Mastering the dream recall

**BjStrife** · 02-24-2014 10:12 AM

As usual, my dream recall is insane. I'm getting back into it (and LDing) after a year long break and in about 3 days my recall has gone from a few flashes to about 4 dreams per night. The thing is - the more i remember, the more chaotic it is. It's getting to the point where it's just one huge dream and it becomes impossible to even write everything down in order.

My question is - is it possible to achieve a level of dream recall where you'd remember every dream perfectly and could even recall the exact chronological order of the events (even if it didn't make sense, as usual with dreams) ?

I know that's an important factor for LDing, too - the more you can remember, the better. Of course, there will be days when you won't remember anything, but anyway, is that possible to achieve, say, at least for most of the days per week?

**Soulless** · 02-24-2014 04:46 PM

I struggle writing everything down some dreams too... Some dream diary entries are 2k-4k words long and my fingers get tired trying to type everything. At that point I just try to bulletpoint the most important themes, emotions, and images in a dream to remind myself a little while later. I think that I've had some points where I've been able to remember a dream either close to or straight up perfectly, but this tends to be bad for my reality recognition since I end up remembering a dream as if it was a real memory and become confused when the real world doesn't match up to how I remember it.

**Sensei** · 02-24-2014 10:07 PM

I don't DJ, mainly for this reason. But I normally remember things in chronological order. There seems to be a process in dream recall that goes like this:

nothing
Remember 1 dream a night (10 minutesish)
Remember a little more than one dream a night (10 minutesish each)
Remember 3 or 4 dreams a night (10 minutesish each)
Remember 5-6 Dreams a night (10 minutesish each)
Remember 7-8 dreams a night (10 minutesish each)
remember 2 dreams a night realizing that before you were thinking of a whole dream as just a snippet of a dream (20-30 minutes each)
Remember 3-4 dreams a night (20-30 minutes each)
Remember 3 dreams a night realizing again that you were only remembering snippets of a dream (30 minutes-hour each)
Remember 4-5 dreams a night (20 minutes to an hour each)
Remember 6-8 dreams a night (20 minutes to an hour each)
start remembering even NREM snippets as well.

I have hit that part before, but no higher. Some dreams seem waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than an hour, but that is getting into natural time dilation and this thread isn't about that. I stopped DJing when it started taking over an hour a day to type up on computer (80 wpm *60 =2,400 words) and I decided that it is better for me to spend that time on life...

I am currently at 4-5 dreams per night because I stopped sleeping a bit this month and need to get it back up, I am making it my goal for the next couple months to see what is above that though. I also tried just putting down my dream stories and not taking much time on it, but I stopped doing that because that started taking 20-30 minutes as well. Now I just type a tiny bit on my phone:

Spoiler for My phone last night:

Spoiler for My phone yesterday:

haha.

I have a DJ system to use if you want to learn what makes you remember dream and make you lucid. it is in my signature. It doesn't require you to actually type up your dreams.

**BjStrife** · 02-25-2014 11:40 AM

nothing
Remember 1 dream a night (10 minutesish)
Remember a little more than one dream a night (10 minutesish each)
Remember 3 or 4 dreams a night (10 minutesish each)
Remember 5-6 Dreams a night (10 minutesish each)
Remember 7-8 dreams a night (10 minutesish each)
remember 2 dreams a night realizing that before you were thinking of a whole dream as just a snippet of a dream (20-30 minutes each)
Remember 3-4 dreams a night (20-30 minutes each)
Remember 3 dreams a night realizing again that you were only remembering snippets of a dream (30 minutes-hour each)
Remember 4-5 dreams a night (20 minutes to an hour each)
Remember 6-8 dreams a night (20 minutes to an hour each)
start remembering even NREM snippets as well.

This works the same way for me. So far, I didn't get beyound "Remember 5-6 Dreams a night (10 minutesish each)", except maybe a few times, when I remembered a really long dream. I'm wondering how far you can take it.

