Thread: If you can't remember your dreams, TRY THIS!

Originally Posted by mcwillis

Dear Mastermind,

Your method is a variation of an ancient buddhist technique for lucid dreaming that comes highly recommended by famous people such as Rudolf Steiner, Dion Fortune & Aleister Crowley.

Sammaspati

The procedure is as follows: before getting into bed for the night, take up a comfortable meditation posture, in which the spine should be straight and upright. You should not lock your muscles in any way, you should maintain the posture anyway without effort. You should sit on a firm service e.g. the floor or a chair – I do not recommend your bed itself. If you are not a seasoned yoga practitioner, you should avoid the difficult "asanas", and sit in the "Easy Posture" i.e. simple cross-legs. Alternatively, you may take a chair or stool and sit in the so-called "Egyptian Position", also known as the "God-position" in Thelema and in the Aurum Solis: i.e. sit upright with the legs together uncrossed, hands resting on thighs. Allow the back of the neck to lengthen and the chin to drop down. Take some moments to consciously relax, by bringing your awareness to each part of your body in turn and allowing your muscles to release. Breathe naturally. Once you feel that you have relaxed you can proceed to the next step.

Starting with the present moment visualise your entire day backwards. Continue with this backward-visualisation throughout the events of that day. You should aim to observe these mental pictures with detachment, as if they had in fact happened to someone else. Moreover, your visualisation should be a complete sequence, and not a series of connected images. Your visualisation should go back as far as you can remember, which includes the contents of your previous night’s dreams.

This is also the method of 'Recapitulation' that the Mexican sorceror Don Juan taught North American student Carlos Casteneda.

o.O You are really well-read mcwillis Thanks for that information, I will try that tonight.

Originally Posted by MasterMind

o.O You are really well-read mcwillis Thanks for that information, I will try that tonight.

You are right, I do study a lot

In bed last night, I went over my dream, very very detailed, running through it backward. I found that multiple times that night, I was up tossing and turning, semi consciouss, continually awake like an insomniac (I'm not) and NO dream recall. Haven't had a good dream in awhile. I also used a subliminal imaging video that gave me a lucid dream the first time I used it, but that was a little while ago. I'll try writing it down before bed tonight...

Haven't read through this thread; however, I shall add that if you prevent yourself from watching TV or playing computer games before sleeping, that it may have a similar beneficial effect.

Originally Posted by MrTransitory

Haven't read through this thread; however, I shall add that if you prevent yourself from watching TV or playing computer games before sleeping, that it may have a similar beneficial effect.

Are you sure? There is a lot of studies that prove video games can improve your dream recall.

Originally Posted by moongrass

Are you sure? There is a lot of studies that prove video games can improve your dream recall.

Just going by personal experience. I can't comment on certainty.

Oh, ok. I was not trying to argue just curious. I have found video games help sometimes so I was wondering if it was better to play them earlier in the day or closer to night?

I think there might be something to this method. When I fall behind in updating my dream journal and have too many dreams stored in my memory, it hinders my dream recall. I don't start remembering new dreams until I get the old ones out of the way.

I think I know another reason to why this method work so well. I just read a book about how the memory and the brain works and it said that "visual thinking when you are not asleep results in the ability to operate the (images) you see in your dreams intentionally. And that visual thinking is exactly what you do when you try to remember your day and possibly make the dream control improve also.
Just wanted to share this information with you guys

Originally Posted by MasterMind

I think I know another reason to why this method work so well. I just read a book about how the memory and the brain works and it said that "visual thinking when you are not asleep results in the ability to operate the (images) you see in your dreams intentionally. And that visual thinking is exactly what you do when you try to remember your day and possibly make the dream control improve also.
Just wanted to share this information with you guys

That is very interesting. Where did you read it?

