Tips for MILD and DEILD :)

Hello! Id like to start out by saying that i have been trying to lucid dream since a little over a year ago, i wasnt very inconsistent though and for the past few months i took a break completely from lucid dreaming and also dream journalling in general, and just over 2 weeks ago i jumped back into it with fresh motivation.

I decided to commit to the MILD technique, ive tried SSILD, WILD, FILD but none of them worked out for me and i wanted to try perfecting MILD over a long time period say 6 months minimum, as i know if i get this down ill succeed pretty well.
In the past few weeks, ive been trying MILD before i sleep initially and if im able to, upon WBTB, and ive yet to become lucid but im not giving up hope whatsoever, though i am struggling somewhat in the idea of maintaining the mantra up until the moment i fall asleep, as staying focussed on the mantra itself keeps me awake rather than helps me fall asleep, in order to sleep i have to let my thoughts go and not focus on any one thing.

Futhermore, over the past week, ive been noticing some near attempts at DEILD, where in the later stages of my sleep in the morning i notice that i awake briefly and get sucked into extremely loud vibrations, like a transition into dreaming, this happened last night also or rather in the morning, and i had read on dreamviews that one thing i could do is to stare at the backs of my eyelids and wait for hypagogia to form, and i tried this out but found that nothing happened, and eventually the vibrations stopped. Everytime ive gotten to the transition stage, this week and in the past, i can never quite complete the transition into the dream and wonder what am i doing wrong.

Side note, i am dream journalling as consistent as possible, making sure to write something down everyday, as short or as long as it is, and im also performing reality checks often, i struggle with rcs but in the past few days ive been making myself do them consistently around 10 to 15 times a day.

If anyone has any tips or words of wisdom to share itd be greatly appreciated :)

We have all been discussing DEILD in some detail. Follow this link to join that conversation.

Welcome to Dream Views by the way! I am glad you joined us.

Ok, here is a tip on MILD. MILD is just a method of have a DILD. There really is only DILD and WILD. It seems you may be getting the two concepts a little mixed. You do not need to repeat your mantra until you are asleep. In WILD you attempt to maintain awareness beyond the point where your body is asleep. In DILD (MILD) you will find some clue in your normal dream that results in you realizing it is a dream. This is achieved by focusing on lucid dreaming, doing RCs or things like mantras. It is great if the mantra (such as "I am dreaming") is the last words in your mind as you fall asleep. but it is not required. RCs take place during the day and work for DILD; mantra will help with DILDs even if you do them before you even lay down. Let them gently soothe you, do not focus on them. Relax and get close to sleep. Stop the mantra when ever you feel tired and like sleep could happen soon.

Second, perhaps thinking about the nature of RCs is important. Thigs like counting fingers and trying to breath with pinched nostrils are fine but most important is thinking about how you can tell if you are dreaming. Do you remember what you were just doing? How did you get here? Can you read text? Does the scenery change when you look around? That sort of thing.

Ive been following that conversation on DEILD for a few days and tried out a few of the tips but have not managed to completely transition, in fact im starting to wonder if what im experiencing is even DEILD because i can never get past the ringing in my ears/ vibration stage. Also, with MILD, ive read alot of guides that mention that u should keep up the mantras up until u fall asleep, such as Laberges guide in the world of lucid dreaming, hence why i talked about that.

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Originally Posted by Husna12345

Ive been following that conversation on DEILD for a few days and tried out a few of the tips but have not managed to completely transition, in fact im starting to wonder if what im experiencing is even DEILD because i can never get past the ringing in my ears/ vibration stage. Also, with MILD, ive read alot of guides that mention that u should keep up the mantras up until u fall asleep, such as Laberges guide in the world of lucid dreaming, hence why i talked about that.

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I would think keeping it up until sleep is almost more of a WILD thing, using it as an anchor. In MILD you are just using it to get the thought burnt into your mind, like a song stuck in your head.

Ive yet to try mild and wbtb properly and i know itll be much easier to do it on wbtb but i can never get myself up and awake but im working on that, id like to see how much wbtb affects my dreams

WBTB is for WILD. For now don't even worry about it. Do reality checks, try to build recall, read lots of stuff on the forum and use a mantra before bed. That is where I would focus. WBTB is probably not very helpful for you at this point.

