Senses Initiated Lucid Dream (Ssild) Part Ii Ld4All

cosmic.iron wrote: You can try the following method to trigger the WILD at the aforementioned stages:------- Great stuff, my friend. Thanks for taking the time to lay it all out. It's nice to know that even if I get too buzzed up/tranced I still have the chance to bail out into a WILD. I love that even when I botch things up, something cool happens every time with this technique. So long as I remember to drink that tall glass of water right before bed (for the "bladder alarm clock") I know that I'll be ready to go. Current LD goal(s): Stand on top of the Great Pyramid.

The amount of people to whom this method had proven successful was the reason I decided to try it out yesterday. I went to sleep at around 2 AM and set my alarm clock for 6:30 AM. I woke up and came on LD4all to read some articles, I then did the cycles for a couple of times and went to sleep. Next thing I know I'm sitting on my bed and doing an RC for God knows what reason. I happen to be dreaming. There were however some problems with controlling the dream but I've had those in all of my previous LD's for some reason. It wasn't long before the dream started slipping away and I ended up awake. Or not? I didn't check whether it was a FA or not. My fault. Nevertheless, an awesome method.

I've been using SSILD-method for the past week and I like it. I don't know how it works, but the first night I recalled about 3 vivid dreams and the second night I had an FA. I had a WILD and a half since starting this method and I had a semi-lucid dream last night. The first couple nights I was able to get through 4-5 cycles before my mind went wandering but now I lose focus around 2 cycles in. If nothing else, this technique makes me very relaxed to the point where I don't want to move my body, even though i do have a hard time drifting to sleep. cosmic.iron wrote:Prior to SSILD, I used a form of customized WILD. I was pretty good at it... although not so good that I can do it on the toilet, but there are times I could enter an OBE from being fully awake within a minute or two. I've also done it successfully in noisy environments such as on an airplane. However, these days I prefer SSILD over all other techniques I've used. It is simpler, faster, more relaxing (the WILD I used actually demands quite a bit of concentration and seems to consume a lot of mental and sometimes physical energy), and produces good results. ------- Do you mind sharing this WILD method? I can achieve WILD but it's very hit or miss. Each time I've just "happened" to wake up in SP, so Im curious about how you do/did it?

So, I tried this night, without much success, except for SLIGHTLY increased dream recall. I went to be at around 1 am, set my alarm for 7 am, and I woke. I laid down on my side and focused on my sight, then my hearing, then my touch. Sometimes, I would kind of drift off, and then start it again. After about 2 repetitions, I would start dozing off and coming back to start he exercise again. At times, I felt tiny tingling in my legs, but that's all. I eventually fell asleep. Am I doing anything wrong? I just wanna know because I'm gonna be using this technique for the next few days and I wanna make sure I get it right. Thanks! Current LD goal(s): Fly into space then free fall back to Earth

KimokaJane wrote:The first couple nights I was able to get through 4-5 cycles before my mind went wandering but now I lose focus around 2 cycles in. ------- @ CosmicIron or anyone else who has a thought: Last night I tried this and I couldn't even get through ONE cycle without losing my train of thought. Does this mean that it's taking less time to get into 'trance' now that my mind/body is somewhat accustomed to this method? In other words, is it unnecessary to press through, since maybe I'm already there? Or do the fewer cycles lessen my chances of being successful?

brian8u123 wrote: So, I tried this night, without much success, except for SLIGHTLY increased dream recall. I went to be at around 1 am, set my alarm for 7 am, and I woke. I laid down on my side and focused on my sight, then my hearing, then my touch. Sometimes, I would kind of drift off, and then start it again. After about 2 repetitions, I would start dozing off and coming back to start he exercise again. At times, I felt tiny tingling in my legs, but that's all. I eventually fell asleep. Am I doing anything wrong? I just wanna know because I'm gonna be using this technique for the next few days and I wanna make sure I get it right. Thanks! ------- Try to get out of your bed and stay awake for at least 5 minutes. When you have difficulty completing the first 2 cycles, it is a sign that you are not sufficiently awake. Of course, if you finish the 4 cycles in a hurry without ever going into the trance, you have awaken too much. KimokaJane wrote: Last night I tried this and I couldn't even get through ONE cycle without losing my train of thought. Does this mean that it's taking less time to get into 'trance' now that my mind/body is somewhat accustomed to this method? In other words, is it unnecessary to press through, since maybe I'm already there? Or do the fewer cycles lessen my chances of being successful? ------- KimokaJane, your problem is the same as brian's. Try to awake yourself a bit more before the exercise. You are also right that you have become somewhat accustomed to this method, which is a good thing. This means you can get into the trance much more quickly and less likely to lose sleep afterward.

