Cosmic Iron or anyone with suggestions:

I tried SSILD a few times since the success recorded below and I think the anticipation(I don't seem super excited) is waking me up more than normal so I am having trouble going to sleep. Last night went to bed a little late(does going to bed earlier help with getting back to sleep?) maybe to bed by 11:15pm and got up earlier than normal around 3:45am to use the restroom. Went quickly back to bed in most comfortable position,did cycles restarting at first cycle or continuing where left off if knew where I left off, finished then tried to sleep. After a while I felt the urge to lay on my side, so I did(which tends to hurt my back, so I roll back to my back-though during the success I wonder if I stayed on my side-so my back may be a tricky factor). I also had what seemed like the beginning of about 10 different dreams(very short-maybe 2-7seconds, were dream like scenarios, not like typical daydreaming)finding myself awake in between them before dozing off after a good while (several RC's done=awake). I suprisingly was not very tired today but was quite tired in the 2 previous times I tried after the success(took a week or so off).

Any ideas?

cosmic.iron wrote:
fogelbise wrote:
Cosmic Iron, thank you for continuing to research/refine your method!

Lucky1990, check the tutorial in the meantime, should help with some of your questions.

My Experience in brief. LD last night from SSILD!(assumed)  In the past, I had at least one lucid dream maybe around 12years old after my father told me about it as a way to deal with nightmares(defeating the "monster") but over the years I got away from the practice of recalling my dreams, much less having lucid dreams. In the last 10days or so I started researching, started dream journal, reality checks, looked at different methods to induce LD and decided to try SSILD. Had LD last night on 3rd night time attempt (3 night time attempts, 2 afternoon nap attempts=no luck at nap). LD success was great, though a little short and was discovered instantly when something happened and I said "this is a dream, now I can do what I want"(and did until it ended) - did not do RC in dream.

Some challenges to work through further. Before starting LD methods, I was already waking up to use the bathroom about 4-5 hours after going to bed so don't need the alarm I think. Previously it seemed I could go back to sleep within 1 minute. SSILD seems to wake me up more so I tweaked it last night so I only stayed out of bed maybe 2 minutes and went straight to SSILD cycles, still didn't sleep right away (verified through RCs) like normal but did have a big event today-so that probably didn't help me in dozing off quickly after cycles and is the type of event that can cause some insomnia where I normally have none. Also some noises including wife noise/movement probably isn't ideal - I put in ear plugs last night when it worked! I only did a few short *additional cycles after putting in earplugs.

Any tips?
-------

It is really rewarding when I read about people's success stories with this technique. They make the effort worthwhile!

If you always have trouble falling asleep after the exercise, you should consider the following:

1. Get up a little early and go back to bed quickly.

2. Sleep in the usual, most comfortable position.

3. Do more short cycles and fewer long cycles.

4. Don't get up at all. Just remember to do a few cycles upon each subsequent awakening. I call this "chaining" and usually you will hit some HIs or FAs after the first couple of tries.

I hope this helps
          Current LD goal(s): Consistant, long LDs  

Really awesome experience! More on that in a bit. First:

**I can't blame ssild for my trouble getting back to sleep. This night I decided I wasn't even going to try because I had a game the next day and wanted to be fully rested. Got up as usual to use the bathroom and had trouble getting back to sleep and I think the blame is my mind thinking about lucidity since I wasnt doing cycles. After getting up one more time and not being able to sleep I decided to the cylcles for relaxation.

That night I was reading about someones scary sleep paralysis experience and had decided if I get SP I would use what other people have sugguested or used (with SP many people see a figure or creature or alien or whatever holding them down as the minds way of explaining why they can't move) so I decided to use imagining a beautiful woman holding me down.

What are the chances that I would have only my 2nd SP ever or maybe it was a dream where I became lucid and jumped into another dream? (First SP was maybe 8 months ago, well before I decided to get back to LD for 1st time since childhood, and at that time I didn't know what it was and it scared the heck out of me, evil spirit style, led me to research and got me thinking about LDs again). Anyway this night after having trouble going to sleep at some point I felt a dark figure creeping over me and I immediately switched it to the beautiful woman..don't remember seeing her but felt the paralysis, stayed calm and then had awesome vibrations  through my whole body as if I was under a jet engine! After it seemed to be going 10 seconds or so I decided to jump into a grayish formation and into a dream and I was flying lucid  but not real vivid at first. I was looking for an interesting place to stop...did at a green meadow with some characters I decided to shoot flames at, I guess because I had read about others trying this. I flew off somewhere else and should have wrote all this down earlier but ended up somewhere with a dark haired woman in some romantic situation and it seemed to end there.

Wow, the vibrations!!

Cosmic Iron or anyone...Still looking for a good way to not be so excited about LDing so I can sleep after the daily early morning trip to the bathroom. Before pursuing LDing I would knock right back out except rare ocassions of heavy stress. Again, on the night above I did not plan to SSILD but habitually did my RC as I got up to go the bathroom and my mind was still thinking about LDs and only later did SSILD cycles to relax after not being able to sleep.

          Current LD goal(s): Consistant, long LDs  

Nice Innerwolf! It sounds like we may both be somewhat new to this. How did you get your other LD?

   Quote:

Should I continue to do constant Reality Checks in the daytime to remember to do RC in SSILD dreams? or SSILD give that awareness naturally?

-------

My understanding is to not mix methods during bedtime only, so it should be fine and beneficial to do RCs during the day. I have seen Cosmic.Iron recommend RCs to know if you might be in a false awakening, and that takes making it a habit to verify dream in an FA or LD.

   Quote:

I dont understand how this can be called as a new method and a fancy name like ssild. it is same as wbtb combined with wild.

-------

Yes, can be a type of WILD but is a specific technique that is supposed to be easy for beginners and has brought me 2 LDs out of 7 attempts as a beginner (first LD attempts since childhood). Still trying to actively pursue consistent LDs without any downsides.

For me, not the method, but the success and anticipation is affecting my being able to go back to sleep (I normally have no trouble. I wake up once nightly on average to go to the bathroom). At first I thought it was the SSILD method but found same trouble without doing the cycles/method if I am thinking much about LDs when trying to go back to sleep. In case it helps anyone with the same issue or also if anyone has suggestions for WBTB insomnia which must be a form of "middle of the night insomnia", "maintenance insomnia" among other names I will list what I am trying to get around this issue.



-Avoid thoughts of LD including using methods during nights before work days or needing to get up early with energy.

-If I cheat and do it during work week, don't do it 2 nights in a row (2nd night of insomnia=great exhaustion, 1 night of 45-90minutes of insomnia = not bad exhaustion next day)

-avoid night light when I get up to go to bathroom, and I stay up very little (no trouble staying alert to do cycles, though some drifting)

-close the drapes to keep the early morning light from creeping in eventually

-put in ear plugs after waking to reduce various real life noises - though I may need better ear plugs

-tried adding thinking about area 2 inches above roof of mouth to induce sleepiness -read somewhere..not sure if it or a combination of methods may have helped reduce the insomnia time to 45minutes last night and brought on SP and vibrations..didn't transition to LD this time but fell asleep shortly after.

          Current LD goal(s): Consistant, long LDs