Introduction, and a question on recall

Ciao all. I'm new here, as you'll notice from that handy little name thing on the left. The name's TaNK, as you'll also notice from turning your eyes slightly left.

I've been rather into LDing the last... 6 months or so, I think. There was a period where I worked for it, got no results, and quit. So now I'm back and I'm better than ever, much like the Hess truck. I've actually devoted some time to it, and now I'm pretty entrenched in it (the LDing, not the Hess Truck). I've had two LDs that I've remembered (DILD, I cna't seem to quite get WILD), and two I've forgotten (ah, the irony: how could I remember if I forgot them?).

Anyway, I lurked a little while and finally decided to register, hopefully taking my second career as an Oneironaught (I DID spell that right, didn't I?) to the next level. The question I had is one of recall, as I've been in a real slump lately. I've been in the middle of finals and my sleep has been a little unusual, so I'm going to assume it's a symptom of that. Before I was clocking in at about one dream a night for a short while, but the last week or so I've had maybe one, for the entire week. Any tips, other than a DJ, for working my recall back up?

Thanks in advance, I welcome any help.

I'd say all it is is stress. LDs aren't the thing to be worried about during finals, so just relax, get as much sleep as you can, and let the dreams come back when they come back. Once you've got some free time on your hands and you're less stressed, try starting a dream journal, whether a physical or virtual one. Usually just the effort of that makes you think about dreaming more, and increases recall dramatically. It did for me.
Best of luck!

Hey TaNK! i am also new, hope you have fun here, i sure hope i will too!

Thanks. Another thing, about the level of detail: Most of the dreams I remember are more movie clips or a series of snapshots of what happened, with little or not sensory detail beyond seeing and hearing. In general, my dreams are very, very unvivid (this includes when I had better recall as well). Is this a result of just not having particularly good recall in general, or something else? I would assume that is just the way it is in non-LDs, because I notice a marked increase in realism when I have LDs as opposed to non-Lucids.

In both my lucids, I did not focus too much on realism, too excited (obviously something that needs fixing). I'm going to guess that probably factors into it, as my first lucid was very unreal, but my second was better since I focused on vividity, if only a small bit. That would lead me to believe that it's mostly a static characteristic of non-Lucids.

I'm rambling, though. The real question is is there anyway to increase the realism of my day-to-day dreams with the exception of B6 and all that? Mostly because I think it would help my LDs be more realistic. I was thinking some form of autosuggestion, any ideas?

As for dream recall, stress really does hamper your ability to recall dreams, so just relax and give it some time. Just don't give up on it.

As for detailed dreams, for me they come in spurts. Lately I've been having some fun (non-lucid) dreams, but there are times when they're just not worth remembering. Part of not remembering details is having not built up your recall, but it could just be a phase. Also, I've found that some people just tend to remember certain types of details. For me, I am more apt to recall places and actions rather than details like what people say or clothing. It could just be that.

As far as LDs, one piece of advice that I'd give you is to decide what you're going to do when you become lucid before you fall asleep. If you become lucid and try to wing it, usually you just end up wasting time.

Hey, METAL SLUG TANK! Do you have any idea how much I love Metal Slug! I like you already! :banana:

Alright, seriously: Recall has eluded me for the longest time. I actually learned how to WILD before I learned how to recall! The trick is directly waking from REM periods. Some folks might be able to recall all their dreams throughout the night, but they're rare IMO. You HAVE to wake directly from a dream to remember it. It sounds like you don't do this, though, as you aren't recalling anything! So, to do so, use an alarm clock to wake up 2-3 hours before normal, i.e. WBTB. It sounds like a pain, because it is! However, I find that if I use WBTB and wake up from a dream later, I feel much better than if I would have woken without a dream from NREM. Just a thought.

There's one thing I've noticed personally, however. It seems that I rarely recall a dream from my first awakening, but am generally OK at remembering after further awakenings. So, don't get dsicouraged if the alarm doesn't wake you form a dream, as the awakening alone resets your REM cycle, and most likely the next time you awake you'll recall a dream! Good luck, and I hope I helped!

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Originally Posted by TaNK

Anyway, I lurked a little while and finally decided to register, hopefully taking my second career as an Oneironaught (I DID spell that right, didn't I?) to the next level. The question I had is one of recall, as I've been in a real slump lately. I've been in the middle of finals and my sleep has been a little unusual, so I'm going to assume it's a symptom of that. Before I was clocking in at about one dream a night for a short while, but the last week or so I've had maybe one, for the entire week. Any tips, other than a DJ, for working my recall back up?

Thanks in advance, I welcome any help.

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Originally Posted by Richter

There's one thing I've noticed personally, however. It seems that I rarely recall a dream from my first awakening, but am generally OK at remembering after further awakenings. So, don't get dsicouraged if the alarm doesn't wake you form a dream, as the awakening alone resets your REM cycle, and most likely the next time you awake you'll recall a dream! Good luck, and I hope I helped!

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That's because as the night goes on and one sleeps longer, their time spent in non-REM sleep lessens, and time in REM sleep grows. Thus, the longer you sleep, the more dreams you'll have. Makes sense, right?

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Originally Posted by Amethyst Star

That's because as the night goes on and one sleeps longer, their time spent in non-REM sleep lessens, and time in REM sleep grows. Thus, the longer you sleep, the more dreams you'll have. Makes sense, right?

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Perfect sense, but I'm saying I don't remember dreams from my first awakening, even if it's after 6 or so hours of sleep! I don't know why this is, though, and maybe it's just my quirk, but meh.

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Originally Posted by TaNK

Anyway, I lurked a little while and finally decided to register, hopefully taking my second career as an Oneironaught (I DID spell that right, didn't I?) to the next level.

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It is spelled Oneironaut I think. I checked EWOLD. And welcome!