You are welcome, and you've come to the right place to work on dream recall . Yes, it is normal not to remember dreams in the beginning. We are built to "black out" until morning. And dream memory is very fragile and is easily erased. I've had a head full of dream memories *SNAP* like a rubber band and they all vanished in an instant sometimes. It takes time and effort to change these built-in traits so that remembering dreams every night becomes your new normal, so that dream memory becomes larger and less fragile. It's a change that happens slowly over time with your continued effort.
So let's get started, first of all, have you read through >>my dream recall tips<<? (<< click on that link, it's also in my signature). There's a lot there, read it through a few times and let the points sink in.
As my favorite chess teacher says: in learning any discipline, you need to do several things:
* add positives
* subtract negatives
* a combination of theory and practice (lots and lots and LOTS of practice!) [and doing so must be *enjoyable* to you so that you continue doing it and stick with it]
* analyze your practice performance, and adjust (preferably with the guidance of a more experienced practitioner)
What are some positives? I outline them in my tips, we want to add these to your daily practice:
* Recalling dreams must be *really important* to you, and you should be really excited every night to remember your dreams. You should start getting in the habit of realizing when you've woken up, and immediately reaching for dream memories, lying still with your eyes closed.
* Learning to recognize the little wakings in between sleep cycles during the night, and taking this time to practice dream recall. You can learn to wake up without alarms by setting intention at night, like: "I notice every waking, remain still, and recall my dreams"
* Set intention to remember dreams before bed: "I remember my dreams.....I remember my dreams....I remember my dreams..." do this for at least several minutes, really believe it and feel the importance to you (don't let this stop you from falling asleep, though!)
* Regular exercise (too intense may also cause "black out until morning" if you are over-exhausted, you need to strike a balance).
* Brain/memory/health friendly diet: whole natural foods, seeds, healthy oils, etc. Avoid processed, chemical fake "foods."
Some negatives, we want to get rid of these:
* Poor sleep habits: too little sleep, being too tired, irregular bed time, changing every day
* Being stressed or anxious
* Being frustrated or angry about not enough progress in your practice
Regular practice: every single time you find yourself awake, reach for dream memories. Stay quiet and calm, don't move, keep your eyes closed, and keep a "dreamy" feeling in your head. Do not start thinking about your waking day while you are in bed. Plenty of time for waking day stuff once you're up OUT of bed. Being in bed should be all about dreaming and remembering dreams.
Analyzing performance: come on here every day and update your progress, even if it is "I didn't recall anything." Also, start a dream journal (could be paper book, could be on-line), and write in it every day, even if your entry is "no recall last night."
Set some goals: to start with, let's focus on adding positives and subtracting negatives, and learning the theory well (e.g., read the tips, read LaBerge's book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming).
Assuming you're well-rested and not feeling stressed out, being really excited about recalling dreams and setting strong intention at bedtime may be enough to start recalling dreams right away!
Realize that you *do* dream a lot, every night, already, this is natural, all you have to do is to start spending effort in remembering them!
If you keep it up, without quitting, you WILL start remembering dreams, more and more.
One last thing: day-time awareness work is closely related to dream-recall (this is my theory): you can't remember something that you don't pay attention to. Most people live life on auto-pilot, like a zombie, automatically responding to stimulus without really thinking about it or experiencing it actively. The more you start paying attention to waking life, the more you'll start paying attention to dreams, and once you start paying attention to dreams, you'll be able to remember them when you wake up.
So let's start with this for several days, and write back with any questions you have, and let us know what you've started doing and how it's going. Good luck and have great dreams!
edit: one more thought. You may want to trade off a little bit of video game time every day for going for a walk outside, and doing RCs and paying attention to yourself and your environment. Any break-up of daily routine can be great for dreaming!
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