Dream journaling dream recall?

**Karloky** · 09-14-2013 08:56 AM

Now I started dream journal since few days and it seems that my dream recall instantly became a lot better. I've been remembering dream every night for last 3 or 4 days. Now it could be due to longer sleep time.

I've also noticed that dream recall is really poor if I sleep less than 7 or 8 hours so I think a good sleep is really necessary for dream recall and lucid dreaming. I think that if you don't have good sleep dream recall will be very poor. And I noticed that I have to sleep for at least 7 to 8 hours a day if I want to have a dream recall. I've been sleeping past few days for about 7 to 8 hours and my dream recall improved. Also what I noticed is that it depends when you go to sleep. Many people say that it doesn't matter when you go to sleep but I've noticed that if I go to sleep after midnight I also have very poor or no dream recall. But when I go to sleep before midnight at about 11 pm my dream recall improves drastically. Also when I go to sleep about 11 pm or before midnight I feel more rested and if I go after midnight and sleep till 11 am I feel exhausted for the whole day. So I really think that this doesn't have to be rule but in general that going to sleep before midnight is good.... and that good night sleep is very important. Because no day sleep can gain me the rest from the night. Whenever I try to sleep while is day I don't get rested really but after that I feel more exhausted

. And since we are mostly designed that we sleep at night and that sleep hormones start to produce somewhere near the nightfall I think it's good to go to sleep before midnight. And a good night sleep is the most of essence. So tonight I got to sleep after midnight and my dream recall was really poor and I didn't rest that much. So in my opinion it's really important. And what I noticed is that the past 4 or idk days that I keep dream journal my dream recall has drastically improved in just few days. I am not sure if that has impacted on it but I can just bet it did. Because I am not sure if I ever had a dream recall like that. But in last 3 nights or so I remembered something from a dream every night almost. It can also be due to a little longer sleep but I am sure that since I started to keep dream journal my dream recall maybe already improved a little.

**Saizaphod** · 09-15-2013 10:04 AM

Same here, I need more than 8 hours of sleep each night to even have rememberable dreams. I guess you have the highest chance of recalling a dream when waking up in the middle of the night( Better if a natural waking) and then recall your dream, not in the late morning. And you probably don't even have dreams that much like you said if you go to sleep very late, since the first 4 to 5 hours are periods when there is hardly any dream state at all. So yeah mor than 8 hours of sleep is the best

**Karloky** · 09-15-2013 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by Mikasan527

Same here, I need more than 8 hours of sleep each night to even have rememberable dreams. I guess you have the highest chance of recalling a dream when waking up in the middle of the night( Better if a natural waking) and then recall your dream, not in the late morning. And you probably don't even have dreams that much like you said if you go to sleep very late, since the first 4 to 5 hours are periods when there is hardly any dream state at all. So yeah mor than 8 hours of sleep is the best

well I am not so sure

lol about first 4-5 hours without a dream I went to sleep before few days at about 11 pm and woke up about 2 am or 1:40 am and I had a dream recall

But it was only actually less than 3 hours lol

**BarefootDreamer** · 09-30-2013 12:25 AM

I think that it may be slightly different for each person. Over my life my bedtimes have varied from going to sleep at around 8:30pm to going at about 2am, and the hours have also varied, from about 7 to about 10. I know that when I was well rested in daily life I was more likely to have lucid dreams, than when I was tired. Up until recently I have always had excellent dream recall and regular (although not frequent) lucid dreams (probably about 1 or 2 a month, although the lucidity came later in life. I can still remember my first LD, I was a teenager and had never heard of LD'ing, and realised that I was in a dream... there was not much in the way of scenery..the world I was in was very empty apart from a large box. and I remember my astonishment that I was actually in a dream!).
I think that keeping a diary helps, but also, what helps me the most is; as soon as I wake up, I keep very still and close my eyes and recall everything I can about that nights dreams, and then I write it down. If I don't do this, as soon as I move I can start forgetting my dreams.

**BarefootDreamer** · 09-30-2013 12:26 AM

I think that it may be slightly different for each person. Over my life my bedtimes have varied from going to sleep at around 8:30pm to going at about 2am, and the hours have also varied, from about 7 to about 10. I know that when I was well rested in daily life I was more likely to have lucid dreams, than when I was tired. Up until recently I have always had excellent dream recall and regular (although not frequent) lucid dreams (probably about 1 or 2 a month, although the lucidity came later in life. I can still remember my first LD, I was a teenager and had never heard of LD'ing, and realised that I was in a dream... there was not much in the way of scenery..the world I was in was very empty apart from a large box. and I remember my astonishment that I was actually in a dream!).
I think that keeping a diary helps, but also, what helps me the most is; as soon as I wake up, I keep very still and close my eyes and recall everything I can about that nights dreams, and then I write it down. If I don't do this, as soon as I move I can start forgetting my dreams.