Thread: I need some advice...

Set your alarm clock so that you wake up during a dream. That way you can remember it. Also maybe try sleeping at a different time that way your REM is during a different time and that sometimes helps me remember.

Yes, set the alarm clock, and keep something to write on and with. make sure to write everything down, no matter how little it is. Good luck

to Dreamviews!

While setting the alarm clock is an... annoying method, it will almost certainly work. Waking up in the middle of the dream doesn't give your body time to erase the memory of the dream.

Are you keeping a dream journal? You can use anything you like for one, we even have a dream journal forum, here at Dreamviews. Even writing down little bits of information - smells, emotions, feelings, can really help. I was having problems with recall, and a week after I started a dream journal, I was remembering 1-3 a night

If you have any other questions, just ask! We also have a Dream Signs and Recall (sub-forum of Dream Discussion I believe) for specific questions about dream recall.

Hey there,

Several quick suggestions that can help you with dream recall:


a) Be sure to keep a dreamjournal. The intent to write down your dreams will help you remember them, and writing them down will help bring more aspects of the dream back to memory, as well as make it easier to recall future dreams. A dreamjournal is one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal. Make sure you use it!


b) Do not focus solely on a particular "type" of dream. Many people only try to recall visual aspects. But dreams are more then that. If you can't recall a visual dream, perhaps you can recall a conversation, or even just a sound. Perhaps you can recall a feeling or an emotion, or perhaps it's simply an idea 'I think I dreamt about ... ". Whatever you do remember, write that down in your dreamjournal. This will help build recall and soon you'll start to remember more and more details.


c) Make sure you get enough restful sleep. It's very hard to remember dreams if your body is utterly exhausted. Exactly how much 'sleep' you should be gettting and what is 'restful' varies from person to person, but if you crash to bed every evening and have to drag yourself from bed every morning, and feel tired all day, you're not getting enough


d) Do not rush when waking up. Most people, when they awake, have the habbit to begin to think about their day. How late is it? What do they have to do today? What are things they really can't forget today? Are they going to be on time for work? Etc etc. Doing this will immediately wipe any lingering dreams you had from your mind, as they get simply "overwritten" by other thoughts. Try not to do this. Instead lie still, blank your mind, give the dreams time to come. Dream recall is not something you either do immediately or not at all. Oftentimes after your body settles a bit into a restful snooze, dreams will begin to come back.


e) In the dreams you do recall, identify common elements that you dream about a lot. Perhaps you're often in a particular location, perhaps a certain person is often in your dreams, perhaps you often dream about doing something particular. Then when attempting to recall new dreams, when no memory comes, you can attempt to think of these reoccuring elements. After all, you might have dreamt about one of them tonight, and by simply going over them one by one, you might trigger a dream memory by association.


f) Before going to sleep, it can be helpful to make a TO DO list. Write down all the things you have to do and can't forget tomorrow on a list, and put it somewhere that you can easily pick it up when you awaken the next day. That way you can 'let go' off these things with the safe knowledge that you won't forget them, and go to sleep without them constantly drawing your attention.


g) If you really dont remember anything, then you don't remember anything. Don't try to force the issue. Frustration, negativity, annoyance don't help. Make sure it remains fun at all times. After all, you'll be sleeping a lot, really a lot, for the rest of your life. So what if one day you fail to remember dreams, there's always tomorrow. Don't let yourself get disheartened. "Let go" of nights you don't recall anything, and don't carry them with you to the next night, so that they can become unspoken fears that 'you might not remember anything this night either, just look at last night'. Fears have a way of making themselves come true when it comes to dreams and sleep.

There, hope that helps!

-Redrivertears-

Personally I think that the best way to improve dream recall is to keep a dream journal. Like someone said a couple posts before me, it can boost your recall from nothing to 2 or even sometimes 3 dreams a night.

Plus, it's always fun to look back and read some of the dreams you've had, cuz it's knd of like re-living them.