Dream Journal. Is it really necessary?

[BridgetJones09]

Hello people: Here's the thing: I have always (since I was a little child) had a good dream recall. Two or even three dreams a night, and if they were really meaningful I could remember them for days! I still remember some I have had a long time ago. Another thing is, I have a very light sleep. Just the sound of a mosquito can awake me, and it takes me more than an hour to get to sleep again, if I got wide awake. So, keeping a Dream Journal would be extremely difficult for me. First, I awake half zombie, unable to write. Secondly, if I go wide awake and write my entry, It would take a long time to go to sleep again. That would deprive me, for every dream I write down, about three hours less of sleep every night, a thing that I cannot afford. The most I could do is, as soon as I awake for good, and before getting up for breakfast, try and write down all I can remeber of my dreams, all the significant parts, or more strange things. Would that be enough? Is keeping a Dream Journal a necessity, with the good dream recall I have always had? I have attained three Lucid Dreams (two in one night) without a journal... Please help me out! BJ09

[MrFantasy]

There are alternatives. What I do is keep a notebook (not my dream journal) beside my bed on the nightstand, and if I awaken from a dream in the middle of the night I just jot down a few quick key words like: where I was, what was happening, any dialogue I can remember, and anything else significant about the dream, and then immediately pass back out (if I can). Then when I wake up for real in the morning I transfer any of those dreams notes from the night that I want into my dream journal and elaborate to full detail. Another similar method that light sleepers have found helpful is to have a small tape recorder next to your bed so if you wake up from a dream you can just grab it and hit record and just whisper into it, and then transfer it to your journal in the morning. You can usually get a lot more details from this method than the above method, because you can just say it instead of writing it out, and it's definitely good if you have difficulty falling back asleep because you can still be like almost half asleep while recording, all you have to do is push a button. But yes, a dream journal is absolutely necessary if you want to get the most you possibly can out of your dream life. If you keep one religiously for even just a few weeks, you'll be amazed how clear and detailed your dream recall will become. When I first started mine a few years ago I went in a few months from short, 2 or 3 sentence entries to pages and pages for a single dream.

[grischkaja008]

I totally agree with MrFantasy. If you feel to groggy or you are a light sleeper, just wrote down a few words on a notebook. I personally have next to my bed a notebook an every-time I awake, I write 3 words and go back to sleep. Only when I got up definitely to start my day, I wrote down the dreams in full lenght. The words I previously noted help me a lot to remember my dreams :3

[DreamerDeceiver]

Hello, I have a problem keeping my dream journal too. When I wake up at night I usually have the thought of writing down my dream. The thing is the action of taking the notebook and writing makes me unable to go back to sleep before some time, so this is why I never do that. And in the morning I have school which doesn't give me the time to write anything. I'm just wondering if just recalling my dreams in my head is enough?

[MrFantasy]

Watch this video Try experimenting with a voice recorder it might make things a lot easier for you

[Serenity]

Some people use a voice recorder to take their notes instead of writing things down... I wish i could do that, but unfortunately, it would wake up my BF What I do, is sometimes, as I drift in and out of sleep, I remember more things, and make notes as I drift The deal is though... if your recall is naturally really good, then a dream journal for you doesn't have to be an essay on each dream. Just notes... there's a journal I read where the guy often remembers 10-15 dreams a night, so his entries are often just the cliffnotes version of his dreams

[Mzzkc]

I LDed successfully without keeping a DJ for over a year, and I'm not keeping one now, but I'm still getting frequent LDs. Like you, my dream recall is excellent and always has been. So to answer your question, no, a Dream Journal isn't necessary. But if you ever do decide to use one (and believe me, you will someday), you can probably get away with recording your dreams well after you've already had them. No need to record it right away if your recall can hold onto it for you.

[BridgetJones09]

I LDed successfully without keeping a DJ for over a year, and I'm not keeping one now, but I'm still getting frequent LDs. Like you, my dream recall is excellent and always has been. So to answer your question, no, a Dream Journal isn't necessary. But if you ever do decide to use one (and believe me, you will someday), you can probably get away with recording your dreams well after you've already had them. No need to record it right away if your recall can hold onto it for you. Cool! May I ask what were/are your techniques to LD frequently (since you don't keep a journal). And how frequently is frequently? I'd like to attain that very much! BJ09

[grischkaja008]

Cool! May I ask what were/are your techniques to LD frequently (since you don't keep a journal). And how frequently is frequently? I'd like to attain that very much! Who doesn't ?

[BridgetJones09]

Well, yeah, right? Why would we be here then?

[Mzzkc]

MILDs combined with large amounts of confidence and general awareness, and let's not forget WILDs. Back when I was first starting out I'd get 5-7 a month, on average, with bursts every now and again. That number has been steadily rising, and today I average around 20 a month.

[Loaf]

There is a misconception that you are expected to write in detail your dreams when you wake up. The real thing to do is wake up, don't move, go over the dream in your head, then scribble keywords about the dream down (crudely or otherwise) and go back to sleep. In the morning, you'll remember the dream based off the keywords and can then write an entry.

[FindingMind]

A big thanks to all of you everyone! I was wondering about keeping a journal because my problem is that I sometimes elaborate on one point to much, and by the time I tried to jot down another element of the dream, I would have forgotten it and would have to strain to remember. Which in effect would wake me up completely. I'm going to give the tape recorder a shot instead. Once again, many thanks!

[NrElAx]

Yea I usually just write all my dreams down when I wake up. I've always had a natrually good dream recall for some reason. I like writing down my dreams because when I read back to the ones I had about two months ago, I can still visualize everything from that dream. So its like keeping memories I have forgoten. But when I read them over, I remember them

[MrFantasy]

a tape recorder isn't meant to replace the dream journal, just act as an intermediary stage between remembering the dream, speaking it out and recording it on the tape recorder, and then however long you feel like waiting later writing it out in full detail in your journal.

I don't use my Dream Journal much anymore. You can see how much its benefited me? Yeah I know....................lots of Lucid Dreams right.