Dream Recall - Help!

[Aryll]

I'm pretty new to this site, though I've been browsing for several weeks now without signing up. At that time I thought that I really needed to work on my dream recall, since I can NEVER remember my dreams. So I did everything this site told me to; I got a Dream Journal, set my alarm clock for every 90 minutes, and firmly told myself that I would remember all of my dreams when I woke up in the morning. So I would wake periodically throughout the night to try and remember things, and I would lie there silently with my eyes closed after clicking off my alarm, but nothing from any dream came to mind. Later, I tried to drink lots of water to wake up in the night, thinking that the alarm clock was disrupting my rememberances, but that didn't work either. And I have attempted to tell myself that I will wake up in the night after any dream, but then I don't wake up at all! I'm having a terrible time remembering my dreams. Nothing at all has come to mind. I lie there for about ten minutes, looking through my thoughts for any signs of a dream, but I can't find anything. I have tried so many methods, and yet my Dream Journal is blank because I can't remember anything! This has been going on for nearly a month now. Please, does anyone else have any strategies? Anything will do, even if I were only able to remember one dream a week! I can't remember anything at all, no matter how hard I try. It's driving me mad! I really would like to remember my dreams. Thank you!

[Snakecharmer1222]

Welcome to the board Miss Aryll! I will offer what I can to help your dream recall. First, it appears we have to fix your awakening. I got a Dream Journal, set my alarm clock for every 90 minutes, and firmly told myself that I would remember all of my dreams when I woke up in the morning[/b] As far as I know, dreams don't occur until 5-6 hours into sleep. So I suggest setting your alarm to this time. Have you also tried "believing" that you would wake up and remember your dreams? Especially right before you fall asleep, you can lightly repeat to yourself that you will wake up after each dream period and remember your dream. Using a tape recorder may help also but practice makes perfect. I also advise you to get your body relaxed (such as an empty bladder and a content stomach) before going to bed. And I have attempted to tell myself that I will wake up in the night after any dream, but then I don't wake up at all! I'm having a terrible time remembering my dreams.[/b] Again, try "believing" that you WILL wake up. I lie there for about ten minutes, looking through my thoughts for any signs of a dream, but I can't find anything. I have tried so many methods, and yet my Dream Journal is blank because I can't remember anything![/b] Try writing about how you felt when you woke up or anything that you may remember before waking up. From my experience, as you begin to write, you'll remember more and more of your dream. I can't remember anything at all, no matter how hard I try.[/b] Dream recall can sometimes be natural, you just have to let it happen. Try not to stress or be discouraged! I hope this helps, good luck!

[Aryll]

Thank you very much for the suggestions, Snakecharmer. I thought that ninty minutes into sleep was a little too soon. Besides, I never really liked the idea of getting up four times a night just to try to remember dreams! 5-6 hours after falling asleep is MUCH more convenient. I can see why "believing" would work well - I didn't really bother to really try that before, it was mostly half-hearted. I suppose that after so many failed attempts of waking up to try to remember a dream, you kind of lose the enthusiasm and assertiveness of telling yourself that you will wake up and remember everything. But I will definitely try to do better with that! It would be nice, because I continually find myself throwing my alarm half-way across the room when it beeps loudly in the middle of the night. Then I just plunk right back into sleep! Thank you for the warm welcome. I much appreciate it, aside from the help you gave me. It was nice of you to take the time to respond. Okay! I'm going to dream recall this time. For sure!

[Raylin]

As far as I know, dreams don't occur until 5-6 hours into sleep. So I suggest setting your alarm to this time. [/b] Actually, the first REM period begins after just 90 minutes of sleep, but it isn't very long. You then have REM periods approximately every 90 minutes (at 3 hours, 4.5 hours, 6 hours, etc.)

[Ev]

For a beginner at recall: Take multivitamins, they help recall. Eat fruits/vegetables. You may not see dreams because your brain lacks required chemicals. The excercises you should do: Think about you memories. What happened to you in the past week? Examine the events and notice if there are any irregularities. Sometimes dreams make their way into ordinary memory and kinda blend in. This excersise helps find them. Try visualizing stuff before going to sleep. Imagine random stuff and then let go. Notice that your mind would continue to create random images on it's own for a while. Focus on these imagery. this should help you.

[Original Poster]

If you're a confused about the difference between firmly telling yourself something and believing something, I remember having the same hurtle with dream recall you did, I barely remembered everything. The only thing that worked was repeating that sentence, "I will awaken from my dreams and remember them completely." until I fell asleep. I don't even mean saying it until I got bored, I mean I said that and only that in my head until I fell asleep.

[Aryll]

Thanks for all your help, everyone! I finally managed to remember a dream. Before I went to sleep, I drank some milk and took a vitamin. Then, while I was trying to go to sleep I repeated in my mind that I would wake up at the end of every dream period and completely remember the dream. I also told myself that I would wake up at 2:00 am without an alarm clock, and I woke at somewhere around 1:00 am. I also tried to believe that I would remember! Before I opened my eyes I tried to remember any memories of a dream. I only had a tiny fragment of one, but it was very vivid. I attempted to trace back any other details, because I KNEW they existed, but I just couldn't find any. I almost fell asleep trying to remember it, but I caught myself and got up and wrote a few words in my Dream Journal. Then, I went back to sleep. I woke at six and later at seven-thirty, unable to remember any dreams. So I got out of bed and read a book for a little while. All of a sudden, a dream hit me! I remembered it just like that, and at first I thought it was something that had actually happened to me, but in reality it was a dream! There was a surprising amount to remember, lots of little details, but some was still left out. Nevertheless, I went and wrote a surprising amount in my Dream Journal. Finally, it's not empty anymore! Something interesting happened besides this that I managed to recall. I had been performing many reality checks lately, every two hours, I think. So while I was doing one recently, I got the vague image of doing one and being able to breath through my nose, even when I had my hand on it! I knew this had been in a dream. I frantically attempted to remember any other details, but I just couldn't. I think I'm on the right track, though! If I just had a little better Dream Recall, perhaps I would actually be able to remember what happened next. Even if nothing did, well...doing a Reality Check in a dream brings you to a Lucid Dream! That's kind of exciting, but I think after I did it in the dream I went on not realizing that I was dreaming. Perhaps my Reality Checks are a little too absent-minded? All of this has been very exciting for me, because I honestly haven't been able to remember any of my dreams for the LONGEST time - I can't even remember the last time I had one. Hopefully I'll be on the right track from here, being able to recall my dreams much more frequently, and more clearly! That I did a Reality Check in one of my dreams was also very exciting, even though I do not know what happened next. But I'm on my way, I think, and that makes me very happy. I'm going to try again tonight, too! Hopefully my dreams will be clearer next time.

[Merlock]

I'd like to thank Ev greatly for the advice above. It makes perfect sense that I may not have much recall because of lack of vitamins as my lack of vitamins seems dire. Also, memory training is something that hadn't occured to me and I realized just today that my memory seems horribly untrained as I was barely even able to recall the day's history, let alone anything from a week ago. I'm pretty much in the same position but this advice seems very helpful and is much appreciated. Also, great work, Aryll; I'm right behind on the track to great recall, hahah.