Oh ok, i thought wbtb increased ur chances of lding with any techniqueis all, i am focussing on trying to increase dream recall atm as it was going well for 2 weeks but then for the past few days it shot to almost nothing and without my recall i wont even know if im lucid

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Originally Posted by Husna12345

Oh ok, i thought wbtb increased ur chances of lding with any techniqueis all, i am focussing on trying to increase dream recall atm as it was going well for 2 weeks but then for the past few days it shot to almost nothing and without my recall i wont even know if im lucid

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It depends on what you mean by WBTB. MILD is usually performed during a natural awakening in the night/ early morning as described in Exploring the World of Lucid dreaming. Though getting up and out of bed isn’t strictly part of the process I find it helps wake me up a bit so I can set my intention properly without falling asleep too quickly. Some may call this a WBTB, I do sometimes but traditional WBTB involves setting an alarm and interrupting your sleep which is most commonly used for WILD techniques as Sivason stated. So waking up naturally is beneficial and doing so after sufficient sleep approx. 5-6 hours is a good time to perform MILD. How you set your intention needs some experimentation in my opinion. If I do MILD how LaBerge originally outlined I can’t fall asleep again. I tend to keep it very gentle. I remind myself of my intention to notice when I’m next dreaming and go to sleep focusing on my breath as it comes in and out similar to meditation. This helps me relax back into sleep easier and I may accompany this with a short mantra or very gentle visualised images until I fall asleep. If your mind wanders from this intention then that’s fine, in fact it’s a good thing as this often leads to sleep which is what you want. If you’re intention is strong enough you’ll then become more aware and suspicious of things in your next dream and remember to check if you’re dreaming.

It’s normal for recall to fluctuate and you just need to keep at it. Whenever you naturally wake in the night just take the opportunity to lay still and recall what you can. I find going through a list of recurring dream characters, locations and situations helps jog my memory if I can’t recall anything. I wouldn’t worry too much about forgetting lucid dreams due to bad recall. I’ve found nearly all my lucid dreams are remembered perfectly due to the increased awareness within the dream and fully conscious waking when you come out of one. For example I recalled no regular dreams last night but two very clear lucid dreams. Of course you can never be sure if you have forgotten lucid dreams, how would you know! I’m sure it does happen but I get the sense it wouldn’t be a common occurrence.

EDIT: I’ve had vaguely recalled lucid dreams and this tends to happen when I lose lucidity during the dream and slip back into a regular dream.

I stopped using alarms to wake myself up ariund 2 weaks ago, and switched instead to using intention/mantra to wake up after every dream which has seemed to work well for me. This morning i awoke at around 8am naturally, which was around 5 hours after i fell asleep, and i stayed awake for around 45 minutes, then went through MILD by visualising becoming lucid etc and a mantra/intention of "the next time im dreaming i will realise im dreaming", and i fell asleep. When i woke up i realised id had a dream in which i was thinking/discussing how having lucid sex in every lucid dream is a complete waste, however i didnt think to do a reality check or become lucid. I still count this as progress however
And yes i do get what u mean about not forgetting lucid dreams because of the heightened awareness but ive known quite a few people who it has happened to so i worried for a moment

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Originally Posted by Husna12345

I stopped using alarms to wake myself up ariund 2 weaks ago, and switched instead to using intention/mantra to wake up after every dream which has seemed to work well for me. This morning i awoke at around 8am naturally, which was around 5 hours after i fell asleep, and i stayed awake for around 45 minutes, then went through MILD by visualising becoming lucid etc and a mantra/intention of "the next time im dreaming i will realise im dreaming", and i fell asleep. When i woke up i realised id had a dream in which i was thinking/discussing how having lucid sex in every lucid dream is a complete waste, however i didnt think to do a reality check or become lucid. I still count this as progress however
And yes i do get what u mean about not forgetting lucid dreams because of the heightened awareness but ive known quite a few people who it has happened to so i worried for a moment

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That’s excellent! Quite often dreams where I’m talking about lucid dreaming trigger my memory to reality check. Make sure whilst reality checking in the day you do so whenever you realise you’re thinking, talking or writing about lucid dreaming (that includes now! ;-) ) and this should eventually start triggering you in your dreams as well.

