Is there any way to remember dreams well without a journal?

[sleepyzac]

In short: There must be some way or ways to remember dreams in detail and efficiently without writing them down. What is it? At length: They seem to fade without writing them down. Personally when writing them down i remember multiple dreams a night sometimes and pages of detail. When i stop writing though i remember maybe one fragment a week. There are and have always been people and even entire societies who place great value on dreams who do not have writing at all. So how did they remember their dreams? If writing were required for all but a small portion of the population (those blessed with a natural vivid dream memory are not very common) to remember any significant amount of dreams then there wouldn't be as much dream tradition in cultures without writing as there is.

[Hilary]

I think some of those societies practice dream sharing during the day; so it's like journaling for them. Some Native Americans, for example, would reenact dream scenes - or so I've heard. Another alternative is using a tape recorder. No writing involved, and I have found that I get more out in shorter period of time - leading to more time available in that precious semi-waking state. The downside is that sometimes, when sleepy, it can be hard to recognize what was said.

[sleepyzac]

I think some of those societies practice dream sharing during the day; so it's like journaling for them. Some Native Americans, for example, would reenact dream scenes - or so I've heard. Another alternative is using a tape recorder. No writing involved, and I have found that I get more out in shorter period of time - leading to more time available in that precious semi-waking state. The downside is that sometimes, when sleepy, it can be hard to recognize what was said. Okay so discussing your dreams with friends every day? Great idea. A tape recorder i should have included would also fall under the category of using a device that these societies did not have. My mistake. Also i know what you're talking about. ive heard a friends dream recordings become border line gibberish ha ha.

[JustASimpleGuy]

I'd guess at some of the reasons they had recall and memories of dreams. One is because they did value dreams and the mystical more than modern technological societies and cultures. Another is because they didn't have written language and relied on oral traditions which required more emphasis on memorization.

[sleepyzac]

I'd guess at some of the reasons they had recall and memories of dreams. One is because they did value dreams and the mystical more than modern technological societies and cultures. Another is because they didn't have written language and relied on oral traditions which required more emphasis on memorization. Makes sense. It almost seems like it almost seems like if we hadn't learned to read then our memorization skills would be much better!

[Ctharlhie]

Throw Away Your Dream Journal: Remember Your Dreams The Easy Way

[JustASimpleGuy]

Ctharlhie - I like that approach! I often find myself going over the dreams I journal during the night over the course of the day from memory. That works well for the long and detailed dreams and even shorter dreams with less detail, but I often forget about small fragments. Keeping a small slip of paper with those three items with me to refer back to might pull up some additional detail during the day. I will still journal in detail, but I'm going to do this too.

[TheUncanny]

Like most, I've always had issues keeping a dream journal, but for me it's particularly difficult because I'm a big fan of DEILD-chaining. When I have to choose between journaling or having several more LDs , journaling loses 99% of the time. What I need is a way to improve dream recall without moving my body, such as going over those three points in my head as I wait for the next DEILD to kick in. Or, maybe just improving my waking awareness while in the dream will translate into better waking memories of that dream once I do wake up.

[OneUp]

Throw Away Your Dream Journal: Remember Your Dreams The Easy Way Exactly what I used to do, and I never even knew what it was called haha. I will say though, it works very well. Make sure to wake up and spend those few minutes reviewing the dreams though otherwise you'll come back later and just see random words and have no idea what they mean.

[yaya]

In short: There must be some way or ways to remember dreams in detail and efficiently without writing them down. What is it? sure there is! maybe my case can help you. i can remember 90% of my dreams with full clarity (even the color of DC clothes in my dreams) using SSILD properly. i don't even write one sentence in any damn journal (instead, plus doing SSILD, i try to remember as much as i can when i wake up and it only takes 10 seconds to remember at least 3 dreams which each one has lasted half an hour)! I do SSILD before any time i try to fall sleep and i stick out my tongue to not fall sleep in WBTB, then when i have done 6 cycles of SSILD, i start my other technique such as HI interaction for WILD. so you can use this SSILD with your other methods too. in this way not only you increase the clarity of your dreams and the ability to remember them, but you would increase your chance of having LD too!

[sleepyzac]

never heard of that. i'm researching it now thanks Exactly what I used to do, and I never even knew what it was called haha. I will say though, it works very well. Make sure to wake up and spend those few minutes reviewing the dreams though otherwise you'll come back later and just see random words and have no idea what they mean. what is this "throw away your journal" method?

