主题:Holding A Stone To Stay Awake During CyclesOkay, so I'm someone who falls asleep really fast. I've never made it through a single long cycle without zzzzzzzzz'ing off.
CosmicI suggested I try doing the cycles in an uncomfortable position to stay awake. I was planning on doing that last night but when the time came (3am to be precise) I couldn't find a position that was more uncomfortable than sleeping in my car. I do a lot of all night driving for work, to save money on hotels, and I've gotten into the habit of pulling over and dropping instantly into sleep for 2 minute car-naps to reset my circadian rhythms.
Then I noticed a small beach stone on my bedside table and decided to try holding it in my hand, with my hand hanging over the side of the bed, as a way to stay awake during the long cycles. It worked.
I didn't have lucid dream but I did experience something pretty trippy. It was like watching an instant replay of my brain falling asleep, but in slow motion. All that stuff I usually miss. A constant shuttling back and forth of being conscious of myself in bed, holding a stone, and being a full emotional participant of an instantly created dream scene, or hearing voices, or feeling that my body was smaller, or more narrow, or that my field of vision behind my closed eyes was a tunnel vision. And then back to being in bed with that stone.
I had a lot of intense dreams and woke up with that slightly drugged feeling I get when I use Galantamine. Like my body was off-rhythm.
It was all very interesting and I'm going to try again tonight.
Wow. I think you might have discovered good tricks. Holding a stone in your hand not only keeps you awake during cycles, the tactile feedback might make it easier to do the cycles too. I'm very interested in the progress you will make via this. Please keep us posted!
The sensations you've felt indicates that you're extremely close to entering a dream. In fact you were probably already in it (as well as some FAs). As you gain more experience with these sensations you will learn to utilize them to create successful dream entry!
No lucid dreams last night, but lots of intense dreams where it should have been sooo obvious I was dreaming. I'm going to double down on RC's during the day. Hopefully my dreaming brain will take note.
The thing that amazes me about the holding-the-stone method is how quickly I go from being consciously aware, in bed, to being another version of me in another version of reality with no concept that I'd just slipped into a dream. And then how quickly I come back to myself in bed. It's as fast as flicking on and off a switch.
Every time I come back to myself I think something like: I can't believe I forgot I'm really in bed. Next time I will absolutely remember. And an instant later I'm gone again.
I may try something like caffeine or choline to ramp up my conscious awareness.
I suspect when you snap back you are already in a state for WILD to occur more easily. See if doing something like this will help... once you snap back, you:
1. Relax your head and allow the back of it to sink into the pillow. You can even force it a little bit.
2 Do a few more relaxed cycle.
3. Very delicately release the stone in your hand, try not engaging your muscles.
4. Assuming you've done step 3 successfully you direct attention to your nose. You should feel some pressure on it.
5. Again, without involving your muscles you raise your hand and move it toward your nose. Don't worry if it seems like you are gliding through and rubbing against the blanket.
6. Pinch your nose and see if you can breathe. If you can indeed breathe you are in a dream and by this time you have directed your focus into it (instead of reality.)
7. Gently pull yourself up toward the direction of your hand and you should be in a WILD/OBE whatever you prefer to call it.
If you fail at step 3, say, it's impossible for you to control your hand without using muscles then you can repeat step 1 and 2 then try again. Or of course, just go back to sleep.
Moving your hand without muscle sounds like something difficult to do. It indeed is when you're fully awake. However, in that delicate SSILD-induced waking state it is not at all impossible. For me and many others, it is even possible to accomplish that after we've physically moved. You can trust SSILD has conditioned your mind and body properly for that to happen. Hope this helps! Your experiment is very interesting! Good work! :)
Hmmm. I think I can try this. I have practiced "phantom wiggling" before so I get the concept.
I have also, during my daytime RC's started replacing "Am I dreaming?" with "I AM dreaming!" and visualizing myself as a tiny version of myself composed of thoughts, standing inside a giant dome that is actually the inside of my head, asleep on my bed.
Sort of like a Peter Max poster.
Thank you for all your encouragement. :)
I think it also works if you keep your arm perpendicular to your bed.
I think...I think you nailed it. I've been doing something similar but this just gave me a huge leap in the right direction - thank you so much.
Glad it helps. Keep us posted :)
I had a one second lucid dream last night. For an instant I was standing somewhere, and my hand brushed against something, and then I was back in bed holding that stone.