LDing for Idiots -- Senses Initiated Lucid Dream (SSILD)

[vince]

Holly cow, last night had a dream so vivid its no wonder we dont know the difference between waking and sleeping.

[Xanth]

Holly cow, last night had a dream so vivid its no wonder we dont know the difference between waking and sleeping.

All of my "dreams" are identical to this waking physical reality.    It does get confusing sometimes.

[dreamingod]

All of my "dreams" are identical to this waking physical reality.    It does get confusing sometimes.

I too get confused.

Three sleep cycles ago, I had a lucid dream/OOBE. I did not go to bed until ~5am (dawn).
Dim room. I got out of bed and picked up my tablet on my tallboy (dresser).
Then I plugged it to my adapter to charge it.
  I recognised the charger is not one I use for that device.
This realisation cause me to ask myself: is this a dream?
Suddenly I started to float upwards towards the ceiling.
My astral head pushed passed the white ceiling....

If I did not have the typical floating experience associated with OOBE,
I would have thought I was awake in PMR  

[Xanth]

I too get confused.

Three sleep cycles ago, I had a lucid dream/OOBE. I did not go to bed until ~5am (dawn).
Dim room. I got out of bed and picked up my tablet on my tallboy (dresser).
Then I plugged it to my adapter to charge it.
  I recognised the charger is not one I use for that device.
This realisation cause me to ask myself: is this a dream?
Suddenly I started to float upwards towards the ceiling.
My astral head pushed passed the white ceiling....

If I did not have the typical floating experience associated with OOBE,
I would have thought I was awake in PMR  

It's experiences like that that have driven a lot of my conclusions of the "non-physical". 

If there are times when you're non-physical and you just simply don't realize it... should make one wonder about what this physical reality is.  Just one of the infinite number of non-physical realities. 

[OOBE717]

Thanks for all the detail. i feel like I've been doing this for a while. I usually set delayed alarm that just barely wake me up to slip right back into the dream which is a DILD. You fully come up before going back down but lucid. You must wake up tired?

[AstralPhreak]

That is pretty detailed technique and it is awesome, glad you shared it with us!

[Privex]

This is an extremely thorough explanation. I am definitely going to try this tonight and see how it goes. Thank you!

[Nameless]

Just bumping this up even though it's stickied. There's a lot of truth here.

[PerspectiveShift]

New here on the forum… I’ve been reading this forum for months, but never came across this technique until last night.

To put a context on my experience… I’ve tried many different techniques and have been meditating consistently daily for probably 2-3 months without any breaks. (I find when I miss a day or 2  in meditation, my hypnagogic imagery and dream recall decline substantially).

I’ve only had an actual lucid dream (where I was fully aware I was dreaming) once, and I did have Galantamine during that episode which may have helped. Other than that I’ve been practicing for probably 6 months for lucid dreams or APs. I’ve just gotten more serious about this the past couple weeks by putting in more effort.

The one thing I like about this technique is I get into the “stray energy” or hynogogic imagery faster than with any other technique I’ve tried, probably because the cycling allows my eyes to relax, I find my eyes “reset” after moving from visual to auditory cycles and find them swing back less and less everytime I move from sensory to visual and try to limit my eyes from responding.

I get into hypnagogic imagery many times before the pre-cycling is over and it gets really intense by the time I do my first main cycle that I start losing consciousness and find myself forgetting where I was. I also found with this technique last night that I couldn’t go to sleep after cycling. I tried reality checks but I was fully awake and had a hard time going back to sleep. I guess that is a good thing as you maintain more awareness which is what I find with most LD techniques.

Any input for a newbie in this space would be helpful. And great to finally be here. You guys have helped me hugely already!

[EscapeVelocity]

Welcome to the Pulse PerspectiveShift,

This a great thread that Nameless pulled forward that synthesizes and clarifies many of the issues we deal with in maneuvering between Physical and Non-Physical states of consciousness. Yet it is still somehow not complete and I wonder that any single discussion can ever cover all the very subtle and almost intangible difficulties that we encounter in this practice.

I will concentrate on a few areas that may pertain to or suggest further questions-

A very brief summary to emphasize important points: We all want conscious exits into Non-Physical Reality (NPR), but there is no guarantee and we are all different so some few get natural, conscious exits while most of us start with Dreams, Lucid Dreams, WILDs, DILDs and various accidental or unexpected OBEs of varying types. My point is that you take what you can get and progress from there to the more controlled type of exit. Keep a journal and you will soon see patterns and areas of personal exploration that will become invaluable to your understanding. Some of my best experiences have started as Lucid Dreams, so don't ever deny those.