[11Greg]

Throw Away Your Dream Journal: Remember Your Dreams The Easy Way I did a quick scan of this, but I think this is what I've been doing for like the last 14 years of my life, which was going to be my suggestion. I spend 30 minutes after I wake up to re-live the dreams I just had the previous night. I remember everything as much as possible right down to the emotions I felt. Overtime my brain tends to be really good at storing dreams in permanent memory, I still practice this though to keep it as constant as possible, and its not perfect, but I would say on average i remember 85-90% of my dreams in great detail. I only write in my DJ when I feel like it.

[Crabface]

This sounds great. Writing is slow and awkward lying in bed. Does it work when you wake up in the middle of the night as well or will the dreams be forgotten by morning then? Do you spend 30 minutes after each dream or just before getting out of bed in the morning?

[OneUp]

what is this "throw away your journal" method? Did you look at Ctharlhie's link? It explains everything. It's basically where you don't dream journal your dreams, you just write down dream "seeds" that trigger the memory of the entire dream and you just spend a few minutes going over the dream once you wake up. Check out his link.

[11Greg]

This sounds great. Writing is slow and awkward lying in bed. Does it work when you wake up in the middle of the night as well or will the dreams be forgotten by morning then? Do you spend 30 minutes after each dream or just before getting out of bed in the morning? I mean, if you wake up mid dream, it doesn't need to be 30 mins, more like 10 mins just to run over everything in your head. By then it should still be there in the morning and you can go over it again as you go over all your dreams.

[insideout]

I've shared my dream journaling method before, but here it is again, right when I wake up and remember a dream, I quickly jot down on some scrap paper what I remember, in incomplete sentences, just a string of key words. It's usually very sloppy handwriting. Then, later in the day when I'm more awake, or even later in the week (not ideal) I'll re-read the notes and write it in my dream journal in more detail. The quick notes help me remember it better than I would otherwise, but I don't have to try and write a whole bunch in my for real dream journal right after waking up. I suppose you could do the same thing with a recorder. Record the basic gist of the dream after waking, then write it out later when it's easier. But I guess I haven't really answered the original question. I thinking journaling is a really good way to remember dreams. But if you really don't want to write stuff down, just record them, or say them aloud to yourself or to someone else, and that might help. Edit: Having read the link to "remember your dreams the easy way" now my post feels pointless :^(

[Gusto]

I think having a dream journal is a must have for beginning. After few months/years of experience in lucid dreaming, it may can be removed for those who feel right with this idea. As a beginner, I've discovered softwares likes "Cintanote", very cool for recording dreams, and detect recurrent dream signs with the tags.

[AstroFlyer]

I did a quick scan of this, but I think this is what I've been doing for like the last 14 years of my life, which was going to be my suggestion. I spend 30 minutes after I wake up to re-live the dreams I just had the previous night. I remember everything as much as possible right down to the emotions I felt. Overtime my brain tends to be really good at storing dreams in permanent memory, I still practice this though to keep it as constant as possible, and its not perfect, but I would say on average i remember 85-90% of my dreams in great detail. I only write in my DJ when I feel like it. Yep, same here. I do keep a DJ ( Momento app ), but only use it when Im fully awake in the morning. I start out my entering a few key words and later in the day add to it and reliving the dream. I can go back years in my DJ and veiw an entry remembering it in vivid detail. I only record LDs

[FryingMan]

Going over dreams in detail is a great way to cement them in memory. I too will usually spend upwards of 30 minutes going over and over the dreams in the morning (or even at each waking, tempered by my drowsiness, don't want to risk insomnia!). I started doing this at first to make sure I'd capture all the dreams (I recall a fairly large of scenes on most wakings and sometimes there are so many different scenes that it takes 20-30 minutes just to sort it all out) before reaching for my voice recorder. I also have experimented with maintaining a mental running list of keywords I add to all through the night on each waking, and only recording in the morning. This works well sometimes, and not so well sometimes. But the thing about writing them down is that you have them forever. Some people who did only keyword journaling found that going back a few years later, the keywords were meaningless and the dreams were gone...

[sleepyzac]

Did you look at Ctharlhie's link? It explains everything. It's basically where you don't dream journal your dreams, you just write down dream "seeds" that trigger the memory of the entire dream and you just spend a few minutes going over the dream once you wake up. Check out his link. thanks! i don't use one site to be lead to another because it can become a long chain where each site may have a link to another, and another and another and another and so on. so if the idea can't be posted on this thread i'm not going to chase it down. if an idea is SO in depth that it CANNOT be summarized then i usually expect to be directed to a site where i can buy a 500 page book on the topic. most other ideas should be able to be summarized on a thread or even fully explained.