Thread: Was I close?

What's a better anchor in your opinion? I tried observing the darkness and I can't stay focused on that? Thanks!

Since you said counting breaths had worked before, perhaps you should just listen to your breaths. Instead of counting them, which requires a bit more focus and attention, simply listen to your breathing.

Ok, thanks!

Alright, I have this whole week off from school and I'm going to try to WILD every night. The only thing stopping me now is my huge fear of HH. I don't know why I'm so scared of it, but I am. I guess that its just the fact that my mind knows what scares the shit out of me, and it's going to create that infront of me. And I know that since I'm scared, I'll have a bad experience. Do you have any tips on getting through this?

Well, I will say that HH doesn't always respond directly to your thoughts. I can think of times where I have been in SP and started imagining screams and monsters and whatnot, but none of it showed. It really isn't as bad as it seems from all the stories. SP just takes some getting used to. If anything scary happens just remind yourself that it is all a hallucination and you cannot be harmed. In my experience, 90% of the time nothing scary happens. Just take SP head on and the, "bring it on" attitude. Once you get through it a few times, it likely won't be scary at all. You can also try to WBTB in the late morning when there is some daylight outside if you wish. I have never had anything scary happen during the day for some reason .

Alright, I'll try that attitude. Thanks

I've decided to try to WILD during naps. How can this be done? I'm not tired during the day, so how can I wild? Thanks so much!
Also, weird thing. I've been so caught up with WILDing, I've actually tried to WILD INSIDE two different dreams. I would always get to the beginning of SP and then wake up. Kinda weird that I'd start to WILD in a dream, ahah.

Yeah, dreams are very unusual to say the least . WILDing during naps is exactly like WILDing any other time. You must be able to fall asleep though, so being tired will be important (at least being tired enough to fall asleep). You can try to shave off an hour or two of your normal sleep so you will be sufficiently tired during your nap attempt. Reading makes me sleepy, but you can try some other things like exercise and whatnot. Reverse blinking could also help you get tired and relaxed.

Also, I heard that during HH/HI, if you acknowledge it, It'll stop and you'll fail. Does this mean if you think, "HI Finally" or "It's just HH Calm down" or anything about either of them you'll fail the attempt? Thanks!

Just because you acknowledge HH/HI doesn't mean you will fail. If you pay TOO much attention to it, you may not be able to finish falling asleep and it will cause you to fail. Simply acknowledging it won't do any harm. Just try to stay calm and act as if nothing unusual is happening. Act like all these hallucinations are perfectly normal and just continue to strive toward sleep.

How long should I expect to experience HH/HI before I'm in a dream? 5, 10 minutes? Just wondering because I'd like to know if I'm stuck in transition or not.

Feel free to ask all the questions you want...I don't mind helping out in the least ! To be completely honest, if you are falling asleep fast as soon as you stop WILDing, then you are plenty tired enough. Something is keeping you too active. It could be the anchor, or could also simply be your thoughts. If you are thinking too much about the process like wondering when SP will come, wondering why it isn't coming, thinking in a step by step mind of the WILDing process, or thinking something like "I hope I'm doing this right", etc. These type of things can keep you from falling asleep. Its hard to fall asleep if you are doing a lot of forced thinking. You need to just relax and don't really try to WILD....just try to fall asleep while being aware. Don't think or worry about the process and SP, just try to fall asleep and witness yourself doing so.

Also, keep in mind that WILDing at the start of sleep is very difficult. I know you are only doing it for practice, but it can be hard to even get into SP a lot of the time. It generally takes a lot longer. It may simply be the time you are WILDing that is causing problems hitting SP.

Originally Posted by KingYoshi

Feel free to ask all the questions you want...I don't mind helping out in the least ! To be completely honest, if you are falling asleep fast as soon as you stop WILDing, then you are plenty tired enough. Something is keeping you too active. It could be the anchor, or could also simply be your thoughts. If you are thinking too much about the process like wondering when SP will come, wondering why it isn't coming, thinking in a step by step mind of the WILDing process, or thinking something like "I hope I'm doing this right", etc. These type of things can keep you from falling asleep. Its hard to fall asleep if you are doing a lot of forced thinking. You need to just relax and don't really try to WILD....just try to fall asleep while being aware. Don't think or worry about the process and SP, just try to fall asleep and witness yourself doing so.

Also, keep in mind that WILDing at the start of sleep is very difficult. I know you are only doing it for practice, but it can be hard to even get into SP a lot of the time. It generally takes a lot longer. It may simply be the time you are WILDing that is causing problems hitting SP.

Haha, I think you misunderstood, sorry about that, it was a great response. I'm asking once HI/HH starts, how long does it happen until you're in a dream?

Lol, oops. I read the last post on the first page and responded to that again. I blame it on the mary jane

Once you start getting some heavy HI/HH and you are in full SP, it shouldn't take very long. It varies from time to time, but generally it takes anywhere from a minute or two to around 10 minutes at the most. You are right on the verge of completely falling asleep when SP has fully set in. Most of the time, it takes me only a few more minutes to get into the dream. When I first started out, it took me a bit longer, but it was still never over 10 minutes on a successful attempt.

