Thread: Dream Recall - How long is dream

Well what i would do is if i've had a big long dream with different experiences is record it as 2-3 different ones. Just try to remember the first part, jot it down then the second and so on, or write it down on one page and state the whole dream but divide or acknowledge the parts where it would "transition" to another

You should wake up briefly after every dream and write it down immediately. The dream you remember in the morning is probably just the last, and longest of the night.

Originally Posted by pauldack

My question for the panel is, how can you tell how many dreams you've recalled? Maybe it was just one big long dream with several distinct parts? Dreams don't have a logical start and end so how can anybody claim to distinguish individual dreams? How can I tell if I've recalled and entire dream or merely a fragment of it?

I don't know if I'm the panel (what is it?), but I've been interested in this topic, too. It would seem that people use artificial means to decide how to separate dreams from one another. I could never understand advises like "wake up after each dream", it sounds as if there were indeed separate dreams, happening one after another. The same goes for dream fragments: all dreams are fragments for that matter, if you can't remember the whole of your REM period continuously without black-outs.

So, no idea if that helps but what I do is search for memory black-outs, they signify where the dream "ended" and when the new one "started". Stupid but works.

Are you saying your dream plots span multiple REM cycles? I might have some overlapping content, but the dreams are normally pretty distinct.

Do you remember all of your REM cycle continuously, and non-REM dreams, too?

When the tutorials say 2-3 dreams a night, I'm pretty sure they're referring to REM periods.

That's how I always see it, at least. No matter how many scene/plot changes occur, if it's in the same REM period, I count it as the same dream. You can't wake up and remember more than one REM period, because your brain pretty much "erases" memory of REM periods during deep wave sleep. To get your 2-3 dreams a night in, I'd plan to dream journal during a wake-back-to-bed, and one more entry for when you wake up for the morning races.

Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

You should wake up briefly after every dream and write it down immediately. The dream you remember in the morning is probably just the last, and longest of the night.

Yes, I beleive this too. You can only remeber the dream from your last REM period before waking.

Originally Posted by Arutad

Do you remember all of your REM cycle continuously, and non-REM dreams, too?

Well I have only just started consciously trying to recall but prior to this I would sporadically remember a dream that I had awoken from. Not sure what a non-REM dream is or how I know if I had one?

Originally Posted by Abra

When the tutorials say 2-3 dreams a night, I'm pretty sure they're referring to REM periods.

That's how I always see it, at least. No matter how many scene/plot changes occur, if it's in the same REM period, I count it as the same dream. You can't wake up and remember more than one REM period, because your brain pretty much "erases" memory of REM periods during deep wave sleep. To get your 2-3 dreams a night in, I'd plan to dream journal during a wake-back-to-bed, and one more entry for when you wake up for the morning races.

I'm concluding the same:

• 1 dream recalled per REM period - if it seems like like 2 different dreams then this still need to be counted as one.
• To recall 2-3 dreams per night, you'll need to awake at least twice during the night.

So, my own goal now is to regularly achieve 2-3 dream recalls per night before moving onto LD induction techniques. Initially, I'm going to see if I can 'auto suggest' the 2 awake periods required. I invariably awake at least once naturally due to the call of nature so a 2nd awake period won't me too much of a shock. Just need to focus on tuning these periods to time with REM periods.

Thanks for the input folks, I now have a clear plan of action, I'll report my progress accordingly.

Originally Posted by pauldack

I'm concluding the same:

• 1 dream recalled per REM period - if it seems like like 2 different dreams then this still need to be counted as one.
• To recall 2-3 dreams per night, you'll need to awake at least twice during the night.

So, my own goal now is to regularly achieve 2-3 dream recalls per night before moving onto LD induction techniques. Initially, I'm going to see if I can 'auto suggest' the 2 awake periods required. I invariably awake at least once naturally due to the call of nature so a 2nd awake period won't me too much of a shock. Just need to focus on tuning these periods to time with REM periods.

Thanks for the input folks, I now have a clear plan of action, I'll report my progress accordingly.

the main page/ introduction says that for every REM period there is a dream. When REM declines, your mind erases the dream. If you partially wake during the decline, the dream is stored into another part of the dream.

I usually remember 2 or 3 dreams in the morning already and if i don't right away, then they suddenly just come back to me and i write them down. For example that's what happened to me this morning. I think i remembered 3 or 4 dreams total or atleast parts of them.