Horrible Recall

Hey everyone,

This is my first post on here and this has probably been brought up several times already but im hoping someone can help here...

When i first started to attempt to LD, I learned that dream recall is a MUST. Only problem was my recall has always been pretty bad. Also, up until that point, I would smoke pot every now and then and I've heard it kills your recall.

I have been clean for months now and Ive been keeping a DJ ever since I started with a few dreams here and there, some strong, some weak. But I keep going through dry spells where I wont recall anything for weeks! I feel like im stuck on step one and I just cant improve my recall.

I have tried Choline Bitartrate which i heard helped memory functions, but didn't really help...

Any tips that might help me get to the whole "recalling at least one dream per night"? I REALLY want to be able to experience a full length lucid dream and I know I can get there if i can just improve my recall.

Howzit! Try thinking through your entire day backwards in fast-rewind mode as you are drifting off to sleep.
E.g.: Bed < Bathroom < Toothbrush < Shower < Lounge < TV < Dinner < Driving < Work < Lunch < Work < Driving > Breakfast < Kitchen < Coffee < Shaving < Bathroom < Bed...

I will second IAmCoder on the reverse recall procedure. I'll think about something I just did, then ask myself "What did I do just before that?" repeatedly until I hit the dream. Most of the times it helps spawn memories.

Edit:
Welcome to DV, BluffDaddy! :welcome:

Repeat affirmations before you go to bed. "I will remember my dreams tonight." Try and lay still when you first wake up in the morning. I've found you can chase the lingering feeling left by dreams. All you need is that tiny fragment of the dream to snowball your memory to the entire dream. I'd say stay away from all drugs and supplements.

Do you wake up at all in the middle of the night? Try setting your alarm clock to wake you up 5 hours in. Stay awake for a few minutes and then go back to bed, repeating the affirmations. What do you use to record your dreams?

Like c0sm0nautt said, repeat affirmations. It helps me a lot and I repeat them when I do reality checks.

idk how to make recall much better than a dj but since i started i had perfect recall of every dream since

Ill definitely try the reverse recall and the affirmations tonight.

I use a spiral notebook i picked up brand new and ive added my own little touches (Wrote "AWAKE" on the front page to use as a reality check). I usually dont wake up in the middle of the night on my own, but i do find that sometimes i wake up minutes before my alarm goes off in the morning, this is when i DO recall parts of my dreams.

Heres to another shot, ill let you guys know tomorrow and thank you guys for the tips!

So far so good, i was able to recall abut 5 different scene's (none of them made any chronological sense), all fragment's, but definitely an improvement I'd say!

Hopefully i can keep it up and ill be on my way to a REAL LD!

The best way to recall is to set an alarm at night. Wake up, turn off alarm and STAY STILL. Think about what you've dreamt just now. Don't force it. Just try to remember. ;D

B vitamins, acetylecholine help, so look out for foods with these in or research foods with these in, also a few threads on here say thats peanut butter helps alot and tea and bananas (the B vitamins etc) so try those and have a healthy diet and lifestyle and your recall should improve

I hear you bro... I have horrible recall too... I just gotta pratice hard at it and remember tricks for doing so such as ones listed above. XD