How I "MILD"

[OfficerFlake]

I would go as far as calling this technique a MILD/DILD fusion if you see fit, but here goes. All day, I take a fairly lax approach to reality checks. Whenever i remember, I perform a palm RC. The aim of this is to develop a Mnemonic habit of it. Now, before I go to bed, If it's accessible, I have a swig of apple juice. It's true what they say. It works wonders. Getting into bed, I say a simple mantra "I will lucid dream tonight." Short, concise, to the point. I accompany this with a palm RC again. Then I start to go to sleep, If i catch myself, I TELL (don't act) myself to do an RC. The key to making this EFFECTIVE however, is that after every RC I imagine that I have become lucid and perform a consistant "lucid routine". I will tell myself to stabilise, to catch the FA if it happens (and for me it usually does) and then to goto my lucid tasks. That's it. Every morning when i wake up, I recall my dream fully mentally, then log it all in my dream journal. Hope this helps some prospective MILDers.

[bewareofit1505]

do apples have the same effect as apple juice?

[Conzo]

Then I start to go to sleep, If i catch myself, I TELL (don't act) myself to do an RC. I don't get this part. You mean when you start dreaming you do a RC? What point do you mean "catch yourself"

[OfficerFlake]

Okay when I'm going to sleep i let my thoughts run rampid until I am asleep... The idea is I realise that I am falling asleep, catch myself in my thoughts and then start again.

[Serenity]

I would go as far as calling this technique a MILD/DILD fusion if you see fit, but here goes. All day, I take a fairly lax approach to reality checks. Whenever i remember, I perform a palm RC. The aim of this is to develop a Mnemonic habit of it. Now, before I go to bed, If it's accessible, I have a swig of apple juice. It's true what they say. It works wonders. Getting into bed, I say a simple mantra "I will lucid dream tonight." Short, concise, to the point. I accompany this with a palm RC again. Then I start to go to sleep, If i catch myself, I TELL (don't act) myself to do an RC. The key to making this EFFECTIVE however, is that after every RC I imagine that I have become lucid and perform a consistant "lucid routine". I will tell myself to stabilise, to catch the FA if it happens (and for me it usually does) and then to goto my lucid tasks. That's it. Every morning when i wake up, I recall my dream fully mentally, then log it all in my dream journal. Hope this helps some prospective MILDers. This is pretty much how I've been going about it too, with my own personal twists. I use Shift's Daily Dreamsign to help me to remember doing RC's during the day. It helps me increase my awareness of things around me, as the dreamsign is always something different! My RC is often looking at my watch, looking away and asking myself if this room looks logical to me (usually trying to catch a "landmark." I do a lot of RC's at work, and I'm looking for things that are where they shouldn't be, and things that are there that should be - if that makes sense. I've dreamed about work before, and it never looks 'right' in my dreams), then look back at my watch to see if the time logically changed (or stayed the same). I also drink apple juice before bed. It's amazing what it does for my recall. I drink a full cup though, not just a swig. Before bed, whenever possible, I meditate. I deeply relax, clear my mind, then focus my intent on having a lucid dream. When in bed and ready to fall asleep, I repeat the mantra "I will have a lucid dream tonight." For a few minutes. Depending on my level of tired, sometimes I will start slipping into the swirl of dreamlets. When I catch myself, I also remind myself of my mantra, and go back to repetition. I've never told myself to RC at this point though. That's a really good idea. If the repetition is keeping me awake, then I'll generally slack it off so I can fall asleep. Sadly, this is hit or miss, because I can't catch myself to remind myself. At this point, I have to rely on my pre-sleep routine and on DILD at this point. Since doing this method (about a week now), I've had a couple of near-misses and a LD. Flake and I were talking about how, it seems to be the right track if you're starting to get those near-misses frequently. The way I see it, you're building your awareness with those daytime RC's. That's the mnemonic part of the MILD The part I've bolded I've never done... will be adding this in starting tonight!

[Lucidkiwi]

do apples have the same effect as apple juice? Second that. I don't really got any apple juice lol so if apples work, I'd like to know :p

[Serenity]

I don't get this part. You mean when you start dreaming you do a RC? What point do you mean "catch yourself" The best way I can describe what it's like for me is... just like a WILD, I start having dreamlets roll over me while falling to sleep. Sometimes, I become aware that they are dreamlets, I catch myself by becoming aware again. As what Flake was saying, it's very, very possible that sometimes, that break off is actually a false awakening, which I can't honestly if that's happened to me. When I think about it, it's very likely that it HAS happened, numerous times! This is where for me, it's a bit tricky. If it took me a while to get to that dreamlet stage, I can't break them and go back to the mantra. Or it also depends how close the dreamlet waves are. If they seem to be few and far between, I pretty much have to abandon this part of the MILD.

[Serenity]

Second that. I don't really got any apple juice lol so if apples work, I'd like to know :p I really don't know, mate, sorry! My guess is... yes. But there's other factors to consider like, what is in the apple juice? Is it from apples or from concentrate? What about if it's boosted with vitamin C? I thought about posing a research hypothesis (if it hasn't been done yet) on the effectiveness between filtered, name-brand apple juice as opposed to organic apple juice with the apple pieces still floating about in there. I haven't tried it yet, because the apple pieces scare me (the same as I won't drink orange juice with pulp )

[Penterwast]

Sounds interesting, I'll have to try this soon. Does apple cider work as well as apple juice?

[bushi]

are you serious?! Pulp is the best part about orange juice! The more the better

[Serenity]

are you serious?! Pulp is the best part about orange juice! The more the better But, but, but... it's slimy!

[bushi]

I like to munch on it!

[Awakening]

If someone start doing RC and mantras, how he can know if a LD is DILD or MILD?

[Ethereal]

A MILD is a subcategory of a DILD.

[Serenity]

If someone start doing RC and mantras, how he can know if a LD is DILD or MILD? I always think of it this way... What kind of prep did I do before I went to sleep? If I did absolutely nothing other than fall asleep, but I had an LD, it was a DILD. If I did some sort of mantra before I went to sleep, and I had an LD, it was a MILD. If I did nothing other than fall asleep, BUT, I became LD because of a dream sign I have been building myself up to recognize (generally throughout the day with mantras, etc)... that, to me, is a MILD.

[The Dreaming Zombie]

I'm slightly confused about the RC part. Do you go to bed thinking about RCing, then it carries over into your dreams? Or are you actually physically RCing randomly in bed?

[Xedan]

do apples have the same effect as apple juice? I think they do, but not nearly as much. Because in an apple and an equal sized amount of apple juice, the real apple has WAY less juice in it. probably would take three to be about a cup of juice, which is recommended.

[Leonix]

Solid technique. I noticed you have "The Used" album art for your avatar/signature, cool to find someone else that enjoys them

[Xedan]

Hey, this kinda worked for me! Well the mantra did. I'd been using sort of long ones that never worked but got a lucid with this!