The BIG VILD Topic - Part I

Here’s a suggestion: practice with what’s easier for you to visualize. For example, through practice Iv’e found that certain colors, shapes, motions, etc. are much easier to hold in my mind than others. Although I don’t use VILD myself, if I did I would probably keep my room extremely simple (as Pedro said) with a yellow ceiling, white walls, and a hardwood floor. This combo just seems to work very well for me, though it’s different for everyone. The only thing I might have against JaRoD’s idea of using a room familiar to you is that it still might be too complicated for some people to fall asleep while imagining it.

I think I need to start practicing visualisation if I want to succeed with VILD. At this moment, I can’t even hold on to a simple shape like a red circle for more than a few seconds.

I wonder if it really helps to practice visualisation. Does anyone know if visualisation skills can be improved at all? Have anyone tried it?

odd2k, I now possible to increase your visualisation skills. A few years ago I had trouble visualising. I had a really hard time thinking about something visual since it could change almost by itself. But since I tend to create a story in my mind every night before going to bed I have learned to controll it better. And my skills have gotten even better since I started to LD. Now I can even look at an image in my mind and look at something trough my eyes at the same time. Sometimes I can even see entire words in my mind, and I have started reading them backwards from my mind. Maybe everyone can do this, but for me it’s a great improvent :content: .

I have even started getting flashbacks. When I was driving I saw a girl from behind and she reminded me of someone I know. Then suddenly an image of her face flashed before my eyes, and I could see her in perfect detail.
Btw I have found that my visualisation skills can vary very much from day to day.

same with me, since i try lding, many pictures of older dreams (sometimes few years old) flash into my mind, if i look at anything in RL . I remember things, that ive already forgotten…thats very interesting and happens to me every day…in my opinion visualisation is just a question of concentration…relax…and stop thinking of other things except of the visualisation… :content:

Yes, I have myself dramatically improved my visualization skills (previously I would have a terrible time with the VILD technique, but now I’m on the verge of getting it to work). Try this: each day, find a quiet place and prepare to spend 10-15 minutes. Close your eyes and try to imagine simple geometric shapes (square, circle, triangle, etc.), then move on to 3D shapes, trying to make them as complex as possible. Don’t worry if you can’t hold each image in your mind for more than a second- just be persistent and move on to a new shape if u get too frustrated. After shapes, try colors- start with red, imagining your field of vision filling with redness. Do this with each color from red-purple. Then try combining colors with shapes.
If nothing else, do the following exercise because it also increases the vividness of your dreams: imagine a simple object either rotating, revolving, or both, and hold this image as long as possible. It’s especially effective if done while falling asleep.
A final exercise is imagining fun things with other senses- eating an orange, smelling a skunk, or riding a tobaggon screaming down a vertical hill- be creative. The key with these exercises is daily persistence, and it should pay off within 2 weeks :content:

hahaha, Miklos…"…final exercise is imagining fun things… …smelling a skunk…"

ok, well i’ve tried some meditation methods to help me get better with visualizations but for me, this works pretty well: home.comcast.net/~coresite/experiments.html “Experiment 3 - Two Exercises” both exercises 1 and 2

try it and see if it works well for you

i have a hard time visualizing the scene. do you think it would help if i film it and watch it over and over?

How would you film it? But yes, if you could it would help. You could watch the film, then immediately try to visualize it in your mind, and repeat these 2 steps as many times as possible.

Sounds like a cool technique, but woah you should see the post on this topic on certain other ld forums, Some people are very cynacal about is validity. But to each person is theyre own technique!
tried it last night but didnt remember and dreams fullstop so dont know if it worked or not…but ill be trying again.
peace out

I don’t understand why people find VILD so hard to believe… Everyone accepts that dream incubation is possible. It’s a method of incubating any dream you want… and I do one which forces me to RC… therefore: Lucidity! If you think about it… it’s actually really simple. I know visualization can be hard for some people but technically VILD is maybe the simplest method! Infact, I find it so simple that maybe it isn’t the method itself that people don’t believe. Maybe it’s the success I have had with it. But have you had a lucid dream? If yes then you know they are possible. And they could happen night…there isn’t a certain night where they wont work. So if you think about my SIMPLE method then it’s easy to see how, with good visualization skills, I can become lucid so much! Sorry, that was in responce to other forums who tend to assume VILD is a load of crap before thinking about it seriously like they would think about other methods.

Yesterday I was reading up on selfhypnosis. I read somewhere that good visualisation skills are really helpful when you do selfhypnosis. So maybe VILD is really a form of selfhypnosis.

I just had an idea. Do you think that maybe if you wrote your “reality dream check” plan down on paper, then looked it over a few times before you went to bed will help?

Just an idea.

For those interested in the VILD technique… I came across a thread about it on another forum. It’s an interesting read :smile:

novadreamer.com/discus/messages/41/2021.html

I didn’t know you could get bored in dreams. To me, bored simply can’t exist in a dream! There is too much to do…and you can do it all! O_O;

hey i just read your thread on your VILD techneque and i just wanted to say that i’m glad u took the time to explain it all. I’m going to try it tonight and i really hope it works. its a great method :wink: and i hope it works for me and continues to work for u. Happy LD’ing

AWW look how my cute little post has turned into a massive monster of a thread! Jesus, three thousand posts is pretty cool!

Wow, it seems like they really don’t like you, huh?

Also, methinks they’re a little TOO scientific over there occasionally…

Hey i just noticed this VILD thingy, i think i will try it!

I believe!

I’m good at visualizing things, and I think I have incubated dreams before. So I am going to try this out and I’ll post my success. I plan to actually draw out the room I’m going to be visualizing. I’m rather artistically inclined so I feel like it would help me. Especially to keep the image solid, It tends to fluxuate too much when I try to imagine it on my own. Especially the thing or person I want to tell me to do a reality check, I don’t want it randomly turning into something scary, because my mind has a tendency to do that. Too many horror movies :wink:

It sounds like a very good method, especially for people who naturally visualize things. I’m someone who uses daydreaming to relax before sleep as it is. Actually it’s very rare that I don’t daydream or visualize things while trying to sleep.

I found a interesting url: svallens.com/epall/LucidDreaming.html

This page is describing MILD like this:

Step 1.) Recall the dream you just had as completely as you can.
Step 2.) Tell yourself that you’re going to realize you’re dreaming during a dream and concentrate on just that fact. If your mind wanders, gently return to your task.
Step 3.) Replay the dream you just had but add a twist. Imagine that at some point you realize that it’s a dream for some reason (maybe seeing a dream-sign).
Step 4.) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you think that you’re actually dreaming.

Am i wrong when i say this is almost like VILD? what is the difference… maybe somone have trouble visualizing things maybe can try this methode :smile: