If My Recall isn't improving then I won't ever have Lucids?

I'm a 3 week practitioner of dream journaling for recall. I hope to someday achieve a lucid.

Well so far my recall seems good SOMETIMES. only sometimes. So i can't say it's improving. It is good some nights, but others nothing. Like recently i can't remember any of my dreams or maybe one but last week i was remembering more.
I dont understand why sometimes i remember and sometimes not.

So i wouldn't think i'm improving. Improving would be if everyday i would recall all my dreams. from every wakeup time.

So if i'm not improving, then that means i won't ever had a lucid? That sucks.

I guess some people have it easier.

i'm male age 30s, quiet, shy, not good speaker and not social and stuff. Maybe the people that have better recall are more social people or something in real life. I don't know if this is true but it seems like it since my recall doesn't work well

3 weeks is a fairly short time to practice lucid dreaming, so you really shouldn't feel concerned about that.

Dream recall can fluctuate, and it also depends a lot on your sleep patterns.
For example, if you fall asleep dead tired in the evening then you will be so exhausted that you might have problems staying aware enough during the night and therefore don't remember much when you wake up.
So make sure that you have an optimal sleep schedule, for example go to sleep and get up roughly the same times most days (preferably every day, if you can do that), and go to sleep when you start to feel somewhat tired and willing to go to bed, before you are too tired.

Also, you may have actually already had a couple lucid dreams, but just don't remember them.
So don't feel like you "never" have lucids - it is very likely that you have had a couple of them already, but they might have happened during the earlier REM periods so you don't remember them.

Also, your self-confidence and feeling of excitement are very important factors.
Do you truly believe in your abilities to become lucid?
Because I honestly get the impression that you doubt your skills, and you need to get rid of that way of thinking.
Take it as a fact that you will have lucid dreams in the near future, and truly believe it.
Also, replace any frustrations with excitement and joy - feeling excited about lucid dreaming is much better than feeling worried that you won't have them.
Of course, it can feel demotivating if you keep believing in something for several months without any success, but lucid dreaming is a completely new concept for most people's minds, so it might take time for your brain to get used to the idea.
Just remember that the more you think about lucid dreams, and the more you plan what you want to experience in them, the greater your chances will become each night.
Keep it up, and you will get lucids anytime soon. :content:

And don't let your difficulties remembering things affect you, you can practice your memory skills.
Try Stephen LaBerge's "Target Practice" where you try to look for random targets during the days, then perform an honest reality check the very first time you see them.
You will notice that you start getting better and better at this if you keep practicing it.

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Originally Posted by Laurelindo

Dream recall can fluctuate, and it also depends a lot on your sleep patterns.

You will notice that you start getting better and better at this if you keep practicing it.

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Thanks alot. :)
I will keep up and not give up.

Also you said
"Dream recall can fluctuate, and it also depends a lot on your sleep patterns."
That's one thing that maybe i know one reason why my sleep patterns are not working well. I wrote it in the SLeep and health section. I have semi Priaprism cause i've had a male area injury nerve problem. This might be one reason why i can't remember my dreams.
I have many times when i have nonending *rections. i have to get up and spend time trying to make it subside.

not just that, since i have these nonending *rections they wake me up and stuff. That's the only thiing i can think about and maybe i have some worries about my future. Because before some few years ago when i did dream journaling, it improved quite fast and i started getting great dream recall and even could do mantras of what i wanted to dream and it would happen many times. Now that doesn't even work much anymore.

So yeah, i guess since ihave this male area problem, having good dream recall is difficult.

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Originally Posted by voByJunior2013

Thanks alot. :)
I will keep up and not give up.

Also you said
"Dream recall can fluctuate, and it also depends a lot on your sleep patterns."
That's one thing that maybe i know one reason why my sleep patterns are not working well. I wrote it in the SLeep and health section. I have semi Priaprism cause i've had a male area injury nerve problem. This might be one reason why i can't remember my dreams.
I have many times when i have nonending *rections. i have to get up and spend time trying to make it subside.

not just that, since i have these nonending *rections they wake me up and stuff. That's the only thiing i can think about and maybe i have some worries about my future. Because before some few years ago when i did dream journaling, it improved quite fast and i started getting great dream recall and even could do mantras of what i wanted to dream and it would happen many times. Now that doesn't even work much anymore.

So yeah, i guess since ihave this male area problem, having good dream recall is difficult.

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It might make things a little harder, sure, but don't worry too much about it.
As long as you can remember dreams at all (which I assume you can, since you have mentioned some of your dreams in other posts) then all it takes for you to become lucid is that little extra awareness during a dream.
Really believe that you will recognize that you are dreaming, either tonight or at some point in the near future, and think about it as you fall asleep, and you will greatly enhance your chances to become lucid.
Practice this for at least a couple months, and keep at it.

Also, try to visualize a concrete event while you fall asleep - imagine yourself being in a certain place, and that you tell yourself that you are dreaming, then continue that fantasy.
This is extra effective if you wake up during the night right after a dream, and fall asleep again. :)

Being social has nothing to do with lucid dreaming. Really - you could be a complete social recluse, never speaking to anyone at all, and lucid dreaming would still be possible. It honestly does not matter what your skills or defects are in real life. Dream recall fluctuates; it happens to most people. Not being good at talking to people, when it comes to lucid dreaming, is not a problem. At all. Physical disabilities which disturb your sleep probably do make it more difficult, but not impossible.

Circumstances don't have to be perfect for someone to lucid dream. There's no requirement for an exciting life or lots of skills/social contact. It doesn't just depend on one circumstance - lots and lots of things can affect lucid dreaming. You never know; maybe the tiniest of changes will be what finally tips your dream self over into lucidity. Regular sleeping patterns, good recall, less stress and so on all help, but that doesn't mean that they have to be there. Advice to aid with lucid dreaming is just that; it might help, but just because you can't get that certain circumstance to be ideal doesn't mean that you can't lucid dream. Certain supplements help, but lots of people choose not to use them and lucid dream a little more naturally instead. Some people find certain techniques difficult, so use others. Some have slightly messed up sleeping patterns no matter how hard they try, which are a setback, but if you adapt to the situation it really should still be possible for you to have lucid dreams. :)

If you tell yourself you won't be able to have lucid dreams because you don't remember your dreams EVERY single night, then you're defeating yourself before you even start. You will be able to lucid dream, and you will improve. Instead of what is lacking and missing, try looking at what you've already achieved. You say you remember dreams some nights? Awesome. Lots of people don't remember their dreams at all. In fact, most people I've talked to about dreams in real life rarely remember theirs. In remembering some, and in learning about how to lucid dream, and in journalling, you're already way ahead of all of them.

I know it's a lot easier said than done, but try to relax a little and believe in yourself. Focus is a big part of lucid dreaming, and focusing constantly on the negative isn't going to get you far. Try out as many solutions as you can for any problems you may have, but if those solutions don't work, maybe the only way is to accept them - to acknowledge them but not allow them to take over. It is still possible for you to lucid dream. When you wake up, try to focus straight away on your dream. Try to relax as much as is possible. Even if you have to get up and things are distracting you, try to keep your mind focused on your dreams and let one memory lead to another. If it doesn't, try not to force it or get stressed about it.

What kinds of things are you trying out at the moment to help you lucid dream? Do you write down what you remember of your dreams, or ever do WBTB? Maybe making small changes to what you're currently doing could make all the difference.

thanks everybody i do do the visualizzation. like i visualized myself in some area and saying hi to all kinds of people and doing stuff like climbing a long tall staircase and etc or meeting girls. So i'm doing that.

"What kinds of things are you trying out at the moment to help you lucid dream? Do you write down what you remember of your dreams, or ever do WBTB? Maybe making small changes to what you're currently doing could make all the difference."

The things i do is
-Dream journaling every night i put it next to my bed ready for writing
-During the day i question my reality "is this a dream or am i awake?" followed by reality checks of my hands. I do a few of those during the day
-Then i do the awareness thing where i go around places or my room and i look at things in detail and i question "how did this get here?" and stuff .
-Then i do meditaton
-Then i do mantras. ONe for "i remember my dreams completely" . Then one for "My dreams are vivid and lucid" . Then one for "when i dream i look at my hands and realize i'm dreaming" . THen i also do the one for what i want to dream about.

I say each of those a lot of times with intent.

