Recall

[Xeric]

I started working on my dream recall so that I can work toward lucid dreams about 5 or 6 nights ago. So far I've remembered only a very, very short fragment of one dream out of all 6 nights. I repeatedly tell myself as I'm going to sleep that I will remember my dreams, and I'm very motivated. I have my journal by my bed to write in when I remember a dream, but I never remember one. My question is this: Does anything keep you from being able to recall dreams? Tobacco, Nicotine, Marijuana? Anything I could possibly be doing on a daily basis to inhibit me from recalling dreams? Also, should I be repeating that I will remember my dreams in my head as I go to sleep? Just the exact same statement? It's hard for me to keep repeating it as I go to bed, it is so repetitive that I end up just stopping because it keeps me from going to sleep.

[TygrHawk]

Marijuana severely inhibits dream recall in many people. Also not getting enough sleep, or experiencing stress in your life can hamper your recall ability. As far as repeating things to yourself, I think it's probably best to keep it pretty much the same. If it bores you, you're probably more likely to fall asleep than you are if you have to keep thinking about re-phrasing your mental suggestion. But by all means, try some different variations and see what works best for you.

[Gwendolyn]

As Tygr noted, marjuana inhibits recall. Also, the consumption of alcohol can do the same thing. Make sure that you are fully relaxed before bed and that stress is not overwhelming. If need be, drink a cup of tea, or milk or even take a short walk before bed. Also, varying your sleeping practices and excercizes can really make a difference in your dream recall.

[Sleepless]

Also realized that i can't recall most of my dreams since a started smoking.

[taihen]

Maybe this will help you get going: I couldn't recall any dreams before I started waking myself up during REM. Then I kept a dream journal, but it didn't prove as effective as waking myself up during REM. I know you may find this elsewhere, but what worked for me is waking myself up in regular intervals of 90 minutes, adding on an extra 10 to 15 minutes if it was late in the night. Basically, I started a 4.5 hours sleep, then another 1.5 hour, and another 1.5 hour. The most effective, however, was just getting up 1.5 hours earlier than your usually wake up, getting up and doing something, and then going back to sleep. That guarentees me recall. Don't try wake yourself up 1.5 or 3 hours after sleeping, I find that my alarm, no matter how loud or irritating, just doesn't wake me up. But I am a heavy sleeper. Even so, try and get at much sleep beforehand as you can. Once I decided to just keep sleeping 1.5h intervals till morning, and I didn't remember a single dream.

[irishcream]

Gwen hit the nail on the head. I find most times if i read before bed and i go to sleep with nothing on my mind, my recall improves. try to train your brain into thinking about what you were dreaming about when you woke up, rather than what you have to do that day. something my brain struggles with, which is probably why my recall is so variable!

[Xeric]

So I should wake up 1.5 hours earlier than normal, get up for 15 minutes or so, and go back to sleep? Is this just to get me started or am I going to have to wake up and go back to sleep every time I want to recall a dream? Any other comments on whether smoking cigarettes affects recall?

[Gwendolyn]

I'm not sure about cigarettes...I've heard that they induce more nightmares than anything, but I don't smoke...So, I don't really know. Also, if and when you can help it, try not to jolt yourself awake. Sometimes, that erases your memory momentarily and makes it harder for you to remember a dream.

[Xeric]

What do you mean by jolt myself awake?

[irishcream]

for example, if the phone rings, or you wake up by an alarm...the first thing you are going to think about is the telephone or the alarm clock, rather than what you were just dreaming about..it happened to me this morning.

[Xeric]

I have to wake up around 7am because I'm taking a summer course to get ahead before I go off to college, so using an alarm is manditory for me right now. Tomorrow is my last day of class for the summer, so I suppose I could hope for more success after that. However, I'll be going off to college toward the end of the month and once school starts back I'll be right back to using an alarm again. If alarms inhibit me from remember my dreams, I don't see any way I'll ever be able to lucid dream.

[Gwendolyn]

Don't lose hope! Just write what you can remember. If it is possible, try and train yourself to wake up a few minutes before your alarm. I do this, and use the alarm as a backup for waking. Not everyone fancies this as a mode of awakening, but it is a useful skill for recall. Also, if you don't think this is something that you would like to do, just write down what you can. Perhaps you could set the alarm for a few minutes earlier than usual so that you have a few minutes to reflect upon what you have dreamed. You'll be fine!

[Xeric]

Woo! I came home from class today and took a nap. I was only in class for 8 minutes because our final was tomorrow and we didn't really have anything left to do. I came home and read/posted on these forums for a bit, then went to sleep. I woke up and gradually remembered more and more of what I dreamt. There really wasn't any kind of coherance or storyline to my dream, it was kind of just fragments that didn't make much sense. But hey, at least I remembered some stuff, right? The only two dreams that I have remembered anything of in the past week since I started were after I woke up from a daytime nap. Is there something that I should be concluding from this? Last question: Once I get better at my recall, will I still have to drill myself about remembering them as I go to bed, or will it just start to come naturally? Also, will I still need to continue a dream journal after I figure out some of my dream signs and such? P.S. Thanks for your help, Gwen. Much appreciated.

[Merlock]

Training dream recall means actually making an action to recall dreams upon awakening. That's something I realized not too long ago myself but it's the sense of dream recall training, I'd say. Aside from motivation and suggestions before sleep, upon waking up, it's possible to remember dreams from the night just about every time by lying there still, not moving and not opening your eyes and digging deep into your memory as if trying to remember what has been happening before you've woken up. Not just expecting the dreams to be perfectly vivid right upon awakening - that happens but not always; many a time it takes such actions to grab the dream memories. Sometimes moving into a different usual sleep position from the one you awake may help as well (if this effort to recall upon awakening doesn't work right away). And when even that doesn't seem to do it, I've recalled several dreams just by lying there and thinking about different concepts, which triggered dream recall. All the above is from recent personal experience.

[Xeric]

I've tried all this.. every time I wake up. It feels like I'm simply not meant to be capable of doing this. If I can manage to improve my recall to 2 or 3 dreams per night, will I still have to write my dreams in a journal and drill myself about remembering them as I'm going to sleep in order to recall them in the morning? Or do you simply remember them without all of this stuff once you get good at it?

[Merlock]

I've recently found something interesting. Just as you said, "drilling" the subconscious...that's what I've been doing. However, I've realized that such is not the best way. In fact, it may be the worst. It means forcing the subconscious to do something, to which it might reject. It seems the best way is to find some balance and harmony with one's subconscious but that might be somewhat complicated to accomplish as it takes much thought and realization.

[Xeric]

I've recently found something interesting. Just as you said, "drilling" the subconscious...that's what I've been doing. However, I've realized that such is not the best way. In fact, it may be the worst. It means forcing the subconscious to do something, to which it might reject. It seems the best way is to find some balance and harmony with one's subconscious but that might be somewhat complicated to accomplish as it takes much thought and realization. [/b] Meh.. this type of thing doesn't really help me much. That is such a general and vague description, and I would have no idea how to about something like that.

[Merlock]

Well it's really the true "power of will" concept. Using intent (will power) doesn't mean forcing yourself to do something, it means doing something you want. Which is why one first needs to understand exactly what it is one wants, then go about doing it and in the end not give up no matter what.