Help?

[CherryBomb]

I have a few questions, as I'm not so sure about these. Is it normal to lose your dream recall from about 2-3 dreams a night to 0? I haven't had any dreams for a couple of nights and I'm getting a bit frustrated. On the plus side, I'm remembering old dreams from 5-10 years ago. And also, do sleeping patterns stop dream recall? Because I have really bad insomnia and it takes me a while to get to sleep. The times I actually do get to sleep varies from 9:00PM - 3:00AM and it's really stressing me out. Oh, and do I need to clear my mind, or think of certain things, before going to sleep to increase the likelihood of a lucid dream/normal dream? Sorry if this seems rushed, I'm writing this before I need to catch the school bus. But can someone please help me with this? o:

[dolphin]

It sounds like the stress of not being able to sleep and remember your dreams is killing your dream recall. As you fall asleep, relax and try to clear your mind to help you fall asleep. If you need to think about something, make it of something positive and relaxing. Sleeping patterns don't kill dream recall nearly as much as stress does.

[JoannaB]

Yes, it is quite normal for dream recall to fluctuate, especially if dream journal is the only tool used for dream recall. Here is a link to a very helpful compendium of ideas for how to boost your dream recall: http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...ompendium.html - however, mostly do not stress, and keep working on it, and your dream recall will return. Yes, irregular sleep patterns, insomnia, and stressing out all can cause issues with dream recall and make lucid dreaming less likely. If I were you, I would concentrate for a while on just relaxing and trying to get more rest. Before sleep try to become as relaxed as possible and avoid thinking about issues / stressful stuff. If you are worried, you might just want to take a break from trying to lucid dream for a few days and just concentrate on getting rest / catching up on sleep / reducing stress. Then once you are better rested, restart your efforts to improve your dream recall again and to try to lucid dream. Once you are back to trying to recall dreams, remember to write in your dream journal every day even if you do not remember dreams: write how much sleep you got, memories from previous day, how you felt on waking up, dream goals, etc. To increase chance of lucid dreaming it may also help to think about lucid dreaming and repeat mantras and dream goals before falling asleep. Relax, all is going to be ok. These things happen to all of us.