Fishing for your dreams? Here are a few suggestions for improving dream recall:

Keeping a daily dream journal will help you become familiar with your personal dreaming style and assist you in learning to identify dream signs (anomalies within the dream that can cue lucidity). If you don't remember full scenarios, make note of any lingering fragments, emotional states or moods. It's best do this whenever you wake from a dream rather than waiting till morning or later in the day.

Remain in your waking position until the dream is well-reviewed in your mind. If you must move to retrieve your journal and the dream subsequently vanishes, return to your original sleeping position, relax, and try to regain a reflective mood. This can often stimulate recall.

An excellent exercise you can do in the waking state involves tracing a thought or conversational tangent to its source. This is a particularly fun challenge when done with a friend. Set a timer and when it goes off, try to retrace the path of your conversation.

Making dreams manifest through art/poetry/song etc. reinforces the sub-conscious message that you respect and value your dreams. And, of course, sharing dreams appropriately is always a good way to encourage dream recall.

And if you wake up totally blank, fear not, there's always the "Dream Hook" approach:

• DREAM HOOKS * Whenever your dreams feel particularly elusive, lie quietly and mentally review the list below. Be careful not to force associations, just allow whatever comes to mind to "bite" of its own accord. Sometimes a dream can be caught in this manner and slowly reeled in in its entirety.

• Moods (any lingering emotions)
• People (family/friends/lovers/ co-workers/celebrities/aliens)
• Activities (special interests or projects/ work/interactive situations)
• Body Parts
• Body Positions/Movements
• Feelings/Sensations
• Places (current or former home/neighborhood/ foreign country)
• Animals/Vegetables/Minerals
• Natural Elements (Water/Earth/Air/Fire)
• Colors
• Shapes
• Sounds
• Tastes
• Smells
• Letters of the Alphabet (first word associations)

Now, if you can remember all of the above, recalling your dreams should be easy!

Keelin

If you don't recall your dream try to say sentences taht might arrise something from your dream. The sentence should be somthing you do everyday. for example: "I was driving to work when I met...." and see if anything pops up. "I was visiting ...." etc.

If everything fails try to write ean imagery story entitled: "I think I dreamt about...". Since dreams and imagination have a similar source, your story might have dream components in it. You may also write a poem or draw a picture or do anything creative while thinking: "I might have dreamt about this.

Sweet Dreams Yosseph

Hello All, I had another LD last night and although there are several very good points about it there is one that is troubling me. First the good points. I am now firmly averaging 1 LD every two weeks and have been doing so for the last three months. Second, this was the first LD where I used the MILD technique to recognize that I was dreaming. Third, once again I was able to remember and carry out pre-determined dream experiments. That being said, my point of concern is that I almost lost the dream. When I first awoke I did not remember that I had had a LD. It was while lying in bed that the dream suddenly came back to me. I had read that it is possible to have LDs and not remember them and now I understand the truth of this statement.

I have some ideas that may help to prevent this type of amnesia and I would like get input from others. First I have read that focusing on the throat charka can help one remember their dreams. Stephen Laberge mentions this as part of the "white dot" technique but does not explicitly say that it is to help in dream recall whereas the Tibetan dream yoga books have stated it explicitly. Next, since I have been very successful in remembering things that I want to do while lucid I am going to try to add memory enhancement activities to keep doing while I am in a LD. The idea I presently am thinking of is to talk to myself while lucid and kind of narrate the experience. In other words I am going to try to repeat my experience verbally while in the dream; explain what I am seeing, feeling, doing, etc.

Has anybody else had these experiences and has anyone come up with any other techniques??

Thomas

PS tonight's a full moon so dream lucidly.

Thomas,

Yes, I've discovered a method that seems to work rather well for both myself and my students (I teach lucid dreaming techniques in the UK.) It's based on a memory technique that is relativly useful in the waking state but VERY useful in the dream state. So here's the method;

Dream memory bridge (d.love)

This is based on a memory technique I learnt along time ago, but i'll take credit for the genius ;) of using it in lucid dream recall!