Haha well the source of this information is totally off topic ^^
I am learning to improve my memory with the help of an internet course and in the manual, that i had to read before starting with the lesson, contained much information about how the brain and memory works and operate. and yeah that's were I read it and it also said that scientist who study the subject Parapsychology believes in lucid dreaming as mush as they believe in gravity ^^

Originally Posted by MasterMind

Haha well the source of this information is totally off topic ^^
I am learning to improve my memory with the help of an internet course and in the manual, that i had to read before starting with the lesson, contained much information about how the brain and memory works and operate. and yeah that's were I read it and it also said that scientist who study the subject Parapsychology believes in lucid dreaming as mush as they believe in gravity ^^

ok, thankyou. I find that very interesting.

sorry if this has been mentioned. I havent read the whole thread.

I write much better and quicker and think better on the laptop, Would the technique work if i wrote the day down on a laptop next to my bed?

Originally Posted by NatDug

sorry if this has been mentioned. I havent read the whole thread.

I write much better and quicker and think better on the laptop, Would the technique work if i wrote the day down on a laptop next to my bed?

Yeah, that is what I do. Just try to remember your day with your minds eye.

I tried this last night and it seems it worked!
I did have DJ long ago, but then I was frustrated and gave up, so now I said it's a good time to start a new one since it's a new year and all that. Usually I don't remember any dreams unless I wake upin the night or really try to.
So in the first night (before trying this) I remembered one longer fragment and three shorter ones -> a bit mroe than a written page.
Then yesterday I did the WJ thingy, and also copied those 4 dreams on my computer before going to sleep. I woke up at 5,6,7, and 8:30 and during the night I remembered one dream, and then in the morning I started to write another fragment and remembered three more, so five in total (but two of them could be from the same dream, but I'm not sure). But the point is that writing it I realized in the first night I had written more than a page and then last night I wrote two and a half, which is double.

I can only compare it to one previous night, so I can't tell how much it worked, but it definitely did. I hated the idea of having a WJ but if it helps I'll have to get used to it.

Scratch You dont even have to write it down, you can just visualize it vivid in your head.

doing it tonight =P , Ill tell you if i get a dream

Originally Posted by MasterMind

Scratch You dont even have to write it down, you can just visualize it vivid in your head.

Hmm, maybe. I'm going to keep writing it though, at least for this week while I'm still on holidays and have enough time, because it seems to be working and I don't want to ruin it just because of laziness. Last night I remembered 3 dreams and 2 fragments by the way, which was three pages, so still a lot more than the previous night.

Originally Posted by Scratch

Hmm, maybe. I'm going to keep writing it though, at least for this week while I'm still on holidays and have enough time, because it seems to be working and I don't want to ruin it just because of laziness. Last night I remembered 3 dreams and 2 fragments by the way, which was three pages, so still a lot more than the previous night.

Well done = ) When you are more aware of your dreams you will soon become lucid without realitychecks and be aware of your microawakenings you have in the night.
That is because dreams is a way to the brain to sort out memorys that you had in the day. But if you kind of do it yourself, which you do when you do this method, the brain does that much easier and you become more AWARE. I don't know if this is correct, but I have a notebook where I write down my results and thoughts in about lucid dreaming and this is just what I think

From having no dreams in 3/4 weeks, 4 in a row =P Thanks!

Originally Posted by NatDug

From having no dreams in 3/4 weeks, 4 in a row =P Thanks!

haha good job, but this almost seems to be too good to be true right?

By 4 in a row i meant over 4 days, 1 dream day not in chain over 1 night.
But still its awsome having a dream , tonights one was skydiving and a fight on a plane, Which is awsome. Shame no lucid :9

Originally Posted by NatDug

By 4 in a row i meant over 4 days, 1 dream day not in chain over 1 night.
But still its awsome having a dream , tonights one was skydiving and a fight on a plane, Which is awsome. Shame no lucid :9

It doesn't matter, if you keep on doing this, you soon will have a lucid dream.

Thanks! I hope so. Just going for a DILD then hope to progress from there seems to be my safest bet =)