WILD (Wake Initiated/Induced Lucid Dreaming)

The Wake Initiated/Induced Lucid (aka WILD) is often referred to as the most powerful method of inducing lucid dreaming known to mankind. Firstly, it allows the dreamer to have a conscious dream at will and secondly, it produces the most vivid form of lucid dream as there is no lapse in consciousness. For this latter reason, the technique has also been referred to as Mind Awake/Body Asleep technique as the dreamer enters lucidity directly from a waking state. This is a method used by out-of-body explorers (this is not my particular area of practice, I have never intentionally tried to induce an OBE, although I have experienced what is described below in the section on the OBE Exit method) and depending on subtle differences in induction, can lead to either OBE or lucid dreaming. 

The modern WILD technique originates from practices used in Tibetan Buddhism which have been used for thousands of years and is known as the art of Dream Yoga. Buddhists use Dream Yoga as one pathway to enlightenment, but the technique need not be restricted to those following a religious practice. Rather, it is a natural, instinctive way of accessing the unconscious mind and anecdotal evidence suggests many children figure out and develop this technique on their own, as a simple method of falling asleep. Prior to my dream practices and research, I developed a simplified and instinctive version of the WILD technique – relaxing whilst imagining a dream environment. I now use the WILD technique as part of my usual WBTB (Wake Back to Bed technique) which begins with lucid dream supplements, meditation and MILD (mnemonic technique) at the point of falling asleep; then waking naturally after a period of delta sleep (see below) and using WILD to re-enter a dream state. Although many of the dreams I have following successful indication using these methods, it is rare that I have an actual lucid dream, although I have noticed the presence of various lucid dream triggers in induced dreams. 

The best time to initiate a WILD dream is following 4 – 5 hours of deep (delta) sleep when the body is at its most relaxed and rejuvenated and REM cycles are at their longest – resulting in the most vivid forms of dream. A deep sleeper should set their alarm approximately 2 – 3 hours earlier than usual, whilst light sleepers should practice the WILD technique when they naturally wake during the night. Another alternative would be to practice the WILD technique when tired during the day and taking an afternoon nap, when the brain will immediately catch up on lost REM sleep (for example if you deprived yourself of sufficient REM sleep the previous night)

Physical & mental relaxation

Think about how you fall asleep each night – what your body and mind feel like as you are on the brink of sleep. You will replicate this process with one significant difference – as your body falls asleep, your mind will stay awake. Your body should be very relaxed, with your muscles loosened. Lie in a comfortable position – the one which you naturally fall asleep in – and keep yourself still. Empty your mind (this technique can be learned in meditation or normal yoga lessons) and gaze into the blackness of your eyelids. If thoughts pop up, observe them but don’t interact with them – try and free your mind from intrusive thoughts. If you find this difficult, try binaural beats (a form of brain entrainment) to automatically induce this state.

Hypnagogic state

Lead your mind into the sleepy half-dream state of hynagogia. Sometimes when waking during the night you will already be in this state. Your body will be soft and relaxed and mind drifting back into the dream world without any effort from yourself – make use of this opportunity when it next occurs. If you are attempting the WILD technique ‘cold’ i.e. from a waking state, you will need to undertake physical and mental relaxation for at least 10 minutes before entering a hynagogic state.

Once in the hynagogic state, you will see colours and patterns which will enter your field of vision. Observe the hynagogic phenomena and go ‘deeper’, allowing the visions to hypnotise you and draw your attention away from the external, ‘waking’ world. The internal dream will start to evolve now. Let your body relax even further and sink into the bed, keeping absolutely still and imagining numbness is taking over your body (when I do this I feel incredibly peaceful, but my body feels cold and tingly and often I feel my eyelids uncontrollably flickering – which indicates an REM state halfway between sleep and dreaming. I feel ‘heavy’ also, but I have a lot of practice in relaxing muscles and often experience this sensation when doing ordinary yoga relaxation methods). Silence your ‘inner monologue’ of thoughts if they start to intrude. Some people experience hynagogic sounds – echoes of voices and other sounds in your mind, and when this happens you should relax and enjoy the experience. 

