Dream Labs / Blog
The WILD technique, for those who don’t know is a direct entry into a lucid dream without any lapse in consciousness. Instead of awakening within an already “regular” dream and becoming lucid that way, a WILD takes you from the waking state in your bed INSTANTLY into a lucid dream. Think of it like a radio that changes it’s frequency: turning it’s dial from “waking” to “dreaming”. This technique takes some trial and error but it’s very doable. All it takes is relaxation and some passive focus.
To your question: We’ve experienced something similar to what you’re describing and it really came down to us being too excited and overly anticipating to the point that we would be unable to fall asleep. It sounds like once you’re hitting sleep paralysis (when your body feels like stone as you described) you psyche yourself out because you’re too excited. Try this:
~ Lie down and relax. If you have a hard time falling asleep try to perform this in the early morning hours so you’ll fall asleep quickly.
~ Get to sleep paralysis by simply relaxing your entire body until it feels heavy (like stone as you put it). Do what you’re already doing such as counting, guided imagery, or any other relaxation techniques. At this point, you’re only minutes away (not seconds so don’t get too excited just yet)
~ This region of sleep you’re in is essentially the “Twilight state” (Think Rod Serling, not vampires) and it’s the liminal zone between sleeping and dreaming. That time where you may lose sense of your body and you begin seeing flashes of images and colors. You want to stay in this zone for as long as it’ll take- don’t try to force the WILD once you reach sleep paralysis. Instead, once you’re hitting SP, gently remind yourself, “Ok, I have about 5 minutes. Just relax. The next place I will be will be a dream.”
(Forcing a WILD is not possible. Doing so will likely wake you up more and you’ll have to start over)
~ So it really comes down to these next 5 minutes. Can you relax and passively wait for sleep to flood over you? If you can, you’ll begin to feel other sensations such as buzzing, vibrations, or sounds. Now you’re seconds away. Again, gently remind yourself, “Ok, I’m just gonna wait this out and I will come out on the other side in a dream…”
~ If you see an image, try to focus on it and make it clearer. The image will move towards you, or you towards it and engulf you. At this point you will be inside of a fully detailed, fully realistic world with complete self-reflective consciousness. Congrats you just did a WILD!
** Questioner, you are much closer than you think my friend so try again tonight. Just remember that once you feel the onset of sleep paralysis, you are only minutes away. Relax. Relax. Relax. The body will do all the work. All you need to do is stay gently attentive and let your body do it’s thing. Good luck dream pioneer!
February 2012
1 post
I’ve been trying to do the wild method using counting or Guided Imagery. But every time my body starts to feel like stone my focus will snaps back to my body at which point I’ll get excited and/or my heart will race which will kick me out, any advice?