I have hit that part before, but no higher. Some dreams seem waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than an hour, but that is getting into natural time dilation and this thread isn't about that. I stopped DJing when it started taking over an hour a day to type up on computer (80 wpm *60 =2,400 words) and I decided that it is better for me to spend that time on life... I am currently at 4-5 dreams per night because I stopped sleeping a bit this month and need to get it back up, I am making it my goal for the next couple months to see what is above that though. I also tried just putting down my dream stories and not taking much time on it, but I stopped doing that because that started taking 20-30 minutes as well. Now I just type a tiny bit on my phone:

Same here. The problem is that once I stop writing down the dreams in full detail, I also start to remember much less of my dreams over time. Sometimes it's really crazy, when I have to spend an hour or so in the morning, just to write everything down, since it's wasting the time that could be used for WBTB. On the other hand, I like to be able to list through my DJ and read all the stories in full detail (or as detailed as possible). Some of the dreams turn into really amazing stories. This is one example of a dream I had and I'll remember forever:

The Unforgettable Story - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

I think I'm going to start voice recording it. And turning it into novels

.

I'll check out your DJ guide, seems useful, thanks

.

**Sensei** · 02-25-2014 01:42 PM

Yep. And when you start hitting those long dreams is when you hit high general dream awareness. And if you have good state àwareness these will turn lucid! I have been having good recall and really wanted a lucid last night, but I was up all night taking care of my wife with strep and my baby daughter with a fever. So I 2ent down to 8 10 minute dreams. :/ I should still be able to jump it back up. I haven't had many people disagree with that list, but I think that some people will have the last dream of their night being really vivid and long almost every night. Good luck my man.

**StephL** · 02-25-2014 02:02 PM

There is software, with which you can transform dictation into written text - "Audacity" for example.
You need to train it on your voice - and I was still not yet motivated enough to do that..
I really need to do it - with this at hand - I believe more people would "write" things - even up to books - but definitively journals.

**PalmDreamer** · 03-01-2014 05:55 AM

Originally Posted by BjStrife

My question is - is it possible to achieve a level of dream recall where you'd remember every dream perfectly and could even recall the exact chronological order of the events (even if it didn't make sense, as usual with dreams) ?

No.

Can you remember every detail perfectly of your waking life yesterday from lunch through dinner? Maybe some people have perfect photographic memories, but the average person does not remember every detail.

**Sensei** · 03-01-2014 07:06 AM

Bj, like palm dreamer says unless you have photographic memory, then no, you won't remember every detail. I would describe my dream recall as about as good as my recall from yesterday, only I wrote it down, so I can remember it. If I look at Last tuesday I can remember bits and pieces, but if I look at my dj entry from last tuesday (10 days ago) I get this dream (this is all I wrote about this dream)
Crossing Mexican border with brother in law and his brother into Japan.

And that was a really fun dream. I can pull up images, and even remember the loops i had to jump through, the three fences and the electric fence i tried my shoe on to see if it would go through the rubber. faces of the japanese people that hid me and he bathroom that they hid me inside. The layout of the whole house and their daughter being nice to me for no reason.

**Sibyline** · 03-01-2014 11:03 AM

I agree with PD and BB. And then I even think that remembering yesterday's WL events because there's a routine to life that will help you out. For instance, yesterday was Friday, so I would have had breakfast at work with my colleagues, and then of course there was the monthly baking competition which always falls on a Friday. There's a meeting that always happens on Fridays, and the kids get to watch DVDs on Friday nights, so there's that... It is quite easy for me to jog my own WL memory like that, but dreams are completely random.

That's where dreams signs come in. When you have been journaling for a while, you can begin to see trends and ask yourself: Did I fly? Did I kiss someone? Did I see my dead grandmother? Was I in danger? Did I get angry? Sometimes asking yourself questions based on your common dream signs will bring up something that you would otherwise have forgotten.