Follow that clock!

I havent put a name to this LD method, but this is something that I have been doing for several years, and last night it became very clear as to what and how I have been doing it.
Now there are many LD methods and categories here on Dreamviews...and I dont know where this one falls under, all I know is that it works for me and it possibly could work for you.

If you have a set bedtime, and you become tired as that time approaches, so much the better. I normally dont have a regular bedtime because I work different shifts, but I will eventually become tired and ready for bed like everyone else.
As that urge to get under the sheets becomes stronger, and I become sleepier, I will not go to bed. Instead I will watch the TV, read a little, walk around the house, play the piano, peruse the internet.
What happens is my mind begins to wander as it shifts towards the sleep mode. I will begin to almost hallucinate as I keep myself awake with the above mentioned acivities. It becomes more and more difficult to concentrate on what I am doing as a heavy sleepiness takes over.
(Remember that you must already be as tired as possible and ready to go to bed before you start 'denying yourself' the act of sleeping.)

When I become very sleepy and close to nodding off, I will finally go to bed. I will allow myself to relax without thnking about doing a WILD or other LD inducing exercise. My body has relaxed, and now the scattered mental images begin to parade in front of me as I begin to fall asleep.
As I 'go under', the images play out before me, objects, places, people, sounds, shapes, ideas, shadows, arcs of light, etc...
I have learned to watch the display without loosing conciousness. Eventually what happens, is one of the images will suddenly increase in clarity and realism. It could be a car, a toy, a person, a tree, anything that stands out above the other mentally formed images, I will lock on to.

Last night, it was a large red wind up clock, waking past me on little legs. It became so real to me as it passed by.
I then followed it down the road with the rest of the parade of images straight into a LD. The clock faded from view, and I was now walking along in LD-Land!
Finding myself going straight into a LD can be an exciting and intimidating experience, but I am getting better and more accustomed to using this method that has become more reliable as time passes.
At that point, I was very aware that I was not fully asleep, I could have simply sat up and started over, but the image and sensations of the red clock walking along became my guide straight into a LD.
I have used this method many times over the years, but I wasnt sure of the exact circumstance until last night.
I wish that I could convey the feelings asociated with the powerful draw that a ridiculous image like a red clock walking feels like.
There have been many other objects that I have followed into LD's, animals, people, cars, a rock, a plant.

I guess the overall idea is to focus and 'latch' on to the image that has become the most realistic to you as your mind does its pre-sleep file sorting. That object can then become a 'shortcut' into the dream state.

Maybe I will call this method OILD (Object Induced Lucid Dream)

What is your take on this method?

Wow... Sounds creepy actually.

This is very much like WILD, getting tired enough to slip directly into an LD. The word for this is Hypnagogic imagery, BTW. The difference seems to be you focus much more on the HI than most people.

Interesting. Though seeing a little clock waddling by would most likely make me laugh myself awake.

This is WILD, but without WBTB. You are going right into lucid dreams on falling asleep, and able to remember them!

That's really quite amazing. It's breaking one of those "givens"... that LDs really happen during the later (REM) phases of the sleep cycles.

I don't really think that's a "given". While it's true LDs only occur in REM, it's possible to go into REM pretty much directly without WBTB by depriving yourself of sleep. That's more or less what polyphasic sleeping is, I believe.

Yeah, I do that a lot too. But I don't stay in it all that long. It's easier for me when I first fall asleep also. But for me, I have to be less tired rather than more tired. When I'm as tired as you describe, I just pass out and don't get any dream recall at all.

Watching that little red clock walk past was intimidating

OIWILD Maybe? Object-induced WILD...

the first part is just as interesting a tip though, with the keeping yourself awake awhile first.

Very intriguing, I think I'll try it

and I defnitely know what you mean with the intense feelings associated with predreams (dreams as well)

Actually once or twice after just drifting off I have woken up with terrible sadness or apprehension when I don't even know why exactly, so I'd have to get up and have a beer and watch letterman to chill me out again

The "OIWILD" prior to that red clock one, was a Mexican girl walking down the street past me in a parade of pre-sleep visual stuff. She or whatever object it is at that time, will just 'jump out' at me and lead me straight into a LD.

This is exactly how I WILD. I try to tell folks for me Hi's are the gateways to lucid. Atlhough I start this around 3 AM, not at the begining so its WBTB. But I follow images directly to the dream.

PS. thats a hot little avatar you got there! :banana: