Using a mantra to measure and help improve self-awareness

Go to bed and repeat a mantra to yourself all night long, whether you're dreaming or not, and you will find that resuming the mantra upon losing and regaining consciousness will require the self-awareness to realize that you stopped. So in doing this, the longer you're conscious during your dreams and the better your self-awareness, the sooner and more likely you will repeat your mantra while you're dreaming.

I hope that repeating a mantra all night long can therefore improve in-dream consciousness and self-awareness to the point where it can help myself and others lucid dream!

So from what I understand this is like a MILD technique?

It is a MILD technique. Upon testing it further, however, it doesn't seem to work as well as I was hoping it would. It seems logical, but I guess it's not as simple as mindlessly repeating a mantra. Creating a good intention seems to be the most important part. It has to be strong enough to be important to you but not so strong that it stresses you out. You can create an intention to lucid dream without repeating a mantra so this whole mantra idea seems to be another throw away idea of mine.

In his review of this year's LaBerge Hawaii retreat, the emphasis in MILD as taught there was on the visualization: seeing yourself in your dream scenario, seeing yourself recognizing the dream state and getting lucid. The visualization was the primary thing, not the verbal mantra that goes with it.

I've had mixed results with MILD, I've never repeated a mantra or something similar for more than 5 minutes, usually as soon as I shut my eyes. It makes me remember more from my dreams more than anything. I've heard that it doesn't work if you say Lucid Dream in your mantra for some reason. Shame to hear it isn't as effective as you hoped.

Again, the focus in MILD should be on the visualization: seeing the dream scenario, seeing yourself recognizing the dream state and doing some goals you have planned.

The emphasis was on both the "re-visioning" of a dream, as FryingMan mentioned (remembering, and really feeling that you are back in that scene) and also the affirmation (not mantra) that you will recognize the dream state when that particular incident comes to pass. You are in essence visualizing yourself becoming lucid, and then coupling that visualization with a strong verbal commitment. You only need to repeat this process until you feel that your intention is set.

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I've heard that it doesn't work if you say Lucid Dream in your mantra

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Definitely a myth. Your intention to recognize the dream state (and your ability to carry that into sleep) is all that matters.