I remembered to really try SSILD this morning. I woke up, went to the bathroom, and then tried it on my back, as on my side I usually just fall asleep before 2 or 3 cycles. I was able to do 5-7 cycles, even though I did get distracted a lot. After that I rolled on my side to fall asleep but it took me some time. I got a LD which had lots of low or semi lucidity, only a couple moments of decent lucidity. It was pretty stable and ok in terms of vividness. I'm just glad I didn't wake up right away Anyway, the quick WBTB and a couple MILD mantras could have helped, but I want to try it again. I have a question about "where" you're supposed to look at. There's the blackness behind my eyeslids, but then there's this "place" where when sometimes I'm trying to fall asleep I get some random images/ideas pop up. Should I focus on this second "place"? or is it just the physical blackness? The same question goes for the hearing. Another thing is you say you like this method because it doesn't need much energy/effort, but to me I feel I do need some effort . Is this only because my mind drifts so easily?

mattias wrote: I remembered to really try SSILD this morning. I woke up, went to the bathroom, and then tried it on my back, as on my side I usually just fall asleep before 2 or 3 cycles. I was able to do 5-7 cycles, even though I did get distracted a lot. After that I rolled on my side to fall asleep but it took me some time. I got a LD which had lots of low or semi lucidity, only a couple moments of decent lucidity. It was pretty stable and ok in terms of vividness. I'm just glad I didn't wake up right away Anyway, the quick WBTB and a couple MILD mantras could have helped, but I want to try it again. I have a question about "where" you're supposed to look at. There's the blackness behind my eyeslids, but then there's this "place" where when sometimes I'm trying to fall asleep I get some random images/ideas pop up. Should I focus on this second "place"? or is it just the physical blackness? The same question goes for the hearing. Another thing is you say you like this method because it doesn't need much energy/effort, but to me I feel I do need some effort . Is this only because my mind drifts so easily? ------- Congrats mattias, Im my opinion I would say on HI but not too much, not interfering them, just gently observer them, just like WILD, even though you are not doing WILD and you will fall asleep after a few cycles I believe that this could either transform into WILD or you will just maintain higher awareness through the process which could also result into LD... At least in my opinion, you can experiment with both scenarios... Good luck! Current LD goal(s): #Find/Meet Dream Guide#

brian8u123 wrote: Alright so second night with this technique and no success I'm gonna keep trying though! If I can master this then it would be a lot easier to LD in my opinion. Just one question: During WBTB's I literally drift off during the first cycle, sometimes before finishing the sight part of it. Do you suggest finishing at least one cycle, or can I just let my mind take me wherever it wants to, whenever? ------- You should do more cycles because that's the point, to keep awareness on your body, sensations, feelings, etc. But don't force it, try it at 3 cycles... Current LD goal(s): #Find/Meet Dream Guide#

brian8u123 wrote: Alright so second night with this technique and no success I'm gonna keep trying though! If I can master this then it would be a lot easier to LD in my opinion. Just one question: During WBTB's I literally drift off during the first cycle, sometimes before finishing the sight part of it. Do you suggest finishing at least one cycle, or can I just let my mind take me wherever it wants to, whenever? ------- dB_FTS was correct in his advice. Also you should stay awake a bit more before doing the exercise. While drifting off is desirable it should not occur during the first couple of cycles and should not prevent you from finishing at least 4 cycles.

