hi :3

i've always had an interest in dreams and lucid dreams. however, recently i've been trying to actively do it more, and decided that joining this forum would be a good way to start.

i'm already familiar with reality checks, which i can do just fine, and keeping a dream journal. however i have issues with recording my dreams because recently whenever i've finally gotten awake enough to get my notebook i've already forgotten most if not all of the dream.

another issue i hope to address is ceasing my false awakenings or making them occur at less inconvenient times. i've had problems with false awakenings since high school. i'll dream that i'm waking up and getting ready to go to school or work, but then i realize that i've actually been sleeping and am late for work as a result (or missed the bus). its like i'm still partially asleep, and as a result of my brain pushing me to move i accidentally enter a dream where i'm doing what i need to be doing instead of actually doing it.

anyway. you can call me Rime, i like cats and video games and board games and the paranormal and other stuff too. i found out about Dream Views while browsing /x/.

hi :3

Hey Rime, welcome to DV! Glad you finally decided to join us ;)

About recall, there are some tricks you can use:

- When you wake up, do not move! The goal is to bring your dreams to your short-term memory. This might not be instant, but rather take a minute or two (I like to take my time, spending sometimes 5minutes in bed laying still while doing recall; Setting up in your dream journal might also help, especially if you have a regular sleeping schedule. Example: before going bed write in your DJ "6am 30/1/12 I wake up and remember dreaming with:".

- Try getting familiar with your dream signs. Although they don't always show up, there are good chances they might trigger a memory or even a good chuck of the dream. For example, let's say you usually see a specific friend in your dream. If you don't seem to recall anything, try to go through your memories to see if he appeared last night. Emotions are particularly good as well. If you wake up feeling excited, try to hold on to that: maybe you were having a very pleasant dream.

- When you pull out the dream (mostly in pieces) try to build it in a convincing story. By this I mean, try to form a path (I went here, did/saw this, then went here). The more "story-like" and detailed the dream is, the less chances it will slip from your mind.

- Telling the brain that recall is important to you helps a lot actually. Try to reserved 15 minutes before going to sleep to take lights out and stay in the dark thinking about your intent of dream recall, or/and becoming lucid. Do this when you wake up as well. This way your brain will get used to perform recall as soon as you wake up ;)

About false awakenings, they can be a great window to become lucid. Just make sure from this on you do a reality check EVERY time you enter/leave bed. Good luck!

thanks for the suggestions zoth! i hadn't thought of setting up my dream journal like that before. its a simple idea but sounds like it will be effective. will try that tonight. as for dream signs, i'm not certain what they are now. in the past, a good indicator to me that i was dreaming was being inside of huge, almost labyrinthine malls/supermarkets/etc (think walmart) that are completely devoid of life except for me. this doesn't seem to be a common theme for me anymore though.

sometimes, i'll have dreams where i'm walking my dog in my neighborhood, but as i walk i find new, almost magical (even though there is nothing whimsical or magic about them) areas that we haven't been to before. one of the most amazing ones i had was when my dog and i walked past our neighborhood into a completely different neighborhood we had never seen before; the farther we walked the less buildings we saw and more clear expanses of field and forest. lots of hills and wooded paths. we somehow ended up jumping a fence into a farm where cows were held. my dog got away from me and ended up chasing them over the fields into one of the newly discovered neighborhoods, which was less disastrous than it sounds, as we ended up getting them back into their enclosure before the farmer found out. the memory of how to get to these places will be so vivid that i almost believe that i'll be able to get there in real life, but then i realize that if i actually tried that i'd only find the neighboring apartments and their polluted lake. i find it pretty depressing.

another one i had a couple of times was when i found a small door in the back of my closet that led to a small, low-ceilinged room (so low that i had to crawl) with two large windows that overlooked my neighborhood. this one was also so vivid that i looked into the back of my closet to see if anything was there. the only difference here being that if my observations of my house are correct, there actually IS space for such a room to exist if i chose to create it.

anyway i kind of went off on a tangent there but what i was trying to say was that "finding new and interesting "hidden" areas in normal places i see every day" could be a dream sign for me.

and i'm definitely doing a reality check every time i wake up now. i don't want to annoy my boss by being late all the time, even if only by a few minutes. ;_;

Welcome!
Don't worry, you dream recall will soon improve with some practice and you will start having LDs. Start doing RCs whenever you wake up and FAs will be good for you. GLHF!

Welcome to DV!
I love your avi ^___^ One of my dream guides is actually a ferret. :3

Happy dreamings~~