My current problems with dream recall

[SimulateReality]

This looks to be where I need to be at the moment. I just signed up for the forum. First - I'm pretty old. And with age comes memory decline. But some of that decline can be offset via "Use It Or Lose It" so beginning to make Lucid Dreaming and ultimately Dream Yoga part of my life, just like meditation, will help as I'm forced to remember. Second - I've had spontaneous LD all of my life, just not too frequently - perhaps a half a dozen or so a year - and I've never had LD goals nor a framework with which to approach Lucid Dreaming. So where am I at? I started formal LD practice a week ago. Before that I could remember segments of my dreams nightly. But it seems that now that I've committed to a concerted practice of lucid dreaming I'm suddenly finding that I can't remember my dreams. It is as though my subconscious knows I'm trying to hack it and in response it is trying to shut off access to my dream content. Sneaky subconscious <laughs>. Anyway, it seems I am in the right place. I see a lot of others having similar problems and I've read a couple of post with advice on strategies to cope with dream recall problems. I'll no doubt spend some time over the next days reviewing posts and creating plans to more efficiently remember my dreams. One thing I know for sure - I am not alone. So as wise men have oft-time said, "A journey of a 1000 miles starts with one step forward on the path." So - "Onward Ho!"

[FryingMan]

Welcome! I'm also among the "more mature" here, and started LD practice the first time around quite late (end of my 40's). The good news is that I think that pretty much anybody can considerably build their dream recall. It's a matter of consistency and dedication than anything else (well, also: getting regular, good, and enough sleep!). I'm also into dream yoga, I think it's a great way to pursue LD practice. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend the latest edition (2022 I believe) of The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Set your intention to remember your dreams, and train yourself to not move upon waking, and immediately reach for dream memories. The more you do this, the more you'll remember over time. It's also very good to record at least key word summaries (either voice recorder or jotting down on paper) of your dreams so that you'll remember them in the morning, and can flesh out the details in your DJ. Do this every day and your dream recall will blossom I'm sure! It also helps to pay attention to your experiences all through the day, with the intention of remembering them, and hold a "day recall" session at the end of the day just like how you hold a "dream recall" session at the end of the night.