I tried this for the first time last night, both when going to sleep and with WBTB. I didn't get a LD, but I did have a long and pretty vivid dream, which is good as my recall/vividness has been slipping. I mixed in some mantras between steps (just one or two reps). I like that it's easier to drift off while doing this. I tend to repeat mantras and wake myself up too much, then have trouble sleeping quickly. I'm going to try this again tonight Current LD goal(s): look at my dream body, talk with a dream character and look at them closely

Alright so second night with this technique and no success I'm gonna keep trying though! If I can master this then it would be a lot easier to LD in my opinion. Just one question: During WBTB's I literally drift off during the first cycle, sometimes before finishing the sight part of it. Do you suggest finishing at least one cycle, or can I just let my mind take me wherever it wants to, whenever? Current LD goal(s): Fly into space then free fall back to Earth

I tried this with WBTB, and it was great succes which means i had a lucid dream . This will be my new main technique, for me it works really great and is so much easier to fall asleep after this + takes less time to execute then WILD or MILD. Just got a question, during second night of SSILDing I had a FA, and it happend 4 times in row, so it was rather bad. Everytime scenario was the same i sat on the brink of my bed, did RC, boom, black screen, FA again. Shouldn't i got lucid after RC? Is there anyway to prevent chain-FA? Current LD goal(s): Create Dream Workshop and upgrade it over summer.

cytariel wrote: I tried this with WBTB, and it was great succes which means i had a lucid dream . This will be my new main technique, for me it works really great and is so much easier to fall asleep after this + takes less time to execute then WILD or MILD. Just got a question, during second night of SSILDing I had a FA, and it happend 4 times in row, so it was rather bad. Everytime scenario was the same i sat on the brink of my bed, did RC, boom, black screen, FA again. Shouldn't i got lucid after RC? Is there anyway to prevent chain-FA? ------- This kind of FAs has almost become the signature feature of SSILD, LOL. For some reason, SSILD likes to produce hyper realistic FAs, therefore it is critical to develop the habit of RCing every time you wake up after SSILD. As for the blackout right after RC, this can happen and it can be frustrating. The way I deal with it is to first observe the hand till you see it clearly, with lots of detail. After that you can try to get up, or better yet, just focus your vision at some place in your room, and you should automatically zoom to the location standing up. You may also want to perform some stabilization techniques such as crawling on floor, shouting, etc. Once your dream scene stabilizes you should get out of the room as quickly as possible.

Hey! I've been kind of out of the loop on trying to get a LD since I moved and got a new job, but I've been trying it again and tried SSILD last night. But I did it a different way than what was said to do and got an interesting result. First I started off with a mantra telling myself that I would wake up at 2 in the morning so I could do a WBTB. It's been working for me lately so it happened no problem. Then I decided to go through a couple cycles just to get myself used to them, I knew nothing was going to happen so I didn't expect anything to. That's when I had 2 FA's in a row (almost like cytariel but without the blackout) where I woke up, turned on my lamp (though there wasn't any light which should've been a nice little sign that I was dreaming), grabbed my DJ and started to write my dreams. Then I realized I was dreaming, woke up but went into another FA. The thing is no matter how many times I remind myself, write it down, I can never remember to do RC's when I'm awake so I obviously didn't do one in my FA. Current LD goal(s): To have an LD

cosmic.iron wrote: This kind of FAs has almost become the signature feature of SSILD, LOL. For some reason, SSILD likes to produce hyper realistic FAs, therefore it is critical to develop the habit of RCing every time you wake up after SSILD. ------- I'm just glad I'm not alone! This thread is becoming a false awakening support group for me. Good stories from cytariel and Kelsondra. SSILD just seems to crank so many of these FA's out for me. False awakenings seem like great entry points into lucid dreams but I am still such a newbie that I usually fail to capitalize. Reality check for goodness sake! The problem is that these are often totally realistic with a minimal amount of dreamlike content. Luckily, my first FA presented me with a crazy green energy storm that tipped me off. But the rest have been too "real life" and fooled me: real-looking alarm clock times, me complaining to my wife that I'm having trouble sleeping, my kids coming into the bedroom to wake me up, my wife bringing me downstairs and showing me something on the internet... Honestly, I'm so glad that I've never decided that I need to go to the bathroom in one of these things. I don't know what would happen. I enjoy pushing the boundaries of the dream world as much as the next guy but let's just not go there. Current LD goal(s): Stand on top of the Great Pyramid.

