more than a few seconds.

* * *

How to DEILD

This part is divided into two sections, depending on when you want to DEILD:

  • When you wake up from a non-lucid dream.
  • When you wake up from a lucid dream.

1. Waking up from a non-lucid dream...

Preparation:
- This is the most crucial part if you hope to DEILD without knowing you're going to wake up thanks to lucidity. As the original DEILD tutorial states, autosuggestion helps, and I can vouch for its effectiveness. You can think for a while in bed, "I will be aware when I wake up after each dream, and stay still" or the like. You can also get used to the look of your closed eyelids; spend a while each night observing your closed eyelids, and this will help you stop from opening them after each dream, something that people tend to do. The final preparation step recommended is to practice keeping still after each dream. At first, you may move quite a bit, but stop as soon as you can. After a few days, you should be able to stay still sooner after each dream.
Doing it:
- You'll have to rely on recognizing that you've just woken from a dream by using the above techniques. Once you find yourself in bed, think strongly of the last dream you had, without moving, and breathe normally as if you were still sleeping. Don't tense up in excitement!
- Remember the last thing you did in the dream you just woke from, and imagine the tactile, auditory, and visual senstaions that accompanied it. For instance, if you were walking along a beach, feel the sand grains seperate over your feet and feel the warmth of the sun. Imagine it as strongly as you can and feel it with your body. If done well, you should find yourself back in a dream.

2. Waking up from a lucid dream...

Preparation:
- This is a slightly easier way to DEILD, as since you're aware that you're dreaming, you know that the dream will end when it begins to fade out. You may feel your body in bed more and more as the dream ends. At the point where the dream is almost completely gone, close your eyes normally and you should soon feel yourself back in bed.
Doing it:
- When you find yourself back in bed, don't open your eyes or move, and breathe as if still sleeping. However, since your expectation that you'd wake up from the previous dream can sometimes result in a false awakening. Right after waking, I recommend doing a reality check, but not the regular ones: make your eyes look up as high as they can go; if you get any sort of sensation like the muscles in your eye are being pulled or tingly, it's not a dream, and DEILD by imagining the tactile, auditory, and visual sensations of the last dream scene. If you don't get any sensation at all, even a slight one, you are most likely in a false awakening. In this case, slowly open your eyes and do a reality check.

WBTB - "Wake Back to Bed"

Official Dreamviews WBTB Tutorial

WBTB

WBTB is short for Wake Back To Bed and is when you wake up a few hours into sleep to increase your chances of achieving lucidity. WBTB is not a technique in itself, but enhances others to make them way more effective.

How to Achieve WBTB

In order to achieve a WBTB you only need to wake up a few hours into sleep and then go back to bed. For it to be as successful as possible you need to do some planning and give it a few tries. This is to find out a few important things:

  • How long is my Sleeping Cycle?
  • How many hours into sleep will work best for me?
  • For how long do I stay up?

1: We all have Sleeping Cycles that vary. To find out how long yours are, anytime you wake up during the night you make a little note which includes the time. In a week or so you should have enough information to make an estimate. You don't have to do this, but if you do, you'll be able to time them perfectly.

2: The goal is to wake up near the end, or at the end of a REM Cycle. This is why you want to find out how long your Sleeping Cycle is. If you rarely wake up during the night you can just use the most common times which are either 4½ or 6 hours into sleep. Earlier than that and you don't spend much time in REM; later than that and you'll most likely have a hard time falling back asleep. This is something you have to find out by trying.

3: A general rule is this: The longer you stay up, the higher chance of achieving lucidity; conversely the longer you stay up the harder it is to fall back asleep. Some people can't go back to sleep if they've been up for even a few minutes. If you experience this issue then I recommend keeping the WBTB's as short as possible. If you can stay up however, you should. You can stay awake for up to an hour, but between 20-40 minutes should be enough. How long you should stay up is also affected by when your WBTB occurs.

Techniques and mindset

When attempting a WBTB you need to be in the right mindset. You want to be determined and prepared even the night before, to reinforce the idea as you go to bed that the WBTB will get you lucid and believe that it will. Once you're awake you want to keep your thoughts on lucid dreaming and any task you've set up. Logging onto DreamViews or reading a lucid dreaming related book works great. As stated previously, WBTB is not a technique in itself, but more of a lucid aid. When combined with other techniques it increases chances of achieving lucidity tenfold rather than if you were to practice the technique on its own. WILD even requires you to perform a WBTB to work. MILD and WBTB is a great combination; just as you are about to enter REM and dream, any thoughts or mantras will likely carry over to the dream and aid in lucidity.

Here's an example of how a proper WBTB looks like.

