The W.I.L.D. method, also known as the Wake Induced Lucid Dream, involves a whole class of lucid dreaming induction methods in which your aim is to shift your consciousness from waking state to a sleeping, yet lucid dream state. This ancient technique originates from Tibetan Buddhism practices and acts as a natural way of entering the dream realm.
Among all other lucid dreaming methods, this one is considered to be the most powerful technique for two reasons. First, it allows you to choose when you enter the dream state and second, it lets you experience heightened awareness without any suspension of consciousness.
Before we begin the four steps of the W.I.L.D. method, it is important to stress a little about the timing, since it’s a vital aspect. Therefore, the perfect timing is usually after 4-6 hours of sleep. In other words, when you are deeply relaxed and your REM sleep cycle is the longest. In order to pull this off, you need to set an alarm to wake you at the right time. Now that that’s settled, read on below and find out how to lucid dream using this method.
1. Relax your body and mind
Remember how you fall asleep each night? Basically, that’s what we’ll attempt to replicate, only without allowing your mind to drift asleep. This means only your body will go to sleep while you’ll keep your mind wide awake. While this sounds quite difficult, if not downright impossible, rest assured it is very do-able and easy once mastered.
To begin with, your body should be very relaxed and loose. This is why I stressed the timing issue above. The first step of the method is easier to do upon waking up from deep sleep. Simply find a comfortable position in which you can lie without moving. Then, you must proceed emptying your mind and focusing on the blackness you perceive with your closed eyes. If any thoughts happen to enter your mind, know that this is completely natural. Simply acknowledge them and then let them go.
2. The hypnagogic horizon
As soon as you have completed Step 1 successfully, your mind will enter the hypnagogic state. This state appears when we are headed into sleep. You are likely to see patterns and colors that take over your vision in the darkness. What you should do at this point is allow yourself to be to be drawn away from the outside world and focus on your “visions”.
Chances are you have already woken up in the middle of the night at some point and found yourself in this dreamy state where your body was very relaxed and your mind was exploring the dream realm effortlessly.
Regardless if you’ve done it before or not, at this point, your mind will begin to expand into the lucid world. Enjoy whatever your psyche conjures up in terms of images, sounds and feelings, all the while holding on to that inner realization that you are dreaming.
3. Create your very own dream scene
At this point the dream state is about to begin. When you feel substantially detached from the real world, you’ll be ready to begin your lucid dream. To do this, you can choose the visualization method. If you’re the type of person who has a strong imagination, you might want to visualize a dream scene with as much detail as possible. Focus on the location, colors, sounds, smells and lighting of your dream scene. As you progress with the creation of the scene, you should put yourself right in the middle of it and explore your lucid dreaming world. Your aim at this point is to put all your awareness into the dream realm.
4. Enter the lucid dreaming state
The final, fourth step is to fully let go and immerse your consciousness into the lucid sleep. This means detaching any awareness from the physical body lying in bed and transferring it into the dream scene and dream body you have created. However, entering the lucid dream, the place where you control your reality and its laws, is not enough. You need to focus at this point on stabilizing the dream to prevent yourself from waking up.
Having previously created a dream scene, you’ll want to keep exploring it now, but with all your senses. Try to say out loud “I’m dreaming” and do a reality check you'll know you’re dreaming because the whole scene will be extremely vivid and feel like a world of its own. If you forget about your physical body, don’t worry. Lucid dreaming is similar to regular dreaming in this way, so you’ll have little awareness of your actual body lying in bed while submerged in this dream realm.