I am going to start trying this method properly but i have one question about it. As its stated its best with WBTB i don't feel i have the ability to get up for my normal time and then fall asleep while doing this, however i ALWAYS get up for the bathroom after awakening, what would you advise i do during WBTB, just go straight back to bed or stay up for a bit? Thanks Current LD goal(s): have more and lengthier LD's.

ritchie222 wrote: I am going to start trying this method properly but i have one question about it. As its stated its best with WBTB i don't feel i have the ability to get up for my normal time and then fall asleep while doing this, however i ALWAYS get up for the bathroom after awakening, what would you advise i do during WBTB, just go straight back to bed or stay up for a bit? Thanks ------- That's fine, as long as you have had a few hours of sleep. You can try to rinse your mouth. That should wake you up somewhat.

I used SSILD in order to induce another lucid dream last night. This was great fun as usual but I think that I fumbled the ball slightly. I was wondering what advice cosmic.iron or any others would have on the best way to address this particular scenario. I had a false awakening (as often happens with SSILD) and wound up standing near the foot of my bed. The room was extremely dark but I could see the outline of my wife sleeping in bed. Most striking to me was that the alarm clock had gone totally dark. I thought that either the power had gone out or I was dreaming. I hit the nose pinch reality check and immediately became lucid. The trouble that I had was that the room felt oppressively dark. That's realistic for the bedroom in the very early morning but I was concerned about the stability of the dream scene. I rubbed my hands over my arms. This felt just as vivid as usual but the room was still terribly dark and growing darker. I tried saying "increase lucidity" but I wound up just harshly whispering it rather than shouting it. I couldn't get past the idea that I didn't want to wake up my wife. Even though I knew that she was a DC, it still felt wrong to wake her up! The darkness kept gently descending until I lost the dream scene. What say all of you? What should I have done differently? Crawled around on the floor? Run out of the room as fast as possible? (I did this during my first SSILD lucid and it worked.) Stop being a weenie! Shout "increase lucidity" and just deal with an upset DC wife. Something else? Current LD goal(s): Stand on top of the Great Pyramid.

Lucid Wolf wrote:What say all of you? What should I have done differently? Crawled around on the floor? Run out of the room as fast as possible? (I did this during my first SSILD lucid and it worked.) Stop being a weenie! Shout "increase lucidity" and just deal with an upset DC wife. Something else?------- I'd say all of the above, item number 3 in particular, LOL. The other things I'd recommend: 1. Find a switch on the wall and turn on the light. Granted, the light may not get turned on, but "something" will. We discovered this neat trick through a lot of experiments conducted on our forum. When you flip the light switch, some part of your dream always gets turned on, be it the room, the other rooms, or some place outside. For example, we have seen night turns day, stars coming out, street lamps turned on, and even lightnings that correspond to each flip of the switch! After you do this, your dreamscape will become bright and stable. 2. Imagine a cliff behind you and step backward to fall into it. This is a very fast and effective way to change the dream scene. 3. Turn on your mobile phone and use that to light up the place... no I'm not kidding. 4. Grab and examine some objects closely. This works well on restoring your visions. Very handy for those dreadful instances when you experience a total blackout. Hope this helps.

cosmic.iron wrote:1. Find a switch on the wall and turn on the light. ... 2. Imagine a cliff behind you and step backward to fall into it. This is a very fast and effective way to change the dream scene. 3. Turn on your mobile phone and use that to light up the place... no I'm not kidding. 4. Grab and examine some objects closely. This works well on restoring your visions. Very handy for those dreadful instances when you experience a total blackout. ------- Excellent advice as usual! Many thanks. I will try all of the above. And that idea with the cliff sounds universally useful for all kinds of situations! That goes on my official "to do" list. Current LD goal(s): Stand on top of the Great Pyramid.

