Not recalling dreams!

I know that DJ is very important for LDing. But ever since I've been back to school this term my dream recall has dropped from 5 a week to 1 or less a week. At weekends I would have about 5 in one night! However, now I'm just managing one a weekend and this requires a lot of thinking to even DJ it.

How can I even improve my recall if I am not DJ anything at night? Also I have always been good at remembering my dreams even before I found out about lucid dreaming. So I never had to start off recalling from nothing.

Moved to dream recall.

Your drop in recall probably has to do with how long you are sleeping or how you are waking up. How many hours a night do you usually sleep? 8 hours or more is recommended for lucid dreaming. When your alarm wakes you up, do you jump out of bed and get ready right away? If you take some time to try and recall your dreams before getting ready you'll fine your recall will improve greatly.

I have 8 hours of sleep a night and when I wake up I lie and close my eyes and think about how what dreams I had last night but I just can't seem to think of any.

Try to go to bed at regular times, that used to help me when I had recall drops. Or WBTB for a few minutes each night, so you recall some of the dreams.

Instead of thinking of what you dreamed you might try checking on how you feel when you wake up. Sometimes you can trace these feelings back to what made you feel them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Choi

Try to go to bed at regular times, that used to help me when I had recall drops. Or WBTB for a few minutes each night, so you recall some of the dreams.

---

Haha this weekend I thought to myself its the last time I'm going to bed at different times. From now now on my plan is to go to bed at half 10 and wake up at 7. Also I do WBTB but im not sure if I do it for long enough I wake up go toilet try and remember my dreams, but the problem is I dont try hard when I WBTB to remember my dreams as I'm too tired. Then I will try and accompany this with a WILD, do you think I should stay up longer for a WBTB?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by roswell

Instead of thinking of what you dreamed you might try checking on how you feel when you wake up. Sometimes you can trace these feelings back to what made you feel them.

---

I read something about that before try and see what you feel. I have tried this but the only feeling I feel is tired. I do think the problem is because of my different sleeping times. In the holidays my sleeping pattern was messed up and then having to wake up for 7 at school the next week was a shock to the system. Hahaha I shall try to keep a continuous sleeping pattern from now on

What I did to really improve my dream recall, before this I could remember maybe one a week and that was when I was trying. What I did different was actually the way I went to bed. I relaxed more, made sure that all of my attention was on my dreams, having them, controlling them, recalling them, etc. Everything else (work, drawings, tattoos, my motorcycle, loneliness, etc. all went out the window) and then I began telling myself that after each dream, I would wake up to write down notes on it, not the whole thing, since that takes time and will pull you too much out of sleep (at least it will for me) and I started keeping a small notepad and pen by my couch.

The first time I tried this, I actually woke up after the first dream, shocked that it was only like an hour after going to bed, and I woke up, wrote down some quick notes, and went back to sleep. Then it happened again later on, wrote that one down, took a piss, and went back to sleep only to have a really long one that I was able to remember upon awakening.

I keep a dream journal, at least now I do, as of October 28, I literally have 27 entries of seperate dreams. Another thing I do, is with each dream entry, I write my interpretation of it, my theory on the meaning of it, as well as what I feel might be the dream signs. The first page of my dream journal is a list of all of my dream signs, with a number of how many times they keep reappearing. This has worked wonders for me.

I'm positive that remembering your dreams is more of a preperation of the before as opposed to the after. My daily ritual is I wake up, piss, uncover my birds, place them by the window for sunlight, grab my energy drink, smoke a cigarette (where I think about what I need to do to obtain control of my dreams, not the dreams themselves) and then I go back inside to write in two journals, one is my dream journal, the other is my daily/sleep journal. Like I said, I think it's the preparation of sleep that matters the most.

Also, what I did to relax my mind from random thoughts, is I kept a journal specifically for them, where I would literally write down and more or less have a scitsophrenic (spelled wrong I'm sure) conversation with a character. I'd go on and on as long as needed until basically all my issues would be talked out, usually that's all it takes, you find your own answers, but it comes from a seemingly outside source. Basically to me, it's like I'm talking to my subconscious mind, and whatever answers it gives me, I go with.

