Hello all, I am here to ask for a bit of advice from you expert lucid dreamers! I've read tons of tutorials on how to do a WILD, but they seem to all contradict each other. I've more or less worked out my own technique which is indeed getting me into a unique state of mind, but I am unsure of whether it actually is a WILD or not. Let me explain:

I usually attempt a WILD during the early afternoon. I've tried to do it right after waking up from 5-6 hours of sleep, but whenever I've done it at this time I am never concious enough to stay aware and quickly fall asleep. So instead I'll usually attempt after being up for around an hour, or even after getting home from school.

I lie down, close my eyes and begin to meditate. I'll pay close attention to my breaths, and count down from 99 to 1 to keep track of how alert I am. If I lose track of the numbers, I'll think of something confusing to get my alertness back up (recite the alphabet backwards, do simple math, etc). Once I have done this for a while, my body starts to feel like a brick and I enter the hypnagogic imagery stage. No problem. Now, here's where I am lost...

I will often have visual hallucinations (eyes often feel like they're open even though they're closed). However, these hallucinations are extremely faint and nowhere near as vivid as some of the DILDs I've had. As well, I have never been able to get a single auditory hallucination in this state of mind.

I will usually improvise from here, and try to visualize a few things; for example, one of my favorite things is going snowboarding. However, on top of the issues mentioned above, I am still aware of my body lying in bed. So even though I am in my head picturing myself on slopes, I don't truly FEEL like I am there like one would in an ordinary dream. I don't experience the feeling of my arms moving around, the wind flowing by me, etc.

What am I doing wrong? How can I increase the vividness of my WILD attempts and make them FEEL real? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

thank you!