Thread: I need some opinions

Hey,

I know from what it looks like I'm not a good person to ask about this, but my recall has come back the last couple days.

Some of the techniques that I had used to boost my recall.

1. A dream Journal- Write everything you can remember down...

2. Waking during the REM peroid- I've had limited success with this method but all people are different. Set your alarm for the first REM period that happens about 90 to 100 minutes after you fall asleep. I put some pad on that time, because it takes me different lengths to get to sleep every night. And you just hope that the alarm wakes you during a dream so you can write it down. I usually get woke up before or after my REM peroid, so it has not been successful for me that much.

3. Get about 8 hours of sleep every night. I found the better rested you I am...I just kinda remember to wake after I have a regular or lucid dream. Seeing that I've only induced lucidity about twice so far.

If all else fails then just relax and go to sleep, and if you remember... you do and if you don't... you don't. I found the last couple days that I've been recalling the less I tried the easier it was to recall.

I hope I gave you some help.

I agree with Rickter. Also, you may try making it very important to yourself that you remember your dreams in the morning. The more important dreams are to you, the more you'll learn to pay attention to them.

Just make sure you don't say "I'll write my dream down later" You will most likely forget, important to write them down immediently. Probably seems pretty obvious so just call me Captain Obvious!

I have never wrote down any dreams but have vivid memories of the best and worst ones.

What i have always done since i got into dreaming is whenever you wake take 5 mins and meditate. It could be 8:00am or 2:am or even 4:30 pm. Just everytime you wake. Keep your eyes shut and just think open your mind do whatever but just dont move. Its like some people practice right before they go to bed. pray whatever.. thank jesus you woke whetver it doesnt matter just use your mind more than your body and more than you let anger or emotions take over. just open your mind and if your gonna recall this is your best time.

Good point Curios. When you're asleep your brain is sort of bathed in a particular assortment of chemicals. They swish a bit when you move so if you stay in the same place when you wake you'll have an easier time forming a memory.

They say REM sleep helps you solidify memories from recent past. Thats why a lot of them are from things you've been into lately. They also say that they're a good time for dealing with daily emotions, which is why so many are so emotional.

Freud thought (and I think he thought incorrectly) that dreams were to serve the purpose of wish fulfillment. I think that might happen sometimes, especially when you go lucid, but most of them are for just sifting through your thoughts.

So, anyway, don't move when you wake up and you'll have an easier time remembering. I've heard people say the left side is good too, but whatever.

I have been wondering, since the REM period of your sleep is for sorting out emotional/memories from the day, is lucid dreaming by anyhow messing with that? Im not saying it is, im just wondering if its messing with your brains normal patterns (even though your brain DOES have about 5 - 6 REM periods every night). I dont really have a clue what im talking about, anyone know what i mean?

I know what you mean. You asking if it's unhealthy to change regular REM to lucid REM. Very few people think so. The main thing that is unhealthy is to not have REM altogether. REM sleep is what makes you feel rested when you wake up.

I've heard from some people who go lucid every time they hit REM that they sometimes wish they could turn off the lucidity. That they could just forget they're dreaming and maybe forget their dreams some nights. I imagine if you couldn't escape being self-aware (like a regular day, and a lucid night) then it would get a bit exhausting mentally sometimes.

Personally, I wouldn't mind paying that price for the reward of so many lucid dreams. And I bet if you put enough effort into it you could train yourself to lose lucidity (like how we train to get it). I just don't know what kind of techniques you could use. I know pot and booze fuck with your REM sleep by decreasing it, but that's not the point... You need your REM, and those lucky few need regular REM.

As for losing some of the emotional/memory sorting outing, I don't think so. I think if your psychology needs to sort something out through a dream, it will do it spontaneously. If it didn't, I think you could compensate for the emotional part of it through a little introspection (get to know your inner demons consciously). As for the memory solidification, I think simply being in REM does that so lucidity wouldn't change it.

I'm not sure about all of this, but it is what I suspect/partially believe.

Thanks, that answered my question

hey Captain Obvious, you're right. 95% of the time I say,
"eh, I'll do it later". I don't forget, I just don't remember all the important details. x_X sometimes two or three days go by before I write. it's a pain!

Hmmmm. Like Ziwsh (i think your the one who said it) i would be willing to pay the price for so many lucid dreams. If I just wanted to lose lucidity or whatever I could maybe go to sleep in a dream or imagine myself (in real life) in a bed and eventaully I will wake up. Also, to remember dreams after I wake up, I try to stay still and in the position I woke up in if I remember. I lay there for about 10-15 minutes to remember dreams. Sometimes I fall asleep when I;m trying to rembmer dreams.

"I lay there for about 10-15 minutes to remember dreams. Sometimes I fall asleep when I;m trying to rembmer dreams."

Aw, man, I just did that the other night! What a night to do it too, it was one of the most vivid dream recalls! In fact, another reason I failed to properly record it is because it was so vivid that I was actually dreading writing it all down at 4AM...needless to say, I layed there, fell asleep by accident, and woke up extremely disappointed in myself.

Originally posted by Rickter
2. *Waking during the REM peroid- *I've had limited success with this method but all people are different. *Set your alarm for the first REM period that happens about 90 to 100 minutes after you fall asleep. *I put some pad on that time, because it takes me different lengths to get to sleep every night. *And you just hope that the alarm wakes you during a dream so you can write it down. *I usually get woke up before or after my REM peroid, so it has not been successful for me that much.

There have already been many good posts which I think may be very useful for improving dream recall. Just my two cents to the above point: the first few REM periods during the night are usually very short; and it can be also quite difficult to set the alarm correctly when you need an unknown amount of time to fall asleep in the evening. Usually, I don't put the alarm for at least the first 180 or 270 minutes, but then I set it every 90 minutes. This seems to be more effective for me.

Originally posted by wasup
I lay there for about 10-15 minutes to remember dreams. *Sometimes I fall asleep when I;m trying to rembmer dreams.

That happens to me constantly. Usually, though, I can remember the second dream much better.

I haven't written my dreams down at all for a while. I never felt like it was doing a lot of good. I can usually remember at least a little bit of what I dreamed about every night if I make a point of it.

Then again, I'm awful at attaining lucidity, so don't take this as advice!

(last night I dreamed I met a band I liked in England. I remember wondering how I got all the way from the USA over to England, but since I saw some other people I knew over there, I figured it must not have been that big of a deal. [d'oh!])

nice! i had a similar dream like that instead i came from canada, i remember i was drunk and i ended up in a club in england it felt pretty real not lucid though....it was cool trying to pick up english chicks with there dead sexy teeth