The MMT Philosophy! (because it rhymes)
Mindset, Meditation, and TEA!
People have been asking me to write about it, but I always keep getting distracted whether by school, work, or the Elder Scrolls series So here’s to just sitting down and writing my thoughts.
So I made up MMT to best describe and explain what I think, from my experiences and having tried to provide solutions to others’ questions, is a very effective way to achieve better dream quality.
Note again, that the advice I write is based partly on my experiences as well as on solutions I’ve thought up based on dreaming issues mentioned to me by others–that way the advice I write can possibly provide new insights as well as address old questions that others have mentioned to me in conversation.
Mindset:
Everyone has probably already read in fifty different topics that Mindset is a very important aspect of improving one’s ability to achieve lucid dreams. It does, it really does, and it’s important enough to be repeated.
Motivation, self-confidence, and willpower are but the beginnings of developing the right mindset to achieving and maintaining a dream schedule. Let’s move to the next step. Maintaining the foundation which you create through that motivation and willpower.
Mental reinforcement is very important in maintaining dream recall, in other words, make a dream journal, talk to your friends about it, or just replay it while you brush your teeth, reinforcement can come in a multitude of ways. If you want to reward yourself for having a dream, treat yourself to something. Like chocolate, if you’re a chocolate freak, why not treat yourself to a small piece after breakfast as a means of rewarding yourself. As funny as some of these things may sound, even at a subconscious level, it’s affecting you.
Again, this may all sound familiar to you, but it’s part of the whole thing so bear with me.
Balance within Calmness. I have noticed over many years that maintaining a sense of calm or, if you want to describe it in my words, “taking things in stride with a sense of analytical logic and rational thinking while also using creativity and imagination to address ever-changing challenges and situations” provides several things once in a dream:
1. Dream abilities remain stable and consistent.
2. Dream universe laws do not change unless personally modified.
3. Less amounts of concentration becomes needed to achieve dream abilities.
4. More attention can be diverted to more important things like having fun, observing details, and of course, food.
5. Nothing is as scary as it used to be.
These are but a few examples.
Do not confuse this with being un-excitable. Excitement is going to happen, and it’s fine, however this will help you contain that excitement so that you can avoid cases such as waking yourself up abruptly or making yourself vulnerable to certain undesirable dream situations.
Meditation:
Meditation is something I do frequently, all thanks to having been in martial arts for the majority of my life. (I’ll let you laugh because I do fulfill the particular stereotype… it was thanks to watching Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films at age 5 that got me into training in Tae Kwon Do and Karate at age 8, and a few years later, Kung Fu as well…)
And here’s what I’ve learned–Meditation really works!!
I mean, they weren’t exactly thinking of dreams when my instructors taught us how to properly meditate, (most of the time they spoke about it before exams) but Meditation can help you in achieving better dream quality nonetheless.
Meditation can be used to not only calm one’s Self, but also to clear one’s Mind. In this, one can use Meditation before bed to push out all external thought and influence so as to allow one to fully concentrate internally–in other words, to focus and concentrate on your single goal: To dream, as well as where you want to go in your dream if you’re feeling particular.
This will especially help those who always go to bed with very busy minds, full of thoughts and distractions.
Tea:
So why the heck would I say Tea?
Because I like Tea.
Chamomile tea in particular.
And Chamomile tea has a particular calming effect which can assist you whether you want to relieve yourself of stress, body aches, an aching throat, OR… sleeping.
Through the calming effects of chamomile along with the use of meditation, this creates a quick and effective way to make sure you get to sleep in the right state of mind.
Once you’ve reached this line, I suggest you get a sandwich… because sandwiches are om nom nommy and om nomz are good foodumz.
P.S. this is the first time I’ve tried providing a comprehensive wider-ranged tutorial-ish thing as opposed to the more narrow-topic things such as my Dream Clock, so let me know if I’m doing a good or bad job at it this is a learning experience for me as usually I discuss dreams (questions, methods, etc) with others on MSN chat rather than writing out a whole chunk of stuff and posting it.