Lately I've been trying out this newfound technique to initiate Wake-Induced-Lucid-Dreaming (WILD for short). I found it on an imageboard where one can frequently find "Life Hacks". The technique is called Hynpogogy. Briefly, one lays perfectly still while falling asleep, as motionless as possible. The least I can say is it's much more difficult than it sounds.
When we get the urge to shift around in bed, it's the brain's way of testing whether or not we're asleep. Why? Well, those feelings of discomfort are deliberate prods from the subconscious mind to check that we've entered the first phase of sleep. If the body does not respond, the brain is signaled to start the mechanism that paralyzes us; so we won't act out our dreams during REM. The theory goes that, by consciously dissociating the stimulus (itch!!) from the respose (scratch), we can initiate the cascading chemical changes in our brains that lead to dreamland, fully awake.
In my experience, it feels like at least an hour of hellish torment and torture. It's the incessant itches, usually right between my nose and upper lip. Last night, one really bad one came and went six times. After a month or trying this, I succeeded in getting paralyzed up to my neck; but then the phone dinged. Three times. Foiled again! My resolve finally broke after an hour and a half.
I'm mostly certain by now that this technique has for me a positive effect on the clarity and duration of my normal dreams. Every night for the past week has been filled. The dreams are mundane, but very detailed. Just this morning, I started writing mnemonic blurbs about them as soon as I woke up. I now remember them, but I'm not sure how to write them. I actually don't intend to write any dreams here that aren't interesting.
Instead, I'll hopefully give vent to my own hypotheses about what is going on in my mind in an entertaining and useful way. This could be interesting . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment