Thread: starting from scratch

hi, i've been around this forum for a few months now and have been trying out a lot of the techniques listed here. Problem is i'm a straight newbie at this thing and i cant have normal dreams, let alone lucid ones. my problem is this: the natural starting point for me would be to start keeping a DJ and doing regular reality checks. While the RCing part isnt too bad, having no dreams to begin with kinda makes it hard to put anything in my dream journal....

i need serious help, if anyone could just give a few hints, the easiest and most logical first step, i just want to get into the habit of normal dreaming, anything would be a start.

thanks in advance.

First of all, it's not that you aren't having dreams, you just apparently are not remembering them. Everyone dreams every night.

The first step is to improve your dream recall. As you already know, one of the best ways to do that is to start a dream journal. When you go to bed at night, tell yourself "I will awaken after I dream, and I will remember my dream". Make sure you have a notepad or something handy, so that as soon as you wake up, you can jot down whatever you remember -- even if it's just a feeling. You'll likely find that when you start writing, you'll start to remember more.

If this doesn't work for you, you might try setting an alarm to go off after you've been asleep for about 4-6 hours. This will normally wake you up during or immediately after a dream, and hopefully you will remember at least a little bit of it.

The more you do this, the more you should start to remember.

There are several things that can severely hamper your dream recall. If you are not getting enough sleep, are severely stressed out about things in your life, or if you are a pot smoker, any of those could explain your lack of recall.

EDIT: I'm a bit confused. Back in October, you posted that you had a lucid dream.

thanks, i'll try that tonight

actually i had a semi lucid ages ago, on hindsight i wouldnt call it a lucid dream since it was nothing exceptional, i've even forgotten what is was about....the problem is that i havent had a single dream in so long, hence the title (starting from scratch).

Originally posted by adamL28
hi, i've been around this forum for a few months now and have been trying out a lot of the techniques listed here. Problem is i'm a straight newbie at this thing and i cant have normal dreams, let alone lucid ones. my problem is this: the natural starting point for me would be to start keeping a DJ and doing regular reality checks. While the RCing part isnt too bad, having no dreams to begin with kinda makes it hard to put anything in my dream journal....

i need serious help, if anyone could just give a few hints, the easiest and most logical first step, i just want to get into the habit of normal dreaming, anything would be a start.

thanks in advance.

Excuse me?
You should be PMing me for advise if you are having a hard time w/that. Remember, I did adopt you, but I haven't heard from you in a while..