Thread: Remember Dreams Better

My tips for better dream recall:

• Going to bed at 2-3 am is quite late, isn't it? Go to bed earlier.
• Maybe 5-6 hours isn't enough.
• Some alarm clocks make noise as the warning system of civil defence. Alarm clock often cause major distraction and make remembering dreams much harder.
• Think of dream recall with positive attitude, don't be stressed about it.
• Try to have dream journal next to your bed. You don't need to write novel, just recording important events instantly is enough.

I once was at a Friend's place and I slept there. He's into dreaming too and I said to him'' Man I had such wierd dreams but I cannot remember it fully'' He told me:'' just calm down and it will float to the surface gently'' And sure enough it did about a minute later.

Sometimes I have trouble recalling too. But when you go to bed later than 1 o'clock you will sleep deeper and less conscious making it even harder to recall.

A healthy and steady bedtime should help a whole lot. Going to bed being not TOO tired.

Ok thanks for the answers, it gave me something to think about. I am free from school right now so that causes some late bedtimes

LOL same thing's happening to me too at the moment, no school so I stay up waaaay late.

Going to bed earlier always helps me. It took my body a couple of days to get used to staying up late, and then I started to remember my dreams. But not as much as I do when I go to bed early.

I usually go to bed between 12am-5am and I have good recall, although I suppose if you're not used to going to bed so late it may mess up your recall a bit.

Keeping a dream journal is a good way to enhance recall, also keeping track of recurring dream symbols can help too, especially if the reoccur very often. I find that if I go through my usual list of recurring dream symbols, I usually hit on something and can remember a dream that escaped my memory.

DREAM RECALL
Dream recall is one of the most important part of lucid dreaming, and dreaming in general. Without having any dream recall, you can't really have any lucid dreams. The thing with dreaming is, it is a lot harder to remember things from dreams than to remember things from reality. That's why there are lots of methods and ways to increase your dream recall, like the ones in this tutorial.
Aren't lucid dreams easier to remember than normal dreams?
Most of the time the answer is no. Lucid dreams are just like regular dreams except that you are concious in them, so the recall isn't much different for lucid dreams and regular ones, except lucid dreams are usually harder to forget than normal ones. For some people lucid dreams are easier to remember. This is just because you have more motivation to remember lucid dreams as opposed to non - lucid dreams. Also, some intense experiances are easier to remember in lucid dreams. Nonetheless, it is still quite hard to remember lucid dreams. This is why it is important to make sure you have a very good dream recall.
Keeping a dream journal
Dream journals are excellent ways to document your dreams. You can use almost anything for a dream journal, such as, internet dream journaling sites, computer, paper and pencil, audio recorder, etc. When writing in your dream journal, make sure to take note of emotions along with what happens. You should date your dreams so you can refer to them later and title them if you want. Also, feel free to draw pictures, make notes, or interpret your dreams.
Dream journaling helps you remember dreams more consistently and frequently. If you have decent recall (1 to 2 dreams a day), your dreams will become more vivid and you will remember more by dream journaling. I personally remember up to 30 dreams a week on a good dreaming week. Some people say how they don't need dream journals and that they can remember dreams well enough without one. This may be true, but keeping a dream journal sets your mind to remember your dreams. Another good part of dream journaling is it helps keep your dream memories intact. I can look back to a dream I had months ago and remember it as well as when I wrote it. Looking back at lucid dreams that you wrote down a while ago is good inspiration and can help you induce a lucid dream. Even though keeping a dream journal is mainly for increasing dream recall, it helps you become lucid easier, too.
Remembering your dreams
Remebering your dreams is a lot harder to do than forgetting them, so it takes a bit of work. Although, remembering your dreams is a lot more fun than forgetting them. One method of remembering your dreams is autosuggestion. Before you go to bed, repeat to yourself, "I will remember my dreams, I will remember my dreams, I will remember my dreams". With some luck you will remember your dreams.
Once you wake up, try to stay still and keep your eyes shut. Moving and opening your eyes once you wake up can affect your recall. Don't think about anything except the question "What did I dream about". Most of the time you remember a dream within 10 minutes. Try write down your dreams as soon as possible, because once you remember them they will fade away just as quickly. If you can't remember any dreams when you wake up or even after trying the techniques above, live out your day normally and hopefully a sound, smell, word, picture or anything else will trigger a memory of a dream. If you wake up in the middle of the night, write down your dreams. It's very hard to remember those dreams again if you fall asleep without writing them down.
Hypnosis is a great way to remember your dreams too. Use self hypnosis and tell yourself to remember all of your dreams.
Another method to remember dreams
Set your alarm clock for 90 minutes intervals (the time it takes to get into REM) and hopefully your alarm clock will go off when you are in REM. It will be much easier to remember dreams if you wake up during REM. Every time you wake up write down anything you remember. The downside to this method is you won't get a lot of sleep so you should only use it until you can remember a couple of dreams per night, and then stop doing it.
Night time dream journaling
Throughout the night, you may wake up for a minute or so and remember a lot of dreams. Often times, you would just fall back asleep and forget the dreams when you wake up in the morning. Try to write down these dreams when you wake up. However, when you do this, try not to stir yourself too much as to wake yourself up enough so you forget your dreams. One technique is to not turn on a light or open your eyes. One way to do this is mark your thumb on the side of your page so you can read your handwriting in the morning. Another way is to use paper with raised lines, located here (thanks to Clairity for the great idea and the link). If all else fails, you can get light pen (just google it) or turn on a very dim light. Light tends to "kill" dream recall.
What you consume before bed affects your dreams
Drugs such as melatonin and B6 are said to affect your dreams. They are said to give you vivid dreams and good recall. Although, this varies for everyone of course. There are things that make your dream recall worse, too. A lot of depressents supress REM sleep also. One of these things is alchohol. Alchohol can disturb the REM cycle and sometimes stop it too. If you don't remember any dreams after drinking alchohol, then the next night you should have an REM rebound effect. This is when your REM gets stopped and the next night it releases a double dose of REM. Along with what you eat before bed, it is also said that crystals and magnets affect your dreams and dream recall. For more info on medicine and dreams, click here
Olfaction method of remembering dreams
This is an experimental method that requires two people. This is how it goes.
1. Tell someone what REM looks like when someone is sleeping. Get them to spray cologne or perfume near your nose when you are sleeping.
2. When you are awake, get the same smell that they used, and spray it near your nose. Focus on the smell. Hopefully this will trigger a memory of a dream.
This method might work using the other senses (in a similar way), but using the sense of smell would work quite well because of how much smell is connected to memory.
Stress - Horrible for Dream recall
Stress is dream recall's worst enemy. When you are stressed you can't focus on remembering your dreams. If you are a victim of stress (from sources such as school, work, friends, family, etc.) you should try to reduce it. Some ways to reduce stress are medicines and meditation. You can also just take a day off from whatever is causing you stress and do something you like to do. Medicine isn't the best approach though unless you are desperate. It might even give a side effect of worse dream recall. Meditation is great. It clears your mind and is completely free. Just do a search for meditation on the internet. The last way is self hypnosis. Just tell yourself to become stress free.
Once you master dream recall, their are many methods of inducing lucidity from their, such as
DILD
MILD, WILD, WBTB, Reality Checking, or even hypnosis.