Thread: Help! Problems with Dream Recall!

Hi,

Sorry to hear you've not been having much luck. Here are some ideas:

Alarms set at different points throughout the night do help some people, but for others (I find this) they can be unhelpful, as they're loud, instantly grab all your attention and for a moment everything may escape your mind as you scramble to switch it off. If you find this, have you tried giving the alarms a break and trying to wake up more naturally? That way it's much easier to do some of the things which help recall, such as staying perfectly still when you first find yourself waking up, and focusing only on your dreams. This could be difficult if you have to get up by a certain time each day, but you could always leave the last alarm on and try another way of training yourself to wake up more naturally in the night. Otherwise, if alarms really help you more than causing problems, you could experiment with the alarm times, changing them by 15 minutes or so each night; sooner or later you'll probably be startled awake right in the middle of a dream...

What is your mind on when you first wake up? Again, it helps to try and keep your mind clear and calm first thing in the morning, stressed about neither the dreams themselves nor anything else. Trying too hard to recall a dream can sometimes make it more difficult, while lying still and gently going over the dream events in your memory is more likely to lead to remember new scenes or events which connected to the ones you already remembered (at least, in my experience.) If you can, try to take your time in recalling.

If you have a dream journal as you said, or just a rough piece of paper to keep next to you as you sleep, try noting down anything that you remember at all, briefly at first, with just keywords so you know you'll remember the scene when you look at them. Then go over the dream event in your mind again and pause a moment, be still, see if anything else comes to you.

Just a few other things you might try:

Try to improve your recall during the day; look up things like All Day Awareness. The more present you are in real life, the more present you'll eventually become in your dreams, and better awareness tends to lead to improved recall.

Clear your mind before sleep; try not to fall asleep in a confusion of thoughts but with an open/calm mind ready for dreaming.

Some people find supplements such as vitamin B6 helpful for both lucidity and recall, but if you do try this, be careful to only do so occasionally; and remember that it's still necessary to focus on practising for both at the same time.

Most of all, don't be discouraged; it can take a while to start recalling your dreams well but once you do, it will become much more natural - and it's definitely worth it

Good luck.

Thanks a lot for the long reply Vasiona! I well definitely try all of your suggestions! I'm starting tonight by changing my alarms by 15 minutes so I wake up during my REM cycle and hopefully remember more of my dreams. I definitely won't be discouraged, I am highly interested in learning to become lucid in my dreams! I will update you with my progress in the morning, thanks again!
- Calum

PS: I also forgot to mention in my main post that last night I did partially remember one dream, but it was extremely vague!

Hi Vasiona, I recently woke up and there was both success and failure last night. I had adjusted my alarms by 15 minutes to wake me during REM, but your theory was right, and after the first 2 alarms just startling me, by the time I had them switched off I had no recollection of any dreams. So I then turned off my final alarm and woke up more naturally at around 9 this morning. I stayed still when I woke up and remembered my most recent dream, still reasonably vague, but I remembered it nonetheless. I'll try All Day Awareness today!

Hi, I'm glad to hear about the success part; congrats on recalling that dream ^^ Good luck again with trying All Day Awareness. I know many (including myself) find it very helpful.

Originally Posted by vasiona

All Day Awareness. I know many (including myself) find it very helpful.

What have your experiences with ADA been like, what do you do on a daily basis?
i just need feedback cuz ive been doing it for a while without any positive enhancements in dream recollection or vividness

Hi, Vasiona. I have came back to tell you that I am now remembering 2-4 dreams per night! I am still to become lucid but I can feel my self getting near! Thanks for all the tips you gave me a few weeks ago.
- Calum

Originally Posted by calum17

Hi, Vasiona. I have came back to tell you that I am now remembering 2-4 dreams per night! I am still to become lucid but I can feel my self getting near! Thanks for all the tips you gave me a few weeks ago.
- Calum

How'd you do it? were you using All Day Awareness or some other technique?

I'm just staying perfectly still when waking and thinking of the last thing I thought of (if that makes sense) and that normally triggers dream recollection as you realise that your last thoughts were actually your dream!

Nice good to hear of your progress btw... good to see someone reply i was getting the impression that this website has gone dead after a while. but im starting to border around 2 dreams remembered a night im mainly focusing on recollection now. also ive been learning how to meditate so hopefully my progress continues to skyrocket