How to Have Wake Induced Lucid Dreams (WILDs)

The coolest brain hack I've ever experienced is the Wake Induced Lucid Dream - or WILD.

The name says it all: during a WILD, you literally hand-off your awareness from a physically waking state directly into a sleeping lucid dream state.

Though not the easiest technique, it does have two big advantages:

• Lucidity on demand - choose when you go lucid
• Peak lucidity - it's the most vivid type of dream possible

In this tutorial, I explain how to have a Wake Induced Lucid Dream via two routes: visualization (using your hypnagogia) and the out-of-body exit.

Buckle up, Dorothy, 'cause Kansas is going bye bye.

The WILD

This WILD technique stems from Tibetan Dream Yoga, a Buddhist philosophy used as a path to enlightenment. It's much easier if you frequently meditate. You'll see why in a moment.

Also know that, while it does usually require practice, WILD is also totally intuitive. I know people who naturally taught themselves to WILD as children. I call it "dreaming yourself to sleep".

The key is getting to know your body's sleep signals. Once you can identify the natural triggers and responses to falling asleep, you'll be able to exploit the process to have lucid dreams.

Step 1. Relax into The Corpse Pose

Think about how you fall asleep every night. We're going to replicate that process with one difference: as your body falls asleep, your mind will stay awake.

That may sound like an alien concept, but rest assured it's entirely possible - and it becomes easier with practice. When it does happen, you'll be surprised how natural it feels, slipping straight into the dream state with full awareness.

To begin, your body should already be very relaxed and loose. That's why it's so much easier to do after waking up from a deeper sleep (the ideal time to have a WILD is after 4-6 hours of sleep).

If you’re going to take a lucid dreaming supplement to potentiate this method, then take it now.

 

Step 1: Relax into the corpse pose

 

Lie on your back in the corpse pose. Other sleeping postures can work too, but I find this most effective because it doesn't cut off blood supply to any limbs and allows you to imagine floating for the OBE exit.

Empty your mind and gaze into the blackness of your closed eyelids. If any thoughts pop up, just observe them and send them on their way. Don't interact with your thoughts or let your inner monologue kick in.

Breathe slowly and deeply. Focus on breathing in to the count of four, holding for seven, then breathing out for eight counts. (This is also a great stress-reliever at any time of day.)

Do this ten times. You'll be totally relaxed.

If you find it hard to enter a state of quiet meditation, brainwave entrainment is extremely useful. It gets me into the altered state of awareness necessary for a WILD on any occasion.

Step 2. Observe Your Hypnagogia

After a while, you'll notice the onset of the hypnagogic state.

The most obvious sign involves phosphorescent patterns flowing behind your closed eyelids. Allow yourself to become mesmerized by the color play and let it draw your awareness inwards.

Some people have difficulty seeing these patterns for some reason. I normally suggest that you try very gently placing the slightest bit of pressure on your closed eyelids with the palms of your hands for about 20-30 seconds

As you do it, try to literally look at the back of your eyelids.

This should slowly trigger a cascade of phosphorescence!

This trick can help plant the seed for the rest of this technique, as once you start the patterns off, they are easier to latch onto.

Don't let it all seize your attention, but relax and flow with it as you transition into the dream state.

You can interact with your hypnagogia if it draws you deeper into the meditation. Some people prefer to ignore it, allowing what's beyond the hypnagogic imagery to produce the dream instead.

As you go deeper, your hypnagogia may also simulate sounds (like distant music or voices) and physical sensations (like floating or tipping out of bed). This is all normal. Often, your mind is asleep by this point.

Hold on to your consciousness awareness. Don't fall asleep. You need awareness to go lucid.

Step 2 - Observe your hypnagogia

Sometimes you'll wake up in the night and find yourself already immersed in this deep, dreamy state. Your body is soft and relaxed. And your mind drifts between your bedroom and the dream world.

When you catch that cloud - float on it.

If you jump out of bed to use the bathroom at this point, you'll have to start over. The same goes if your partner starts walking around the bedroom. You need absolute peace and stillness and mental immersion.

Zero external distractions allow you to focus in.

Soon, the internal dream world will start to evolve, either directly from the hypnagogic images or from the space beyond it, beyond your field of vision. Wherever it comes from, embrace it.