Whilst awake, grab a pad and write down the numbers 1 to 10 as if you were writing a list. Now for each number come up with a word that rhymes with that number (eg. 1=Nun 2=Shoe) etc. write these words next to the numbers. It is important that the links are strong, so choose the word that first comes to mind, If you can, try to choose something easy to visualise.

Once you have this list and you are sure you have strong links - so 2 will always remind you of Shoe for example, Practice and Practice so you can always get these connections - the rhyme obviously makes this very simple!

So now you have a new way of counting, a visual meaningful set of numbers.1 to 10 are no longer numbers they are images and words, things you can clearly and always bring to mind.

Thats it the basic memory system, the number LINK images. But there is more...

Now whilst awake write another list of 10 RANDOM words (write 1 to 10 beside them too) You are now going to test your memory system! Now for each word on this random list, look at the number it is beside, bring the LINK image for that number to mind (ie Nun for 1)

Now if your 1st random word ways say, Elephant, you would now use your LINK number image of the number 1(in our example Nun) Now you would imagine as clearly as possible a vivid scene between the two images, for example a nun riding the back of an elephant, See, Hear, Smell and generaly use all your senses to create the image, comedy helps too.

Now whenever you think of 1 you will think automaticaly 'Nun' and this will trigger the image of the Nun riding the Elephant. Bingo! a solid Link! The word Elephant is now semi permanantly linked to 1 (Nun however is a permenant, its your LINK image)

Do this with all ten Random words.

This way you can remember lists of 10 items very easily and almost without error.

Once you have finished put the list away and get a friend/partner to test you on the list of random words. You should amaze yourself with the ease of recall, also in any order! Once you are sure you have the knack, bin the Random list, you can forget that now. But the LINK images the 1 and nun etc. are permenant.

It may seem complex in print but it really is very simple. Just try it.

So now you have your memory system (the link list from 1 to 10) that will allow you ANYTIME and ANYWHERE to remember 10 items.

So to use this in dream recall...

Simply when in a Lucid dream, everytime you see an image that will remind you of the dream, add it to the list the same way you would whilst awake. Then upon awakening, if your dreams are lost, simply recall number 1 and see what connections you have made whilst asleep, also 2, 3 4 etc.. until you can clearly put together the whole dream.

Trust me this one is like gold dust, once you have it you wont ever forget a lucid dream again! Plus its a damn useful just for shopping lists whilst awake!

Hope i've made it clear enough.

Sweet dreams.

Daniel

Ps.I would love to hear how people get on with this one!

Thanks for the advice Daniel. I will give it a try.

Thomas

Hi Daniel and Thomas!

Daniel - that's a great idea for increasing memory and with it dream recall. Will start using the technique myself I think, as it may be better than my current method. However, for anyone who's interested, my current method is fairly simple and can be applied without any practice. It does, however, only work upon awakening from a dream.

Instead of trying to recall an entire dream upon awakening, which can be time consuming and break up the natural rhythm of sleep, I simply use keywords - clear, easy to interpret words that link the beginning, middle and end of a dream. Much like Daniels' memory links above, they are as simple as possible and serve as cues to begin dream recall. So, for instance, in one dream I had recently the three words were; Maria, ball, bike chase. These referred to my friend Maria, who popped up early in the dream, a ball game (volleyball) in the middle, and myself riding a mountain bike with a lorry behind me, waiting to pass. I just memorise the words for maybe 30 secs, then fall asleep (or I write them in my dream journal, then go back to sleep.)

Simple, and I expect many already use this method, but for those who don't, maybe give it a try

Dean

Thanks Dean,

I also use a revised and much easier technique, it's good but not as flexible as the earlier technique I mentioned. Although it is if you only need to recall 1 detail of the dream -

Much like the original method it requires constant memory link. Very simple, instead of using the numbers 1 to 10 (which offer the flexibility of multiple details/words) Your LINK/ANCHOR image is singular. For instance, I use the image of a butterfly, this Is my 'dream recall' image, in the same way as in my previous technique, when in the dream if i see/hear something that needs to be recalled upon awakening, i merely vividy connect the butterfly image with the word/sound etc. that i need to recall (again as before using multiple sounds/smells/comedy etc. to really build the connection) Upon awakening i know that either my butterfly LINK will be empty (as i have not used it) or will be connected to a dream image. Essentialy this is just a streamlined version of the previous technique. Obvioulsy you can use this method alongside the DMB method. So perhaps if you want to test the effectivness of DMB method wihtout all the tedious practice (although it is very easy to learn) then try this first.

