What is REM and others

[BloodFury]

I have taken naps and normal sleeping, as far as I can see my dream recall has just got up and ran out the fucking door. Maybe I am not even dreaming, I don't know... Last dream I had was about 3-4 nights ago and it was near lucid, after that it has been nothing but straight sleep and wake up in the morning or whatever time. Am I doing something wrong, do I need a good schedule, and is my "REM" wrong or whatever that is?

[Metalconch]

To asnwer your last question first, nothing should be necessarily wrong with your REM sleep. Incase you don't know, your body goes through a pattern of sleep cycles throughout the night in 90 minute increments. The last stage you go through is called REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement), and this is the stage you have your dreams/lucids in. The amount of sleep you get determines the amount of 90 minute cycles you got through, therfore determining the amount of REM sleep you get. If you sleep for nine hours, you should have at least four dreams. The longer you sleep, the longer your REM cycles get in those 90 minute rotations. All this to say that you most likely forget your dreams (which you are having every night) by the time you wake up, and should try a recall technique called wake back to bed (WBTB). The key is waking up around 6hrs+ after you go to sleep causing your body to wake up in middle of the sleep cycle and therfore help you remember the dream you were just having, and possibly the ones before that. Another use for WBTB would rentering your dream once you recall it. Once you remember your dream, focus on the dream while you go back to sleep to increase your chance of rentering it lucid! This should noticiably increase your dream recall, and help you have lucid dreams. All this information can be found all over the forums.

[Drandrewsarchus]

I will throw my 2c in: The fact that you cant remember your dreams could be caused by a multitude of reasons. The most reasonable would be your brain has not gotten in the habit of processing long term memory while sleeping. You could try regimenting your sleep schedule strictly. Try going to bed earlier at a decided set time, and set alarms for about 4 hours and 7 hours into your estimated sleep time. When you wake up from these or at any time during the night, write down what you were feeling if you cant remember what you were dreaming. I am a deep sleeper with a great disliking of doing anything else besides going right back to bed, so what I do is record my thoughts and last dream images as far back as I can remember on a digital recorder. When you wake up you can write down in a journal any additional memories you might have had. It would also be very important during this sleep regiment that you record when you went to bed and wake up. Numerous individuals feel like they are getting regular sleep, but when closely analyzed your bed times may be all screwed up. I would suggest that at least 3 weeks of disciplined recording of your dreams and sleep schedule should produce a better recall for you. If this doesn't help, off the top of my head there are a couple other things to think about: -Stress: Dreams are evolutionary linked to problem solving and stress. Some stressed individuals suffer from a quality of sleep [1]. If you have high stress or frequent swings in anxiety, this may be affecting your sleep and subsequently your dream recall. -Depression: My current research is in depression and sleep disorders (specifically REM cycle disorders). Many depressed individuals will noticed an alteration in sleep cycles [2]. -Drugs: Many types of medication, alcohol, THC etc. will alter your sleeping in favor of less productive sleep[2]. Try doing these things a good 8 hours before you sleep or abstain for a better sleep cycle. Hope all this helps! Best of luck in your dreaming. [1] Opstad PK. Androgenic hormones during prolonged physical stress, sleep, and energy deficiency. Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1992. May;74(5):1176-83. [2] Riegel B, Glaser D, Richards K, Sayers SL, Marzolf A, Weintraub WS, Goldberg LR. Modifiable factors associated with sleep dysfunction in adults with heart failure. Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2011 Feb 23.

[KingYoshi]

These guys make some good points. Remember, it could simply be a recall dry spell. Dry spells are often caused by some of the things mentioned above, but it can be difficult to pinpoint sometimes. Just stay confident and remain positive. Fall asleep knowing, 100% in your mind, that you will dream and remember the dream. You could always set some alarms throughout the night and wake up right after (or toward the end of) your REM periods. The dream will be fresh in your mind. I'd recommend setting alarms for after 4 hours of sleep, then 2 hours later, then 1 hour increments for the rest of your sleep period. Wake up, write down your dream, set next alarm, then return to sleep. A few nights of this can help you jump start that recall again. Good luck to you!