How good can Dream Recall become?

**quiktaco** · 09-22-2011 05:33 PM

I think I'm either stuck at a plateau, or I'm maxed out on how good dream recall can be.

I really feel like I should be able to get better, but I don't know if it ever will.

I've been keeping a dream journal since 2004 (7 years!!!). I stopped for a couple while recently, but have started it back up about 2 months ago, and I'm back to where I was...probably a little better actually.

I wake up through the night, and I write out all I can remember. I average around 2-4 pages, with probably about 4-6 separate dreams each night.

Is this about the max that anyone ever gets to? I constantly feel like I have to just sit there, and let the forgotten dreams come to me. I know there's a TON that I'm forgetting every night. I know there's many dreams that I'm forgetting every night as well. There are some nights though, that I have no problems, and I'll get an easy 5 pages, and probably 10 separate dreams. I want every night to be like that.

So my question is, how good can dream recall get (on a consistent basis)? And does it just take more time to develop? What can someone in my situation do to get better, since it's not like I don't remember any, or very little.

**Arch** · 09-22-2011 09:54 PM

It will vary from person to person, it's pretty much impossible to measure, so there will be difference in opinion (just like my issue with how people describe visualization). Don't think of it as a limit, just keep trying to get better, and who cares if you can't get any better, it's the motivation to keep that dream journal going.
Note: Dream Recall is affected by other factors such as diet, when you woke up (after which REM period) ect.

**Choi** · 09-24-2011 07:12 PM

When I read some people's Dream journal here I can get quite amazed of how much they actually remember

I can only remember 4 dreams (different topics) 6 at the most. And I only write down some notes of what I remember.
But the the recall is not the important part, the important thing is the awareness you experience in your dream.
I have for example started to really experience each dream, it feels like I am really there and when I wake up I don't remember it because I have recalled it, I remember it because it have been a part of my memory. So my advice to you would be to work on the awareness instead.

To have experienced a really vivid dream is far more cooler than rembering 4 vague ones.
And it's the awareness that will increase your chance to lucidity, not the memory, well maybe if you are trying to MILD.

**Naiya** · 09-25-2011 07:15 AM

How much you're dreaming really all depends on how much you sleep. You should be having a dream for every 1-1.5 hours of sleep you get, although after about 8 hours you might get a dream every 30 minutes depending on how your sleep, as the sleep cycle shortens and REM dominates in the later hours of sleeping. Remembering 4-6 dreams a night is pretty good, and if you get around 8 hours of sleep, you might be remembering almost all of your dreams already. The dreams that you get in the first few hours of sleep are really pretty short and often (IMO) not worth recalling anyway....

**WaterDreamer** · 10-07-2011 06:38 AM

Last year when I got interested, I could only recall one or two. Now I can often recall 5, that's my top number so far.
I'd say just relax & recall whatever you can, enjoying each dream you do record.

I do have one suggestion though - have you ever considered mumbling the dream into a voice recorder upon awakening? I love doing this!! I keep a standard hand-held tape recorder by my bed, and I find it extremely efficient for getting the dreams documented before I lose them. As soon as I wake up, in the middle of the night and in the morning, whenever, I hit record & start rattling off anything I can remember. I can hit quite a few details when they're that fresh in my mind. I can say it a lot faster than I can write it (or even type it), PLUS I don't even have to sit up.
Of course, later on I play the tape back & type it into my private journal, but I can take my time typing since I already have all the details on tape. It's also amusing to hear my own yawning & just-awakened voice. All this reminds me, I need to update my DJ on here...

**quiktaco** · 10-07-2011 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by WaterDreamer

Last year when I got interested, I could only recall one or two. Now I can often recall 5, that's my top number so far.
I'd say just relax & recall whatever you can, enjoying each dream you do record.