Hi fellow dreamers..About dream recall. I cant understand how a lucid dream can be forgotten.. IF its truely lucid! After all arent lucid dreams very vivid and life like?Are Most lucid dreams easy to remember?? If so.. Does that mean only a tiny percentage of lucid dreams are not remembered ? [yes? no?] I have had dreams yrs ago so vivid and real that left a lifelong impression on me that I remember like it was yesterday!!And they were not even lucid but they were epic! I am certainly no expert on the matter..Also does [lucid and or strong vivid dreams] pull a lot of energy out of a person leaving them tired in the morning ? Or could it be Im tired because an induction device just kept me awake all night? Or both? Any ideas?

Tom,

I can tell you first hand that it is very possible to forget a lucid dream. One instance comes to mind of me waking up and not remembering any dreams whatsoever. After lying in bed for while trying to recall I suddenly had a glimpse of a memory of flying as though I was a bird. Just after I had this glimpse I was flooded with the memory of being very lucid and trying to change myself into an eagle (a dream experiment that I had wanted to carry out). If I had not spent the extra time trying to recall, I believe that this LD would have lost forever.

Memory is a tricky process, especially short term memory. There are modern theories that compare short term memory to a computer's RAM and long term memory to a computer's hard drive. The theory contends that, just like in the world of computers, if there isn't an extra step taken to write the contents of the RAM onto the hard drive then the contents will be inevitably lost should the computer temporarily lose power or if the program (dream) is terminated.

I am not one to particularly like these types of analogies but there may be something to this one.

Thomas

Hello Tom... I actually think every single person has lucid dreams, only they are not able to remember, and maybe even unable to recognize a lucid dream, therefore unable to remember. The last lucid dream I had, I totally forgot the next day. I didn't remember, until, by casuallity or causallity I started reading my dream diary and opened it right in the page of a lucid dream I had a couple of months before. When I read the letters LD on top I remembered I had a lucid dream the previous night. If I didn't read my dream diary, that dream might been forgoten forever... So you see.. it is very possible to forget. That's why is so important to have a dream diary.

Keep dreaming.

Miss Sea Monkey,

In order to remember your dreams you must wake up while you are still dreaming and transfer the dream from subconscious state to consciousness. You should not open your eyes or move at all or you will lose precious details of your dream. Keeping and updating your dream diary is also a key condition if you want to sucessfully memorize your dreams

Thank you very much Nenad. I started following your advice before, I read it in some of the forum conversations.. and I received your post just when I was looking for answers.. Sinchronicity continues....

Thank you...

You are welcome...

I also have a theory...well for me it is a fact, but generalizing it to everyone else of course is just theory...that actally writing down dreams serves another purpose besides facilitating "looking for dreamsigns" and suchlike exercises. It feels to me as though the act of "reeling in" dreams (I like Keelin's poetic imagery, that's exactly what it feels like!) and putting them down on paper somehow primes our brain to recognize what a dream is, how it feels to dream. And that this very directly leads to lucid dreaming...because next time we dream, we recognize that "feeling" that we'd been re-creating in our waking brain when we were writing down a dream.

Sorry this isn't clearer. I hope it makes sense to some of you. Anyway, it is why I force myself to write down whole dreams even when I don't much feel like it. None of the other techniques that have been suggested here and elsewhere--writing down just key words or reminders, reciting the dream mentally without writing it down, etc.--work for me as far as bringing the true memory of what the dream felt like up into the right part of my brain.

Excellent "theory" Laura!

In my opinion your post is more an exposition of reality than it is an abstract proposition.

Thanks for sharing!

Peter

Laura, you've got the point! The more you write down your dreams on paper, the more you "enlive" yourself with dreamworld.

