Dreams becoming more vivid...YES!!

[Joetaff]

I have been able to recall in detail my dreams for a solid week!: each night I remember a dream, and they are all awesome. I can actually recall making decisions in the dreams (even though I haven't realized that I was dreaming yet) I feel like I am so close to the AHA! moment where I will be like "Wait Im dreaming!" They have all been good dreams that I have enjoyed, even though they were weird. They have all had one common theme, I have been doing strange things with friends from school. Not the same friends each night, but the common theme has been I have been with friends from school each night for about a week and that has led to vivid dreams. Here are some weird questions to go with this: 1)even though I am aware I am with friends, I cant ever recall seeing their faces, I just recall seeing people, but never their exact faces...this is weird because I know exactly who I was with, but I just dont remember ever actually seeing them specifically. are there any reasons behind this? 2)I have been taking nyquill(sp?) and/or melatonin each night where I have these dreams, could there be a link between vivid dreams and nyquill/melatonin??? I work at GNC and have heard of people complaining of nightmares while taking melatonin so thats actually why I decided to take it in the first place. 3)on most of the nights this week I have tried to lay very still before going to bed like I am trying to wild but then I just let myself drift off to sleep because I have been too tired to wild due to school. I was just wondering Is it even possible to wild before falling asleep or would I not be close enough to REM sleep?? (Since its the weekend Ill prob go to sleep around 1 tonight and I would like to try to wild before I fall asleep) Thanks to any answers in advance I hope an LD happens soon!!!!!

[Mortalis]

As to your first two questions I'm not really sure...but I'm kind of into WILD, so I'll take a shot at the third. What do you mean when you say you are too tired to WILD? In my experience I can only WILD when I am very tired. That's why I WBTB. However, as I WBTB, I'm not sure if being in the middle of a REM could have something to do with WILDs being easier...maybe it does. What I would do is to try it when you are very tired...lay down and imagine yourself doing something routine, preferably rythmic (I watch myself do Tae Kwon Do forms in my head). This will keep your mind awake while your body falls asleep. Should do the trick..If it doesn't work before bed then I would definately reccomend setting your alarm for 3 hours after you go to bed, waking up and then trying the WILD technique...Good luck!

[zombies_on_parades]

Well, I don't know about Nyquil/melatonin but I have better dream recall a lot of times because of medication/alcohol. I don't know why. I always try to WILD right before bed, but I also set my alarm for 3-6 hours just in case. I've only had a WILD once and at the time I was completely confused because I had been attempting AP and you'd be surprised how different they feel. So I thought my AP had gone screwy and I was kind of afraid and I quickly lost lucidity. Anyways, I notice that I have better dream recall when I'm somewhere else or with friends beforehand. I don't know why. Anyways, good luck. Sometimes the waiting can be frustrating. I actually had incredible dream recall for a week and then for some reason I had terrible recall for two days and I thought it was going to hurt my LDing, but I actually had a fantastic LD. I think dream recall is important but you shouldn't use it to gage your progress.

[John11]

1) I think that's the same for most people. I know sometimes I'll only get a feeling that I was with a certain person in a dream. Rarely do I recall any physical characteristics of people I know or dream characters. 2) I've heard sleeping medicines will inhibit dream recall, but melatonin is supposed to increase dream vividness. 3) Supposedly it is possible to WILD upon going to sleep initially, but very difficult. Also, if you do manage to WILD upon going to bed, the LD will typically be very brief. It's best to attempt to WILD after 4-6 hours of sleep. You will need to find what works best for you.