So yeah i'm trying alot .

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Originally Posted by voByJunior2013

thanks everybody i do do the visualizzation. like i visualized myself in some area and saying hi to all kinds of people and doing stuff like climbing a long tall staircase and etc or meeting girls. So i'm doing that.

"What kinds of things are you trying out at the moment to help you lucid dream? Do you write down what you remember of your dreams, or ever do WBTB? Maybe making small changes to what you're currently doing could make all the difference."

The things i do is
-Dream journaling every night i put it next to my bed ready for writing
Very good, just try to recall as much as possible of the dreams so you don't stop too early.
Sometimes you can remember dream fragments several minutes later, so lie still and relax until you are fairly sure you won't recall anything else.

-During the day i question my reality "is this a dream or am i awake?" followed by reality checks of my hands. I do a few of those during the day
Do you do them with real intent?
The trick to reality checks is that you should actually feel genuinely sspicious about your state, and your thoughts should be something like "hey, how can I be sure that I am awake now? let's see... hm, that reality check failed, but that doesn't necessarily mean I am awake; let me try again..." and keep doing that for a while.
Assume that you are probably dreaming, and double-check it until you give up trying to prove it.

-Then i do the awareness thing where i go around places or my room and i look at things in detail and i question "how did this get here?" and stuff .
-Then i do meditaton
That's good, just don't do it exclusively in an attempt to become lucid.
Practice meditation to simply feel more relaxed and more aware of yourself, not necessarily to become lucid as fast as possible.

-Then i do mantras. ONe for "i remember my dreams completely" . Then one for "My dreams are vivid and lucid" . Then one for "when i dream i look at my hands and realize i'm dreaming" . THen i also do the one for what i want to dream about.

I say each of those a lot of times with intent.

So yeah i'm trying alot .

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You are on the right track, keep at it! :content:
Just remember to not feel frustrated about it too much, replace any frustrations with excitement and happy expectations.

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Originally Posted by voByJunior2013

1. I'm a 3 week practitioner of dream journaling for recall. ...

2. So if i'm not improving, then that means i won't ever had a lucid? That sucks.

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1. Do you practice for lucid dream? RCs, mantras and awareness? Those will get you a lucid dream.

2. And no. In no way will your recall hinder your ability to have a LD. I would also now worry too much about not remembering your LD, because of your inconsistent/low recall. Most of the time, most of the people, especially while beginners, wake up from or just after LD, due to the excitement. There really is a very low chance, that you will not remember your first few lucids. If you don't get up after LD, let's say you try to DEILD, but you fall asleep, then yes, you could forget your LD. But as I said, you have a 99.9% chance of remembering your first LD, because you will most likely wake up right after it's over.

Please don't wait any longer with practicing RCs, mantras and awareness. If you need any help, please ask, or PM me. Happy dreams :alien:

P.S I really hope we didn't mislead you someplace into thinking, that you need a perfect recall before starting to practice.

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Originally Posted by gab

I would also now worry too much about not remembering your LD, because of your inconsistent/low recall. Most of the time, most of the people, especially while beginners, wake up from or just after LD, due to the excitement. There really is a very low chance, that you will not remember your first few lucids.

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I can attest to this. Waking from a LD especially your first several, is like being awake in one place and then being awake in a different place. The experience is solidly etched into your memory because you're aware while it's happening. Only at the advanced levels with many multiple LDs per night and very long ones do I think having well-developed recall helps to remember them all.

Of course good recall does help discover dream signs which can help getting lucid, but my first LDs were just all about increased awareness from doing waking life RCs and being aware of and constantly testing my state.

I can attest to recall fluctuating as well...I go from fantastic detailed recall some nights to almost nothing on others, depending on personal stress and life situations and sleep schedule.

It also took me a full month of very very dedicated RCing and reading lots of sites, etc. to get to the first LD. After that, just a week for the second. Then some more weeks, then one, then more time, then 3 in one week. Now it's been a couple weeks without one (but with a bad / inconsistent sleep schedule). So with consistency and seriously practicing, the frequency will increase, no doubt. Just be positive and stick with it. Positive attitude is important, value the dreams you do remember, and your mind will understand eventually that dreaming is important to you and things will start working as you want!