Through extensive experimentation, I learned to recognise the subtle changes that occur as waking awareness gives way to sleep — and to develop ways of remaining conscious through that transition.

W.I.L.D. is the practice of maintaining continuity of awareness as the body falls asleep and the dream state or non-physical perception emerges.

As ordinary sensory perception begins to fade, you may encounter hypnagogic imagery and sounds, vibrations, changes in bodily awareness, non-physical and dream-body sensations, shifts in the experience of space and identity, and other unusual transitional phenomena. With practice, it is possible to remain aware as the dream or non-physical environment forms around you and enter the experience consciously.

For some practitioners, these transitions can also lead to experiences described as Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) or “astral projection.”

Different traditions interpret these experiences in different ways. They may be understood psychologically, as phenomena of sleep and dreaming, explored through spiritual or contemplative frameworks, or approached simply as experiences whose nature remains open to investigation.

You don’t have to decide what an experience means before you experience it.

The course therefore places equal emphasis on direct experience and grounded observation. You will learn how to work with unusual sensations without immediately resisting them or becoming overwhelmed by excitement or fear, and how to develop stability and clarity when experiences become particularly vivid or unfamiliar.

This includes working with intense vibrations, changes in body perception, hypnagogic phenomena, and other challenging aspects of the transition into sleep.

Meditation provides another dimension to this practice. Deep relaxation, sustained attention, and the ability to remain present without following every thought can become powerful foundations for conscious sleep transitions.

The course also explores deeper contemplative approaches, including Tibetan Dream Yoga and Original Yoga Nidra, and practices associated with the thought-free state and clear-light mind.

At this level, WILD becomes part of a much larger question: what happens to awareness when our ordinary experience of the body, environment, and sense of self begins to change?

This opens a broader exploration of consciousness and non-ordinary states of experience — including their mechanisms, recurring patterns, experiential principles, and the different frameworks people have developed for understanding them.

The aim throughout is not to impose a particular worldview, but to give you the knowledge, practical methods, and awareness needed to explore these states for yourself.

Some people will approach this simply as advanced lucid-dreaming practice. Others may be drawn toward meditation, Dream Yoga, OBE or “astral projection” experiences, or deeper questions about consciousness.

There is room for all of these approaches.