Does anyone else have such AWFUL recall? Is it my brain? Is there no hope?

I am really getting frustrated now.

In fact I think I am working up to a real good angry mode.

I've been trying to use the character Aragorn to get lucid. Don't know why but he seems to appear in my dreams quite regular. So I thought I'd concentrate on using that dreamsign to become lucid. I do MILD. I got a poster I made with Aragorn on it stapled to my ceiling over the bed, last night I made a small photograph card that had his picture and the words 'when you see me you will know you are dreaming. Remember Lucid Dream tasks.' I stared at it for 10 minutes as I lay in bed and kept telling myself what my task was and to become lucid and to see Aragorn.

I forgot to use the LaBerge LD induction tape which seems to help.

And after all that NO good recall and no Aragorn.

Everything seems so dark as if I am trying to recall something that happened ages ago. The visuals are not really clear. Everything is dark as if only one small lightbulb is illuminating the scene. And my head hurts. This is normal for me and recall. When I was younger it was just a bit easier to work up to really good recall and vivid dreams. I really think it has something to do with hormones. I have better dreams and recall a week or so before my period, sorry guys :) , and had posted a thread on that phenomenon. Other girls seem to share that phenomenon. This month though the period did not help.

I am not good at remembering reality either. I don't really care that much for reality nothing special happens in it so I don't bother to recall it. I only recall that stuff which is important for daily exsistance.

Does anyone else have such problems?

I am getting so upset now that I am making myself sick.

I read Patricia Garfield's book on women and dreams and she tells you what hormones are high in the body at what menstral cycle point and that is all nice and everything but since you can't keep your hormones at that level it isn't helping me with my recall or the hard time I have with the visuals being so dark and blurry and actually painful to try to recall. I might have something wrong with my stupid brain.

Maybe you're sleeping too deeply and simply not waking up out of your REM cycles?

I can suggest several experiments.

The simplest is to drink lots of water before going to bed and every time you wake up. This will insure that you don't sleep 8 hours with nothing but superficial awakenings.

You could also try taking a stimulant orally - such as a no Doze or other form of caffeine, etc ... Once it kicks in, I have to believe the likelihood of waking will increase.

A more suble stimulant to use for this purpose is Calea Zacatechichi - which many people have written about on this site - simply do a search.

Finally - when you wake, lie still and reflect on what you were just dreaming about for a min or two (try to put the pieces together while your dream is still freshest in your mind). This is assuming of course you're not about to pee yourself ;)

Could that be the problem? I've been feeling sick and sleeping quite soundly. Today I finally woke up and didn't have a headache and did remember more dreams though they still were not quite as vivid yet more so than they have been. I also woke up more for several reasons.

I hadn't thought of that as being the problem, though you know, that DOES make sense.

Thank You.

I have the same problem, i can never remember my dreams. My "adopter/friend" thinks that if i just sit and lie there and try and recall on what i have dreamt then try and record it all down before i forget then the more i do this the more i should get into the routine of remembering dreams straight off.

I used to journal a lot. I've known of lucidity since the late 80's or early 90's and have a large collection of journals and some really vivid, very lucid dreams. I just haven't been lucid in a year or so that I can remember and I have always hated journaling because if the dream isn't good by my standards I hate writing it. I don't think it is worth it. I guess I should anyway. It is probably my attitude which is not helping.

Whatever. Can't last forever.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1074/goodbadqo8.gif

Maybe you're focusing on your dream sign too much.
I heard if you try too hard to dream it won't happen.
I know i have a real hard time keeping up with dream recalls.
I can't recall much, because my dreams happen like regular events during the day.
Make a list of possible dreams signs, don't count on one sign just to work like that.
If Aragon isn't working, try something simple, like looking at your hands. :)

I'll wait to try anything, except I'll do some reality checks, until after this dark mood I am in stops. Today it feels like my brain is going to completely stop working. I am so tired and I feel nothing and it doesn't bother me. I guess it is like the meditation thing like after you meditate for a while all thinking stops. I've been in this 'state' before while resting after doing yoga once and completely zoned. It was like I had died. No thoughts, no imagery, no awareness. It was soooooooooooo good.

