REM cycles for recall

ive heard that if you wake up mid-way through the night to write down your dreams in your DJ that it will help recall, how long should i sleep before waking up and also what would be a good method for doing so.

Another thing im curious about is when do your most strong periods of REM sleep and how does that factor into lucid dreaming and dreaming in general.

Thanks in advance

1.) Yes, it will. I would recommend drinking a HUGE glass of water before bed and you will naturally wake up after a REM cycle. If you don't want to drink a glass of water, maybe wake up around 5.5 hours of sleeping.

2.) The more you sleep, the longer the REM cycles become. So around 5-7 hours of sleep your REM cycles should be at their strong periods. This helps with lucid dreaming, because if you WILD during a longer REM cycle then the dream will be longer!

You can read more about REM here: http://www.dreamviews.com/f33/rem-sleep-98625/

Thanks for replying.
I have a question about drinking water before bed, when i do wake up im assuming i will have to go to the bathroom really badly. Should i just fall back asleep or can i get up to relieve myself?

Heh... better hit the bathroom unless you want to keep a bucket next to the bed! Or else you'll wake up next time in a wet bed... ;)

Haha now I realize how dumb that was to ask, i just wasnt sure if that would wake me up too much or something