Thread: Unclear dreams and REM sleep

I'd like to write a dream journal but I find it hard to describe my dreams... of the dreams I recall there are no details and certainly no logic.
Even if I do recall a dream, it is hard for me to say when it began or ended and in what order things happened or remember details of the surroundings. I only remember parts of what I was doing, not why. And I find myself in places I've never seen before, even though I remember thinking in the dream that is was a familiar location.
Characters in the dreams are hardly ever only one person at the time, and I can't remember their faces at all. I seldom recall people saying anything, or at least not what it sounded like.
It is hard for me to imagine that my dreams can ever be clear or logical.
Is this normal? Is there something I can do to make my dreams clearer?

Also I read that we dream during REM sleep, and that it takes some time to get to the REM stage after you fall asleep.
But I experience dreaming ( not long dreams, only short episodes like grabbing something or saying something ) the moment I first loose consciousness at night. Those episodes make absolutely no sense at all, but seem very important at the time.
The second I become aware of that it is only a dream, it disappears and I forget about what I was doing.
I am really confused. I heard doing math before going to bed helps the brain to be logical when I fall asleep...does that work?

Just write down whatever you remember about your dreams, no matter how illogical or unimportant it might feel. If you only remember little parts of the dream, then write them down. It doesn't matter if you don't remember that in what order things happened.

The point of keeping a dream journal is that it helps you develop your dream recall. Now you might only be able to remember small parts of the dreams, soon you will most likely be able to remember your dreams more logically. It just takes some time sometimes.

Originally posted by Pannhidh
But I experience dreaming ( not long dreams, only short episodes like grabbing something or saying something ) the moment I first loose consciousness at night. Those episodes make absolutely no sense at all, but seem very important at the time.
The second I become aware of that it is only a dream, it disappears and I forget about what I was doing.

That might as well be hypnagogic imagery that appears when you fall asleep. Usually you're just so fallen asleep that you don't remember experiencing those, but sometimes you might be that conscious that you remember. And they disappear if you become conscious because it's not really dream yet.

That's what I think, but I might be wrong as well.

Thanks for your thoughts, I'll take your advise and write down all I can recall from my dreams. Patience is the key, I tend to be to hasty....