Really bad dream recall.

[NinjaBtch]

Hello, i am really sorry if i posted this in the wrong place. I am really new to this I have been trying to lucid dream for 4 days. But my only problem is that i cant seem to remember everything that happened in detail. So far what i have been doing is: I have been writing down all my dreams in a dream journal. I have been waking myself at 5.00 (so far i have only tried 3.00 and 4.00), wich seems to work best for me. I have tried out mantras(if its called that). The thing where you repeat to yourself "I will remember my dreams" over and over and trying to focus on saying that while you sleep. My bigges problem is that i am pnly remembering a little fragment of my dreams, This is the last 2 days of dreams taken from my DJ: 18.01.2014 I where on a shopping center and i ate icecream. I took 3 tastes, my friend only got 2. 19.01.2014(today) I where on my school and a couch got cliced into 2 pieces( like if an invisible anime katana did it). I jumped over it. This is a separate dream: I where in a toy house and mario, peach and the bone turtle where there. My only problem is that i can't remember the whole dream, any advice? I have read the " do you have a problem recalling your dreams? TRY THIS" And the dream recall guide. Sorry for my bad english

[LouaiB]

so far you have been doing everything right. Be patient. I would add a couple things though: 1. Write your dream also mentioning your emotions as much as you can. 2.try waking up more than once. Do it like this(4:30-6:00-7:30-9:00). These times target REM cycles so you would wake up from a dream and remember it, or wake up closely after having a dream. The several wakings is a very very good recall booster, and don't forget to journal fully with all senses and stuff. It is a peice of cake, trust me! Good Luck! :goodluck:

[NinjaBtch]

so far you have been doing everything right. Be patient. I would add a couple things though: 1. Write your dream also mentioning your emotions as much as you can. 2.try waking up more than once. Do it like this(4:30-6:00-7:30-9:00). These times target REM cycles so you would wake up from a dream and remember it, or wake up closely after having a dream. The several wakings is a very very good recall booster, and don't forget to journal fully with all senses and stuff. It is a peice of cake, trust me! Good Luck! :goodluck: Thank you! I'll do that. I relly dont remember that manny emotions but ill write down everything i know. But heres another question, if the somthing i see in a dream is taken from reality, do i have to describe it? Ect, i know what shopping center i was on, do i have to describe it again?

[LouaiB]

It would be better, cuz you are using your dream memory to do that, so you are making it more powerful. It's like training a muscle, work it more, it becomes stronger. Also, add any emotions or anything at all, even if just a simple minor thing, cuz it'll train your memory, and you'll start remembering better!

[NinjaBtch]

It would be better, cuz you are using your dream memory to do that, so you are making it more powerful. It's like training a muscle, work it more, it becomes stronger. Also, add any emotions or anything at all, even if just a simple minor thing, cuz it'll train your memory, and you'll start remembering better! Would it be ok to wake up at 01:30 then 03:00 then 4:30 and then wake up 06:00? And woudnt it work if i dropped the last cycle(06:00) on weekdays? Btw, how long did it take for you to remember atlest 1 dream in detail each nigth?

[LouaiB]

Actually, it is better to wake in the later part, cuz REM then would be wider and more vivid, which means better recall for that dream. But you can do without it. Me, it took me couple weeks to remember a dream, then another couple to remember it clearly. Now, after 4 months, I remember average of 1-2 vivid dreams with 2-3 fragments. It is very very very very easy. Just don't be lazy on the DJing

[NinjaBtch]

So if i go to bed 11:00 ish and wake up 7:00 ish, how can i do it in the most effective way? On weekends i am usually going to bed 12:00 ish and waking up 8:00 - 10:30 ish?

[LouaiB]

I would find that 2 wakings would be appropriate. Since you are sleeping 8 hours, then wake up after like 5 hours, then DJ, then sleep for 90 minutes, then wake and DJ, the sleep normally. If you want to add a 3rd awakening in the weekend, then great. Just sleep another 90 minutes after the second awakening, then wake, DJ, then sleep. The mechanism is like this: You have to wake up after 4:30 hours of sleep, then wake each 90 minutes of sleep. So it is like this: 4:30-6:00-7:30-9:00-etc. Note that if you wake up, lets say at the 6:00 mark, and stay up for an hour for example, you shouldn't count that you are now in the 7:00 mark. once you awaken, you stop the clock.

[NinjaBtch]

Thanks

[LouaiB]

I can post a link that explains it perfectly, with charts and stuff. Interested?

[ravanoos]

Hi! @NinjaBtch I want to tell you that the dream recall its not constant, it fluctuates. Even if you practice ADA and write your dreams in a DJ there will be periods of time when you`ll not remember anything. It`s really hard to get over it, but after some time you will achieve the ability to remeber dreams without writing in a DJ but only if you get into LD for several months.

[LouaiB]

Yeah, also there are these recal dryspells. Happen to everyone, even experts. I have one now

[NinjaBtch]

Ok thanks, i'll try, this will be my fifth nigth trying for real. Btw, i would like to see the link

[LouaiB]

[Link removed - please do not link to other LDing forums and places that also sell merchandise] Here you go! Good Luck!

[Motox20]

I've been having a similar issue with dream recall, it's more that, along with anxiety and insomnia issues, I only remember one or two a week prolonging the amount of time it's taking me to build good recall. I've had one lucid in the two months I've been serious about LD'ing. I did some research and found a few supplements that drastically helped me. 5-HTP(which is just a tryptophan supplement, which is in things like turkey and dairy products), B6 and Melatonin. After sleeping for about 5 hours, I wake up for about 20 minutes, take 100mg of B6 and 200mg of 5-HTP. Give it about 20 minutes and then take 10mg of Melatonin. I don't do this every night but a few times a week, and the times I do, the vividness and clarity of my dreams has skyrocketed. Last night for example I can still recall 95% of my dream, even the expressions on the faces of others in my dream, how I felt during each part and can remember the chill and crispness of the wind on my face during one part. Normally when I wake up I'm lucky to remember about 20% of the dream and it's always in vague pieces. The B6 is to help the 5-HTP and Melatonin work better, and since Melatonin has only about a 45-60 min half life I take it when I think I'll be asleep very soon. The Melatonin causes non-REM sleep, but creates a REM rebound making the dreams for that cycle much more vivid and clear. There's a lot more info out there about these and other supplements. They're not for everyone, and I don't believe in using them as a shortcut, but at some point we all need help even if it's temporary or just occasionially.

[FryingMan]

Just want to point out that 10mg of melatonin is a really seriously large dosage. Yuschak points out that even 0.5mg has been shown to to promote sleep. The body produces melatonin at levels 10x or less than that (0.5mg) even.

[Motox20]

Yeah I know it's high, I've been slowing upping the amount to find what works for me. Started with the .3mg size, then 2mg, then finally two 5mg pills. Melatonin is one of the supplements that you can take very high doses. I read a few studies that had the participants taking between 50 and 60mg doses without any ill effects, not that I'd take that much but it basically showed that everyone is different when it comes to this supplement and the effective does has a huge min-max range. I wouldn't suggest starting out with that high a dose, I should have mentioned that in my first post, my apologies. I did hours of research on the supplements in my post and I suggest enough research to make yourself comfortable to anyone that takes them. I'm one of those people that almost over-does the research on things like this, I have to have as much information as possible before I'm comfortable. The 5-HTP and B6 doses are pretty much the standard though and those are actually the suggested doses on the bottle.