I was wondering if its better for your lucid dreaming and dream recall to be woken up or to wake up naturally. I am often woken up at around 6:30 but occasionally I wake up before that. Thanks alot!
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I was wondering if its better for your lucid dreaming and dream recall to be woken up or to wake up naturally. I am often woken up at around 6:30 but occasionally I wake up before that. Thanks alot!
In themselves, neither method matters. The real concern is at what stage of sleep you wake from - you want to avoid waking up during NREM as (1) your chance of sleep inertia increases (grogginess, lack of clear awareness etc), and (2) little dreaming tends to occur during this period, which means you've got to recall the dream preceding NREM (time latency decreases dream recall).
If you wake up during REM, then (1) you'll feel far more alert and motivated to record your dream, and (2) you would've, that moment, exited from a dream thereby minimising a latent period. You should easily remember what you were just dreaming.
PS. That said, you're likely to naturally wake up after a REM period and before an NREM period. An alarm waking you mid REM, however, can increase recall (would be mid-action).
Interesting stuff! Thanks alot I will try to figure out how long it takes me to get into REM sleep so I can revolve it around my waking times.