I can't tell if I was hitting total SP or only starting partial. I thought that I would have partial SP for a really long time, and then full SP set in slowly. But last night, I was numb for most of the time(which I thought was partial sp), and when I hit SP, my entire body felt really weird, I had so many different odd sensations. I had the really fast heart beats but knew it was a hallucination but for some reason I had a sudden burst of fear. I kicked myself out of SP by moving my foot/leg and then I noticed I wasn't paralyzed, so I wasn't in total SP. Does the fast heart hallucination mean full SP has set in or almost has? If I kept going when the fast heart started would HH/HI start soon? Finally, kinda unrelated question but once you enter a lucid dream via WILD, do you need to immediately stabilize or the dream will end/fade to black? I'd spin in the dream to stabilize if that matters. Sorry for so many questions and thanks for all the help you've given me. I'm so close now(at least I think )

Yeah, you are getting very close. Once the all the weird sensations start (including the fast heartbeat) SP is really setting in heavy. If you would have waited it out a bit you would have very soon entered full SP. That sense of fear is a very common hallucination with SP. Just remind yourself that the fear is fake and only a hallucination. The fear and weird sensations actually are a form of HH. The imagery would have started very soon after all these other sensation.

Well, the dream likely won't just immediately fade if you don't stabilize, but I would recommend it. I always perform some quick stabilization as soon as I get into my WILD. You don't have to go all out with it, but a few quick techniques will help with the dream.

No problem at all . I love helping out and just keep practicing. You are getting really close!

Haha, in SP everything is a hallucination. I'll try to complete the WILD tonight.

Yeah man, think about. You are laying there completely fine and normal wanting to WILD. SP sets in and you suddenly become scared for no true reason. A lot of people forget that auditory and visual hallucinations aren't the only type. You can hallucinate on so many levels it is ridiculous . Just keep that in mind while WILDing and just relax as all the crazy different hallucinations do their thing. Its almost like a trial that your mind and body makes you go through before you earn your lucidity. Anything and everything may be thrown at you, but the idea is to just take it like a champ and keep progressing toward sleep.

Yeah, when it happened to me I didn't really notice that I was scared for no reason and I attributed it to me being really scared of hallucinations when SP set in, but now that I know it's a hallucination I can keep going through SP.

Yeah, any time you feel some fear, just remind yourself that it is completely fake and you aren't afraid at all. Many dreamers think that they are just afraid of SP, but the majority of the time, it is that hallucination of fear that is getting to them.

Originally Posted by chaoschief

I was just wondering, does HH come in waves or instantly?
I mean like, will it just be silent, and then you'll huge loud noise, or will you hear mumbled or softer sounds eventually growing louder?
It seems difficult to stay calm because I'm expecting a huge scary noise or hallucination coming from complete silence.
Thanks

I have found the hallucinations begin very subtly as I realize I am paralyzed. The two go hand in hand. First I realize very acutely I am paralyzed and unable to move anything other than my eyelids and that is momentary and fleeting. The just as I realize I am paralyzed I begin to hallucinate either in a sensory fashion (sensing presences in the room) or auditory hallucinations such as people breaking in the house, knocking on my windows or doors, jostling the door knobs, etc. When caught in these hallucinations I feel an urgency to wake up because on some level I think I really should go answer the door or stop the burglar. I have also had an out of body experience during SP but I am unsure now whether that was an hallucination or a dream beginning.

Originally Posted by KingYoshi

Make sure you aren't doing anything that will keep you awake and your anchor should be as passive/non-distracting as possible. I like to simply observe the darkness of my closed eyes. No matter what starts to happen HH/HI wise, I always keep that darkness as a running background. I don't focus on it, but I don't forget it either. Keep practicing WILD and you will eventually get a "feel" for how everything works. It will just take practice and experience.

After reading everything you are saying I am beginning to think I inadvertently created my own anchors. One I am leaving the TV on turned down very low on Court TV (rambling talking) and I am falling asleep in a semi prone and supine position. I think these two things as well as being really tired mid day are what is bringing these episodes on lately.

Originally Posted by KingYoshi

Well, I will say that HH doesn't always respond directly to your thoughts. I can think of times where I have been in SP and started imagining screams and monsters and whatnot, but none of it showed. It really isn't as bad as it seems from all the stories. SP just takes some getting used to. If anything scary happens just remind yourself that it is all a hallucination and you cannot be harmed. In my experience, 90% of the time nothing scary happens. Just take SP head on and the, "bring it on" attitude. Once you get through it a few times, it likely won't be scary at all. You can also try to WBTB in the late morning when there is some daylight outside if you wish. I have never had anything scary happen during the day for some reason .

Yoshi, when I hallucinate I am alert but not alert enough to control my response to it. A part of me takes over that is afraid of those sounds and presences and I can't seem to get a grip on myself. It is like me but not me, make sense? I try so hard to control my response to the hallucinations but I just can't seem to! I get annoyed, frightened and a sense of urgency from them whether I want to or not. It is frustrating as hell!

Yeah, it sounds like you certainly have been using some anchors without even realizing it....nice!

Well, you can try this. Next time you get those feelings, just pretend you don't have them. Even though you feel fear and the sense of urgency, just act like you don't. If you are able to ignore a certain hallucination it will soon pass. Just try your pretend that nothing unusual is happening.

Thanks for editing my post.

I am going to try really hard to take your advice. I am going to stay up late reading again tonight so I am tired by about 11 or 12 tomorrow and attempt to induce SP again and use your suggestions. Will update you on my progress. Thanks, Yoshi!!!

No problem at all ! Once you are able to get passed the fear hallucination once or twice, it gets loads easier to deal with.

I look forward to hearing your results . Good luck to you!