Dream recall drop to zero

I wonder if anyone else has experienced this... and if so what did you do about it?

I started trying to lucid dream and remember my dreams about 3 weeks ago. I started keeping a dream journal and my dream recall immediately improved to the point where I was remembering at least one dream a night and they were starting to get longer. This is up from usually remembering nothing about my dreams so I was pleased.

My wife and I moved our bed to another room (same house, same bed, not a massive change) about a week ago and suddenly my dream recall plummeted to zero. Now, despite still keeping a pen, notebook and small light by my bed, if I'm lucky I only remember fragments of a dream. What happened? If I can't remember my dreams I can't lucid dream so this is a major setback. Any thoughts?

You're probably not waking up at the end of your REM periods - the dreams you can clearly remember are the ones you wake from. But you can take advantage of the micro-awakenings we all experience after each REM period in a couple of ways - for one just drink a glass of water before bed. That way when you have a micro-awakening you'll wake up completely, feeling the pressure to go to the bathroom. And/or you can set your intention to wake after each dream. A mantra or writing it in your DJ before sleep can do the trick nicely. Combine all of these and you're practically guaranteed to wake up remembering dreams!

Well, I used to remember most of my dreams, but ever since I tried starting to LD My recall has dropped off :/

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Originally Posted by Darkmatters

You're probably not waking up at the end of your REM periods - the dreams you can clearly remember are the ones you wake from. But you can take advantage of the micro-awakenings we all experience after each REM period in a couple of ways - for one just drink a glass of water before bed. That way when you have a micro-awakening you'll wake up completely, feeling the pressure to go to the bathroom. And/or you can set your intention to wake after each dream. A mantra or writing it in your DJ before sleep can do the trick nicely. Combine all of these and you're practically guaranteed to wake up remembering dreams!

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Thanks Darkmatters - sounds like solid advice. I'll work on that tonight.

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Originally Posted by Phased

Well, I used to remember most of my dreams, but ever since I tried starting to LD My recall has dropped off :/

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That seems like kind of the opposite result to your goal. If your dream recall is down so are your chances of DILDing - which seems like a waste of 4-5 opportunities per night. Do you keep a dream journal?

Do you still write in your dream journal even though you do not remember the dream? When you awaken, try to just lie there for a while remembering the dream. But whether or not you succeed, write at least one sentence in your dream journal. A good sentence for not remembering anything may be "I woke up feeling restless, but don't remember why." or "I have some vague sense of having had a dream, but no memory of it. I think I was myself in this dream."

Moving to the new bedroom maybe you do not feel comfortable there yet and need to get used to the change. Give it time, and do not worry. I have never heard of someone never being able to remember their dreams in a room forever - I bet someday you will. :)

It'll probably come back. My recall is pretty good in my own bed, but if I'm elsewhere it drops. Even though you're still in the same bed, being in another location probably affects you. It'll or analog be temporary. Also moved to des and recall.