I do have one suggestion though - have you ever considered mumbling the dream into a voice recorder upon awakening? I love doing this!! I keep a standard hand-held tape recorder by my bed, and I find it extremely efficient for getting the dreams documented before I lose them. As soon as I wake up, in the middle of the night and in the morning, whenever, I hit record & start rattling off anything I can remember. I can hit quite a few details when they're that fresh in my mind. I can say it a lot faster than I can write it (or even type it), PLUS I don't even have to sit up.
Of course, later on I play the tape back & type it into my private journal, but I can take my time typing since I already have all the details on tape. It's also amusing to hear my own yawning & just-awakened voice. All this reminds me, I need to update my DJ on here...

I think I might have to try that. I always just slip down to the side of my bed where I have my journal out and ready, with my red light aimed down at the paper and away from my eyes. I feel like I really have to concentrate on a few key words, so I don't forget it. From that, it can branch off sometimes. But if I forget those words (which often happens), the whole dream is gone.

Problem I have though, is my wife is right next to me. She puts up with a lot, with all my dreaming, but I don't know if she'd be happy if I started talking in the middle of the night on top of it all. I might be able to slip away into the bathroom and do this...not even opening my eyes. I don't know if I'd remember everything clearly enough after walking like that though...worth a try I guess. I'll try it on the recorder on my phone to see if it works before I get a separate recorder.

**WaterDreamer** · 10-08-2011 02:06 AM

Originally Posted by quiktaco

I think I might have to try that. I always just slip down to the side of my bed where I have my journal out and ready, with my red light aimed down at the paper and away from my eyes. I feel like I really have to concentrate on a few key words, so I don't forget it. From that, it can branch off sometimes. But if I forget those words (which often happens), the whole dream is gone.

Problem I have though, is my wife is right next to me. She puts up with a lot, with all my dreaming, but I don't know if she'd be happy if I started talking in the middle of the night on top of it all. I might be able to slip away into the bathroom and do this...not even opening my eyes. I don't know if I'd remember everything clearly enough after walking like that though...worth a try I guess. I'll try it on the recorder on my phone to see if it works before I get a separate recorder.

Yeah, having someone in bed with you makes it slightly problematic. Kudos for being a considerate hubby. I'm glad you're interested, I'm a huge fan of recording dreams this way.
Given your situation, what I suggest is to lay in bed silently & remember as much as you can before going into the bathroom. If you get up and move around and then try to recall details, you'll probably have a harder time - but if you allow the details to come to you before getting out of bed, you've made them the focus of your thoughts, so you should then be able to record them quickly.
I think if you calmly go in the bathroom, shut the door, keep the lights off & keep your voice low, you should be able to rattle off all the things you've just remembered in bed, and not disturb your wife.

And yes, try whatever works for you. My phone happens to have a strict time limit on the record function, so I like tapes because you can take your sweet time, then just record over it. Hope it works better on your phone, or maybe an i-something. But if you're ever interested, portable tape recorders are very inexpensive, as are cassette tapes. Good luck! =)

**Solarflare** · 10-08-2011 02:14 AM

EXTREMELY ULTRA MAX VIVID dreams. i think the same amount of dreams as the amout of hours you sleep per night

**gan_naire** · 11-06-2011 05:34 PM

Maybe instead of writing out the dreams upon them happening, since you wake up after them and jot down pages, what I noticed (since I often wake up after my dreams too) is I only write down keywords or a quick brief sentence on a little yellow note pad and pen. I don't turn the light on, I just grab it and write it on that page. It's funny to see my writing at night like that, but in the morning, just reading the sentence per dream, makes it all come back to me in a flash of realization. Focus on the keywords though, the rest will come together. Like a movie, you remember one key point in a movie more than anything else, but when someone asks what happened before and after that point, you can tell them that too, but if you just went up to someone with all of the "boring" stuff, then they'd ask what took you so long to get to the climax.

This should at least make your time in between dreams shorter spent awake and using your brain, which might help better with your recall. And just to say, I hope to get to the point you're at right now one day!