"Remembering ALL the dreams" you've had in your sl

[Sweet Dreams]

Hello everyone, I havn't been around here for long as I've registered a little over a week ago. I've been reading quite a bit around here though, but like anybody else I've experienced some confusion that inevitably comes with things we're not all too knowledgeable about, and even with things we're knowledgeable about there's always room for improvement regarding skill and diligence, and, of course, confusion. (I hope I'm posting this in the right section!) Just wondering: since I've read quite a bit here about remembering multiple dreams a person has had in one night, I'm wondering how one could decide, differentiate, or divide between dreams, eg, "Dream #1 "I was walking on a cloud," Dream #2 "I was talking with a stranger about Napolean while riding the bus," Dream #3 "I was acting like a goof infront of my co-workers with nothing but my shorts on," etc. Because to me, It usually just seems like it's one long movie that I may be lucky enough to remember some parts of. My recall tends to follow this form: "I remember seeing snow in Florida which I thought was weird since I was in Florida in the middle of August, and all of a sudden, I can remember being at my house trying to figure out who impregnated me." That's a pretty good example of what I would have. It usually feels like I had this terribly long dream that felt like actual life, and even though the contexts change drastically from one point to another, I have a strong feeling, and almost complete certainty even, that it's all been just one dream with so many different, and usually crazy incidents. I remember most of these strange incidents, in their contexts, and even the feeling I have while having them. And very frequently I'd also remember social interaction in the dream clearly, something I've read, and or something someone said pretty ok as well. I can even recall those pathetic small details I don't need to remember. I can basically remember enough of the dreams I've had during sleep if I desire to, and if I make at least some effort to recall and retain the memory long enough to either keep it in my memory or write it down before losing it. Other times, however, I am unmotivated (usually when the dream feels unimportant), and therefore make no effort whatsoever into recalling dreams, even though I could if I only try when I initially am awoken. Would the incidents (especially the random ones with contexts changing) be considered "different dreams" recalled? Or (even though I truly doubt this) does this just mean that I am normally the kind of person who has poor dream recall ability?

[sasha]

Remembering so many details suggests good recall, at least of parts. I sometimes have dreams like you describe. They seem to come during nights when I sleep very lightly or when my sleep apnea kicks in worse than usual, keeping me close to the surface of consciousness for much of the night. On those nights, the dreams may have less coherance, seem trippier, and have less clear boundaries between them. Do you think you might have a sleep pattern like that which causes me to have similar dreams? Regardless, keeping a consistent dream diary, regardless of how important the dream seems, should help. It will improve you recall of both details and the number of dreams, which might show you whether or not you do actually have many separate dreams. Also, noting the conditions of your sleep may help you to track any conditions that might lead to having different types of dreams. As for the importance of dreams... I don't personally pay much attention to individual dreams. I prefer to go back later and look for patterns. So I see all of my dreams as equally important. Also, any dream, no matter how boring, can serve as a vehicle for lucid dreaming. And, most importantly, if I ignore some dreams and don't write them down, then I start to recall fewer dreams. It seems that dreams require their dreamer to appreciate them before they give you more.

[AirRick101]

So you have a bit of trouble differentiating the dreams? The truth is, a lot of the times, we don't know for sure. But when I mentally flip through various dream memories, I separate them because each presents itself with a different "feeling" that it is indeed a separate dream, the same way you separate memories in real life. It's also tends to be based on the scenario. Like if a string of events seem very much related or entwined in some pattern of cause and effect, it's probably one dream. But if you get dream detail that doesn't seem to be able to relate whatsoever with another dream detail, it's perhaps from another dreams. This is just my opinion based on my experience.

[Sweet Dreams]

sasha, what you said is pretty helpful actually. You made a really good point about recording your dream regardless of whether or not I perceive it to have any importance. Also, another great thing you brought to my attention was to note the circumstances or condition I am in with regards to which dreams I've had and how they appeared. I should get in the habit of looking back at them to find a pattern. It's just a matter of getting used to it I think. Lately I've been noticing that I wake up knowing that I've had a dream (almost being awaken in the middle of a dream), but as soon as I open my eyes I can feel the memory of the dream quickly slipping away. And YES, I've been sleeping VERy lightly for the past week or two, and I'm sure this has something to do with it. My stress level is high and when that's the case, most of my dreams are made up of my trying to figure out some problem in my head that I actually have in real life, almost as if I don't want to wake up because I so strongly believe that I'm in the middle of this important mental process to solve some problem. It's quite stressful. They don't even feel like dreams because all I'm doing is trying to figure things out. In some cases I even write pieces of poetry (which I did the last time I slept--somehow, I ended up with 4 stanzas that I can faintly recall). I don't know how old you are or what your physical/emotiona/mental health is like, but sleep apnea usually occurs to those who are extremely overweight, have heart problems, and/or are at least 50 years of age or older. That's what my doctor told me at least. I've had a few experiences with what would be described as sleep apnea, but it confused my doctor as I did not fit into any of the above categories. BUT I still have them every now and then, and also something like the old hag affect, particularly when I am sleeping on my back. So, yes, I think I have been having a similar sleep pattern as yours. AirRick101, I understand what you mean about seperating the dreams by their relevance to a particular feeling or event that took place; It makes perfect sense, and I think that would be a good way to decide when and where to draw the line. but do you think that it's something I could apply to my case? For instance, I have long dreams sometimes like I've described above in my first post, and although in this long dream the events spontaneously change from one context to another, in most contexts, I usually remember actually being in a previous one. Is that something normal with dreaming? do we all usually know that we've experienced this other condition or dream when we are in the latest "dream," and not just after we are awake recalling all of these?

[Sweet Dreams]

Just reviving this post as I did not get answer to my last question above. Would appreciate some feedback. Thanks.

[Asclepius]

On two occassions I had dream episode A then dream episode B. While in episode B I realized I had just had a dream on a similar topic and became lucid with out waking up between episodes. E.g. dream I am on a train with my family. Dream I am on a train with a stranger, wait didn't I just have a dream about trains - LUCID As dream recall improves one may begin to perceive how dream episodes transition into each other. E.g. I am dreaming I am cooking dinner while camping. This becomes cooking dinner in a kitchen with some friends, this becomes being in a movie with these friends. Most dreams appear during REM cycle which can vary from 5 minutes in length upto an hour. We can learn to wake up between cycles and recall our dreams. But when you reach the hour long segment it takes a very good memory to recall it all. As well, we have tendency to convert our dreams into stories and try to fit it into some kind of story that makes sense to our waking self. This waking editing can lead us to divide up rem experiences into several dreams. Dream transitions can be very abrupt, again causing us to split episode into 2 dreams. E.g. I am standing outside looking at a building. Next I am inside a building with new DCs. If I don't remember transition between being outside building and being inside building I will think these were 2 very separate dreams.