Creating a dream scene

At this point you need to judge whether you feel sufficiently relaxed or ready to enter sleep. If not, stay within the hynagogic state for longer. However, if you feel the dream state occurring and you feel sufficiently detached from the real waking world then you are ready to start the launch sequence of your (lucid) dream. Once you are experienced in the WILD technique you will come to know the signals which precede a WILD technique induced dream.

The Visualisation Method – if you have vivid dreams you should begin to visualise a vivid dream scene in as much intricate detail as is possible. Place yourself directly in the dream scene and explore your surroundings in a calm, peaceful manner, taking in the information and sensations. You may wish to create the audio sounds of your dream or a particular dream activity – select your strongest sense to fully engage your mind in what feels like a vivid form of day-dreaming. Some people will be able to use multiple senses simultaneously. Keep reminding yourself that you are dreaming – this is helpful for staying lucid during your dream. Let your mind absorb the half-dream state and allow yourself to fall asleep, losing all awareness of your physical body. You will sense that you are no longer lying asleep in your bed, but waking into a dream world. It is very difficult to describe the visualisation of a dream scene – due to the highly subjective, internally-generated experience and possession of insufficient language to communicate other levels of perceived ‘realness’. I use my ‘mind’s eye’ to recall imaginary visual stimulus – such as a building from a previous dream or a face seen in a dream. The main human senses and sub-senses which may be used in this process include: Visual (Seeing); Auditory (Hearing); Tactile (Touching); Olfactory (Smelling); Gustatory (Tasting); Equilibrioception (Balance); Proprioception (Joint Movement); Kinesthesia (Acceleration); Thermoception (Temperature); and Nociception (Pain). Any of these sensory mechanisms can be employed in the visualisation method of the WILD technique. 

The OBE Exit – sometimes you will be so immersed in the hynagogic meditation state that your body falls asleep before your mind has a change to properly create a dream scene. Your awareness is restricted to your physical reality – except you are dreaming and you are lying in bed in your dream. The lack of transition is why so many people conclude that this is an Out of Body Experience – it literally feels you are still asleep, lying in bed with the ability to float out of your body. 

You should try to recognise the subtle transition from waking to dreaming which is often virtually seamless. You may hold on to an awareness of your sleeping body which is now subject to REM atonia (sleep paralysis) and feel as if your limbs are numb or the blanket is weighing heavily on your body. Relax and embrace this feeling. You may experience vibrations or a buzzing sound which feels like an electrical pulse in your head – this is a noisy distraction which simply signals that you are on the brink of conscious dreaming and is nothing to be concerned about. If you become panicked or convince yourself that you are having a genuine Out of Body Experience you may well accidentally invite other ‘beings’ (when this happens to me, I have frightening hallucinations of deformed or disfigured faces in my bedroom) which may be negative or positive depending on your projected thoughts and beliefs about the experience. If this happens, you are dreaming and remain in control of your actions and those of your dream characters, although it may take time to learn how to use this understanding in your actual dreams. 

Embrace your dream and ‘leave’ your body. Your room/environment will look incredibility realistic as it will be triggered by waking memories and the place where you feel asleep. This experience will be very confusing at first – it will feel as if you have simply woken up. Perform a reality check at this point, or else you run the risk of just lapsing back into a proper sleep and waste the opportunity to maintain lucid.

Enter the lucid dream

The final step is to fully submerge your awareness in the lucid dream – and stabilise the dream to prevent yourself from accidentally waking. If you used the visualisation method, keep exploring the dream with all your senses. Remind yourself that you are dreaming and perform reality checks. You will know you are dreaming as the whole scene will appear in three dimensions and like a real environment you can inhabit. You will have little or no awareness of your physical, sleeping body; your bed or the real, waking world. If you used the OBE Exit method you will need to free your dream body from the distant sense of your physical body which is lying asleep in bed – one of the quirks of the OBE Exit method, possibly caused by the confusion of the conscious brain switching from waking reality to the lucid dream state, while the perceived surroundings remain unchanged. You may be able to climb out of bed normally, but if the sensation of sleep paralysis remains with you it may be difficult, or even impossible, to move your limbs freely. Try sinking or floating out of your body instead – using a kinetic motion to free yourself from your body. Alternatively, relax and visualise a new dream scene, using your most powerful sense to engage yourself. It should be much easier to create and visualise a dream from here and ‘teleport’ instantly.

