How good is YOUR dream recall?

[ryman]

On average I remember 3-5 dreams a night. I try to write most of them down but ehh you know some are long and tedious, But just curious how's peoples dream recall? And this question is for people with excellent recall. Do you write down every dream from one night into your journal? Or just the more vivid one or the ones you feel are more important? Also, when remembering numerous dreams a night, does anyone wake up in between almost every one of them for a very short period of time, or is just me? looking forward to seeing some interesting replies, so post your recall, opinions, etc.

[Fuzzman]

My recall isn't fantastic, I would say from like lowest of 2 fragments per night up to maybe 2 or 3 full dreams a night. I usually just try to write key words for most dreams to get the basic idea written out as a reminder. If a dream is good enough I'll type up a full description of it later in the day for more detail. Sometimes I'll wake up after my first or second REM period and then each one after that if I'm really trying to remember all my dreams. If I can't remember much of the early dreams I don't bother to write anything down during that brief wake up, but usually I try to write down anything interesting after waking from later dreams to help improve my recall.

[ryman]

Interesting, that it what I tend to do. Although, I only write the good ones that were vivid or I felt had meaning because sometimes writing down 4 to 5 dreams gets annoying.

[harryhood]

I remember a couple night. I try to write them all down, but some are just dull that I don't bother. Others I just write down some key bullet points. I find writing them helps me remember more and even previous dreams that I had forgotten. Never know what you can glean from your dreams later on.

[ryman]

Never know what you can glean from your dreams later on. Very true, I have at least 20 or so pages of journal entries and I read them all every once in a while to try to see any correlation, coincidences, phenomena, etc. Still haven't found anything too interesting but am hoping to find something amazing one day.

[Hukif]

Since I was a kid had natural recall, so if I sleep my 8 hours can easily remember over 10 dreams every day. Obviously I don't journal them all, not even half the dreams make it to my DJ even, just fuse them with the others to avoid writting <.<

[chase]

I have 3-6 dreams a night depending on how long I sleep. I tend to remember at least 3 of them but if I don't write them down they will fade out of my memory within a day, however some just stay trapped in my mind causing me to ponder over them for quite some time. The longer I wait to record them the most details I seem to lose..

[ryman]

The longer I wait to record them the most details I seem to lose.. Yes, same thing happens with me. Sometimes it is very frustrating because I have to get up for school every morning and I tend to lay in bed for as long as possible so I usually don't get a chance to write anything in my DJ which sometimes I lose very interesting dreams like that, so i guess I just need to get more motivated haha

[Musicdreamer]

i recall mostly 2 dreams a night, it's is getting better every night since i am keeping my DJ on paper and not on my phone.

[mikeac]

It depends on if I record them. I usually remember four dreams, but I haven't been recording for a very, very long time.

[ryman]

It depends on if I record them. I usually remember four dreams, but I haven't been recording for a very, very long time. Yea, I have noticed when I neglect my DJ for a day or two my recall decreases significantly, But after a long time of recording I would imagine it wouldn't be as necessary to keep doing it every time.

[SkullKid]

I barely recall fragments of one dream, however telling myself that I will remember my dreams before I sleep helps and backtracking my dream also help recall of more of my dream.

[Marlowe]

Usually, I recall 3-4 dreams per night. However, since I don't write them down most of the time, I sometimes forget details of the dreams.

[ShadowOfSelf]

1-4 for me. Sometimes I recall everything, but lately i've hit somewhat a brick wall, i'll wake up in the morning and my memory is BLANK and sit there for a good 30 minutes trying to remember before I finally give up -_-

[ryman]

1-4 for me. Sometimes I recall everything, but lately i've hit somewhat a brick wall, i'll wake up in the morning and my memory is BLANK and sit there for a good 30 minutes trying to remember before I finally give up -_- I've had the same problem lately, I guess i haven't been as devoted to it as I should haha, but usually a small fragment will pop up later in the day and its like a jenga affect, you pull one piece lose and it all comes crashing down and I remember most of the dream at that point.

[Spyguy]

Depends on how long I sleep and whether I work on it. A period of no journalling + little sleep gives me around 2-3 dreams. More sleep and no journalling will be a little more, 5 I think. If I start actively journalling and sleep a lot. it can be more than double than that. My record is 13 dreams. I do write all of them down when I use my DJ. And I do wake up naturally (everyone does, but yes, I also do it conciously). I am currently training myself to use those awakenings for DEILD though.

