MILD explained

[rynkrt3]

Most of this is copied from ETWOLD. I have seen MILD techniques on here, but I would like to post the best way to have results with MILD, and also, why it works. I do realize that this is a HUGE wall of text, but, trust me, this technique is very powerful. Once practiced for a month or so, you will start having lucids on a nightly basis. Before trying induction procedures, I remembered less than one lucid dream per month. While using autosuggestion during the first sixteen months of my study (the technique is presented below), I recalled an average of five lucid dreams per month with a range of one to thir-teen. (The month in which I had thirteen lucid dreams using autosuggestion happened while I was doing my first laboratory studies of lucid dreaming, which incidentally illustrates the powerful effect of motivation on the fre-quency of lucid dreaming. ) However, during the period I was using autosuggestion to induce lucid dreams, I had no understanding of how I was doing it! All I knew was that I was telling myself before bed: “Tonight, I will have a lucid dream.” But how? I had no idea. And hav-ing no idea meant that there was little I could do to make it happen. Without understanding the process involved, I stood little chance of learning to have lucid dreams at will. Nevertheless, I gradually observed a psychological factor that correlated with the occurrence of my lucid dreams: the presleep intention to remember to recognize I was dreaming. Once I knew how I was trying to induce lucid dreams, it became much easier to focus my efforts. This clarification of intention was followed by an immediate increase in the monthly frequency of my lucid dreams. Further practice and refinements led to a method whereby I could reliably induce lucid dreams. With this new method, I had as many as four lucid dreams in one night and as many as twenty-six in one month. I now could have a lucid dream on any night I chose and had accomplished my goal of showing that it is possible to bring access to the lucid dream state under volitional control. For people who were willing and able to learn my method, it was now possible to enter the world of lucid dreaming almost at will. Once I knew that I was trying to remember to do something (that is, become lucid) at a later time (that is, when next I’m dreaming), I was able to devise a tech-nique to help me accomplish that. How can we manage to remember to do something in a dream? Perhaps we should start with a simpler question: How do we remem-ber to do things in ordinary life? In everyday life we remember most things we have to do by using some sort of external mnemonic or memory aid (a grocery list, phone pad, string around the finger, memo by the door, etc. ). But how do we remember fu-ture intentions (this is called prospective memory) with-out relying on external reminders? Motivation plays an important role. You are less likely to forget to do some-thing that you really want to do. When you set yourself the goal to remember to do something, you have made the goal one of your current concerns and thereby have activated a goal-seeking brain system that will stay partially activated until you have achieved it. If the goal is very important to you, the sys-tem stays highly activated and you keep checking to see if it’s time to do it, until it is time. 12 It never becomes fully unconscious. But the more typical case is when, for example, you decide to buy some tacks the next time you go to the store. This is hardly important enough to keep on the front page of your mind, so you go to the store and forget about your intention. That is, unless while at the store you just happen to notice a box of tacks, or even a hammer which brings up tacks by association. This reveals the other major factor involved in remem-bering to do things: association. When facing the challenge of remembering to do something, we can increase the likelihood of success by (1) being strongly motivated to remember and (2) forming mental associations be-tween what we want to remember to do and the future circumstances in which we intend to do it. These asso-ciations are greatly strengthened by the mnemonic (memory aid) of visualizing yourself doing what you in-tend to remember. Thinking of lucid dream induction as a problem of pro-spective memory, I developed a technique designed to increase my chances of remembering my intention to be lucid: the Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams procedure, (MILD). 13 I have revised the procedure for this book in light of my experience, both using the technique myself to produce lucid dreams and teaching it to hun-dreds of others. Please take note of the prerequisites discussed below. MILD prerequisites To successfully induce lucid dreams with MILD, you need to have certain capacities. First of all, if you can’t reliably remember to carry out future intentions while awake, there is little chance that you will remember to do anything while asleep. So before attempting MILD, you need to prove to yourself that you can indeed remem-ber to do things while awake. If you are like most people, you are used to relying on external reminders and therefore need practice in remembering intentions using only your own mental power. The following is an exercise to help you acquire the necessary skill to perform the MILD technique. EXERCISE: PROSPECTIVE MEMORY TRAINING 1. Read the day’s targets This exercise is designed to be practiced over an entire week. Below is a set of four target events for each day of the week. When you get up in the morning, read only the targets for that day. (Do not read the targets before the proper day. ) Memorize the day’s targets. 