Learning and perfecting the WILD technique requites time and considerable awareness of the optimum state. However, once you are in the Mind Awake/Body Asleep state, the actual dream creation is deceptively easy – make this your nightly meditation ritual as even a failed WILD technique attempt is good meditation/visualisation practice.

Dream 55

I was in the Loose Women studios, standing in front of the desk at which they present the programme. The lights were bright and there were television production crew working around me. My attention was drawn to a door at the far left of the enormous room, behind me. I turned to see two of the presenters, Andrea McLean and Lisa Maxwell entering. They were about to start filming the show in front of a live audience, although the audience were not yet seated in the studios. Andrea and Lisa seemed excited. As they came to the desk, I noticed that they were now in fancy dress - Andrea was dressed as a green and yellow duck (an oversized felt costume, with a huge headpiece which kept flopping down in front of her face) whilst Lisa was wearing a sparkling, gold lame 1920s-style flapper dress. Andrea seemed to be annoyed that Lisa was dressed more glamourously that she was and the two of them laughed and joked with one another whilst I looked on from a standing position. Andrea was seated at the end of the desk (where the 'lead' presenter usually sits - often Andrea does sit in this position in the show) and Lisa was to her right. Both of them appeared to be very youthful looking and I noted that they seemed different from how they looked on TV.

The scene changed and I was then in a lounge. The lights were dim and there was a roaring fire, adjacent to which was positioned a chaise lounge. I do not recall any of the other furniture in the room, or whether other people were present. Jessie Wallace was laying on the chaise lounge. She started being nasty, saying things which were offensive to me, but I cannot recall what words were said. I was looking down at her and I could see her bright, glossy red lipstick as she snarled at me. She was holding a cigarette. I grabbed the cigarette from her in anger and threw it into the fire. As it landed in the fire, I saw that it was a white crocheted Ugg boot. It burned in the fire and Jessie, still lying on the chaise lounge began cursing at me. I was then in a canteen, in sunny day light, surrounded by university students. In front of the long table, at which we were sitting was a huge, wall-sized window, looking out onto a garden filled with beautiful green trees. It looked like Spring/early Summer. I told the students that I had really upset Jessie Wallace by taking off her boot and throwing it in the fire (I do not recall that I did take off her boot - I definitely grabbed a cigarette from her hand which only became a boot when it landed in the fireplace). One of the students, a male, told me not to worry as Jessie deserved it.

I was then in Sheringham (childhood hometown) waiting to take part in a beauty parade. I was wearing a long white flowing dress, but the organiser, a middle-aged male man in a grey suit, told me that I needed to show more flesh. I ripped the skirt from the dress and underneath I was wearing some white Brazilian-cut knickers. I could see strange muscles running down the outside of my butt, hips and thighs - they were well-defined and prominent, about 10 inches long. I admired the muscles in a mirror. I was not aware of what kind of room I was in, only that I was standing in front of a full-length mirror. I was then suddenly seated at a picnic bench and I could hear various voices discussing my appearance. One male voice confirmed that the muscles on the sides of my lower body were exactly what they were looking for and I would definitely win the beauty contest. I felt hands touch my lower body from behind, as I was seated. I woke up.