22.00: Sleep time, set alarm at 04.00 which is six hours into sleep. Start visualizing certain tasks or do mantras. Look forward to doing the WBTB and getting lucid because of it.

04.00: Alarm sounds. Shut it off and perform a Reality Check. Stay up for as long as you need to maintain awareness, usually 20 to 60 minutes. Try to look forward to going back to bed and getting lucid. Think "when I go back to bed, I will become lucid and fly to the moon." Combine this with a visualization of flying to the moon for greater effectiveness.

04.30: Go back to sleep; keep in mind that once you fall asleep you will get lucid. Try to have it as your last thought.

Last Notes

Do not worry if the first few WBTB attempts don't succeed. Just try different amounts of time staying up or a different time for waking up. You can perform a WBTB any night during the week. I suggest you do it on nights you know you can afford to lose some sleep.

That's all on WBTB. As usual, the more you believe it will get you lucid, the higher chance of it happening.

WBTB - Wake Back to Bed, by NightLight

(WBTB) Wake Back to Bed Method

Getting up an hour early, staying awake for 30-60 minutes reading about lucid dreaming, doing MILD briefly, then taking a morning nap is an effective way to induce lucid dreams. Here's how to do it!

  1. Sleep for 5-6 hours.
  2. Wake up and GET OUT OF BED.
  3. Read lucid dreaming articles online or watch a dream related movie for 30-60 minutes.
  4. Go back to bed using one of the following techniques (MILD, WILD, HILD).
  • Affirmations - A way of increasing your chance of having a lucid dream on a given night. Spend about 10 minutes, or more, lying in bed before you go to sleep. Think about what you want to dream about. Imagine it in your mind, and say it aloud, such as, "I'm going to fly." Then, say to yourself, over and over, "I know I'm going to dream." Concentrating on the fact that you're about to dream can assist you in realizing you're dreaming once you're asleep. This works especially well in the morning, if you go back to sleep upon waking from a dream, as you're likely to return immediately to a dreaming state.
  • *Trance induction - Trance alters the way mental energy is utilized. When we are in a trance some cognitive functions are disabled. In trance induction a mind-set is created in which lucid dreaming will happen easily. Trance induction begins with progressive relaxation accompanied by guided visualization of calming images.
  • Visualization - Helps to remind the circumstance associated with a question such as "Am I dreaming?". If you have the intention to test the reality when you are using a key, imagine yourself at that time reminding your intention and effectively carrying out this verification.
  • Grounding your awareness - Focusing your awareness on a particular thing in the present. Meditation helps ground your awareness and center it. Exericising your awareness allows you to be "in the moment" which enhances your lucid dreaming ability.

The above information was gathered from Marc Vandekeere's - Bird's Lucid Dreaming Website, The Lucidity Institute, Oniro's Lucid Dream Website, and Trickster's A How To Primer on Lucid Dreaming. Sometimes just staying up and reading about lucid dreaming is enough to induce a lucid dream. If you fall asleep with out doing the techniques listed above you still have a high chance of having a lucid dream because you have set your intent by reading about lucid dreaming.

First method not working for you, try Gameover's WBTB Tutorial:

Quote Originally Posted by gameover
Ok...I know there's a tutorial now but I feel I need to explain the exact steps that I take because it almost never fails for me.
1:Go to sleep tired
2:Wake up 5 hours later
3:Write down your dreams that youve just had(Very helpfull!)
4:Stay awake for 60-90 minutes(90 reccomended) writing and reading in your dream journal, and doing a lot of reality checks, and staying focused on dreaming(focused but not stressing)
5:Go to sleep and() think about your last dream, or imagine walking around a dreamscape. Nowhere special, just walking around anywhere
6:keep thinking \"I am dreaming\" but don't stress yourself
Well, from my experience these steps, followed exactly, give me an almost 100% chance of having a lucid dream.
(
)you may try any method at this point but I have given the method that gives me the most success.

Second method not working for you, try Umbrasquall's WBTB Tutorial:

Quote Originally Posted by Umbrasquall
Sleep until a little bit before dawn.
Open your window to let fresh air into your room. (Keep it open)
Take 5 min walk outside. (If you live in a friendly neighborhood. !Important!)
Go back to sleep.

That works every time for me. I tried reading about lucid dreaming but it doesn't work as well. Maybe it's just me.

According to a study conducted by LaBerge staying up for 60 minutes is the optimal time for inducing a lucid dream. Sometimes Lucid Dreamers have trouble falling asleep after waking up for a while (30-90 Minutes). A suggestion would be to wake up for a short amount of time or to read about lucid dreaming during the day and only briefly wake up during the night and fall back asleep directly.

