Experiencing dreams in the first place....

Well, I'm new, and I hope this site is a help to me, as lucid dreams have interested me for years.

I've had two fully-lucid dreams in my life. One was when I was in a maze, when I was a little kid, it started out sort of nightmare-ish, but when I realized I had control I did fun things such as changing the colors of the walls, and running whichever direction I wanted. I've always had an attraction to mazes in real life after that dream.

Next was one last year, where some friends and I were at a boardwalk-type place, and it really felt like a real day with my friends. It was after this dream that I realized lucid dreams might really be within my reach.

Now for some more ranting, but this is the important stuff. I only "experience" dreams about once a month, twice if I'm lucky. What I mean is that I wake with no memory of even having a dream, let alone what one was about. Now, I'm pretty sure the problem is not that I don't dream, because even from my limited knowledge in this area, I think that's fairly impossible. As I write this post, I realize that throughout my life sleep has become a quick transition to the next morning, like being knocked out in a fight, and the next moment laying in a hospital. Dreams have no place in my life, because I "never have" dreams, practically..

I want this to change, dearly. Whenever I do have a dream, it puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day. If anyone can help with this, please do so. I must get over this before I can even dream (lol) of having lucid ones.

I'm sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought this would be the best place to post this. :)

First off,
Hello,Lotrfan714, and Welcome to DreamViews...(Best LD Forum on the Web :P)

As far as remembering them goes, Before you go to bed, and as you go to sleep, chant sometihng to yourself (Verbally or mentally, doesn't really matter which) like " Im know that I dream as I sleep, and I will remember my dreams in Vivid Detail when I awake." When you wake up, write them down. You could also try to set your clock to wake you up around the early morning( 1-3 am?), so the Dream memory will be fresh, until you can get used to remembering them in the morning.

Hope I was of some help, and Good Luck!

Welcome to Dream Views. Forsaken's advice is sound. You may also want to tell yourself that your dreams are real places that you go at night. Your goal would be to remember what you did during the night; where you went and what you did. The reason it works is because it gets your mind into a mode that thinks it has to remember real important events. Additionally, as you go to sleep, do not think about what you have to do tomorrow, or work and plans. Just think about dreaming. Then when you wake up, just lye in bed for a few moments to let the dreams come back to you. WRITE YOUR DREAMS DOWN. hehe, its the best method. IF you even need any help, feel free to PM me or any of the other Dream Guides. ( the people with the green)

Ah, dream recall. What an illusive and yet such an important aspect.
It is, in fact, the first thing most train when starting on the road to lucid dreaming (when following certain guides and the such).

Search over the forums and I'm sure you'll find many topics on the idea of dream recall improvement, which should help.

My advice would be to keep a firm intent on remembering dreams if you do not wish to disrupt your sleep. If that is not a problem for you then waking up in between REM periods (periods of rapid sleep, when dreams occur) is a sure-fire way to remember dreams. An excerpt from LaBerge's "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming":

Quote:

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(1) The length of the REM periods increase as the night proceeds and
(2) The intervals between REM periods decrease with time of night, from ninety minutes at the beginning of the night to perhaps only twenty to thirty minutes eight hours later.[/b]

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