Andrea McLean & Lisa Maxwell, presenters on ITV show, Loose Women

Jessie Wallace aka Kat Slater/Moon in Eastenders

Dream 54

I was seated opposite a male, across a huge wooden desk in a large, darkly lit room which had bookshelves lining the walls from top to bottom. The desk was so big it filled most of the room. The male was not known to me in real-life. He was wearing a white lab coat and had thick curly black hair. I was aware that I was being interviewed for a job of some sort. I was answering his questions and felt perfectly calm. I then had a 'flashback' within the dream, to a memory (only in the dream, not a 'real-life' memory 'remembered' within the dream) of a previous job I had had in the recent past. Instead of merely remembering this time, I was transported back to it, as if I was experiencing it again. The job involved standing at a small kiosk. I was in or near a train station, but it was an old-fashioned station. I was selling newspapers and guns to the passengers about to get on the trains. My friend SD was there, but he was telling me I shouldn't be doing this for money. I told him I did it because I love newspapers and guns (I think this may reflect my real-life desires to combine a career of criminal law and writing, but I have tried some free association exercises on this particular dream scene, the results of which I shall write-up separately in due course, which tend to point to a more oblique meaning of the symbols). I was then back in the big room where the interview was taking place. It now appeared that it was no longer an interview, but a room where an operation was taking place. The person performing the surgery was the middle-aged man who had been interviewing me for a new job. It appeared that I had been successful and was now working as his assistant. The dog, N, was lying on the wooden table, which was now narrower. He was anaesthetised and cut open down the side of his stomach, but there was no blood or anything gory - his insides looks like clean, plastic toys of bright primary colours. I asked what was happening. The man told me that N had eaten some fruit and it was stuck in his liver. He was operating to remove the fruit. I looked at N and saw the insides were now clearly plastic fruits. I didn't feel worried as I was confident that the man would do his best and N would be fine. I now saw that the room was filled with many desks, like a school classroom. There were students sat at the desks, watching myself, the man and N. It transpired that we were performing the operation on N to teach the class about the risks of fruit getting stuck in the liver and how to remove it. I'm not sure what subject this class was connected to - veterinary medicine? general medicine? The operation was performed on N successfully and he walked out of the classroom, recovered. I felt very pleased - the man had just pulled the plastic toy fruits from N and sewed him up, with no blood, scars or mess whatsoever. The day before this dream, in real-life, I had read the autobiography of three Irish sisters who were repeatedly raped by their father - Click Click (2011) - which describes their experiences working in the family factory, stuffing and sewing up teddy bears, and then going on to obtain college educations. I was then mingling with the other students, walking amongst the desks in the room. I suddenly realised that I was in a dream. I cannot recall what triggered it, but prior to falling asleep I had focused really hard on mnemonic induction techniques, telling myself that I must become lucid and recall my dream. I said really loudly (on purpose, I forced this to happen with my lucid mind): "I'm lucid dreaming, I can do what I want". However, something strange happened. The students told me that I was awake and this was no dream. I then had an uncontrollable feeling that I was about to wake up to prove them wrong, to prove I really had been asleep and dreaming. I tried to fight this feeling, trying to force myself to stay asleep and continue working with the lucidity to enhance my dream experience. I did this by holding on really tight to the edge of one of the desks. One of the students said: "You have to go now" and I replied; "No, I'm trying to stay" (I think this meant: 'I'm trying to stay asleep, within the dream') but I felt myself waking and did in fact wake up.

Dream 53

Dream date: 8th June 2012

I was in an old-fashioned pub, standing behind the bar, which was all made of dark wood, with strange ethnic curios decorating the surface and walls. The light was very dim. I was mixing a drink, but I kept making mistakes, using the wrong ingredients and measurements. The drink I was trying to make was called a "Dromedary" (i.e. camel). The ingredients were coffee, whisky and a licquer, but I was using the wrong licquers and the drink tasted foul - the worst taste and smell I have ever come across! I kept mixing new versions of the Dromedary drink, but every time the drink got worse and worse. I began to panic - the smell and taste was really awful. I couldn't understand why anyone would want such a terrible drink, but I felt under a duty to make it properly. I woke up suddenly and in real panic, to find that someone was burning bacon  downstairs in real-life and smoke had filled the house, explaining the taste/smell I experienced during the dream.

Dromedary/camel

Picture found in search for 'coffee whisky licquer' - the ingredients of the 'Dromedary' drink

Burning bacon - the smell of the 'Dromedary' drink

Dream 52

Dream date: 2nd June 2012

I was in my bedroom in London with PS. He was recounting what our friend DA had done the night before (Friday in the dream). PS was telling me that DA had been out drinking and had a one-night-stand with a girl (Emily Smith - she is not known to either myself or PS and DA in real-life, although a few days prior to this dream, I noticed the name 'Emily Smith' in relation to someone's mutual friend on Facebook) who PS and DA had known from their school days. 

