Thread: MILD technique unefffective after a month or so

For the past month or so, I've been attempting the MILD technique using the following mantra: "I will have bright, clear, and vivid lucid dreams."
Although I have yet to have a lucid dream, I feel this has improved my overall dream vividness and clarity along with helping me remember them in the morning.
Should I continue this technique, move on to another, or possibly add an additional technique to use in combination with this one?

Well, MILD isnt only a mantra. I've also heard that using future tense is bad for mantas. Try saying I have X, instead of I will have X.

Yes, future tense isn't helpful. Whatever mantra works for you.
Also give it some more time, and you may want to add a visualization component to it.

I agree with both rynkrt3 and siuol.
Visualization is very important: You could try visualizing a past non lucid dream and picture yourself becoming lucid, or imagine some waking life reality check your did that day actually working and you becoming lucid. These both work well for some people.
Also I would like to add that you should also try saying those mantras when you wake at night, before you go back to bed. Include the visualization.

Good luck, dont get discouraged. Just find out what works best for you.

Hello there.

With MILD (like the others said) is really not just a mantra. Mantras are just to help focus your intent, this doesn't mean they are a bad idea, they are a great tool. You need to focus your intent in a MILD, you really need to rectify that you WILL have a lucid dream! Now I really haven't heard anything bad about using future tense mantras, in fact, in a tutorial by a very highly respected member the user put future tense mantras in the suggestions. There really isn't much wrong with future tense in my opinion. But with your mantra, it could be a bit too complicated. It would probably be a bit more simple and easier for your mind to understand to use a mantra that focuses more on the task at hand, for example, you could say, " Tonight, I will do a reality check in my dream ", something like that. Also using visualization is a great tool as well, Bossalinni pretty much described the process of it.

It can also help to do the MILD throughout the day for a few minutes at a time. Just do what you would regularly do but not involving falling alseep . Just one final tip, when you do the MILD make sure you have your attention directed toward the MILD, try to keep yourself from drifting off to other thoughts while doing the MILD at the same time.

Hope this helps, PM me if you have any more questions if you like. Good luck and happy dreaming!

Hi there my friend.

Mild is actually more of confidence than words. When you go to bed and MILD, you can just say nothing. Sound's crazy right? In the field of Lucid Dreaming, Confidence is rather, one of the most powerful yet basic thing you should learn. I suggest you stick with MILD for another week or two. If there's still no result, I think you can move on to another technique. But please, don't give up. ope this helps

MILD works through a process of both confidence and action reminder. Like LaBerge explains it, when you really want something, your brain will activate a signal to mark that tasks or wish that will remind you often (depending A LOT on how hard you think about it and are confidence that you can achieve it) that the task is still not complete.

So basically, there is indeed ways of improving MILD even before you start having lucid dreams with it. Any tasks that evolves you creating a reminder (like I will whistle next time I get off a bus) can actually improve your ability to create these reminders. For example, if you convince yourself that you will remember to take your keys next time you go to work, especially because if you don't take them you won't be able to enter home, you will subconsciously keep this reminder. It might not pop all the time, but it's there.

Now you just got to imagine this for a dream. Next time you dream, you will become lucid. Focus on your INTENTION, on remembering, on performing the task. Visualize yourself doing it. That's why I advice always thinking on your mantra during the way, that way your brain will signal that intention in a much deeper way.

I'll give you another small example. When I first ever tried lucid dreaming, I had a program who randomly sent an audio alarm on my mobile to do a reality check. Since I wanted so bad to become lucid, I was focusing really hard on wanting to perform a RC in very short intervals of time. At some point, my brain would randomly say "Hey man, is that alarm ringing or not? Don't forget we have to do reality checks, better do one now just in case".

Out off time to talk about some small reminder exercises you can do for MILD, but like said above, you can do anything. Just choose a task (like "I will perform an RC every time I touch in money") and see how easily you remember of it. After some days, you will really improve because you are more capable of remembering you have something to do. The more you do this, the more skilled you become at having an intention focused in your mind. And it will carry out for dreams.

Good luck, any more doubts just give pm

All previous suggestions are really good. I would just add, that when I say my mantras, I visualize whatever I'm saying and I try to recall a happy feeling from previous lucid dream, or any other happy occasion. And I really try to feel the happiness going through my body. This tells my brain, that becoming lucid in a dream is something that makes me feel good and since my subconsious wants me to be happy, it will try harder to give me a lucid dream. I also believe in my mantras and really believe, that whatever I'm saying is/will happen. Don't give up. I only hade 4 LDs so far, but practising Sporadic awareness, mantras and RC-ing and hoping for another one soon.