[ryman]

Depends on how long I sleep and whether I work on it. A period of no journalling + little sleep gives me around 2-3 dreams. More sleep and no journalling will be a little more, 5 I think. If I start actively journalling and sleep a lot. it can be more than double than that. My record is 13 dreams. I do write all of them down when I use my DJ. And I do wake up naturally (everyone does, but yes, I also do it conciously). I am currently training myself to use those awakenings for DEILD though. Nice, I wake up in between some dreams every night, I should probably record those dreams at that time before going back to sleep and overlapping dreams on top of it making me lose the memory of it, but I seem to be able to get back into dreams much easier if I don't move when naturally awakening

[Puffin]

On a good night, it would be 4-5. Usually it's 2-3 dreams, but right now I'm stuck at only 1 per night because I've been stressed and haven't had much time to record anything. When recording entries, I describe all the senses and take a huge amount of attention to details. My entries are mostly descriptive.

[ryman]

When recording entries, I describe all the senses and take a huge amount of attention to details. My entries are mostly descriptive. Nice, do you find this helps you interpret your dreams better or have any benefit? When I record I usually just write down major details and extremely odd occurrences or just a quick description of the dream because that's all I need to remind me of what the entire dream was about, but I'm wondering if I should be writing more descriptively. Maybe it will help me discover my dream signs and help me interpret my dreams better.

[Puffin]

Nice, do you find this helps you interpret your dreams better or have any benefit? When I record I usually just write down major details and extremely odd occurrences or just a quick description of the dream because that's all I need to remind me of what the entire dream was about, but I'm wondering if I should be writing more descriptively. Maybe it will help me discover my dream signs and help me interpret my dreams better. I've found that when I record a few dreams and take as many details into account as I can, my recall increases exponentially in a short period of time. So that may be one benefit. I often practice waking awareness which, if I do it slightly more often, it will help boost my recall if I'm in a rut where I'm not remembering anything. When I do have good recall, I often find myself writing about "pale, dim light" - this occurs in most of my dreams, but I usually only remember lighting in more vivid dreams. So yes, the more descriptive you get, the more vivid your dreams could become, and the more likely you'll find similarities between entries. I don't use these extra details to decipher dream signs or interpret dreams - although it'd definitely be possible to do so.

[ryman]

I've found that when I record a few dreams and take as many details into account as I can, my recall increases exponentially in a short period of time. So that may be one benefit. I often practice waking awareness which, if I do it slightly more often, it will help boost my recall if I'm in a rut where I'm not remembering anything. When I do have good recall, I often find myself writing about "pale, dim light" - this occurs in most of my dreams, but I usually only remember lighting in more vivid dreams. So yes, the more descriptive you get, the more vivid your dreams could become, and the more likely you'll find similarities between entries. I don't use these extra details to decipher dream signs or interpret dreams - although it'd definitely be possible to do so. Alright thank you for the advice, I will be sure to be much more descriptive about my dreams because I would love to be able to find my dream signs and find a deeper meaning to some of my dreams if there are ones. My recall isn't an issue but sometimes vividness is lacking, so I will definitely start getting more into detail with my dreams, again thank you for the advice.

[Linkzelda]