After 19 years of dreaming experience( I am 27 years old) I have come to the point where I actually don't have to recognize dream signs, I just "feel" I am in a dream. It happens almost every night

On Dream Recall..I have been very sucessfull recalling my dreams for close to two weeks every night! I was doing great!! Then one day a lot of negative things happened It was a bad day..I then think to myself..This will cost me some dreams! My recall now is not half as good as It was its been 8 days still no improvement! I know the situation will get better in time.. But when I thought [This is going to cost me some dreams!] I never realized the distructive power of a fleeting thought!! Has anyone else ever experianced anything like this? I only whish I could harness this power in reverse and create real positivness. Some people may think mabey only special people have lucid dreams.. or mabey this is my punishment.. or maby Im too slow.. they can think of all kinds of negetive reasons sink down and give up.. I just say beware of negativity stay away from it as much as possable because in my understanding it seems slow down ones ability to RECAL and DREAM..mabey cause a mental block?? Does this make any sense?.....Tom

The power of suggestion and expectation do seem to play a crucial role in virtually every aspect of Lucid Dreaming.

I've worked with forms of hypnosis an sugestion for years now - and in my experience, it is often at it's most powerful in these fleeting moments of thought.

Negativity can appear to be a powerful form of suggestion, but this itself is not the case, it is another form of self suggestion to believe this.

You have to learn to realise that suggestion is equally as strong whether it is positive or negative - the problem is that negative suggestions often appear self sustaining - but ONLY because we have accepted the suggestion that this is somehow the case - it is not.

The mind functions on so many different levels, when we are feeling negative our active schemas are different from those active whilst feeling good. This means that if we have developed LD friendly schemas in a positive state they will be overridden by the negative schemas (that may not be so LD friendly) if our mood has changed.

Its not that the negative suggestions have taken the place of the positive ones, just that our frame of references is different, so we are accessing a whole different system. Our posotive LD friendly suggestions are still in place, just inactive due to our new mindset.

The trick is to change mindset to allow these to be the new frame of reference.

I hope this helps and makes a little sense.

Hi Daniel..Thanks for your answer. As usual what you said makes sense..I believe Ill be back on the lucidity track soon I hope.. My only problem was the amount of info I remembered from my non lucid dreams had gotten smaller. And that is not a good feeling after doing so good for almost two weeks.Do you think the lucidity three month course would give me a BIG boost toward lucidity? I have been through Stephen Laberges book many times over. And it is a very good book! but mabey I need to take the course also?? And as good as my recal [was] here in [Planet] Boulder Colorado Just last janurary and feburary I was In southern Arizona and It was far better yet! I remembered much Longer dream stories two or three almost every night many of which I can still remember Quite vividly now ..Danial Have you ever traveled far from home and noticed a change in dream quality and quanity?? Mabey location has an efect on dreams? Just last night I remembered a little more of my dreams but guess what? They were [three nearly Identical Dreams] For me thats rare for one night.. Thanks for your reply.. tom

"Did you hear about the Lucid dreamer who found out that dream recall improves when you're away from home?"

"No, I didn't. What about him?"

"He moved."

: )

HI Daniel..I know {cat} has worked well for you.. One of the questions I asked you last time about the {cat method} was has it worked yet for anyone else yet besides you? .? Mabey a student of yours? Or is it too soon to tell? Also does a person need some prior lucid dreaming experiance for {cat} to work? Thank You...Tom

Yes, I have about 100 emails reporting on how well the CAT method has worked for them. Also my students all report similar experiences as i've had with CAT.

Dan,

I want to try to use the CAT method. Do you recommend a specific reality test for phase 1? If it's to be done every 2 to 5 minutes for an hour and a half, it can't be too long or involved, I believe. What do you advise?

Paul

I tend to use the digital clock or light switch method. Alot of the lucid dreams from CAT are based in my bedroom - i'd imagine because my mind is geared up for waking earlier and dosn't, so it's a kind of false awakening situation.

It's best to keep them varied as otherwise you just get lazy and stop testing properly. It's all about getting the right balance between regularity and focus - you don't want to be doing lots of half hearted RTs

Give it a try and if you find that you can't keep the focus on the RTs at such regular intervals, do less but with more focus on what you are doing.

Hope that helps.

