A few questions about DJs and dream recall

[guyuz]

Hello, I started the LD process exactly a week ago. I'm a total newbie, I never had any LDs, or some childhood dreaming achievements, and my recall/vividness/awareness is rock bottom. Not in a pessimistic way, just giving info^^ 1) I've been using my phone as a DJ, mostly because it contains personal stuff and I want to keep it private (Got the DJ password locked). For as long as I've been browsing DV I didn't find anyone else doing that. Is there a reason? Is keeping a paper-and-pencil DJ better in a certain way? 2) I'm not exactly sure how mantras work: for the past week what I've been doing is just saying the same sentences over, and over, and over, in my head ("I will remember my dreams when I wake up", "I have good dream recall", "When I wake up I'll write my dreams in my DJ"), from the moment I turn off the lights, for as long as I possibly can, and while trying to picture myself acting the mantras out. Also, I've doing my best so the mantras will be my last thought I have before I fall asleep. I can't really remember, but I think I didn't achieve that yet, but instead I drifted into thoughts without noticing and fell asleep. Is this the right way? I feel like repeating the same sentences like a robot is not the right way to do mantras. 3) Not 100% dream recall related, but ever since I started focusing on my dreams before bed I've been waking up during the nights. I don't feel ever tired in the mornings as a result, I figured I was wake up in the end of a sleeping cycle. The first part of the question is: Is this normal? And the second part is: Assuming I really do wake up in the end of a sleeping cycle, how is it possible that my brain is blank of any dream thought? To this day all the dreams I've recorded were the ones just before I wake up in the morning, but AFAIK the memory is supposed to be fresh right after a sleeping cycle.. Heh, I sure do have a lot of question threads.. I just keep coming up with more and more, hope that's ok Thanks, guyuz.

[JoannaB]

1) I know you are not the only one to keep an electronic journal. Hey, we've got a Dream Journal that is part of DreamViews site that is electronic. I used to use the DV site journal as my only journal for a while, but I have switched to first journaling on paper and only later copying the dreams to DV. The reason why I did that is because I remembered thinking that I learn better when I write things out, and I am not sure whether my mind benefits from writing and typing equally - it might, or it might not, I am experimenting with that. But even if my mind benefits from pen and paper, you are different than me, and thus your mind is likely to benefit from other stuff. 2) For mantras, it is not enough to just mechanically believe: one has to also intend and expect it to work. Expectations are a huge part of success for dreaming. 3) We all wake up after every sleep cycle, only most of us are not aware of it most nights. So I think it is progress that you are now more aware of your sleep cycles. When I started working on dream recall, I also started to notice every wake up. Like you, I started at rock bottom around February, and now my dream recall is much better - it still has its ups and downs though, so not consistently good, but often good. What I suggest is focusing on intensions and expectations, and whenever you wake up, first lie very still as you try to recall, and then always write something in your dream journal, even if all it is is "3am no dreams recalled, feeling calm." I expect that your dream recall will improve.

[FluxDZ]

This thread has helped me a lot , these were questions that were pondering my mind, especially number 2. I find it fascinated how I havn't noticed it before yet you say we wake up at the end of our Sleep Cycles. Well thanks anywho.

[Miskingo]

Keeping an electronic DJ is just fine. I use my phone as well and sync it to Google Drive. Regarding mantras, Joanna has it right. Simple repetition just isn't enough. You have to actually believe that the mantras will have the desired effect.