Very interesting technique ! I am not very good at LD but tried it yesterday with immediate success ! looks promising. My lucidity was low though and the recall is poor enough. Gone to bed at 11pm woke up at 4.30am (no alarm, I often wake up during the night). I did stay awake like 5 minutes before doing the cycles like 4 or 5 times. Then I turn back to my favorite sleeping position, felt asleep and had 3 FAs, which I believe is quite a lot. I Managed to do RC on each one which made me becomes lucid. Unfortunatly, as said before the recall is not very high, and the lucidity seemed very poor compared to WILD. Will try it tonight as well and see if the success rate is that high (look promising by seeing all reports on this forums as well as others !) edit: I was about to forgot, some people reported nightmares which I experienced too using SSILD. Do you guys think it's related ? Regards, Alexkid

I've done this technique before I even knew it existed! The spontaneous lucidity it gives you in dreams is kind of bizarre... for some reason it makes you more rational during your dreams, leading to a greater chance of realizing you are dreaming. I haven't done this technique for about a year, but I guess I will start doing it again. For me, the technique worked best when I went to bed at 10 PM, woke up at 4 AM, and then went back to sleep. Current LD goal(s): - Have a lucid dream by the end of July - Completely recall a dream

Note to self: SSILD is awesome. I went to bed at 00:20 and woke up at 3:15 (puppy crying). When I went back to bed I tried SSILD and I have to say this was probably the first time I've actually been able to do the whole thing correctly, that is, without losing track every 2 seconds . I did 5 cycles and whenever I lost focus it wasn't really hard to get back on track and keep going. I didn't see, hear or feel anything at all. When I was done I rolled on my side and tried to fall asleep as fast as possible. Next thing I know I got this lucid feeling and I do a nose RC. My level of lucidity wasn't the best, but it was pretty vivid and stable. I think what made it less awesome than it could have been was the fact that my DR hasn't been that great recently, so it feels like I forgot many parts. It was still great, though!

alexkid wrote: Very interesting technique ! I am not very good at LD but tried it yesterday with immediate success ! looks promising. My lucidity was low though and the recall is poor enough. Gone to bed at 11pm woke up at 4.30am (no alarm, I often wake up during the night). I did stay awake like 5 minutes before doing the cycles like 4 or 5 times. Then I turn back to my favorite sleeping position, felt asleep and had 3 FAs, which I believe is quite a lot. I Managed to do RC on each one which made me becomes lucid. Unfortunatly, as said before the recall is not very high, and the lucidity seemed very poor compared to WILD. Will try it tonight as well and see if the success rate is that high (look promising by seeing all reports on this forums as well as others !) edit: I was about to forgot, some people reported nightmares which I experienced too using SSILD. Do you guys think it's related ? Regards, Alexkid ------- I have seen hundreds of report, and based on what I saw there shouldn't be any relationship between SSILD and nightmares. One possibility, though, is that sometimes after performing SSILD one may suddenly enter SP or an SP-like state while asleep, and for some that can be a little scary and may turn into a nightmare as lucidity fades.

I tried this the night before last and last night. The night before last I woke up at 5:15 and did WBTB for about fifteen minutes before doing this method. I did it and was able to concentrate well, but I wasn't able to fall back asleep before 6:30, when I had to get up. Last night, I woke up around the same time and tried it without WBTB, figuring I would be able to fall back asleep better. I wasn't able to concentrate as much, but I got through the exercise and tried to go back to sleep. However, I wasn't able to fall back asleep until about 6:15, and when I woke up at 8 I hadn't remembered any dreams that may have been influenced by it. Current LD goal(s): To improve dream recall and improve awareness to help with WILD.

Okapis Rule wrote: I tried this the night before last and last night. The night before last I woke up at 5:15 and did WBTB for about fifteen minutes before doing this method. I did it and was able to concentrate well, but I wasn't able to fall back asleep before 6:30, when I had to get up. Last night, I woke up around the same time and tried it without WBTB, figuring I would be able to fall back asleep better. I wasn't able to concentrate as much, but I got through the exercise and tried to go back to sleep. However, I wasn't able to fall back asleep until about 6:15, and when I woke up at 8 I hadn't remembered any dreams that may have been influenced by it. ------- Please read carefully the bottom section of the article, which describes the reasons for not being able to fall asleep. Also, do not "think" about falling asleep. If you are worried about it you may just get what you fear for The cycling actually works very well as a way to make you feel very sleepy, if conducted correctly.