If you have little success staying up for 30 - 60 minutes try these time intervals.

  1. 30 - 90 Minutes
  2. 60 - 90 Minutes
  3. 60 - XX Minutes (Staying up longer than 60 - 90 minutes reduces effectiveness)

CAT - "Cycle Adjustment Technique"

Official Dreamviews CAT Tutorial

CAT

CAT stands for Cycle Adjustment Technique. It involves adjusting your sleep cycles to help you become more aware during the last few REM cycles of sleep. CAT is one of the less popular but newer techniques due to some of the cons it comes with, for example, sleep loss. Although CAT does have cons, it is very reliable and you can get a lot of lucid dreams from the technique.

The First Week of CAT

The first week of CAT is all about adjusting your sleep cycle which means you won't get any lucids from CAT during this time. All you need to do is set an alarm clock 90 minutes before you would normally get up each day for seven days.

Now it Begins...

After a week of getting up 90 minutes earlier, you can now sleep in to your normal time, but every other day you must get up 90 minutes before you would normally wake up. It is recommended that when you wake up early you do a bunch of reality checks. On the days where you sleep in, your body will think you are going to wake up early but you really won't, because of this your body will become more aware the last 90 minutes of sleep. Now everyday that you sleep in to your normal time you will have a big chance of getting a lucid dream!

Example of a CAT Schedule After the First Week

  • Monday: Sleep from 11 PM to 8 AM
  • Tuesday: Sleep from 11 PM to 6:30 AM
  • Wednesday: Sleep from 11 PM to 8 AM
  • Thursday: Sleep from 11 PM to 6:30 AM
  • Friday: Sleep from 11 PM to 8 AM
  • Saturday: Sleep from 11 PM to 6:30 AM
  • Sunday: Sleep from 11 PM to 8 AM
Hints

If you are planning to use CAT for a while, it is recommend you do what you did during week one every few months. This is just to 'refresh' the technique and keep it successful. You can sleep in on normal days every one in a while, but not often. If you start to feel very tired and can't concentrate, you should stop CAT and try another technique. Before you go to bed on a normal day, tell yourself you are going to wake up early even though you won't. This will increase your chances of a lucid.

Finger Induced Lucid Dream (FILD), by Hargarts

Finger Induced Lucid Dream (FILD)

FILD (Finger Induced Lucid Dream)

Short Version:

Simplified Directions:

The Setup:

  1. Go to sleep. It's that simple.. No hypnosis or visualization required.
  2. To perform this technique, you have to be extremely close to falling asleep. The best time is either in the middle of the night, or in the morning. However, using this technique in the morning can often cause shorter LDs.
  3. If you want to try FILD during the night, you have to find some way to wake up. There are various methods.. Find one that works for you.
  4. Once you wake up, the first thing that should be on your mind is the FILD technique. Immediately relax, and try to go back to sleep how you normally would. The goal here is to get to the point just before you fall back to sleep. Once you've reached this point, begin the FILD technique. If you fall back to sleep, don't worry... you can try again when you wake up.

The Technique:

  1. Imagine for a second that you are playing a piano using your index and middle finger with one hand. Your fingers are side by side on two keys. Now, press your right finger down, leaving your left finger up. Next, press your left finger down, and lift your right finger back up. Repeat this up and down motion.
  2. So you have the motion down? Try this: Imagine you are playing the piano again (using the same motion), but this time, press the keys so lightly that they don't go down. Give it a try on your computer keyboard - you should basically feel your muscles contract, but your fingers should hardly move.
  3. You're almost there. All you have to do is use this finger movement when you wake up. Once you reach step 4 on the setup process, start moving your fingers. Focus on the movement. By directing your focus, you will fall asleep within seconds. Do not count your finger movements or talk to yourself in your head. Also, do not try to make yourself go to sleep.. that will only wake you up. That's it!
  4. Once about 10 to 20 seconds have passed, take your other hand, and perform a nose RC. Simply pinch your nose and try to breath in. If you can, you're dreaming!
  5. If you find that the RC doesn't work, don't worry.. you can try again. Just go to sleep normally, and try again when you wake up.

