Anything to help with dream recall!

[CherryBomb]

So my recall isn't exactly the best and I'm wondering if you guys have any tips or anything to help me? Oh, and does vitamin b6 help? How safe is that herb calea (is the spelling correct?) z? What about apple juice? Any other foods or drinks that help with recall? Anything is appreciated! (oh, I've been using a dream journal for about a week too).

[Kraom]

Well a common technique that I use for improved recall is to, lay in the position that I wake up in and stay there with my eyes closed and instead of thinking about anything else, just try and remember what your dreams were. Although, if you don't have time in the mornings (even though it's only like five minutes) you could try using a tape recorder/Dictaphone app on your phone and record little tidbits of your dreams so that you can more easily recall them later. Other than that keep up with the dream journal for sure and your recall should naturally get better, just by that. And vitamin B6 is supposed to increase the vividness of dreams, so maybe that makes them easier to recall, and I've heard apple juice does around the same..

[Scionox]

To add to what Kraom said, you can try using mantra like "I remember my dreams" or similar when falling asleep to help remembering dreams, also you can try waking up right after dream, dream recall right after dream is most detailed, for that mantra like "I wake up after each dream and remember it" can help. Also you can do another technique where you recall events of the whole day before going to sleep, that helped me improve recall personally when i was just starting. Also check out this thread: http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...ompendium.html

[MasterMind]

Lucid dreaming aids is tempting to use in the beggining and feel free to try some of it. However try to not become dependent on them. In other words supplements and aids are not useful in a long-term perspective. There are a few natural thing you can do to improve your dream recall that is often overlooked and that is go to sleep regularly and no too late a good time is 22:00 but it's not universal, so experiment. And in the morning don't snooze with your alarmclock. Train yourself to either wake up naturally which is probably the best for dream recall, but if that isn't possible train yourself to go up instantly when the alarmclock rings. And dream recall is something we naturally have, it's just that we either have stopped focusing on it alltogether or have a belief and expectation that it will be hard. So get your mind to realize that you want to start remember your dreams by using affirmations like Chercker666 explained or use a tool to spark that belief and expectation that it easy like for example the way of recalling Kraom described. And here is a tool from me that have helped a few: http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...reams-try.html The idea here is that by practising your memory and by intending to remember your experiences, you will get that message to your mind as well. But in order to appreciate the tools and advice people give you for lucid dreaming, the important thing is that you don't see it as a "Do this and this will happen" kind of thing, because there is no universal truth of how to recall or lucid dream in the fastest way. It's more like swimming you hear instruction of how to practise and then you learn by doing. But I hope that you have enough information to get started. And good luck!

[Linkzelda]

I agree with Mastermind with lucid dreaming aids being useful to just give people a push in the right direction. For me personally, I find myself just wanting to do things naturally and within what my body can produce without too much reliance on what a substance of a drug, etc. can give at a faster rate. It's not even the substance that becomes concerning, but rather the addiction towards it, which is probably the #1 reason why I want to do this without using physical aids like Galantamine etc. I find it more rewarding having to reformat how my mind works with dream recall rather than using substances all the time, and sadly, even I say that, I know people in the background are going to want to wring my neck and try to formulate defensive responses to justify their presumed control over said substances. It's perfectly alright to use those aids for your progress, but just know that while you may think you're handling them well, if you find yourself relying too much on them, it can affect your confidence, and personally, I find myself progressively simulating those same sensations that would require substances to have the same effect with hypnosis. But of course, I can't provide evidence to that since it's just based on personal experience. Ultimately, even saying mantras where you state "I can remember my dreams" is presuming we can just bypass the critical factor of our minds and think it'll work for sure. If the logic behind just saying a mantra a few times worked without our critical factor trying to rationalize what we're saying, then we could change ourselves so much that it would be hard having a consistent grip on reality and dreaming. The mantras may work in time (after hammering them down), but if you really want results that's a bit more efficient and a bit quicker (but in no way 100% perfect), you have to be a bit more descriptive in sensory detail to build up prospective memory. From personal experience, I found better success not really saying a mantra, and just making a script for myself that has what I intend to achieve, how it will benefit me, seeing myself being where I want to be, and seeing myself being able to do it consistently after each session. And not only that, I say it (mentally while mouthing the words or actually speaking) with a calm, relaxed, and confident tone of voice that helps with having inward concentration in recalling my dreams better (or any goal actually). It satisfies the simple "Ask, Believe, and Receive" because when we're reading a book, we do tend to capture moments where we forget about reality and get into the experience through the words that stimulate as much as our 5 senses as possible. Of course, it's just one of many routes you can take, but just know there are other ways to get the same result without developing an addiction towards substances.