Delusional state making it hard to WILD (help)

Hey everyone,

I've been browsing these forums for a while to get advice here and there, but I haven't read many similar situations to mine. Some background; I've had DILD experiences on occasion growing up, which led me to look deeper into the topic. I've tried a few techniques since then such as RC's and keeping a dream journal. RC's are not effective for me because my dreams are just too crazy and irrational; there have been moments where I even think to myself about the fact that I am dreaming or that the situation appears to be a dream and fail to attain lucidity afterwards! However, RC's are helpful in the fact that the more I focus on lucidity in a waking state, the more likely it will occur in a dream. The dream journal has also been helpful in improving my dream recall, although I've taken a pause on that recently and will resume shortly. I've heard many good things about the WBTB method but unfortunately it is too inconvenient for me as I am still a school student who desperately needs his sleep.

So while I'm sure that my DILD skills will slowly develop, my interest is mainly in WILDs which interest me more in both experience and the fact that I can directly enter the state. On one occasion I managed to enter a WILD by envisioning myself walking down a school halfway, and as I passed a doorway I'd enter a LD state. The WILD wasn't a full-blown dream but was very interesting (sometimes I was 'there' in a visual sense, and at other times I'd be guiding it as an observer). Problem is, I haven't been able to pull it off again. I've tried WILDs a number of times with different techniques, but the same thing keeps happening: before long, as I lay awake trying to focus on dreaming or quieting my mind, my thought process suddenly starts to go all over the place in a very delusional way (similar to how I used to feel waking up from dreams during childhood). I end up lying there in the morning, trying to gain control, and although my body will relax and my delusional state of mind is showing that I'm entering a more dream-related state, I will fail to get anywhere too significant within as much as an hour's time. Anyone here have advice to offer?

Don't gain control. As you've already figured out, these seemingly random thoughts are an indication that you are, in fact, falling asleep. Let the thoughts occur and draw you closer to sleep as they normally would. Just stay consciously aware of the thoughts and what is going on so that you'll be able to recognize the transition into a dream state when it does happen.

If you have trouble keeping your focus through this, then an anchor might help you out.