Oh right, I shall try doing this and see how it works out for me. Also I was planning on doing MILD and really trying on this. As I have found out that it has probably been my best technique as every time I have tried MILD it has gave me the best results. I am going to try Naiya's MILD technique. I think I shall do what you have said to get my recall back up then I shall proceed onto the MILD technique. And when I do write notes down I can easily remember a whole dream so what you suggested sounds promising for me! Thank you

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gan_nair

The first page of my dream journal is a list of all of my dream signs, with a number of how many times they keep reappearing.

---

That's a really good idea....I'm going to start doing that. I need to get a new dream journal anyway. When I bought the notebook I have now, I got the kind with the pages glued to the binding; now all the pages are starting to fall out. I should have gotten the spiral notebook kind.

I used to almost always remember my dreams. But lately I've been hit or miss. Two nights ago, I had two really good dreams but the last two mornings, I've woken up and don't even remember dreaming. It doesn't help that three days a week I have to get up at 3:30 AM for work. To get a full 8 hours of sleep I'd have to go to bed at 7:30 PM and that's just way too early for me. The other four days I get to sleep in. So that makes it hard for me to keep a regular sleep schedule.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gan_nair

The first page of my dream journal is a list of all of my dream signs, with a number of how many times they keep reappearing.

---

That's a really good idea....I'm going to start doing that. I need to get a new dream journal anyway. When I bought the notebook I have now, I got the kind with the pages glued to the binding; now all the pages are starting to fall out. I should have gotten the spiral notebook kind.

I used to almost always remember my dreams. But lately I've been hit or miss. Two nights ago, I had two really good dreams but the last two mornings, I've woken up and don't even remember dreaming. It doesn't help that three days a week I have to get up at 3:30 AM for work. To get a full 8 hours of sleep I'd have to go to bed at 7:30 PM and that's just way too early for me. The other four days I get to sleep in. So that makes it hard for me to keep a regular sleep schedule.

I just use Word, but then again, I only associate paper and pencil with art, which is why I use a small yellow pad and pen for jotting down the important parts of my dream when I awake from them, that way it's just really quick and I can go back to sleep immediately. When I wake up, I look at the yellow pad, see the major events of the dreams, and then it all just seems to flash back in all at once. And I can type a hell of a lot faster than I can write.

Also, I freaking love Hound dogs! As for the sleep schedule, my sleep schedule varies a lot, sometimes I don't go to work until 5PM, and sometimes I go to work at 7AM, and basically all other times in between. So I know what it's like with the weird sleep schedule. I think it's more about preparation going into sleep that matters the most, at least that's how I feel about it. Before sleep, I make sure everything is dim, even my computer stays really dim at all times, I limit the TV, sometimes none at all, and I have to use a sleep aid to start the whole process. I hate that I have to do it, but otherwise, I have a weird ability to stay up for a very long time. There was a time I averaged just an hour or so of sleep a night for over a week. And yes, I was very irritable, but I used to have a really racing type of mind.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gan_nair

What I did different was actually the way I went to bed. I relaxed more, made sure that all of my attention was on my dreams, having them, controlling them, recalling them, etc.

---

I will do this tonight. What do you actually think when you put your attention on your dreams. Do you repeat something to yourself? Do you visualize?

I've tried a hell of a lot of different methods. For some reason, if I think anything, literally anything, I stay awake and am brought out of my relaxation, so mantras, affirmations, and so forth suck for me personally when I'm trying to doze off. However, if you don't have that problem, just remember, positive is key. One thing I did once for relaxation (I wasn't trying to sleep though) was I breathed very deep and slow. In through my mouth, where I would say (with my inner voice) "sleep" and then with my exhale, I would say (again, inner voice) "deep sleep". I associate sleep with relaxation though, not literal sleep. But I would think it would hold true if you were to say something like "deep sleep" on the inhale and "lucid dream" on the exhale.

What I do now, from what I've found works best, is I just relax my body with flex and release of the muscles from head to toe, flex for five seconds and release, try not to laugh if I blast ass, deep slow breaths with nothing going on inside my head, and take notice of my heart beat. If it's beating faster than I want, I visualize seeing my heart as it beats, and then imagine it beating slower and slower until it gets to where I want it. I do the same thing with my lungs sometimes. I can only wonder what would happen if I did this with other places.

