Quote Originally Posted by sivason View Post
Do not stare directly at the colors and so on.
This is a challenge for me. I'm having trouble getting to sleep after WBTB (even very brief) and MILD/SSILD or WILD. I find that I tend to react strongly to the visuals (HI/HH/dreamlets), to focus on them, and my reaction keeps me awake. I just discovered that if I move all my focus to the aural (e.g., listening to a fan in the room) and hold it there as long as I can, the visuals are greatly de-emphasized in my attention, and I seem to make more / quicker progress towards sleep. I'm probably too eager to stay conscious through the transition that I'm never making it to the transition point. I may be the counter-example to WBTB: I may only succeed in all the various techniques if I start them while already fairly drowsy (since otherwise it can take *hours* to get back to sleep).

Or maybe I just need more discipline and experimentation in learning how to fall asleep after WBTB. Any suggestions along these lines greatly appreciated!

I noticed just today that I went from not hearing the fan in the room to hearing the fan, and was momentarily confused why I couldn't hear the fan the moment just before. "Oh, I just woke up from a dream" I then realized, and recalled the dream.