PS had an iphone and he showed me a video which apparently depicted Emily Smith and her female friend the morning after the one-night-stand with DA, which was a Saturday, and the day in which the dream was set. The video was playing on the screen, but I saw it in the third person in 3-D, as if I were in the same room as them, standing a short distance away. The girls were getting ready to go out and were laughing and discussing the night before, what had happened in the nightclub and the one-night-stand with DA. Emily Smith seemed very happy and her friend was asking questions about DA. I saw the room they were in - a lounge room with dark brown furniture and lots of feminine accessories, such as cosmetics and handbags/shoes/clothes lying around on the chairs and floor. Dust was trailing in through a window, illuminated by the morning light (a scene I recall from my real-life childhood - seeing dust or smoke hanging visible in a ray of sunlight, whilst I sat on the floor in PC's living-room). Emily Smith was voluptuous with huge breasts and hips and a dark fake tan. Her hair was long, bleached hair extensions and she was wearing a white cropped top and matching mini-skirt with high stiletto heels. I would describe her as a wanna-be glamour model or typical 'Essex girl' by appearance. She and her friend were laughing and they headed to Camden, where I saw them walking past the lock and the market, arm in arm, laughing and having fun in the sunshine. At no point was I interacting with the girls, as I was definitely watching this as a video on the iphone, as I found myself back in the bedroom, looking at the action on the screen again.

I asked PS about Emily Smith. He said that DA was pleased he had had sex with her last night, but wouldn't be her boyfriend. He said that when she was at school she had been even more beautiful, with long silky blonde hair, like a 'Sindy Doll'. I wondered (i.e. I did not speak these thoughts aloud) why PS would have described her hair as similar to Sindy as opposed to the more-popular Barbie. I then had a close up image of both Sindy and Barbie - Sindy's hair was more ash-blonde (Barbie was more yellow-blonde) and therefore I understood why the comparison had been made with Sindy. PS told me that at school, Emily Smith had been much slimmer with long slender legs. I saw an image of the young Emily Smith - with long tanned limbs and hair just like the Sindy doll. In the image I saw of her in my mind (based on PS's descriptions), she was seated, with her legs bent at the knee and brought up to her chest, and the background was a dusky purple colour, perhaps like the dim, seductive lighting of a nightclub). It was strange, but I immediately knew that the mental image of the younger Emily Smith was from an occasion she had been to Norwich. From this I felt certain that she also knew my ex-boyfriend who lives in Norwich, HL and I had a clear mental impression of Emily Smith in a house in Norwich in December, with her family. coming in from a day Christmas shopping - like I was remembering the event myself having been there or experiencing it as Emily Smith.

I felt angry and jealous. I picked up the iphone from the desk, next to which PS and I were standing. I specifically noticed that, just as in real-life, PS's iphone had a pea-green rubber protective cover. I snapped the i-phone in two pieces with my hands and felt shocked at my strength and power, but PS was laughing. He showed me that he in fact was still holding his i-phone (with the green cover), undamaged. The replica iphone I had destroyed was apparently our friend SB's 'fake' version and was merely a representation of an iphone with no function or digital parts, simply an empty casing. I threw the two pieces of SB's fake iphone down on the floor in anger, and stared at them for a moment. DA came into the room. I asked him about Emily Smith and he was very pleased with what had happened. He then asked PS if he was annoyed about the one-night-stand and I enquired why it would bother PS. DA told me that PS had been in love with Emily Smith when they were at school. I asked PS if it were true and he admitted it was. I was angry, asking him why he had never mentioned this before. He tried to act nonchalant and I grew increasingly frustrated. I jumped on PS, pushing him to the ground and landing on top of him. We were lying by the desk in the bedroom, but now there was a pane of glass panelling between the desk and the bed, indicating that the room was much bigger than it is in real-life. I had my hands around PS’s throat, strangling him. I asked if he had previously ever had sex with Emily Smith. He was laughing and choking, but managed to say 'yes'. I asked him what happened. He said this exact phrase: "She asked me to put a condom on her Pritt Stick" (a brand of glue often used in schools). I didn't know what this meant and we wrestled on the floor, PS still laughing and choking. I don't know what happened to DA whilst this was happening. I woke up.

Iphone with green cover

Barbie doll

Sindy Doll

Pritt Stick glue

Valeria Lukyanova - a 21 year old Ukrainian female, known as the 'Human Barbie' - I read an article about Valeria in the week preceding this dream, which may have inspired the manifest content of 'Emily Smith'