How Does Dream Recall Help?

[Shifani]

Wow it's been aaaaages since I've posted anything...
Now, with all the hype about recalling dreams and writing them out in dream journals and whatnot, I was just wondering, what good does it really do? (NOT a rhetoric question) Yeah other people get to learn of what you do in your dreams and stuff, but does Dream Recall really help in future endevours of getting lucid, or in any way assist dream lucidity?
Would appreciate some varied responses! Thank ya.

[folded]

I don't know how varied the responses will be. But, I'll take a shot at answering you.

Getting good dream recall, and keeping a dream journal, does many different things. It is one more way that your attention is directed at your dreams in general. Through a dream journal (which you do not have to share, by the way) you get to learn the patterns of your dreams, what signals you can learn to pay attention to when in your dreams.

Dream recall also helps you remember your dreams, lucid and non-lucid. I tried this experiment years ago. I stopped keeping a dream journal, and I wanted to see if I would forget my lucid dreams. My experience was that even when I got good at lucid dreaming, I can forget lucid dreams. What's the point of having fun in happy-land if you can't even remember what you did?

[Baalzamon]

Dream recall helps u in many ways.
How will u have a lucid dream if u dont remember it :)

Dream recall and writing it in dream journals, is important. Is the 1rst step into getting a lucid dream. Ull see in every tutorial about lucid dream first is to improve ur recall. Everyone can remember their dreams.
Then u can recognize ur dream symbols. Everyone has some event , or person, that appears only in their dreams, and u can find that from ur dream journal. Dreams r something that comes from ur real self. There r no moral boundaries, that part of ur brain is shut off. So u can get to know urself better, and help u improve. U can found so much about urself through dreams.

And of course isn't it better to know what u have been doing every night 6-8hours? :)

[Howard]

Damn, your sig is huuuge.. I'm pretty sure a shot that big isn't allowed..

But yeah, No recall: No remembering of LD's-

[Richter]

Recording a dream journal helps lucidity specifically in that by waking up immediately (that's key) and writing details, one trains their mind to remember dreams in more clarity and with increased vividness. That's why a DJ improves recall; it almost makes recall a habit for the subconscious mind with continued use, thus bringing more dreams. In turn you'll have more dreamsigns, and future lucids will be that much more satisfying, as you'll wake with ALL the juicy details and not fogginess.

[Lonewolf]

Yea it sends a message to your subconscious that dreams are important when you write down your dreams and you are more likely to recall it. What good is a lucid dream if you can't remember it!