Thread: Dreaming Problem

Hi. You may feel like you don't have dreams, but in reality it is likely that you do have them and simply don't remember. Try using a mantra: repeating before bed something like "I will remember my dreams". You should always keep a dream journal and a writing utensil (you could also use a computer or audio recorder if you want) nearby your bed so that if you remember any dreams you can record them.

If that doesn't work, then you can attempt to wake yourself up in the middle of the night during your REM cycle either using willpower ("I will wake up in the night") or with the help of an alarm of some kind. Studies have shown that people waking up during their REM cycle are significantly more likely to recall a dream than people waking up during a N-REM stage of sleep. You don't have to do this every night, but once you start remembering some dreams you will most likely start being able to remember them without waking up in the middle of the night.

Also, when you wake up make sure that the first thought that comes to your mind is remembering your dreams. If you immediately start to think about the day ahead you are much more likely to forget your dreams. It helps to refrain from moving immediately upon waking up. It can be difficult to change your standard morning routine, so give it some time.

Keeping a dream journal may seem like a chore, but it really is a necessity for most people to keep their dream recall up. Without dream recall lucid dreaming becomes infinitely more difficult. Trust me, lucid dreaming is worth the extra 5-10 minutes every morning.

Good Luck!

Yeah, everybody has dreams. Dream recall comes before lucidity. It is best to remember one dream a night before becoming lucid. That isn't a hard goal to achieve, it shouldn't take long.
Be very patient, it can take months before becoming lucid. Trying too hard can definitely be counterproductive. But don't worry, dream recall and attaining lucidity is only as hard as you want it to be.

You have dreams every night. Lots of them. Not just 2-3. More like 8-15 dreams per night.

The human mind just automatically tries to delete the memories of those dreams upon waking up. To counter this, we can do lots of things. Laying still in your bed upon waking up can help you remember your dreams right there. Once you have them in your mind, or even a fraction of them, mark them up in a dream journal. (Dream journal = anything where you write everything you remember of your dreams down. Can be paper, a text file on a computer, a voice recorder, anything). This will help your dream recall, which is how well you remember dreams.

Two years ago, I remembered 1 dream per 2 or 3 months. Then I tried to improve. Using a dream journal, mainly, I got it up to the current 3 dreams per night. Do the same, and you can accomplish the same.

The fact that you have written down your dreams is not the most important thing. The most important thing is here that a DJ will force you to actively try to remember your dreams, which vastly improves your capability of doing so over time.

But I dont have anything to write about in my journal. I dont remember ANYTHING from my dreams, except for memories of yesterday or probabilities of what will happen tomorrow (those are usually my dreams). I will try today when I go to sleep to have a mantra, and whenever I wake up, first thing I will do is get my journal. Im still experimenting things

If you want to remember dreams easily, you have to wake up at one of the REM periods (google it), which occurs every 90 minutes of your sleep and last for some time (the time it lasts increases at the early morning). After waking up, don't move and think about a dream you just had. Don't try to force it, let it come to your mind. If after 1 minute you still can't remember your dream, than write how you felt after waking up. Eventually, you will start remembering your dreams.

thanks, Ill try to remember these tips

You may feel like you have nothing to remember but you also might've forgotten it during the first few secodns of you waking up. Cling on to the memory if you find you have one. It's not gonna last long for a beginner dream recaller.

It might also be useful to write down stuff in the DJ when you don't remember anything

"Entry 1: Didn't remember anything

Entry 2: Didn't remember anything, but I feel like I just woke up from a sad dream"

I'd second JussiKala's mention of recording nights with only a feeling or a word. Sometimes, all you might remember from a dream could be "cat". So in your journal, it would be best to record "No recollection except for something about a cat."
Again, be patient, don't become discouraged after only one night of no recollection. It is a process.

Thanks Jussi, now that actually makes sense. Probably helps me set up habits so incase I have a vivid dream (not yet lucid) I can look back at my records and try to make a connection

that actually makes lots of sense, thanks everyone

Cool. Don't worry though, it isn't "wrong" to have lucids before having great recall, it just shouldn't be expected, and you might not remember them. I hope my earlier post didn't make it seem like having lucids before practicing recall was "against the rules" or something.
Good luck.

Maybe try what i did, I still do reality checks 10+ times a day but i also, just question my reality and literally ask myself "am i dreaming or awake" i look around and see if anything is weird and i even expect to find myself dreaming when i do this, once i see all is well then i verify it with a reality check (pushing my finger through my hand)

but anyways after a month of trying both, mostly trying light switches and the finger through the hand and all i could think of, but i never once did it in a dream.

What i did do in a dream was look around and ask myself "am i dreaming or awake" and when i asked it things went slowmotion and i knew it.

(edit) prolly need alil better recall, those glimpses of memories your having were parts of dreams im certian
So eventhough I did hundereds of reality checks in that month, it still hands never happened for me in a dream, but my own way of questioning reality does.

Basically what im trying to say is, the RCs that you are doing might not be for you at all, they havent for me yet, keep doing them but trying some new methods might be more effective. Im no expert or anything but i was in your shoes so i hope this helps

I know what this is like, it only happens rarely for me.
When you go to bed, and wake up and it seems like you've been sleeping the whole night in 5 minutes without waking up, feeling well rested in the morning, but it doesn't seem like morning yet.
You do dream in the night, you just sleep deeply and don' remember them. Set multiple alarms in the night, that should help a lot <3
after a while/or you could do autosuggestion to remember dreams, or after using alarms for a few nights you can "program" yourself to wake up at those times.

Originally Posted by erible

I know what this is like, it only happens rarely for me.
When you go to bed, and wake up and it seems like you've been sleeping the whole night in 5 minutes without waking up, feeling well rested in the morning, but it doesn't seem like morning yet.
You do dream in the night, you just sleep deeply and don' remember them. Set multiple alarms in the night, that should help a lot <3
after a while/or you could do autosuggestion to remember dreams, or after using alarms for a few nights you can "program" yourself to wake up at those times.

Yep, exactly what I mean. Ill try waking up in the middle of the night, then try using a WBTB and a MILD

Originally Posted by Josephlittle

Yep, exactly what I mean. Ill try waking up in the middle of the night, then try using a WBTB and a MILD

that should help tell us how it goes