I don’t use alarms either. I find I can wake naturally without much trouble and prefer it that way. I’m sure you’re close to a lucid! Who knows it may even be tonight! Good luck

Thanks! Do u think i should decrease how long i stay awake for on waking up? I found it took quite a while to fall back asleep after 45 minutes as i felt super awake and even debated just getting up n starting my day i felt that rested
Ty for the reality check reminder�� ive seen and read ur posts for quite a while, and ur thread on deild/wild help was full of interesting tips and tricks which i hope to someday apply

MILD at the moment only works for me if I do - 10-15 minutes WBTB + MILD for 10-20 minutes and then fall asleep. But I had times (when I had lighter sleep in summer) when I was ok with a much shorter WBTB and "I am dreaming" mantra only. It really depends on your sleep.
Also, two things are needed for MILD to work well - prospective memory (consider doing prospective memory practices) and dream recall. Good recall is the key to a higher presence in dreams which is a key to clearer thinking and a higher chance for lucidity. So it is all long-term work. Just keep practicing.

Personally, I don't like the Laberge-style of MILD, keeping it until you fall asleep. I can't fall asleep that way. Even if I do it for 20 minutes, it can often lead to WILD rather than DILD.
I see MILD as doing a review of my previous dreams - going through them, seeing when I should have gone lucid and visualizing the outcome.

Same here! I cant keep it up till i fall asleep because that just keeps me awake, and yes im practising prospective memory although i have no idea what to set as targets, wish someone had one long list of things and i could use that and im also working on dream recall.
Im aware its a long term process hence why i chose MILD because i wanted to nail it down so that one day i could have frequent lucids on demand rather than leaving it up to hit or miss like DEILD/WILD can have .

I must admit I have not read any lucid dreaming books except some very small ones long before LaBerge had published anything, so I am not sure what all he said. However that mantra sound unwieldy and way to long. I think "I am dreaming" is a classic that really works and does not keep you awake. I had no idea that book suggested this with WBTB. I think doing the mantra anytime you are ready to sleep is good, but I certainly would not actually try to stay up for any length of time. Honestly I see no need for more than a 5 minutes WBTB even in WILD.

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Originally Posted by IndigoRose

MILD at the moment only works for me if I do - 10-15 minutes WBTB + MILD for 10-20 minutes and then fall asleep.

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Same! I’ve had lucids from longer wake ups but have had many from micro wake ups so I don’t see the need to spend that long awake. Micro wake ups don’t wake you up too much either and allow the transition back to sleep to be much quicker and easier. Short natural wake ups can be done on a nightly basis where as longer wake ups are recommended only a few times a week as they can negatively effect your sleep cycle and general health.

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Originally Posted by IndigoRose

I see MILD as doing a review of my previous dreams - going through them, seeing when I should have gone lucid and visualizing the outcome.

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Good way to look at it. Like I said, you have to figure out how best to set your intention. Some nights it’s easy, others it takes more time and effort.

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Originally Posted by Husna12345

yes im practising prospective memory although i have no idea what to set as targets, wish someone had one long list of things and i could use that

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I believe Moonagedaydream created a list? Perhaps she can confirm and share this? I think there’s a list in ETWOLD as well?

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Originally Posted by Sivason

I must admit I have not read any lucid dreaming books except some very small ones long before LaBerge had published anything, so I am not sure what all he said. However that mantra sound unwieldy and way to long. I think "I am dreaming" is a classic that really works and does not keep you awake. I had no idea that book suggested this with WBTB. I think doing the mantra anytime you are ready to sleep is good, but I certainly would not actually try to stay up for any length of time. Honestly I see no need for more than a 5 minutes WBTB even in WILD.

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I did think that was a long mantra however ive seen it suggested in many places so decided ill try it out, but switching to a shorter one may be more helpful as i can concentrate on 3 words better than a whole sentence
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Originally Posted by Tiktaalik

I believe Moonagedaydream created a list? Perhaps she can confirm and share this? I think there’s a list in ETWOLD as well?

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Yes! I checked it out just now and its a much better list of targets than the ones in ETWOLD so ill be using her list as inspiration from now on :)
The prospective memory practise is making me realise just how badly i suck at it, i keep managing to miss the same target ive set in the past 3 days

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Originally Posted by Tiktaalik

Same! I’ve had lucids from longer wake ups but have had many from micro wake ups so I don’t see the need to spend that long awake. Micro wake ups don’t wake you up too much either and allow the transition back to sleep to be much quicker and easier. Short natural wake ups can be done on a nightly basis where as longer wake ups are recommended only a few times a week as they can negatively effect your sleep cycle and general health.

