MILD FAQ - Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream
|MILD FAQ - Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream|
|Posted: Sun 29 Jul, 2007
MILD - Frequently Asked Questions
Below you can find Frequently Asked Questions about MILD. There is also a MILD tutorial which you can find here.
What is MILD ?
MILD stands for Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dreaming. The idea is to set your intention to remember to realise youíre dreaming.
How can I induce a Lucid Dream using MILD ?
Well it is pretty simple. You just set your intention to remember to realise youíre dreaming. You do this by repeating a mantra over and over again. While you repeat the sentence you visualise you will become lucid the way you want to.
What is a good mantra to use?
Some people believe that it is the best to make a mantra yourself, but it is okay if you take a mantra from someone else as well. Just be sure it fits you and you feel comfortable with it. There are a few tips that might help you to make a good mantra.
- First of all, donít make the sentence too long. After all you have to repeat it over and over again.
- Secondly it would be better to avoid the word lucid dream. ďI realise that Iím dreamingĒ or ďIím aware that Iím dreamingĒ are better options. This is because youíre subconscious may not understand fully what a lucid dream means.
- Thirdly you could mention when you want to realise youíre dreaming. You could say something like ďThe next time Iím dreamingĒ
- Fourthly say that it will happen, not that you want it to happen. You can always say you want something, but you have to make sure it will happen.
You could for example use ďThe next time Iím dreaming Iíll realise Iím dreamingĒ
People are different and therefore you can't say a mantra works for everyone. They say that there are two kind of people: emotional-suggestible and physical-suggestible. For one type a certain sort of mantra is better. If you want to know more about this, you can check this topic.
Should I say the mantra out loud?
No you donít have to say the mantra out loud. There are some people who prefer to say it once or twice out loud and then continue repeating it. You should repeat it as long as you can. It is preferable to repeat it until you fall asleep, so that the sentence would be the last thing you think before falling asleep. If you canít fall asleep well this way, you can just stop after a while and then fall asleep properly.
Is it necessary to remember a dream just before I try it?
It is not necessary to remember a dream before you MILD . You can visualize yourself becoming lucid in an older dream, but you can visualize yourself becoming lucid in any other dream scene too. It might be easier to remember a dream just before you try it, because it might be easier to visualize this dream. You remember more from this dream since you were just in it and therefore it might be easier to go back into it too.
Should I visualize becoming lucid from a dream sign or out of the blue?
There are different opinions about this. Some people prefer to visualize themselves becoming lucid in a dream scene, while others prefer to visualize themselves doing a reality check. You should do what you want to, and what works the best for you.
What is the best time to use MILD ?
It is to best to do MILD after you slept for 4.5 to 6 hours. And thus you're combing MILD with WBTB. The best would be if you wake up from a dream without any alarm clock, but if you canít do this it is okay to set an alarm too. You can also use MILD before you fall asleep. Some people use MILD before they fall asleep and when they wake up they try to WILD.
Iíve heard something about prospective memory. It seems to help you to MILD , but what is your prospective memory actually?
Your prospective memory is the part of your memory that remembers things that will happen in the future. It is also seen as remembering to remember. An example of this would be if you go to the shop and you shouldnít forget to bring cheese with you. If youíre in the shop and you remember you wanted to bring the cheese with you youíve used your prospective memory.
What does your prospective memory have to do with MILD ?
If you are practicing MILD you are repeating to yourself that you will remember to remember that youíre dreaming. Thus you can say that when you are practising MILD you are using your prospective memory. If your prospective memory is better, the chance that your MILD succeeds will increase too.
How can I train my prospective memory?
You can train your prospective memory during the day. There is a simple exercise for this.
- Think about something you are going to do in the future at least 10 minutes away from now, for example eating an apple
- Say to yourself you will remember there was something special (this exercise) when you are eating the apple.
- Try not to think about it anymore
- While eating the apple you remember there was something special (this exercise)
If you remember there was something special the memory exercise succeeded. Donít worry if you donít succeed the first times, itís quite normal. Your prospective memory will become better, just keep practicing. It would be the best to do this exercise multiple times a day with different things. After a while youíll see that youíll remember more often that there was something special than you did in the beginning. This means the prospective memory training was successful, since youíve improved your prospective memory.
Instead of remember that there was something special, you could do a Reality Check. So you will say to yourself that you will do a RC when you are eating an apple. In this way you are also doing RCís which is helpful to get Lucid Dreams too.
I have been attempting to induce LDs with MILD for about a week now without success. What now?
You should be patient. MILD generally needs some time to work. It is unlikely, yet not impossible, that MILD will work the first time you try it. Give it time and keep practicing. If it really doesnít work you could try using another technique to induce Lucid Dreams.
If you still have questions about MILD , you can ask them in the ďFirst Steps to MILD Ē.
Furthermore I would like to thank some people. pasQuale and the information she provided in the LD4all guide. The members who posted on this forum - Dutch and English - and said things from which I've learned. Victor Spoormaker with his book Alles over Dromen; I've learned about the prospective memory in relation to MILD from his book.
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