Recalling not only from later REM but earlier REM as well.

Hey there my fellow cheerios,

I was going to post this in the recall sub-forum but noticed how few visitors there are compared to here.

I've been recalling quite a few, about 2 or 3 dreams from my later, solid REM state. Due to the fact that I can sleep as late as I like now, for a variety of reasons, I seem to extend my last REM for a good 2-3 hours.

Now, I do recall these dreams, on the whole, but is there a way for me to recall from the very early REM periods, or has my mind erased those?

Would setting an alrm to go off periodically somewhere around the earlier REM periods help so I get some written from there, and the usual long ones in late morning?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bro

Now, I do recall these dreams, on the whole, but is there a way for me to recall from the very early REM periods, or has my mind erased those?

Would setting an alrm to go off periodically somewhere around the earlier REM periods help so I get some written from there, and the usual long ones in late morning?

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Yes and yes.
Your mind erases memory of older dreams to make way for new ones. So waking yourself up prematurely would help you remember earlier dreams because your mind hasn't had the chance to erase it yet.
However, earlier REM periods are shorter, and dreams in them tend to be of lesser quality.

Hey there,

I wouldn't necessarily do anything special. Just work on your dream recall in general. Sooner or later you'll get to the point where you can remember multiple dreams from one 'sleep period' and remember earlier dreams in your night too.

Pay lots of attentions to your dreams, appreciate them, and don't "stop" trying to recall them too easily. With that, I mean if you recall one dream after awakening, don't immediately pat yourself on the back and continue sleeping (or waking up), but ask yourself if perhaps there was another dream you could remember, and try to see if something else comes up.

Remember earlier dreams and particularly NREM dreams is a lot harder, because they fade from memory very fast (My theory is that we remember REM dreams easier simply because our consciousness is more active during rem sleep. Memory of anything implies consciousness of it, thereby having led to the original false belief that we dream only during REM, or that REM is somehow directly connected to dreams. Err, but that's taking it off topic).

But it can be done. Don't expect it to happen overnight though, it's going to require a lot of dedication, unless you're naturally very talented at dreamrecall :)

-Redrivertears-