Okay. . . I'm a DILD kind of girl. So I'm a fan of the MILD technique. My only problem is that when my mind starts to drift off into space, I sometimes have a hard time getting it refocused on lucid dreaming. So, I came up with a little, saying, poem, mantra. . . whatever you'd like to call it, to help me refocus my mind.
Here it is:
I am going to fall asleep.
When I fall asleep, I'm going to dream.
When I dream, I'm going to remember to recognize that I am dreaming.
When I recognize that I am dreaming, I'm going to become more deeply asleep.
I am going to remain calm.
I am going to become lucid.
When I become lucid I am going to <<explore my surroundings calmly and critically. >>
That last line should be personalized to reflect what you hope to accomplish should you become lucid. It's easy enough to memorize and the repetitiveness of it helps to relax me as well. I like to say my mantra and then envision myself having a lucid dream. I let things play out in my imagination and exert as little control as possible so that I fall asleep quickly. If my mind begins to wander away from lucid dreaming, I clear my mind of all thoughts by reciting my mantra in my head while trying to relax my body. I continue to do this until I fall asleep.
It's really nothing more than the MILD technique with a the poem as an added twist but it has another use as well. I found myself in a lucid dream and used my mantra to keep myself calm and heighten my dream awareness and clarity. When I discovered I was dreaming I closed my eyes and said this slightly shorter version of the mantra out loud:
I recognize that I am dreaming, I am becoming more deeply asleep.
I am remaining calm.
I am lucid.
LUCIDITY INCREASE! (shout this part)
Saying this as soon as I became lucid helped me to control my emotions and remain in the dream. Maybe it's hokey and silly and no one will want to use it but this mantra really does help me to clear my mind and concentrate on MILDing and the shorter version helped me to stay calm so I didn't immediately wake myself up with excitement. Most old timers have probably got their own methods for all this stuff but I thought some newbies might find my mantra technique useful.
