Can't get past numbness during WILD attempts?

Hey, first timer poster here, though I've been trying for lucidity for several months straight :\

I've been trying to perform a WILD technique for several weeks straight, pretty much every night. However, my success has been basically the bare minimum, based on what I've been reading. My problem is that I don't seem to be able to get into sleep paralysis. The closest I ever get seems to be numbness that is either covering my entire body, or sometimes parts of my body.

I've been using Mancon & Yoshi's WILD guides, as none of the others are a possibility for me, but still see minimal success. I have ease getting into numbess, & it only takes a matter of minutes, but from there on I seem to hit a brick wall. I don't feel much need to move- its a steady small desire throughout that I don't even need to pay attention to. I don't seem to feel any itch either, and I never move, swallow, or have any such problem. I simply lie down for about a half hour and then give up once I realize I've made no progress & get up.

Just a little list for those it'll help on how my WILD attempts go:
- Wake up 5-5.5 hours after falling asleep
- Get up, empty bladder, wash face, drink water, stuff like that to make sure I don't fall asleep instantly after I go back to bed
- Go to bed, using a fresh blanket & pillow to make sure I'm comfortable
- Flex Freeze as suggested in Yoshi's technique
- Close my eyes & remain still after making sure I'm comfortable
- Count my breaths to 100 (restarting every time I reach 100). Make sure to focus on breaths while trying not to focus hard, just enough that I don't focus on the fact that I'm trying to WILD.
- Numbess begins to set in, I try not to react too much.
- I lie around for around half an hour, & either fall asleep or get up after giving up. (As a side note, I do not turn over as suggested in Yoshi's technique as my experience shows me that it acts as a reset rather than an assistance, and never seemed to get me anywhere :\)

Does anybody have any suggestions as to what I can do to improve myself and successfully get into SP? It seems to be my only block at the moment, & I'm hoping to pass that block before school starts so that I can know for sure that I am capable of doing it, eventually on a regular basis. Any help is appreciated, and I am willing to answer questions!

Try waking earlier, try wilding when fallin asleep instantly, try not to focus on breathing (instead just count to 10 and from there to back 0 backwards?)

I'm afraid that doesn't work for me, I've tried it. I'm not able to stay awake if I go back to bed right after waking up.

You should never really have the choice of falling asleep or giving up. You should not be trying to keep yourself from falling asleep. You have all the details right, but you are missing the big concept. Remember your main goal is to keep a small part of yourself aware as you fall asleep. Everything you are already doing is supposed to be helping to make this possible. When you are counting your breaths, you should find yourself losing count every once and a while and having to start over. This is a good sign that you are about to fall asleep. When you are relaxing your body, you should eventually become so relaxed, you lose track of it all together. Make sure you are really relaxing the way you would to fall asleep.

Your timing may be off, also. You want to time your WBTB so you are falling back to sleep right as a long REM cycle hits. Try moving your WBTB around, or shortening or lengthening it so you will hit a long block of dreams. A successful WILD should really only take 5-15 minutes. It becomes difficult to keep yourself in the right frame of mind for longer than that without lots of practice and experience.

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Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

You should never really have the choice of falling asleep or giving up. You should not be trying to keep yourself from falling asleep. You have all the details right, but you are missing the big concept. Remember your main goal is to keep a small part of yourself aware as you fall asleep. Everything you are already doing is supposed to be helping to make this possible. When you are counting your breaths, you should find yourself losing count every once and a while and having to start over. This is a good sign that you are about to fall asleep. When you are relaxing your body, you should eventually become so relaxed, you lose track of it all together. Make sure you are really relaxing the way you would to fall asleep.

Your timing may be off, also. You want to time your WBTB so you are falling back to sleep right as a long REM cycle hits. Try moving your WBTB around, or shortening or lengthening it so you will hit a long block of dreams. A successful WILD should really only take 5-15 minutes. It becomes difficult to keep yourself in the right frame of mind for longer than that without lots of practice and experience.

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Alright, thanks for the tips. I've often lost track of the counting while doing a WILD & have to start over again, but I didn't think that was a good sign... as a matter of fact, I tried to focus to make sure it didn't happen :P Thanks for the advice.

After having some success with wilds, I've noticed some things related to your problem. I used to count backwards, but it came to a certain point where I wouldn't transition any farther. For me, anyway, fully entering sleep paralysis followed by a lucid required that I focused more passively on something, like the sound of my breathing or the ringing in my head, which I think is called tinnitus, or something of that nature. For whatever reason, counting keeps me too conscious. The other responses hit the nail on the nose, we use these methods to help us transition into sleep, first and foremost, aided by a slightly increased level of consciousness.

Just a quick note, try WBTB about 4.5/5 hours after bed, that should be more in a REM period.
;)

how long is the estimated time between a rem period?
sorry to hijack the thread cyberetah.