Thank You for replying.

Don't get worked up. That can really stop anyone from achieving their goal. I suggest you take a break for a few days and try again.

I had a sort of lucid dream last night or early this morning. I am saying it was sort of lucid because even though I said that it was a dream and I shouldn't be afraid, I did not realize fully what 'this is a dream' meant.

I don't remember the whole thing only bits. I don't write down my dreams after awakening from them. Sometimes I will write a few keywords and notes but if I try to write the whole thing I wake up too much and have a hard time sleeping again. This can be a problem in reality.

The dream: All I remember of the start is that for some reason I am at my neighbor's funeral. She had been kept for many many days or even months at some funeral parlor. Why is unclear. I am there with my dad which is unusual since I rarely ever see my dad though I'd seen him several times reciently.

For some reason the parlor 'viewing room' is dark, I don't recall seeing walls though they could have been painted black, and there is a canopy bed that she will be placed on.

I am crawling around shoving all my clothes and belongings that for some reason are all over the floor of this room under dressers and whatever else might be available to keep them away from the dead body's germs. I hate the idea of funeral homes. Eeeeewwww. Dead body germs. GROSSSSS. Get me some Lysol *shudders*

I notice that I do not feel as compulsive or frightened as I usually do in dreams involving dead people. I notice this just before I hurridly crawl around shoving stuff under stuff. I have a small 'noticing' of thought that I am not full of anxiety even though they are ready to bring her body from the preparing room and place her on the bed.

The next thing I remember is that I am still shoving something under a dresser and they've put her on the bed and I suddenly hear her voice. I do not know what she is saying. I knew what the words were in the dream but not now.

I remember getting up, though in dreams I rarely feel the dream body even if I am in one things are rather effortless, and turning to look at the body and saying that, or thinking that, this was a dream and I shouldn't be afraid. I think I said that she was dead and that this was not real.

I walked over to the bed sat down and I don't remember what I said but I was talking to her and calling her name. I pulled the covers off her face and kept telling her she wasn't dead. I remember that it did not look like my neighbor, she had iron grey hair in an afro. She opened her eyes sleepily.

The next thing I remember is she was standing up and a strange, almost snoring, noise was coming from her ribcage. I kept patting her ribs and telling her that she wasn't dead because of the noise in her ribs. I might have been snoring. Sometimes I wake myself up because I feel like I am choking. My dad had or has sleep apnia and I might also, I don't know.

I remember starting to get scared and then I woke up. I am not sure if she spoke any more or not. Not clear on the whole dream just pieces.

I tried sleeping some more but all I dreamed was something like: my brother gets a baseball with William Shatner's signature on it. I was upset very slightly because I am a Star Trek fan and he is not.

That dream was rather dark and visualy dull.

I have to do more reading and more artwork. I was working on a figure drawing before sleeping and watching NASA TV, I think this science and the activity of drawing and being attentive to a task like that is what made my brain more attentive during sleep.

Shall try that again.

my recall is not very good either. most nights i won't remember much and if i try really hard i can remember some fragments.

however, i still can LD whenever i want. either by false awakenings (i ALWAYS noe pinch upon awakening and more often than not am suprisied when i find im dremaing), or wake back to bed; i just wake up in the morning whenever i would and if i dont have anything i have to do or get to right away i go back with the intent of having lucid dreams and it just happens; or if i feel up to it i WILD

I used to be like that when I was younger. I think as you get older and your brain changes and your chemestry, life-view, world-view, hobbies, interests, and such change so does your ability to easily dream.

I wasn't lucid this morning but I did sleep extra and had a more vivid dream that I was able to recall. As soon as I type it on my computer journal I'll copy paste it here just because parts of it were funny.

Now I got a craving for pink upsidedown cheesecake.