Thread: I just started trying to dream journal...

I find that I have way more luck on weekends. During the week I don't get much sleep, and wake up to an alarm, but on weekends I just sleep until I wake up, and I tend to remember (and record) more dreams.

Are there any dreams that you do remember? If so write them down. Read over it before you go bed. I find that that helps me recall my dreams a great deal. And try to be sensitive to anything that happens during the day after you wake up that might trigger recall. During dryspells where I don't remember my dreams instantly, I've sometimes seen something on the ground that reminds me of my dream from the night before.

On the whole, keeping a DJ helps a ton for having clear recall. Try to write down as much detail as you can. I don't know if doing so actually makes your dreams more vivid but it surely makes your recall of them more vivid.

I began dream journaling with autosuggestion. An old one I used was "I will wake up after every dream period and perfectly remember my dream." Kind of lengthy, but it worked. Simpler variations would be like "I will be aware of waking after every dream." Anyway, it took a few days before I remembered much, but it was successful - some mantras work better than others, and you've just got to find one that suits you. Something you might want to include in whatever mantra you decide on is the aspect of waking up right after each dream. You will be able to recall dreams without autosuggestion, however it is more difficult(in my opinion) and building up recall takes longer. Don't worry if you start out not remembering anything.

Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

On the whole, keeping a DJ helps a ton for having clear recall. Try to write down as much detail as you can. I don't know if doing so actually makes your dreams more vivid but it surely makes your recall of them more vivid.

I agree with this for both types of dreams. As for lucid dreams, there are many things you can do to increase vividness.

Also, here is a helpful tutorial on dream recall.

It honestly just takes time. I started once again from recalling 0 dreams a night, and after a month im recalling at least one a night now, sometimes up to 3 or 4.

A month is not long in terms of dreaming. You have your whole life ahead of you. Just keep it at it, it really is just a case of it sinking into your mind over time.

Thanks everyone for the replies! I'm trying to write even if I don't enter the dream state, just to get into the habit.

Originally Posted by Higurashi

Something you might want to include in whatever mantra you decide on is the aspect of waking up right after each dream.

Thanks for the tip! I should have thought of that. I kept using mantras to say that I will remember my dreams, instead of saying that I will wake up after every dream. I will try that tonight. I just starting trying out FAT, or the focus attention technique, for auto-suggestion. I like it so far; we'll see how it works in the long run.