MILD - A Really Simple Method?

So in the recent absence of my Aurora headband (it broke last December and they havent supplied a new one yet) I have decided to revisit good ole 'reliable' MILD. I've read some, no many actually tutorials and most all seem to suggest (after a wbtb) to repeat a mantra such as ' Next time im dreaming I will remember to realise im dreaming'. Other suggest looking for dreamsigns etc

I know that prospective memory is key here and that prospective memory is trainable and can be strengthened, which leads to my theory which may be amazingly obvious or really dumb

I have good prospective memory, lets assume that I train each day ( using lebarges method of a daily list) until my prospective memory is really strong.

Now I know that in the high majority of my dreams, at some point, a dream character will speak to me, this is probably true of most everyones dreams.

My idea is (after a wbtb) lying down and repeating until i fall asleep 'The next time anybody talks to me I will remember to check if im dreaming'.

Now if I have good prospective memory then why is this method not one that is talked about at all. In theory it seems like a really obvious mantra

Am i missing something?

Ezzo :-)

What you are missing is that good prospective memory is much less useful if the memories are not stored effectively in the first place. The memory you want to remember should be stored as a long-term memory because short-term memory only lasts about 30 seconds.

Repeating mantras is an example of maintenance rehearsal. This rehearsal is good for keeping something in short-term memory but is not effective at converting it into a long-term memory. Elaborative rehearsal is what you want to use to convert your memory into a long-term memory. Elaborative rehearsal involves incorporating what you want to remember into an already established long-term memory so that what you want to remember also becomes a long term memory.

The simplest way I can think of to incorporate elaborate rehearsal in your method is this: In addition to repeating your mantra, reimagine the last time somebody talked to you in a dream only with you remembering to check you are dreaming upon them talking to you. Use this dream as a lesson to help you learn to remember next time. Stephen Laberge also recommends doing this in his MILD technique.

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Originally Posted by dolphin

What you are missing is that good prospective memory is much less useful if the memories are not stored effectively in the first place. The memory you want to remember should be stored as a long-term memory because short-term memory only lasts about 30 seconds.

Repeating mantras is an example of maintenance rehearsal. This rehearsal is good for keeping something in short-term memory but is not effective at converting it into a long-term memory. Elaborative rehearsal is what you want to use to convert your memory into a long-term memory. Elaborative rehearsal involves incorporating what you want to remember into an already established long-term memory so that what you want to remember also becomes a long term memory.

The simplest way I can think of to incorporate elaborate rehearsal in your method is this: In addition to repeating your mantra, reimagine the last time somebody talked to you in a dream only with you remembering to check you are dreaming upon them talking to you. Use this dream as a lesson to help you learn to remember next time. Stephen Laberge also recommends doing this in his MILD technique.

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Hi aquatic one, always good to hear from someone in the sea! The issue i have with 'Next time Im dreaming I will remember to realize im dreaming' is that I cannot see how a mantra like that is effective, as one would first need to know they are dreaming in the first place, in which case they would already be lucid? And thanks the detailed explanation on memory - it took a couple of reads to digest :-)

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Originally Posted by ezzolucid

The issue i have with 'Next time Im dreaming I will remember to realize im dreaming' is that I cannot see how a mantra like that is effective, as one would first need to know they are dreaming in the first place, in which case they would already be lucid?

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I agree. This mantra implies that the dream itself is the dream sign. The dream sign is somebody talking, so the mantra would be the one you proposed. The purpose of the mantra is to increase motivation, which helps recall.

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Originally Posted by ezzolucid

The issue i have with 'Next time Im dreaming I will remember to realize im dreaming' is that I cannot see how a mantra like that is effective, as one would first need to know they are dreaming in the first place, in which case they would already be lucid?

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There, as they say, is the rub.

I think the real power in MILD is that it creates an expectation, right at bedtime, to remember to remember, and that expectation (or perhaps the intention you set before beginning your mantra) puts your mind in a place that is very receptive to welcoming lucidity during a dream. So yes, for MILD to work, you may actually need to be slightly lucid in the first place in order to trigger prospective memory (or, rather, for that triggering to mean something to you in the dream). This slight lucidity is made more likely with daywork, which is why daywork is so important.

I think that in the end it really isn't about the technique, but about your mindset when you are doing the technique. MILD, thanks to that mantra and the extensive daywork involved, is probably the best technique for nurturing that mindset.

And, as relevant to your OP: possessing good prospective memory skills is definitely a plus in MILD, but it is not enough. You also must be able to prepare your mind for lucidity, and all that extra work in MILD (including the mantra and the creation of expectation) are very helpful in that regard.

i used it quiet effectively as you mentioned above. What happened to me is that MILD is a dream incubation tech as well.
Once I dreamed that I had found a toadstool. I used that dream a couple of nights for MILD. Some nights later I had a dream in which I was was walking through the woods and came across a toadstool. As soon as i saw it I mad an RC because I already knew that I was dreaming.
The same happened to me with dreamsignes. Doing MILD with an event that is most likely to happen anyway is much more effective. There was a time I never failed my dreamsignes and through MILD they even multiplied...