How did you start dream recall?

[FreshBrains]

As my Newbie Zone thread says... I've never heard of the concept of Lucid Dreaming until yesterday, and tried giving Dream Recall a shot. I did what the main site said: focus entirely on waking from dreams and remembering them as you fall asleep. No good! I did wake up at around 4:00, but I barely remembered a thing. I think I won some kind of award? I'm not sure. Should I set my alarm instead?

[sasha]

Don't sweat it. You shouldn't expect instant results. This could take a little while. I suggest, however, that you write down in your dream journal that you did not recall any dreams. That gets you into the habit of writing and tells your subconscious that you have a commitment to remembering your dreams. Good luck.

[Gwendolyn]

Yeah, set your alarm. There are also other ways. Starting a dream journol is a very good way to go as far as recall. Also, a bit of b12 every day may help to do the trick.

[tehownerer]

When you start dream recall you will probably only remember small tiny tiny fragments or thoughts left over in your head from a dream. Write those down! Think about them and sometimes you can remember more then branch yourself farther and farther. It can take some time.

[FreshBrains]

Thanks, I'll see if B12 or melatonin does anything. Hooray for pills and carrots! Anyway... I wasn't expecting instant results, but I at least expected to remember more than usual. (That is, anything at all) In this case, yes, I did remember barely anything: some of what mood I was in when I woke up. Anyway, I've been writing it down over and over, DO REALITY CHECKS, (Done, I've been trying to breathe through my plugged nose dozens of times today... Looks strange, but who cares?) and I'm going to try to use self-hypnosis and the 61 point relaxation method. EDIT: Yes, I do have a journal, and I did write that I didn't remember anything. This entire site is surprising to me... I truly believed some people don't dream much, since I remember maybe one dream every six months. What I remember is completely random, and makes no sense at all. For example, a guy in a chicken suit trying to throw himself through my window in broad daylight. WTF? So maybe I'll have control over it eventually, but for now I'll settle for actually remembering anything on a regular basis! EDIT NOMBRE DOS: Also, when should I set my alarm for? One problem is that I can't reach that from my bed, I have to get up and walk over to shut it off, and I've read that motion is bad for remembering dreams, lucid or not.

[anandamide]

I would actually recommend *not* setting your alarm. If you let yourself wake naturally you'll probably awaken at the end of a dream, but if you set an alarm there's every chance you won't have been dreaming the instant before you awoke. Also, the sound of the alarm can be so annoying it interferes with any residual memories you might have had. But maybe I just don't like alarms :-p! Stick with it tho! If you can even remember one tiny fragment, then that's something - work from that. Write it down, and think a bit about it - don't force it, just try and think about it in the way you'd think about what you had for breakfast yesterday. What happened *before* what you remember? Before that? Stick with it and it'll work out fine :-)

[Dagget]

Also, read this forum 15 minutes before you sleep, helps you get dreams into the mind

[FreshBrains]

Oh, I've been doing that . Anyway... I was wondering. Should I continue to try dream recall, or should I give WILD a try, just for the hell of it? I've got this extensive tutorial handy (Excellent writing on the part of Seeker, by the way) and I was wondering if it was worth it. It sounds so unbelieveable, that I go through that every night only without conciously seeing it! Anyway... I might try, but I'm still not sure... I might not have a good opportunity until the end of June, because of school or (Most likely) sports. Damn you, overpacked schedule of practices and games! And damn you, too, unpredictable new england weather! Anyway.. Any advice will be appreciated. I may just try it, anyway, for the experience. I'll sure remember the transition, which sounds like it's worth the price of admission alone.