Thread: Optimising dream recall

It's good to learn how to wake up without alarms for recalling dreams, as the shock of the alarm and the movement it takes to turn it off can make dream memories vanish before you can move them to longer-term memory.

It's not hard: just set intention before sleep (or going back to sleep): "I wake up after every dream". I also now add "..., remain still, remember and record it". Also, "I remember my dreams" is a good one, I now add "..., in complete detail, from beginning to end". Sometimes if really tired getting the will to record can be a struggle. Make it easy, and keep your pad/pen right next to your pillow so: 1) you don't have to get out of a warm bed into a cold room, and 2) you minimize movement. I personally use a voice recorder app on my phone, I prefer that since I can get a lot of detail recorded quickly.

Like FryingMan said, intention can help alot as well as learning not to use alarms, but also as i've noticed it depends on sleeping schedule. When i go to sleep at certain time and wake up at certain time i find it's very easy to wake up and recall, and if that time changes it becomes harder, so experimenting with schedule and finding best times can help if you have problem when waking up.

*Moved to Dream signs and Recall*

Thank you for your input. I forgot to mention that currently I use a mantra to set my intention beforehand. My mantra is "My dreams are vivid and I remember them vividly".

As for the waking up without an alarm, I used to be able to do that but only by using a mantra. I would repeat something like "I wake up at 6:00 AM" and convince myself I have to wake up at that time. However, I am not sure how to do this without using a mantra, are there any other options?

I have a notepad with a pen within my arm's reach but it's just so tempting to lie down with the excuse "I need to recall first anyway" and doze off . That's kinda where the problem is, but perhaps I just have to practice more to gather the will to write my dreams down.

Originally Posted by Aziq

As for the waking up without an alarm, I used to be able to do that but only by using a mantra. I would repeat something like "I wake up at 6:00 AM" and convince myself I have to wake up at that time. However, I am not sure how to do this without using a mantra, are there any other options?

I don't understand what you mean by "without using a mantra." You're setting intention -- this is done by repeating the phrase to yourself some number of times until you feel it is "set", like;

"I remember my dreams."
"I remember my dreams."
"I remember my dreams."
"I remember my dreams."
... some number of times ...
"I remember my dreams."

then
"I wake up after each dream."
"I wake up after each dream."
"I wake up after each dream."
"I wake up after each dream."
... some number of times ...
"I wake up after each dream."

You do this before going to bed, once, you don't have to keep repeating it throughout the night (unless you feel you need to). Sometimes I repeat each one just once or a few times before falling back asleep after recording. The major effort though is just before going to bed where I spend one or several minutes repeating these phrases until I feel like they're "set."

Originally Posted by FryingMan

You do this before going to bed, once, you don't have to keep repeating it throughout the night (unless you feel you need to). Sometimes I repeat each one just once or a few times before falling back asleep after recording. The major effort though is just before going to bed where I spend one or several minutes repeating these phrases until I feel like they're "set."

I always thought mantras were supposed to be repeated over and over until you fall asleep. This clarifies quite a lot, thank you.

Originally Posted by Aziq

I always thought mantras were supposed to be repeated over and over until you fall asleep. This clarifies quite a lot, thank you.

"Setting intent" is not quite the same thing as a MILD or WILD mantra. It's like a mantra in that you repeat a short special phrase repeatedly to yourself, but you do it for a definite period of time then stop (longer can be better, of course, but for wake up and dream recall, I generally only to it about one or two minutes max per intent).

Aziq. a mantra is just to get an idea in your head. If you believe that you can wake up whenever you want, then you don't need to use a mantra to do it. You just need to decide the times as you fall asleep. when I fall asleep I decide what times I am going to wake up, and o to sleep thinking I'm Dreaming and visualizing.

A mantra is a stepping stool to intent and subconscious expectation.

Thanks to everybody for their response and advice, just one last question.

If I want to increase my dream recall as much as possible within a set period of time, are there any other things I could do besides setting intentions, keeping a dream journal and trying to get enough sleep? I've been trying to become good at Lucid dreaming since 2011 but I either lost motivation/interest or certain circumstances required my full focus (such as college), but now I've had enough of quitting and postponing and really want to give lucid dreaming my 100%.

Here's a good thread to check for other way of improving recall: http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...ompendium.html
Also one good technique that can help with recall is to recall events that happened through whole day before going to sleep, it's a good general memory practice which also improves recall.

Yes, I read a thread about that yesterday. Definitely checking that one out. Thank you