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Not really sure if this is the right place and I'm pretty sure the way I've worded it makes me sound like I'm asking how can I post a DJ entry. Anyway, I'm just wondering how you manage to post all these entries on this forum when normally most people forget their dreams a few minutes after waking up, not to mention the screen light knocking you into waking-ness! Or do you just copy up from a physical journal the dreams you find most interesting and would want to share?
I can't speak for others, but first of all one needs to cultivate the ability to remember your dreams. The next most important thing is to get in the habit of recording your dreams in a dream journal to the extent that you can remember them. Personally, I (now) use an App on my phone and "speak my dream" into the phone after spending 5 or so minutes reviewing and remembering it in detail the moment I wake up. Then I go back to sleep, and repeat this each and every time I wake up remembering a dream. By night's end, I may have up to four dreams recorded...or maybe even NONE. It's like that sometimes.
It is also important to teach yourself not to move, turn over, or think about what you need to do that day UNTIL you are finished recollecting/recording your dream! This was the absolute hardest lesson I had to teach myself because I'm an exceedingly busy professional and each and every day is filled with a myriad of tasks that have to be done, and there are deadlines galore in my life. I have just about resolved that my sleep and dream time is >>MY TIME<< and I will not skimp or skip it for anyone. There will always be 5 minutes I can spare.
Anyway...that's my story. I'm sure you'll hear others, some similar, some not.
Everyone can learn to improve their dream recall. It just takes thinking your dreams are important and writing down what ever you can remember even if its just a little bit. As you practice you will be able to remember more and more. WBTB makes a big difference because every time you wake up it gives you another REM cycle of dreams to write down. That is much easier than trying to remember all your dreams at once in the morning although that is possible with enough practice.
The reason people forget their dreams in a few minutes is because of the way those memories are stored. Even just walking through the dream in your head a few times will convert it into a long term memory. It is still recommended you write it down to reinforce that your dreams are important. Plus it's fun to look back at your old dreams later.
You might be surprised that many of the users remember even more dreams than they post on their dream journals here. Most experienced lucid dreamers can remember 4 or even more dreams in a single night, depending on how much sleep they get. I only post the dreams to Dreamviews that I think will be the most entertaining for others to read. I have two full paper journals worth of other dreams that I keep to myself.
I say in my mind before sleeping "My dreams are important" "I will remember my dreams" "I will wake after my dreams" (I also drink water and, sometimes practice sleep disruption (waking up every hour of the night by alarm) to condition myself to waking), I take Vitamin B6 for recall. When I wake up if I don't remember a dream, I lie still and think where was I? What was I doing? Who did I see? or if I remember a dream I jot it down a bit all the while thinking what about before that. I go thru lists of things to see if it triggers any recall like car, bus, bike, train, plane, boat etc. List after list.
By waking up many times a night, and using the mantras above and then being still in the dark and making myself recall, and of course finally journaling all the time. I can easily recall at least parts of 3-5 different dreams in a normal night many more on weekends. Usually I can recall at least 1+ minute on waking, and often I'll remember up to five-3-Minute segments and all the transitions.
It only takes effort and practice. Of course sometimes in the night I wake up and think 'no lucid, danm it, and then just go back to sleep figuring I'll recall and journal better dreams latter on :) (this is not a good thing to do tho)
I use notepad to journal my dreams and I just checked the file that covers from Jun 10 2015 for 370 days to today it is 660Kb in size .
maybe I should build a database and cut it up and put it in :) so I have all the times and can search for words etc :)
my journal always begins like Awoke 10:40p blah blah blah then Awoke 12:15a blah blah one cycle after another :)
You forget everything that you don't spend time to remember. So it takes time.
The easiest time to remember a dream is right after wake from it. This is why I wake many times throughout the night (like cooleymd), because then you can "easily remember many dreams. They are still going to take some time and practice, but if you spend the time, you will start remembering your dreams more and you will start having all sorts of dreams.
I use this tech for most of my dream related needs
http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...cro-wbtbs.html
But that actually came from this:
http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...m-journal.html
These I have found amazingly important in both recall and LDing.
For me, it also happened with time and practice, and having remembering my dreams become genuinely important to me (I love them, I really do, and the more I remembered, the more I enjoyed them and wanted more). Recording them right upon awakening was what really brought my dream recall to crazy levels. Originally, I just tapped out notes on an old graphing calculator whenever I happened to wake up and remember a dream. After a while, I just sort of automatically began waking up naturally after many of my dreams, giving me a chance to record those, too. Nowadays, I use a voice recorder which is a lot easier and faster and doesn't require light. Later when I get up, I review the notes and type up organized written entries, which are easier and faster to read/search.
My dream recall eventually hit a point where I actually had to purposely dial it back slightly just because I was remembering so much that it was taking too long to write down! Even then, my private DJ has grown to the point where it would take me weeks to read it through beginning to end.
When I reached that point is when I switched to recording my dreams using the Iphone App. Also, I've been toying around with Dragon voice recognition software. I play the IPhone recording to refresh my recollection of the dream, then dictate it into Dragon, which does a pretty admirable (and quick) job. The other upside is that the file can be put on an encrypted partition of your hard drive to keep it private if you want. No more diary-like book for people to snoop through - if that is a concern for you.
After waking from a dream I dont journal then, but I think back through the dream in detail, especially visualizing the scenes..walking back through it. In the morning I then journal it. Now this is weird, but at night after I fall back to sleep I can clearly recall the dream in the morning. But if I dont journal in the next 2 or 3 hours I can totally forget it. The sleeping mind seems to retain it longer for me.