Thread: Failed WILD because of odd eye flickering

Hi all,
Posted a thread similar to this when it happened before but this time its a bit different.

Was attempting to WILD last night and I knew SP was coming, and then my eyes sorta focused in on the blackness around me (closed eyes of cause) which I associate with the beginning of HI.

Let it be known now, I haven't ever actually successfully gone lucid due to a WILD before, but this is all what it felt like in accordance with the associated steps to lucidity.

However at this point my eyes started to twitch and flicker on their own. I was quite conscious of this and tried to 'stay with it' and tried to ride it out but to no avail. My left eye felt like it was doing it more too.

I was sorta like my eyes were doing changing speeds of Voluntary Nystagmus, which I have (can do). For those who don't know what that is, you may have seen people do it before and call it, 'shaking their eyes' where you move your eyes really quickly back and forth. I do it horizontally which is the most common.

Anyway, once it started, the flickering went on for about 30 seconds at which point they subsided and it felt like I went back a stage in the WILD. I then got a little itchy and didn't move, thus inducing the bizzare eye movements a second time, which I tried to ride out by focusing on my breathing. Unfortunately I sorta stepped back a stage again and then gave up.

Could anyone shed some light/experience on my problem?

Cheers

You started to enter REM. That means that you were getting close.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

You started to enter REM. That means that you were getting close.

Well that's what I thought at first but then I remembered that you enter REM about 5-6 hours into sleep (or something like that) and I had only been in bed for about 20mins.

So if it is REM, is this normal? How do I get around the flickers?

Cheers

I wandered the same thing. Is it possible to WILD right after going to bed? I am new to this and have been journalling for a little while and trying to establish dreamsigns. A couple nights ago I attempted a WILD after waking up in the middle of the night after a Non Lucid dream. Everything seemed as advertised, sinking through bed, very heavy feeling (almost felt like a was standing on my head?), then HI and then I think I entered a LD. I was in a dark hallway with a person sitting at a desk at the other end. I wanted to test my state so I looked at my wrist to check my watch and there was no watch. Then I just kept looking at my hands, then went down the hall to look for a clock to do another test of state but I woke up. The dream was kind of fuzzy and really short, but I felt like I was aware in it, but I was all dizzy and couldn't walk very good. Is this normal? Does anyone have an idea if this could have been an LD or not and does anyone have any suggestions to further myself, I have not had luck with WILDS since then and am still working on dream recall. Thanks.

d-dub, I had the same kind of dream the other day... It is considered an LD, as you knew that you were dreaming. I think the only way to "further yourself" is to keep trying. I'm pretty much at that stage.

Mr_Jinsue: Yes, that is normal, but I'm not really sure how to get around it, as it doesn't bother me.

@Jinsue

You enter REM many times throughout the night, that does indeed sound like what was happening. Typically the first stage of it starts around ~90 minutes into your sleep cycle, many things can change this including certain drugs, changes to regular sleep cycle, naps throughout the day, etc.. All can basically affect your REM periods in positive or negative ways. But basically your rem period progressively gets longer and longer throughout the night, so the last few hours are the best times to try to become lucid.

I cannot say.. for sure what causes this, many things "supposedly" suppress rem sleep temporarily, so that it comes back in full force at a later time in the day. For example if on Monday night you only sleep 5 hours instead of your usual 8 or 9, you defiantly missed out on the majority of your REM period, because alot of it happens between stages 3/4 of a sleep cycle. The next time you go to sleep often you will START in an REM phase, or very close to.

So for instance on Tuesday night when you lay down you may find yourself experiencing REM early, or an unusually good recall that night, for the simple fact that your having more vivid dreams.

This is why naps mid day are a great way to work on lucidity, and your dream journal providing you can go undisturbed, which can be hard while everyone in the neighborhood is up and about.. Light can also be distracting.

The flickers is very natural, it was kind of.. awkward at first for me if I happened to be awake during it, but I've found that I notice it less and less now. The best thing you can do is let it happen, dont try to .. "slow" them down or stop it from happening.. usually by this point you are very far through the transition, so its just a matter of time before you slip in, USUALLY . Everyone is different, but for me it usually means.. relax and let it happen. It defiantly sounds like you were trying to do so, just keep it up.

Maybe try incorporating a different form of sensual awareness, instead of waiting for an image to appear... Try using tactile sensations, or try to "hear" things around you, I usually try to think of either a very familiar, or very relaxing scene.. aka imagining myself walking around my backyard, touch the grass, walls, bricks, bark, dirt.. all that noise..

Also you could imagine yourself say.. laying on the beach.. feel the warm sand beneath you, listen to the ocean splashing into the coast, feel the wind, smell the clear air.. usually your mind naturally forms an image, instead of you trying... to sculpt one piece by piece.. For me, trying to work with HI just doesnt happen, tactile sensations are awesome for me.

Its also even possible you had a false awakening, try to preform reality checks often if you are unsure of your state.. Obviously dont do anything that requires you to.. physically get up/wake up unless you really dont know whether or not you are awake. Try to think of what you did earlier in the day even. Soon you will be able to more or less tell the difference between the two stages, and possibly find a great way to get through the transition.

Everyone has different limits, Its next to impossible for me to tell you how to do it.. My advice is try everything you can, eventually something will click, and you'll be like wow, how the hell did I not realize this before.. The tutorial section is full of ideas from many people, some will work, some wont.. its the name of the game