Hi CastorTroy
WILD is about remaining conscious enough during the transition from sleep to dream so that you can enter the dream consciously from the start. The counting technique is just one of the many techniques to keep your mind awake, but those techniques do not really define WILD.
The difference with DILDs is that WILDs are usually more vivid and more lucid, because there was a more or less continuous awareness from the waking state to the dream state. During DILD you become conscious after a period of unconsciousness during which you were being submitted to dream scenarios to which you solely reacted based upon unconscious impulses, expectations and associations with waking life.
Yes, but that’s entirely logical. If the bridge between waking life and dream life is very short, then you’ll make the transition in a shorter time period, so if you remain conscious (meaning, if you practice WILD), you’ll actually witness this shorter transition.
You can try it (like, wake up after 4.5hrs of sleep), but in general it does work better if you can sleep for a longer time. The reason is because the longer you sleep, the thinner the gap becomes between waking life and dream life, so it becomes easier to cross that gap.
Yes after 4.5 or 6hrs would be a good time. You can do it also in the evening though… it seems that some WILDers can actually change their regular sleeping patterns and experience so-called SOREMPS (sleep onset REM periods), which are more-vivid-than-usual REM periods occuring right after falling asleep.
I don’t see much you might be doing wrong. However, you have to bear in mind that achieving WILD in 10 minutes is really fast, even after 4hrs of sleep. The reason is this: the longer you’re awake after those 4hrs of sleep, and the more you become aware of your waking state, the greater the gap becomes between waking life and dream life, thus the more difficult it becomes to achieve an instant WILD and the longer it will take to actually achieve one. Therefore, to have a WILD in 10 minutes you can only stay awake for a very brief period, preferably even without opening your eyes; when you wake up, instantly remember to keep your eyes closed and not to move a muscle; then remember your previous dream and immediately try to reenter it through WILD. This is the fastest way to WILD. If you actually get up and become fully awake, you may afterwards find yourself trying to WILD for an hour or two without any success, even if you only stayed up for ten minutes or so. However, it can still be done, and usually goes faster if you have more experience… but as I said, this is not really the fastest way to WILD
Reading your description of the experience, I don’t think your body was deeply asleep… did you experience anything unusual, like numbness in your legs, vibrations going from top to bottom, sinking sensations, flashes of visual hallucinations or noises? All these sensations are signs that your body is falling asleep.
I do think however that you can hear your alarm clock going off, even if you’ve evolved deeply into WILD. But that also depends on the loudness of your alarm clock Generally though, your perception of external noises diminishes as you’re going more into WILD. That’s because attention shifts from outward to inward stimuli, which is necessary to make a smooth transition to the dream world.
I’ve never heard about negative side effects. In my experience, I’m usually more refreshed after a LD, beit WILD-induced or not, when compared to a fully unconscious night.
Furthermore, I’ve always thought that one of the functions of sleep is about revitalization of the body, not the mind.