All the while, silently and slowly repeat the mantra: "I'm dreaming... I'm dreaming... I'm dreaming..." At this point, the temptation to let go and fall asleep mentally is the strongest. Hold on just a bit more.

If you're startled by any unusual hypnagogia remember it's just the dream world emerging in your mind.

I once heard a man's voice which seemed to come from outside my bedroom window yell: "It's f***ing winter!" Of course, there was no-one there. It was all in my head.

Expect the unexpected!

This may include the onset of sleep paralysis. (Don't be alarmed - use it.)

More often, you'll find your body becomes a distant memory (you can no longer feel it in bed) and your mind will start to make leaps into other realms.

The dream is close.

Step 3. Create a Dream Scene

If you feel the dream state coming on in fleeting but intense snatches of memory - you're ready to start the launch sequence for your lucid dream.

If not, then enjoy the hypnagogia for longer, and don't put any pressure on yourself to succeed at every attempt. In fact, you'll probably need to practice just getting to this point many times before you can launch into a lucid dream. It's totally worth it.

If you're ready to launch, you have two options:

• The visualization method
• The out-of-body exit

I prefer the former. Not that I always get a choice.

 

3a - The Visualization Method

If you're a dab hand at visualization, you can start to picture your desired dream scene in your mind's eye. Layer up the landscape, like an artist, or recall the face of a desired dream character. Make it vivid.

Once again, you can either program the images into your moving visual hypnagogia (it's easily controlled with willpower at this point) or draw the imagery from beyond your field of vision.

As the scene intensifies in your imagination, put yourself right in the middle of the action. Explore your surroundings in a calm, peaceful manner. Immerse your awareness as fully as possible.

Move around. Kinetic sensations such as walking, running or riding a bicycle are a great way to "teleport" your awareness into a dream body. And that's the critical goal here: to forget about the real body and inhabit a lucid dream body, wafting around in an alternate reality.

Step 3a - Visualize your desired dreamscape

With your mind absorbed in the vivid daydream, allow your body to fall asleep altogether. You do this by forgetting - or even denying - its existence. It should be completely limp and relaxed; a distant memory of an old body. It's not yours, you don't control it, you don't even know how. Right? This is dissociation.

With complete dissociation, the moment of transition is unmistakable. You will POP into your daydream, now a highly vivid lucid dream world, surrounding you in three dimensions and fully tangible and interactive.

The dream is now easy and effortless and you will not believe how you just did that.

You are now lucid dreaming!

(Tip: Do a reality check for good measure. Verbalize your desires. You will have full dream control.)

 

3b - The Out-of-Body Exit

Here's the alternative route to a Wake Induced Lucid Dream.

Sometimes you're so swept up in your hypnagogic meditation that your body falls asleep before you have the chance to visualize a dream scene. No big deal.

When this happens your awareness has nowhere to go but your own bedroom, except now you are lucid dreaming. It is a dream bedroom, and you are lying in a dream bed.

It's hard to tell, because the room will look incredibly lifelike, whether it's your familiar bedroom or a temporary sleeping environment like a hotel room. Look for minute oddities - there's usually something to give it away.

The startling realism, combined with the lack of any clear transition, is why so many people believe they are having a literal out of body experience at this point.

Don't be fooled. Scientific simulations of the OBE state, plus considerable crossover with the WILD technique, strongly indicate this is a type of lucid dream.

(Believe what you want, I'm just saying there's no need to shatter your existential philosophy when all that's happened is you had a WILD lucid dream.)

Here are some clues to help you recognize when you're in this state:

• Vibrations. You may experience hypnagogic vibrations, or a very loud buzzing sound, which seems to come out of nowhere.
  
  It feels like electricity, or a fast vibrating in your head, and you may even wonder if your head is going to explode. But it doesn't actually hurt; it's just a very noisy distraction that simply means you're on the brink of falling asleep consciously. Think of it as like changing frequencies on a radio.


• Sleep paralysis. When your body goes to sleep, it enters REM atonia, or sleep paralysis, to prevent you from acting out your dreams.
  
  However, if you're trying to have a WILD lucid dream via the out-of-body route you have a greater likelihood of experiencing REM atonia. It feels like your limbs are going numb; a lead blanket moving up your body. If you're scared, snap out of this state by moving any part of your body which is not yet paralyzed.
  
  Otherwise, relax and embrace it. This is the start of your lucid dream.


• A presence. If you become afraid during sleep paralysis, you may accidentally invite unwanted characters into your lucid dream (yes, you are already lucid dreaming at this point; you're just "stuck" in the wrong bodily concept. Your awareness is geared to a paralyzed physical body when you want to be in a liberated lucid dream body).
  
  Sleep paralysis figures can actually be menacing or benign. It depends on your own thoughts and beliefs. Just remember, you are dreaming and you are in control.

The moment you realize it's happening, you can launch your out-of-body exit.

You may be able to climb out of bed normally. However, more often, it's hard (even impossible) to move your limbs. No problem. This is a dream, remember? With willpower, you can sink, swing or float out of your body.

Step 3b - Float, sink or swing out of the paralysis

How do you visualize the sensation of floating out of your body?

Imagine floating in water. Or imagine how it feels when you're swinging really high on a swing in the park. That kinetic sensation can free you from the illusion that your dream body is paralyzed.

Alternatively, visualize a new dream scene. Say to yourself "I'm going to the mountains now". You're already lucid dreaming, so it's easy to teleport away with the power of thought. This is how dream control works.

If, in the rare instance, you find you have company in your bedroom (I'm talking angels or demons or even Bart Simpson) welcome them with positive feelings and ask for some help.

Say: "Can you take me to the park?" (Or anywhere to get out of the paralysis environment. Where do you want your lucid dream to go?)

Expect that they will. Expectation drives everything.

Even Bart Simpson can appear during your sleep paralysis hallucination

Troubleshooting Wake Induced Lucid Dreams

Learning how to have a WILD can take time and an understanding of your body's sleep signals.

The first WILD is always the hardest because you don't know what you're aiming for. Stick with it, and make it a night-time meditation habit. Even a failed WILD attempt is good practice.

And when you do pull it off, you'll be amazed at how easy and seamless it all felt.

The most common complaints with WILD? Either people find they can't relax enough, or they become too relaxed and fall asleep. So bear these points in mind:

• Total relaxation is essential.

  It's just like falling asleep every night - you won't get to sleep if you're tossing and turning, or if your head is full of internal dialogue.
  
  When I first started practicing WILDs, I spent a lot of time listening to white noise for meditation, such as BlissCoded Sound. This creates an effortless meditation, clearing your mind and relaxing your body. It also feels really good.
  
  If you meditate like this for 30-60 minutes regularly it can help prime your mind and body for more lucid dreams. It's also good for stress relief, concentration, learning, and encouraging abstract thought. Meditators are naturally easy lucid dreamers. The two skills go hand-in-hand.
  
  

• Conscious awareness is key.

  It does take practice and mental conditioning to stay conscious while your body falls asleep. But it is not as hard as you may think.
  
  Practice WILDs when you are relaxed but not completely exhausted. This is one reason why it's ideal to have a WILD after 4-6 hours of sleep.
  
  Focus on your dream visualization and choose a mantra that brings you into the moment.
  
  You don't have to be a yogi. The WILD technique need only take a few minutes from start to finish. When used in dream re-entry, it can happen in seconds.

• Enjoy The Journey

  Whichever way you look at it, WILD is the trickiest lucid dreaming technique to master!

  Many beginners have some initial success with reality checks, DILDs and MILDs – but the WILD may elude them for many months more.

  Don’t expect instant success.

  But rather focus on enjoying the journey. Be outcome independent and relaxed about the whole thing.

  Because the key is not to get frustrated.

  Even the most experienced lucid dreamers get at most a 50-60% success rate when attempting a WILD.

  So embrace and appreciate every micro-step you take along this pathway of falling asleep consciously!

  It can help to join a lucid dreaming community.

  While you are learning, you can get advice and support from other lucid dreamers who have successfully learned the WILD technique themselves (and some that are learning at the same time).

  This can assist with motivation and keeping a positive mindset - as you realise you are not alone in your journey.

  Plus if you join our own community the World of Lucid Dreaming Academy, you get access to additional WILD specific tutorials and exclusive learning materials - as well as all 30 modules of our full lucid dreaming course.