A key component to having almost any of these experiences is the Timing of the event and that typically involves a trial and error process of finding the right Time when you are in that perfectly relaxed state of mind to either have an experience or to initiate the proper sequence of events so that an experience will occur, either soon or sometime later. A certain disconnection of the normal "aware" mind is necessary; so daily meditation, while it is excellent and recommended training, may not get you the results you are seeking, but is excellent preparation. As this SSILD technique describes sleeping for 4-5 hours, then staying awake and active for 5 minutes and then applying the Noticing/Cycling technique...this is an effort to relax and get your PR mind out of the way so you can be open to the hypnogogic visuals. An alternative that I would suggest is the classic WBTB technique which is to awaken by alarm after 2-3 hours of sleep, then stay awake for 45 minutes or so and then try the Noticing technique. We can debate between hours to sleep or minutes to stay awake, the point is to experiment to find what works for you... so you need to experiment with the process. You may find that an afternoon nap on your day off has some great opportunities. Or you may find that awakening two hours before your normal morning pays dividends. I have found opportunities in all these different times and not always knowing when they would pay off. What helps is to know the other necessary aspects such as Noticing/Cycling and how to just Passively Observe until the NP Scene takes on its own life and action. Our earliest NP experiences really seem to depend on these two aspects, plus another.

That other aspect can deal with Intent. You need to have and to express an Intent or a reason for why you want to do this in the first place. Intent almost definitely works on multiple levels. If you just want fun, sex and excitement...that may get you something, some minimal experiences but probably not much more than that. It may be enough to get you an experience that invites you to seek further. Intent can also involve a process of "asking permission or granting permission" from your inner Self to do this highly unusual OBE thing; that is another possible aspect. But if you really aspire to a higher, spiritual cause then you should express that through your Intent. Expressing that Intent through a feeling or an Affirmation is not only an instruction to your Subconscious/Higher Self, it is also a declaration to the NPR, our Afterlife and the totality of beings that exist there. If you actually believe they exist and you wish to help, then this is your current form of communication with them and I advise a certain level of sincerity and gratitude for their assistance in your development. Because once you start down this road and have a few dozen experiences, it becomes quite apparent that others are involved. We all have Guardians and Helpers...

So, as a possible answer to your last question...when the hypnogogic imagery gets really intense...just passively observe it while remembering your basic Intent...and just observe...let it develop and transform until you are literally pulled into the scene...and then go with it...

And if nothing is working and you can't fall asleep, then just reaffirm your Intent once more and let it all go and relax into sleep as best you can. Maybe a LD will surprise you by morning!

EV

[PerspectiveShift]

Hey thank you EV for your detailed reply! That’s a great idea to try different Times of WBTB. One thing I’ve been reluctant on first starting out was having to wake up in the middle of the night and go back to bed, but the past couple weeks I’ve realized that it is necessary.

The closest I’ve gotten to a conscious AP/LD was in the early morning doing the noticing exercise after listening to Monroe’s Introduction to Focus 10. I saw a pinhole that opened up into an extremely lucid type of portal. I could see into the fiery opening that there was a massive blue Sun or planet suspended in blackness. It looked so realistic and intense I could feel myself sweating. It got so intense to a point where the scene started losing its vibrant colours, went grey, and I stopped seeing anything. I can see the balancing act there of passive noticing.

That was the most realistic visual I’ve ever seen. More vivid than my LD experience. I wear glasses in PR, but the imagery was crystal clear more so than PR. It was so close to an LD/AP experience, but I still had ties to my body as I could feel it getting nervous.

I also like what you said about intent. I’ve recently been talking to my guides to give them permission to help me. I’ll try asking them for permission to experience these phenomena as well. I do have a deep spiritual intent based on helping the whole move forwards spiritually. I’ll express this intent moving forwards. I may not be completely over the more base emotions, but I feel like I’ve come a long way in self development over the years.

As my younger self I had an “overnight success” type of mentality. But I’ve realized that everything worth having takes dedicated practice, time and effort.

So far, the hypnogogic states have fascinated me. They are so random. And they have dramatically reduced my fear of the unknown. Definitely looking forwards to delving deeper. Thanks again for your help!