How to remember dreams?

[StarStruck]

When a wake up because of a bad dream I remember them but when I don't wake up somewhere in the middle or end of my sleep cycle I almost remember nothing. My dreams are highly metaphorical and they help me to understand many things. I would like to record more of them but it is hard to find the sweet spot to wake up. I usually note my dreams on my phone. 

[Death_]

@StarStruck I guess keeping a pen and paper next to your bed would be a great idea to do.

[Gili Trawangan]

Do you drink coffee?

[mandyjw]

Make a subtle intention and relax, if it's meant to be remembered, you'll remember it. You're not missing out on anything. You might also look into yoga nidra.

[StarStruck]

4 hours ago, Gili Trawangan said:

Do you drink coffee?

yes, just 1 per day

[Quantum Toad]

Artificial lighting, junk foods, un-natural environments, overthinking, electronics, radiation ect.. all these things effect our overall dream-lucidity and recall. One powerful technique you could do is set the intention to remember more before going to bed. Meditation before bed also helps.

[Zigzag Idiot]

On 5/29/2021 at 7:12 AM, Death_ said:

@StarStruck I guess keeping a pen and paper next to your bed would be a great idea to do.

A few years ago when I was doing dream work I found that this was key.  It’s almost like movement of the body after awakening acts as a dream eraser. So writing the dream down as soon as possible is very important. At least it was for me.

[look_inside]

Starstruck-

There are a few things that you can do to improve dream recall.

1- Keep a dream journal. Write down at least an outline of every dream you have.

2- Go to bed with the desire, an intention, to remember your dreams

3- Dreams some in 90 minute cycles. You will exit REM about 90 minutes after you go to sleep. You may not become totally awake, but you will come close to it, which is called the "hypnopompic" state. You can pump up the process by setting an alarm for 90 minutes which will cause you awaken. Write down the dream.

4- If you awaken, don't move a muscle. Don't open your eyes. Review the dream in your mind for a few minutes. This will make it less apt to fade away. Then write it down. If you want to, rather than awaken and writing it down, you can choose to, with practice, re-enter the dream from this state.

Dreams are funny things. If you show an interest, a desire to pay attention to them, you seem to be able to grow this skill. Some part of your consciousness is in charge here, and it "listens" to what you want. Show that interest, and practice, and these skill will grow.

We all dream, have no doubt about that. This is a matter of caring enough to pay attention.

Once you get better at this you can see patterns in your dreams that are meaningful and useful for analysis.

Once you get better at dream recall, you can take this further by doing something amazing. You can glimpse what is actually happening in consciousness and in reality itself: you can become lucid in the dream. And when you do, you will see that you are in a solid "world" that is unbelievably "real".  You will realize that it is most likely being created by the same mechanism as waking reality. It is this fact that clued me into the fact that this is the mechanism behind our waking life experience. It was the thing that confirmed to me that there are no objects, nothing physical at all in reality. In my mind, Lucid dreaming is one of the best non-drug assisted ways to see the truth behind reality. Or at least to gain a first hand experience the non-physical nature of it. 

 

[Gili Trawangan]

On 5/30/2021 at 0:01 AM, StarStruck said:

yes, just 1 per day

I gave up coffee for a period of six months and started having clearer dreams, and higher quality of sleep. And I've read accounts of others having the same experience.

Now that I've gone back to coffee (one a day, like you) I no longer remember any of my dreams. It's astounding, but in my experience the causality is undeniable.

[FlyingLotus]

Huperzine A is a great supplement for dream recall or lucid dreaming.  You can get it on Amazon.  Try taking it before you go to sleep.