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It's actually way too much for me, I would prefer if I could do it in 5min WBTB + 5min MILD but at the moment, it just isn't enough for me to set the intention. If I am lazy and skip/shorten the WBTB, I can't focus on the MILD and keep falling asleep too early.
But this can change a lot depending on the timing. Later WBTBs need much less time than earlier WBTBs.

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Originally Posted by IndigoRose

But this can change a lot depending on the timing. Later WBTBs need much less time than earlier WBTBs.

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Yeah, my success rate increases massively when I do MILD in the last 2 hours of my sleep. So much so that I’ve stopped attempting anything before that. I recall less dreams overall but my lucid dreams have benefited.

I have been thinking of ditching doing mild when i first go to sleep and instead to focus on an intention to recall + to wake up after around 6 hours ish so that i can do mild THEN because itll have more of an effect and be at the forefront of my mind

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Originally Posted by Husna12345

I have been thinking of ditching doing mild when i first go to sleep and instead to focus on an intention to recall + to wake up after around 6 hours ish so that i can do mild THEN because itll have more of an effect and be at the forefront of my mind

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That’s actually what it says to do in LaBerges original technique. I think people like to do more before bed as preparation (myself included!) but originally all you were meant to do before bed was set an intention to wake up and recall your dreams. I tend to do some light visualisation of my goals in preparation but I don’t like to think too much or else sleep becomes difficult.

Yeah i dont know why it took me like 3 weeks to realise this considering it takes me so long to sleep if i do mild when i first sleep too, plus my recall isnt the best because im not focussing on that intention when i first sleep like i used to

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Originally Posted by Husna12345

Yeah i dont know why it took me like 3 weeks to realise this considering it takes me so long to sleep if i do mild when i first sleep too, plus my recall isnt the best because im not focussing on that intention when i first sleep like i used to

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Improving dream Recall was my first mission when I started and it really is a great thing to do even if you don’t get lucid. With practice and good recall you can remember some amazingly vivid, long and fascinating dreams that are sometimes more exciting and meaningful then a lucid you spend bumbling around and doing silly things in.

Yeah i honestly love being able to recall my dreams down because they can be so interesting, and whenever my recall isnt up to par it has me a bit disappointed because waking up to the dreams always makes my morning

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Originally Posted by Tiktaalik

Improving dream Recall was my first mission when I started and it really is a great thing to do even if you don’t get lucid. With practice and good recall you can remember some amazingly vivid, long and fascinating dreams that are sometimes more exciting and meaningful then a lucid you spend bumbling around and doing silly things in.

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So it turns out you must constantly go back and work on bringing up recall or it will fade. This is true for me after 35 years of this. If I let it slide it fades. Picture this for a bummer. You get lucid perhaps 3 times in a night and have 10 minute adventures each time. You wake up and think "wow, that was awesome! Let's see, what did I do? Something with a dark haired woman and some part about a river. Come on, what else? Crap, it is gone!"

Contrary to what some say you 100% can manage to get lucid and then not even remember it because your recall is not being maintained. That sucks. Recall is the first thing any would be lucid dreamer should work on, and it should remain a core thing from then on.

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Originally Posted by Sivason

Contrary to what some say you 100% can manage to get lucid and then not even remember it because your recall is not being maintained. That sucks. Recall is the first thing any would be lucid dreamer should work on, and it should remain a core thing from then on.

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Yes, I agree. I will back track a little bit on what I said in an earlier post. You do need recall to remember your lucid dream. Quite often I panic when I wake up from one and worry Ive forgotten all of it but quickly I find I can remember it all if I just keep probing. What I was trying to say was often you wake straight from a lucid dream so you can recall with certainty you had one but details can sometimes blur and be lost which is why you need good recall. I find lucids easier to recall than regular dreams though and unless I lose lucidity during the dream I can often remember most details vividly. So yes, good recall is a must but I don’t believe when I wake up to my alarm in the morning with no dreams recalled I’ve forgotten a full night of possible lucid dreams. It just feels like I’d be aware if I’d had one or at least waking from one. But as I said, you can never really know for sure.