Original Directions from LD4ALL:

  1. Go to sleep:
  • You want to do this tech when you are the most tired. For some people, it's 3 hours after you have gone to sleep, for others, 5, or you can do it in the morning (harder)
  • might help to tell your self to wake up after your dreams (Like in the MILD tech.).. haven’t tried this yet
  • Try playing very soft music in the background when you go to sleep if you want to wake up during the REM state. Make sure it's very very soft, and has no beat/voice in it.
  1. This is the hardest part of the technique. You need to get into a state where you are very tired, and feel like you could easily fall asleep. To achive this, you either have to wake up from a dream during the night, set an alarm clock for the time where you will be the most tired, or use the dream period in the morning.
    2a. (Unreliable, but easy if you wake up) If you find that you have just woken up from a dream in the middle of the night or you set your alarm to wake you up, you should already feel very tired. Continue to step 3. (if not, just go back to sleep. You could try to relax, but I dont think it would work too well.)
    2b. (most reliable) If you have set an alarm clock for 3, 5 or however many hours works best for you, you should wake up in a tired state. Try relaxing, and when you feel like your very close to sleep, contine to step 3. However, if you have woken up, and dont feel tired at all, I would go back to sleep.
    2c. (hard and unreliable) If you have woken up in the morning, you might not feel very tired. (You might be relaxed, but you would find it hard to start sleeping agian.) To get into this "tired" state, you should go back to sleep. In about 30 mins (or more), you will wake up again. When you wake up this time (try not to move or open your eyes), try to relax as much as possible and see how tired you feel. (Be carefull you dont fall back to sleep) If you feel very tired, continue to step 3. Otherwise, go back to sleep, and try again when you wake up.
  2. Relax. Once you think you are about to fall asleep again (You should already feel like this when you wake), you need to start moving part of your body, It should just be a very small movement, and it needs to be repetitive. I recommend using your fingers.
  • What I do is this: Right now, imagine you are playing a piano with 2 fingers: your pointer and middle finger. Push one key down, lift it back up and at the same time, press the other finger down. Just keep going back and forth between the fingers. I have my hand under my pillow when i did this, but Im sure it would work anywhere. Just make sure the movement is very small, and takes very little energy to perform it. (I was just doing this on my right hand)
  • Another Note: When you are moving you fingers, don’t try to visualize anything, just think to you self that you will do this for 10-30 secs, and then check to see if it's a dream.
  • Also, do not tell your self all the actions you are going to do, and do not "count" while you do this tech... Just say to your self, you will do a RC in 10-30 secs, and then just lay there, moving you fingers.
  • Try to focus on the movement, and just try to relax.
  • Do not focus on trying to fall asleep (it will keep you awake). Keep focus on your fingers, do not let your mind wander.
  1. Once you start the motion, try to relax (as much as you can, but don’t force it. Dont "try" to fall asleep) and wait about 10-30 seconds (keep your fingers moving). During this short time, tell your self that you will wait about 10-30 secs, and then you will check to see if you are in a dream. (Don’t count in your head) Once the 10-20 secs have passed, do a nose RC (Where you pinch your nose closed, and try to breath in.. If you can, you are in a dream). If the RC fails, just try to go to sleep normally for a few mins (no motion or RCs), and try the tech one more time. If it fails again, go to sleep, and try again later that morning. If it works it should only take 10-30 secs. Do not lay there doing a RC every 30 secs over and over, it will just wake you up even more.
  • The first time I did this, I thought that It wasn’t going to work. After the 10-30 secs, I still was sure that I was still trying to fall asleep, with my fingers moving. However, when I did a RC, I realized it was a dream. I thought to my self "wow, I’m in a LD, I guess it does work"
  • On 7-4-04, I found that whenever I started to dream, I had a tingly sensation all over my body.
  1. If the nose RC works, try to get out of bed...
  • I found that in the morning, when I tried to get out of bed in the dream, I would wake up immediately when I tried to move. If this happens to you, you should try this: once you realize that you are dreaming from the nose RC, keep your eyes closed, and keep pinching your nose. Continue to breath through your nose. Wait about 10-30 secs, and then try to visualize your room in your head (like your looking at it thru your closed eyes). The image should slowly come to you, and once it has, get out of bed, and you shouldn’t wake up from the movement.

NOTE: When this works successfully, the real world (where you were moving you fingers) will be transitioned into the dream world (You will dream that you are still moving your fingers, and trying to relax).

Some people are telling me that they are trying to move their fingers, and then do a RC every 30 secs.. That's not what you should do. If the 1st RC fails, stop the finger movement, and RCs, and try to relax for a few mins, then, try the tech once more. If it fails again, go to sleep, and try again later that morning. Hope that helps

Things to try: Instead of waiting only 10-30 secs, see what happens if you wait more like 1-5 mins. (When I discovered this tech. I kept waking up from what I thought was the real world, and realizing that it was entirely a dream.. So I tried again, and told my self to wait a few secs, and then do a RC.. and it worked). I think that it is either going to work, or it's not going to work, do not lay there for 20 mins moving your fingers. If it doesn’t work, go back to sleep, or try relaxing for another few mins.

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Pub: 29 Sep 2025 13:15 UTC

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