2. Look for your targets during the day Your goal is to notice the next occurrence of each event, at which time you will perform a state test: “Am I dreaming?” So, if your target is, “The next time I hear a dog bark, “ when you hear this next, note it and do a state test. You are aiming to notice the target once—the next time it happens. 3. Keep track of how many target events you hit At the end of the day, write down how many of the four targets you succeeded in noticing (you can make a space in your dream journal to record your progress with this exercise). If you realize during the day that you missed your first chance to notice one of your targets, then you have failed to hit that target, even though you may notice its occurrence later in the day. If you are certain that one or more of the targets did not occur at all during the day, say so with a note in your dream journal. 4. Continue the exercise for at least one week Practice the exercise until you have tried all of the daily targets given below. If at the end of the week, you are still missing most of the targets, continue until you can hit most of them. Make up your own list of targets, keep track of your success rate, and observe how your memory develops. Daily Targets SUNDAY: The next time I see a pet or animal The next time look at my face in a mirror The next time turn on a light The next time see a flower MONDAY: The next time write anything down The next time feel pain The next time I hear someone say my nameThe next time I drink something TUESDAY: The next time I see a traffic light The next time I hear music The next time I throw something in the garbage The next time I hear laughter WEDNESDAY: The next time I turn on a television or radio The next time I see a vegetable The next time I see a red car The next time I handle money THURSDAY: The next time I read something other than this list The next time I check the time The next time I notice myself daydreaming The next time I hear the telephone ringing FRIDAY: The next time I open a door The next time I see a bird The next time I use the toilet after noon The next time I see the stars SATURDAY: The next time I put a key in a lock The next time I see an advertisement The next time I eat anything after breakfast The next time I see a bicycle NOTE: These are examples, you can set your own goals for the day. MILD TECHNIQUE 1. Set up dream recall Before going to bed resolve to wake up and recall dreams during each dream period throughout the night (or the first dream period after dawn, or after 6 a. m. or when-ever you find convenient). 2. Recall your dream When you awaken from a dream period, no matter what time it is, try to recall as many details as possible from your dream. If you find yourself so drowsy that you are drifting back to sleep, do something to arouse yourself. 3. Focus your intent While returning to sleep, concentrate singlemindedly on your intention to remember to recognize that you’re dreaming. Tell yourself: “Next time I’m dreaming, I want to remember I’m dreaming.” Really try to feel that you mean it. Narrow your thoughts to this idea alone. If you find yourself thinking about anything else, just let go of these thoughts and bring your mind back to your intention to remember. 4. See yourself becoming lucid At the same time, imagine that you are back in the dream from which you have just awakened, but this time you recognize that it is a dream. Find a dreamsign in the experience; when you see it say to yourself: “I’m dreaming!” and continue your fantasy. For example, you might decide that when you are lucid you want to fly. In that case, imagine yourself taking off and flying as soon as you come to the point in your fantasy that you “’realize” you are dreaming. 5. Repeat Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until your intention is set, then let yourself fall asleep. If, while falling asleep, you find yourself thinking of anything else, repeat the procedure so that the last thing in your mind before falling asleep is your intention to remember to recognize the next time you are dreaming. Commentary If all goes well, you’ll fall asleep and find yourself in a dream, at which point you’ll remember to notice that you are dreaming. If it takes you a long time to fall asleep while practic-ing this method, don’t worry: The longer you’re awake, the more likely you are to have a lucid dream when you eventually return to sleep. This is because the longer you are awake, the more times you will repeat the MILD procedure, reinforcing your intention to have a lucid dream. Furthermore, the wakefulness may activate your brain, making lucidity easier to attain.