Ever since I came on this forum, one of my first Dream Journal entries were way too long because I was so excited that I could practice becoming aware that I was dreaming. I would remember the experiences, and try to connect it with words in hopes that people would know how I felt in the dreams I've had. Then I started to use images on my Dream Journal (I'm a little less conservative compared to older entries where I literally raped the entry with a lot of pictures). But I find that the more I use images, the better I can capture that moment in the dream, and when I go back, I look at the image and think of all of the experiences, and I can remember almost all the details just by glancing once. Some people think that there is a peak for dream recall, but I think that if you really love dreaming in general, and are passionate with the sense of escapism lucid dreaming (and even non-lucid dreaming) can give you, and combine it with practicing to use certain images as your own decoding on what you experienced, the detail and intensity increases. I've started to focus on more senses rather than just the environment. I try to breathe the emotions of the DCs I encounter, I try to feel how it is to be in their shoes, and because I've become cynical of waking life, I've become more passionate with remembering my dreams, and most of the time, even though I might forget something, I end up remembering it most of the time, and I don't even have to try and think too much when typing up a Dream Journal anymore. I could start from meeting one person, and link that with more and more experiences, which is why it takes me sometime to conjure up a DJ entry back then, but now I've become faster at typing longer entries because I honestly believe I can get the experiences really quick now because I've been trying to keep a daily dream journal since I came on this forum. I do admit, even though I have a daily dream journal, there are times where I just want to forget things, but I think when you add shared dreaming to that factor, when you find friends you want to find in the dream plane, that can help with augmenting dream recall because you want to find them. That excitement of seeing the person you can relate to you on a plane much more enticing to express feelings that no human being can understand in this realm makes a really tempting dedication to show a friend what you feel. When this happens, words aren't necessary anymore, you just feel the energy from them, and they feel your energy. Exchanging this energy back and forth, seeing the person for who they really are if they choose to expose it, can really make you wake up feeling really good inside, and you just want to get as much detail as you can, which helps with recall too. I think I'm getting even better with dream recall because I'm attempting to find a few friends I made on Dream Views. To have adventures with them, to do so many things with them, it's amazing. And of course what I'm going to say is cliched, but the possibilities are endless. Seeing your friend wounded in battle, and rushing to protect them, holding them in your arms as you escape inevitable danger. You start to appreciate the person more beyond the physical features that we're so attracted to, which can mask a person's personality. In the dreaming plane and beyond, it's more than just fulfilling childish goals like flying etc., if you want to find how important it is to interact with people, you can find the answers in those planes of existence rather than here. I also believe being passive of waking life (but not too much to where you don't follow through with your goals) can help with dream recall, because if you devote the night to just remembering your dreams, to forget all of the problems of the world, to forget how inferior we are compared to other stars in the Universe in size, there is no other option but to remember you dreams. Keeping a daily dream journal is hard, and sometimes I don't want to type all that I remember because I think it might be too unecessary, but I find that the more I describe an event, the more I become self-aware and aware of other people's feelings, desires, etc. Lately, I've been through possible non-lucid shared dreaming with some friends of mine, some were unintentional, and some where with other people I never really talked to that much. Just believing that you'll remember, and really taking into account that it's your will and your sense of trying to love others in the dream plane, but also have some fight challenging them from time to time can really help with augmenting with dream recall. I may not have the biggest dream recall, but others who I think have amazing recall (not just in the number of dreams, but the content saturated with dream senses and such) say that I have an abnormal dream recall. I may be silly in the forums, but I do treasure my dreams as much as I can, and I try my best to constantly create bursts of motivations to deal with the battle of balancing with keeping a daily dream journal (even if I don't remember dreams that night) and realizing that I need to live in the moment with waking life is what helps my mind expand on so many experiences. Dream recall is more than just remembering experiences, environments, or static things in general. If you combine trying to understand other people's feelings that can never be explained because no one can know your body better than you do in waking life, knowing that in the dream plane, it is possible to feel how the person feels. There's this touch of warmth that I'm realizing whenever I see another person in the dream plane when there's a possible shared dreaming phenomenon, and it doesn't matter who that person is. They can be a person trying to suck energy from others, or that type of person who is always sad, angry, etc., it's really appreciating that person's nature, it's about engaging with a relationship with those you can relate to, even if it requires creating a liking to sadomasochism. Everyone can expose their weaknesses in the dream plane, and knowing that most people live out their childish and idealistic desires there, you can shift through so many personalities of yourself, and love every moment of it. In my opinion, knowing and looking forward to the fact that the dream plane is an experience that only a handful of people know makes remembering your dreams so much greater. To carry on your most logical mission in living life until the end, in hopes that your genes will be carried on to future generations, and knowing that you can have a reliable escapism from this mentality repressed with so many politically correct ideals that end up being inverted with hypocrisy and regret helps a lot if you want to have better dream recall. I could go on and on and on, but I rather leave it at that before people see who I really am when I try to interact and socialize with people on Dream Views. It's because I know that somewhere beyond this facade everyone shifts constantly, you can find their true self in the dream plane if both you and them know that you can relate to each other in that plane. Hope this helps, and I hope this helps explain why I add images to my dream journals, it really helps with boosting recall because it's a catalyst in remembering so many events when you get used to using key images. Becoming self aware of who you really are helps as well, because you can think "oh well I would do this, and this is what I would do" and usually, it's right because you know who you are, and there's no feeling of doubt on whether or not what you recall is right or not. And because of this mentality of mine, even if I find people insulting my overall character, it doesn't bother me as much anymore because I can still find some way to try and see why they would dislike my whole being. Dreaming is an adventure for me, and sometimes it makes me evil at times, sometimes I think of how it were to feel like if a person were to die in a dream, and to engage in so many emotions. To be dumb but really demented and evil, or anything I want to expose myself to. It's too bad that I can't really explain what I mean by that, which again, is why dreaming can give a better answer to understanding this feeling I have. Happy dreaming.

[ryman]

Wow, a lot of what you said there describes how I feel about dreams and what they can do for you. I've just never been able to put it into words. You also explained finding out more about yourself and understanding more of why people would feel the way they do or even why you yourself feels the way you do. That has been my number one goal since learning of lucid dreaming. Yes, the cool powers and such were inviting but, the fact that I can become much more in touch with my inner self and my emotions/feelings and really begin to understand them in depth has really piqued my interest in dreams, lucid or not. Learning about lucid dreaming brought me to a whole new world, and it is great.