MILD Methods

Quest for Lucidity General Lucidness
1

Hey guys - here are some thoughts on the “MILD” technique:

In my most humble opinion, I think that the MILD method is the most effective and consistent method once mastered. All it takes is lots of time, effort, and patience - but once it’s learned, I don’t think you can really go wrong.

Now here are some of my experiences with MILD,

I was thinking about lucid dreaming one day and I was considering how as a child I would usually have a lucid dream at least once a week (many of which I somehow still remember clearly). Unfortunately as time passed I had much more difficulty lucid dreaming, so I analyzed what exactly has changed over these years. I don’t think that lack of imagination or anything like that has anything to do with it. I think that the main difference was the time that I went to bed and how much sleep I got. Obviously as a child I would go to bed around 8:00pm (when I wasn’t really tired), but now I never go to bed before midnight. So to experiment, for a few days I would take short naps in a dark room in the afternoon. During these naps I learned a lot. First of all, during these naps I would try to clear my mind of all but one thought; becoming lucid. Then every time I lost focus of that thought I would immediately stop falling asleep and try again. I found that with more and more practice I was able to redirect my thoughts less abruptly so as not to wake myself up. Finally after training myself again and again, I was able to sit down in a dark room, fall asleep, and easily slip into lucidity.

One major observation that I made while conducting my afternoon experimental naps, was way that the mind changes its state before attaining lucidity. The most prominent state of mind that I noticed was the sensation that some might describe as an OBE. Personally I don’t think anything is exactly “leaving the body”, but rather your mind completely ignores all the senses in the body. I have found this to be very helpful in becoming lucid.

So what I’m saying is that in my opinion lucid dreaming is all in the mind, and therefore the way to attain lucidity is to train the mind until switching into lucidity becomes a normal function of the mind.

All this said, I’m sure there are many different ways to make the whole process easier. Here are a few that I have found helpful:

#1. Not being tired when going to sleep.
#2. Just enough caffeine to keep the mind in a more that drowsy state.
#3. Substances such as mint or any other vitamin that helps the mind think more clearly or become more active.

I’m sure there are many other helpful shortcuts, but these are the few that I’ve tried so far. I’m sure there are many more little tricks that I use, but just can’t think of at the moment.

Well, I hope this will help you out.

Feel free to respond with any comments or additions.

2

how long do you stay up before you go to sleep? how do you…go to sleep? do you go to sleep thinking about it or just get your mind on it and then go to sleep or what? i find it incredibly hard to fall asleep while thinking about something whether concentrating or not. every time i try to fall asleep while thinking about something, my mind will slip off it and i’ll start to fall asleep thinking about my girlfriend or something else. answer my questions please, it’d help me a lot. thanks! :smile:

3

Okay, well - If I feel like having a “devoted” lucid-dreaming night, then I’ll usually fall asleep around 9:00. I find that’s the perfect time when I am able to fall asleep and yet I don’t fall asleep so quickly that I have no control. As for focusing my thoughts - as I mentioned, when I started I would focus on the thought for a while - and like you said, it’s easy to become distracted, it’s just a matter of practice and discipline. Once you master it, you will be able to focus on that thought (personally I prefer to focus on “having” a lucid dream instead of the topic of a lucid dream) and watch your consious state change completely.

Like I said before, this technique takes practice, but once learned proves to be quite consistent.

4

I agree with you, bladerunner. From what I understand, Stephen LaBerge (the LDing guru) is able to effectively have LDs at will by using MILD. I think the problem that so many people have with it is that it takes awhile to master and we as humans are lazy and want shortcuts and magic drinks that will give us LDs. But like most important things in life, patience and dedication is required. :smile:

5

This may be a bit late, but I’m new here :slight_smile:

I agree that MILD rocks. It’s pretty effective for me. It’s also about the only method that works reliably for me, whenever I really put effort into it.

brad, when I’m going to sleep, I just form the intention to wake up and recall my dreams when they end. I don’t worry about LDing until I’ve woken up in the morning and recalled a dream (usually first happens for me after 4.5 - 5 hours of sleep). Then it’s time for MILD. Or, if it’s later, after 7 or 8 hours of sleep, that’s a good time to try some WILD techniques.