Anyways, after that, it depends on if my mind is racing or not. Sometimes it's not, like I don't have a care in the world. Sometimes (rare nowadays) it will though, and I'll just let the thoughts come and go. I also found something that works for me now, I wrote it out elsewhere, titled 'tip for relaxation'. After a while of just chilling out, taking notice of my body without thought, I'll enter into like an SP of sorts and after a while everything just slows down and it's like I'm slipping out of reality. Like I won't hear anything, smell anything, feel anything, nothing in the real world. And when I sleep, I sleep with a sound machine on, so when I can no longer hear it, I know I'm close.

Around that time, I might get tingles, vibrations, or just a numbing sensation, and then images start to form, and I'm consciously aware of it. What I always screwed up with was I would try to control them immediately. Like I would use my inner voice to interact with them, and that's where I was always screwing up, because like I said, for me personally, the second I use my inner voice, I get pulled out. Now I know to let it just happen for a while, let it all become way more clear and vivid until (hopefully) next thing I know, it's clear as day and I'm in a lucid dream.

On the last part, I haven't been truly successful, though I've seen and been a part of some weird things at that point, I still was never in control, so I'm patiently waiting for that. That's the one thing I learned on this forum so far, PATIENCE is key. Anyways, that's what I've been doing now.

Sorry for the really long post, I just remembered I also told you I keep a seperate journal to help with clearing my mind. I still do that, but I only use it when I need to. What I do for that is kind of weird, but I have a character that I associate with my subconscious mind, and I will literally open a Word document, say hello to him, let him reply, and then move on with whatever is bothering me, or stumping me, so on and so on. It is kind of weird, because it's like being skitso in a way, but for me it works.

The key with this is to not let a lot of time pass in between your words. If you did this, and after the introduction or greeting to the character, you were to ask a question, the point is to start answering immediately. DO NOT put any of your conscious thought into it, just let the words flow naturally. You'd be surprised the answers that come up. I know there's another word for this, but screw it, I didn't learn from anywhere, I just started it one day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gan_nair

I just use Word, but then again, I only associate paper and pencil with art, which is why I use a small yellow pad and pen for jotting down the important parts of my dream when I awake from them, that way it's just really quick and I can go back to sleep immediately. When I wake up, I look at the yellow pad, see the major events of the dreams, and then it all just seems to flash back in all at once. And I can type a hell of a lot faster than I can write.

Also, I freaking love Hound dogs! As for the sleep schedule, my sleep schedule varies a lot, sometimes I don't go to work until 5PM, and sometimes I go to work at 7AM, and basically all other times in between. So I know what it's like with the weird sleep schedule. I think it's more about preparation going into sleep that matters the most, at least that's how I feel about it. Before sleep, I make sure everything is dim, even my computer stays really dim at all times, I limit the TV, sometimes none at all, and I have to use a sleep aid to start the whole process. I hate that I have to do it, but otherwise, I have a weird ability to stay up for a very long time. There was a time I averaged just an hour or so of sleep a night for over a week. And yes, I was very irritable, but I used to have a really racing type of mind.

---

I took your advice and bought a small yellow legal pad to keep by the bed. When I wake up during the night, I don't record the whole dream either; just a few key words or phrases from it that will help jar my memory when I look at it later. Then I log into Dream Views and record it in my journal.

I'm also going to try that relaxation technique. I tried it a little last night and fell asleep pretty quickly but was only asleep for about an hour when my dog's barking woke me up. (He's a hound dog, you'd like him...lol) After I went back to sleep, I slept all night til my alarm went off at 3:30.

"I will remember my dreams , I will remember my dreams, I will remember my dreams." All you need to do. Say that 3x and then wake up and try to stay still a bit. I went from no recall to remembering 1-3 dreams even on school days when I'm rushed awake but not the most vivid.

I really want to know when you reach your goal of crapping on your teachers desk. Just reminds me of when I was in school, and a student really had to piss, but the teacher wouldn't let him leave the classroom. After a quick argument, she told him if you leave then you're suspended or expelled. So the kid grabbed her trash can, pulled it to where he was standing, whipped his little buddy out and started pissing in the trash can, while facing her! That was one of the greatest days of my life!

Thanks almost got my recalling back on track now i am recalling 1 - 3 on a school day! Also at least one of them is vivid!

Thats really great man, if there's one thing I've learned since coming back here, it's that patience is key.

I have now had a LD. This has worked so much! Thank you!