How to tell them apart?

How do I tell if my dreams are the same ones or different ones?

Sometimes at night I don't wake up, or don't remember waking up. I can usually remember some of my dreams though. Sometimes I remember several things happening that seem unrelated. Would those be separate dreams? I'm not sure if it is just one topic that has run into another in the Same dream.

I'm trying to keep a Journal because my dream recall has been fading for 2 years and I have wanted to get back into the practice of LDing. I just am having trouble categorizing these as one or multiples.


A bit if history of me:

I HAVE had a LD before. One on my own before I knew what a LD was. I own a headset/visor blinky-thing by Zygon that has a CD called lucid dreaming. It has been successful in inducing only 3 lucid dreams in the past for me. I used to use it almost daily for at least a year.

So 4 total where I was aware of dreaming and could willingly change the backgrounds my dreams took place in and glide somewhat (not fly though)

I have recently been using Brainwave Synchronizer along with I-Doser (Lucid) to help me calm before bed and to help induce WILDs, etc. It has been helping tremendously! I recomend these highly to help. I have had a LD before so I kind of know the state I want to put my mind in to get another one and these work for that.

I was so close last night, I was aware I was dreaming and it faded so fast. I tried to spin and hand-look as recommended here but nothing worked and I got kicked from it after a few minutes.

I used to be able to recall almost 4 dreams a night without writing them down. They were always VERY vivid. My memory has waned (sp?) sadly to 0-1 and for almost a week now I've been trying to make that more.

You can define a dream however you like. Some divide them into segments based on what happens, but usually people divide them up based on REM periods. Most likely, the dreams that you said were disconnected in meaning were all from the same REM period. This is because if you don't wake up between REM periods, your mind erases whatever dreams you had from the previous REM period. You following? So I could have 5 REM periods per night, but only remember the last one because I didn't wake up after the other ones (and my mind erased them).

So, one REM period, one dream. But the dream can suddenly switch scenes, making it seem like there's more than one dream. You can call it that if you wish (it makes no difference functionally). I write it as one dream, because I remember multiple REM periods per night (and it would be messy for me to categorize per dream segment instead of per REM period). Whatever works for you.

Congrats on your lucid dream! They will get longer with practice. Once your mind gets used to lucidity, it will adapt and let you stay in the dream longer. Keep trying!

As far as recall goes, do write them down. Write all the details, and the time you woke up from it. This will help you recall more dreams. If you know the time, then you know what time you dream, then you know what time you should wake up to record your dream!

Welcome to Dreamviews, and good luck!

the same thing happens to me a lot. In terms of your journal being effective in helping you lucid dream, it doesn't matter if the dreams ate seperate. Just as long as ur recording everything u remember. It's also important to record your dreams right when you awake instead of waiting till morning. You may forget a lot about your dreams.

I absolutely agree with dan.jc in that it is a really good idea to write down any dreams you remember if you wake during the night. Doing this can drastically improve your dream recall. Many people even train themselves to wake during the night so they can take some dream notes.

I keep a little notebook under my pillow, so whenever I wake I just pull it out and jot down a few details and a little about the dream. That way when I write in my DJ I have some notes to help me remember. Sometimes I can't remember anything except what I have written down, but other times the notes are all it takes to bring the dream flooding back.