Thread: Recalling my dreams, not that easy....

Yeah I would have a hard time remembering dreams on weekdays, and maybe remember one or two on the weekend when I didnt have to wake up, but those were always sketchy.

After a couple of weeks of using a dream journal, all of a sudden I started remembering dreams almost every weekday, normally only one or two though. All it takes is a little time.

thanks for the info.. i will persue my dreams

aww, i fele bad that you are having torubble remembering your dreams. Like I tel everyone, try meditating before bed and tell yourslef you will wake up and remember you dreams clearly and vivdly apon awaking. and really belvie it! and it wil work.

I'm having trouble... It seems practically impossible to remember my dreams on weekdays... I have so much else to think about and I probably don't get as much sleep as I need. I am trying my best and in the mornings I just can't remember. I sit and think a while but then all I can do is go take a shower. Will I develop a decent dream recall if I keep trying or do I need to get some new techniques? If so do you have any advice?

Well, Crillep, I think one important thing to consider when trying to recall dreams (at least your most recent one) is how you wake up.

The average person does the following:
Sets the alarm at night.
The alarm goes off in the morning.
Sleeper smacks the alarm off - (some cursing may follow)
Sleeper either falls back asleep ("snoozes") only to re-awaken later in a state of panic
or
gets up and starts getting ready.

Now, I think the problem with this routine is that the sleeper is snapping out of dreamworld too fast. What you need to do is find a way to wake up either slowly, or just a few minutes before you really have to be up. This way, you sort of slip out of your dream and into awaking.

Now, not everyone has the luxury of just getting up and not having to worry about going to class or work.

So, here's something you might want to try on a weekend:
Go to bed at same time you normally would.
DO NOT set the alarm.
Plan on sleeping in as much as you want. (in other words, don't make morning plans!)
Wake up naturally, no alarms, no phone calls, crying babies, etc
Once you're up, just lay there. Don't wonder what time it is, what day it is, or what you need to do. Just lay there and try to think about where you just came from. What were you doing?

Most likely, you'll start remembering the most recent events of your last dream

I wish you the best of luck should you decide to try this method. Sweet dreams!

What worked for me is this: when you're going to sleep, repeat to yourself "I will wake up after I have a dream, and I will remember the dream". Doing this caused me to wake up naturally (no alarms) after I would have a dream, and it would be fresh in my mind.

It's good that you have started keeping a notepad by your bed -- keep it handy so you can jot down at least the important bits of the dream before it fades from your mind.

Originally posted by TygrHawk
What worked for me is this: when you're going to sleep, repeat to yourself \"I will wake up after I have a dream, and I will remember the dream\". Doing this caused me to wake up naturally (no alarms) after I would have a dream, and it would be fresh in my mind.

Im sorry to 'take over' someone elses thread but.
I do wake up in the middle of the night, apparently after a dream. I do tell myself when going to sleep ''I will wake up after a dream and remember it'', I've recalled a few dreams that way. But that's it. I just wake up, try to think, think and think more, just a little more, nothing.

sorry it took me such a long time to reply but better let then never huh?

So my dream recall work has pretty much screeched to a halt if not going backwards.

The problem is absolutely weekdays. I don't know if you also have a problem like this but on sunday nights I can't sleep. This results in a bad nights sleep and an awful monday. I'm tired all monday until it starts to get late THEN I actually start feeling perkier. So I can't sleep AGAIN. This evil pattern ccontinues inevitably destroying my week. Not getting enough sleep is a big problem of mine, any ideas on how to fall asleep quicker?

Then there would be this weekend where I went to a party and didn't get home til 7 am... I guess you won't remember your dreams if you skip sleeping...

And that saying to myself (I will remember my dreams) before going to bed just doesn't work for me. And its hard to remember when jostled awake by my clock.

Another annoying thing is the sun. Its summer now and its very light when I wake up. I can't get the right blinds and I have trouble writing in my journal with my eyes closd..

DON*T STEAL MY THREAD!!!

Crillep I had the same problem you did. I didn't start having decent recall until about a week or two ago. It just kind of happenned on its own so I looked at the situation and found that the one thing that was in common every morning that I remembered some dreams was this. I would wake up for some strange reason about 2 hours give or take 20 minutes before I needed to. So try this. Try setting your alarm for 2 hours and 15 minutes or so before you would notmally wake up. When the alarm goes off, get up and get something to drink, use the bathroom or whatever. Then reset your alarm for the time you normally need to wake up and go back to sleep. I have found that this helps me a great deal in recall. You might have to adjust the qamount of time you wake up from the first alarm a little here and there but I think that it could help you a great deal. I remembered dreams for 3 nights in a row and have been much more successfulwith my recall since I started doing this. I hope it helps out and works for you.

Thanks a ton, that idea sounds like something I can do. Definitely worth a try...

Yesterday I was going to try waking up every hour after 30 minutes of sleep, but I discovered after waking the first time nothing was going to make me reset that clock. What can I say, I love sleep, maybe to much.

Originally posted by crillep
Thanks a ton, that idea sounds like something I can do. Definitely worth a try...

Yesterday I was going to try waking up every hour after 30 minutes of sleep, but I discovered after waking the first time nothing was going to make me reset that clock. What can I say, I love sleep, maybe to much.

i've tired that, and i find it doesn't work ...you just end up tired and cross the next day, with no recall to boot!

Nå, en dansker? Jeg er faktisk ikke dansk, men jeg kender sprøget fordig min mor og søster er dansk.

For all you non-Danish speaking people, sorry about that, just cool to see a Danish person on the forums.

I at first didn't think I would ever be able to recall my dreams, but lately I've been able to remember dreams on most nights, despite the non-lucidity of them.
I gotta go

I actually have an easier time remembering dreams on weekdays, because I've gotten in the habit of associating my alarm with trying to recall what I just dreamed. On the weekends, though, I don't wake up to an alarm, so I end up just falling back to sleep or thinking about other things and forgetting all about my dream. Sometimes it will come back to me later in the day, and then it always feels so weird that I ever forgot it. There's no telling how many amazing dreams I've had that I will never know about, lol.

http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13095

This is just the way that helps me. Everyone has their own path to dream recall. It may take awhile to remember. When I was 8 I couldn't remember my dreams for 8 months. My dad is an avid dreamer and urged me to keep a dream journal. After I found out what worked for me my recall went up.

Welcome to dreamviews.

My recall is generally good, but the last week or so, it's been very hazy...as in, not much to them, the images i do remember don't make any sense, so i don't bother to write them down.
I'm finding this a bit off putting, and i'm wondering if i'm making it worse for myself. I mean, if i stop writing even the most mundane things down, will my recall slide further?
I used to be able to remember three or four dreams a night, and now i'm lucky if i can remember one in great detail.