I can't breathe while trying to WILD?

So! I've been trying to have a wild for a few months on and off, and I think I'm getting close. (Thank god XD)

But when I feel relaxed and like I'm just about to go into a dream my heart starts to speed up and I can hear it louder than a truck, and no matter how much I breath I still feel like I'm being suffocated. Pretty scary. D: I always try and put up with it because I know I'm close, but it's just overpowering and I have to give up.

I don't know if it's just a hallucination or if my heart is actually speeding up, but it feels so real, almost painful. Afterwards I can't sleep for a few hours, too. D:

Here are my questions to all you experienced dreamers:
1) Is it just my imagination messing with me or do you think this sounds different?
2) Is there any way I can get past this stage?

Thank you in advance. ^___^b Sorry for being a noob, ahaha.

This is completely normal and is a side effect of sleep paralysis, or rather REM atonia. Your breathing always becomes very shallow during sleep, but people just aren't usually consciously aware of it. Your heart actually slows down...the reason it is speeding up is probably because you are getting excited that you are finally about to enter a dream, or from the HI or getting anxious because of the physiological changes taking place in your body such as the shallow breathing. My WILD attempts are often foiled due to the same reason: I become anxious or nervous at a certain stage and my heart rate just skyrockets completely sending me out of SP. That's why it's so important to be in the proper mindset when WILDing, like after a few hours of sleep. The best thing to do is just to train yourself to ignore your breathing/heart rate, and just to try to remain as calm as possibly during all stages of WILD. It's difficult finding just that right amount of detachment without falling asleep or remaining too conscious to enter a dream. You'll get it eventually though. ;)

edit: also, that suffocating feeling can sometimes carry over even into a lucid dream if you are still somehow aware of your sleeping body...I have woken myself up from lucid dreams before because I was afraid I was not getting enough oxygen...but after awhile you just sort of get used to it and find that it is natural to feel that way at certain times during sleep/dreaming

hmm... sometimes when i get relaxed, i actually start breathing really little. Is that normal? i try to ignore it thinking its part of SP but i think its real, i start actually feeling like im holding my breath

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Originally Posted by Flowerneko

So! I've been trying to have a wild for a few months on and off, and I think I'm getting close. (Thank god XD)

But when I feel relaxed and like I'm just about to go into a dream my heart starts to speed up and I can hear it louder than a truck, and no matter how much I breath I still feel like I'm being suffocated. Pretty scary. D: I always try and put up with it because I know I'm close, but it's just overpowering and I have to give up.

I don't know if it's just a hallucination or if my heart is actually speeding up, but it feels so real, almost painful. Afterwards I can't sleep for a few hours, too. D:

Here are my questions to all you experienced dreamers:
1) Is it just my imagination messing with me or do you think this sounds different?
2) Is there any way I can get past this stage?

Thank you in advance. ^___^b Sorry for being a noob, ahaha.

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Try opening your throat & gently pusing the middle of your neck back into the pillow/floor. This happened to me a lot. I thought after reading all the tutorials on WILD that I had to just tough it out. THis has not been my experience.

To clarify what I mean by open your throat. It feels to me as if I am and only just getting ready to swallow something bigger than normal but without the swallow part. I found out that it requires only seconds of gentle conscious effort to get the body to get the idea. I might emphasize that I am only using enough gentle effort to create relief.

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