How To Pull A Half-Remembered Dream From The Mind

**establish** · 08-06-2019 01:23 PM

Hey DV, long time no see. Years! I stopped smoking weed, so I remember my dreams again. A wonderful thing.

My recall is pretty good for years long lapse, but this thing happens, and has always happened, something mundane I need help with.

Sometimes I wake up and remember a dream and fall back asleep. Or just remember a little about the dream...but I can feel it fully there under the surface of my mind. I will retrace what I know about it over and over, the little tiny flashes of detail, and sometimes this... itch ... happens. I know if I could just pull at that itch more the whole dream would come down.

Last night I had a good one, but I didn't bother writing anything down and fell back asleep. Now I only remember a few details, and that damn itch.

Any tips for getting that dream back? I know I can, I've done it before. Pull and scratch the itch until that eureka moment dawns and you bolt up, YES, THAT'S IT! and all the details come back in a flash.

**Zthread** · 08-07-2019 12:58 AM

Originally Posted by establish

Hey DV, long time no see. Years! I stopped smoking weed, so I remember my dreams again. A wonderful thing.

My recall is pretty good for years long lapse, but this thing happens, and has always happened, something mundane I need help with.

Sometimes I wake up and remember a dream and fall back asleep. Or just remember a little about the dream...but I can feel it fully there under the surface of my mind. I will retrace what I know about it over and over, the little tiny flashes of detail, and sometimes this... itch ... happens. I know if I could just pull at that itch more the whole dream would come down.

Great question!

Originally Posted by establish

Last night I had a good one, but I didn't bother writing anything down and fell back asleep. Now I only remember a few details, and that damn itch.

Writing something down as soon as you wake up definitely is best, even if it's just a few words. Also, writing something down later can also be helpful. Even if you just remember a snippet or two of the dream, write that down. The act of writing it down and then seeing it in writing sometimes brings out memories of other parts of the dream, at least for me. If writing it down doesn't do anything, just set it aside, then come back sometime later and read it again. Doing that a few times might trigger further memories.

Originally Posted by establish

Any tips for getting that dream back? I know I can, I've done it before. Pull and scratch the itch until that eureka moment dawns and you bolt up, YES, THAT'S IT! and all the details come back in a flash.

Also, just found this advice, which seems pretty good:

http://www.lucidity.com/NL11.DreamRecall.html

This one recommendation seems like an especially good thing to get into the habit of doing:

Before attempting to write down the dream, go over the dream in your mind, re-telling the dream story to yourself. DO NOT MOVE from the position in which you awaken, and do not think of the day's concerns.