Thread: A Problem with MILD

Hello there,

I've come across a predicament when I practice MILD now. I find that whenever I practice it I get so many thoughts that I can't fall asleep and end up staying in a sort of semi asleep state for a few hours repeating the phrase. Then I get fed up and try to go to sleep but end up getting a million thoughts running through my head. I get a few hours of non REM sleep and am surprisingly awake the next day. I still don't feel comfortable with it. I've never had problems with insomnia and I've practised MILD before on numerous occasions and this never happened. Also because of this my circadian rythym is messed up, my dream recall is gone, and the reader can probably taste the tension I feel in this writing. Does anybody have any tips? I'm going to stop MILD for now, hopefully someone has a tip that lets me go back to it. Also, I'm sorry if I sound grouchy or incoherent. I can hardly think on three hours of lying in bed for two nights. Also, I meditate everyday and am fully aware of lavender oil, lemond balm etc. I'm looking more for tips in regards to naturally falling asleep and practicing a MILD better.
Thanks a lot for any feedback, I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Dom.

Well, you're probably already aware of this, but it is important to know that falling asleep is of higher priority than reciting your mantra. If you are (consciously or subconciously) fighting sleep while attempting MILD it will hurt your progress more than help it, as your experiences show.
To overcome this, try not to force yourself back onto your mantra too much when you catch yourself drifting away.

Hi Dom,

MILD can indeed keep you awake if you’re too highly focused on it, leading to feelings of insomnia in some cases (and that awful semi-asleep state lol) The thing is, you don’t really need to constantly repeat and maintain a mantra as you fall asleep to succeed with MILD. It’s not as important as people make it out to be. It might help guide your focus but what IS important is creating a solid prospective memory request that you want to realize you’re dreaming in the dream (preferably in the present tense). You can do this any way you want really (for example by setting your mind to look for a dream sign) as long as you are setting a strong and understandable intention. It’s the same type of intention as remembering to buy a particular item next time you are at the shop. I would emphasize visualization more than a mantra -- see yourself becoming lucid and completing dream goals etc. From what I’ve heard it’s a lot more powerful.

About the insomnia…be sure that you are actually tired when going to bed…otherwise you may get frustrated with the practice and give up…feeling like you’ll never fall asleep. Also, I’m not sure if this is an issue but getting up at a consistent time everyday will really help, as getting too much sleep or regularly sleeping past your “get up” time will make you less tired the next night. This should help with being able to fall asleep naturally.

So try making the “prospective memory” part of MILD a core priority when falling asleep, as well as visualizing etc. but it should be approached more like a “reminder” almost…like something you want to do tonight…rather than something you have to keep up to the point that you can’t fall asleep.

I’m no expert lol but I hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Eamo24

So try making the “prospective memory” part of MILD a core priority when falling asleep...

^ This.

Also, adding to the "MILD is not mantras" refrain, I think a critical part of MILD is to spend some time (just a minute to a few minutes) recalling the previous dream and searching it for dreamsigns or other interesting features. Allow yourself to re-enter the dream in your memory and explore question like: What if I had recognized dreamsigns X, Y, or Z? and What if I had been lucid? Where would I have taken the narrative of the dream?

It's like studying for a test. You study a bunch and then relax. If you try to study all the way through you'll be burnt out.

Use the mantra for a while and then let it go and fall asleep.