Getting back to dream recall ON THE PROPER THREAD(Peter, this is what you had in mind, yes?): The last few nights I have been using the technique of focusing on my intention to wake after each dream and remember it, repeating this over and over while falling asleep. This morning I remembered 5 full dreams and fragments of some others.

For me, there's just no sustitute for intention, either in dream recall or having LDs!

Paul

Paul:

That's what I had in mind, yes!

Thanks!

Peter

Paul:

I don't think you should consider memory (not dream recall alone) a substitute for intent. Intent is the other powerful tool necessary for successful lucid dreaming -- of course it can't be substituted!

A strong memory is necessary to enforce intent, don't you think? You can intend all you want, but if you don't remember that intent during the dream, what good were your efforts?

Again, I'm not talking about dream recall here -- that's a nice tool for developing dreamsigns and spreading ink across a dream journal, but it is just a function of memory, not memory itself. In all honesty, I don't like dream recall much, because it is the invariable terminal destination for every discussion about memory!

Perhaps this wasn't the proper thread after all?

Best of Dreams,

Peter

Peter, we don't remember to intend something, we intend to remember something. That's what prosepective memory is. I don't try to remember my intention to become lucid in a dream; just the reverse. My intention, upon going to bed, is to remember to recognize that I'm dreaming when I am in fact dreaming. Sounds like a word game, but I really think these are different ideas.

I don't consider memory a substitute for intent. Where did you get that from, pray tell? I expressed that there is no substitute for intent, I think.

But, what you're getting at is interesting. How do we keep intention alive and well as we pass through dreamless sleep so that it's operating when we begin to dream? Where does the brain store intention? I don't believe it's a memory function as you suggest, meaning it's not something we "remember " to have. It doesn't seem conscious in the dream state, only when I'm awake. But I have no idea really what it really is and where it resides in consciousness, if anywhere. It's one of those mysterious things like "willpower", "desire", and so forth.

You basically have reiterated what I said. Dream recall per se doesn't mean much after a certain skill in it is achieved.

Paul

Guys I beg to differ but .You say [dream recall] doesnt mean much???? After what skill is achieved?? Corect me If Im wrong but the memory of the dream called [Dream recall] has to be one of the most important factors in dreaming for without it where is the dream????...I think dream recall deserves a lot more study and needs to br talked about more often.. my thoughts..Tom

Tom, I'm talking only about remembering your dreams after awakening, and whether or not remembering more and more dreams helps promote lucidity. I am not downplaying good dream recall in general.

Good dream recall is certainly necessary to success in lucid dreaming. After we have achieved a certain level of proficiency in remembering our dreams, however, I don't think becoming obsessive about it and trying to remember all or most of our nightly dreams necessarily improves our ability to have lucid dreams. Stephen Laberge says about 1 dream remembered per night is enough dream recall to begin the LD exercises he writes about. I only average about one remembered dream every couple of days. That's enough to have regular lucid dreams for me. Lately, though, I have been experimenting on using intention to have better dream recall, just for fun.

That's all I was trying to say. I have no disagreement with your post.

Paul

Hi Paul..I was just putting in my two cents for what It was worth..Everyone has a right to their opinion I just happen to believe dream recall is very important and also the [importance] you put on your dreams.. I was talking ,mostly about [DR] as you awaken from the dream..But since you spoke of It..What harm would it be to also remember alot of them during the day It would only make you sharper in your memory and that may carry over into your dream skills in some way? And guess what I used to be a heavy television watcher but since I got into watching my dreams every night and morning I dont care about tv so much any more?: Happy holidays dont drink too much!...Tom

And Paul I do like those questions in above post about how do we keep [intent] alive as we pass through dreamless sleep..and where do we store intent to use in dreams..Mabey the next time your lucid..could you remember to ask those questions to your [own mind] or [dream carectors] If you wish.. Let us know the answer.. It may be suprising! cheers..Tom... and PS..I thought about a dream I had several months ago..I posted It. You probably remember reading It...It had to do with floating in space being made of energy particles and hearing the sounds like wales make in the ocean and other sounds.. I remember every so often I would move or squirm a little causing these particles to break up and seperate..But I stoped moving and everything regrouped and continued in a weightless cloud filled space moving efortlessly along.. I thought long and hard about this very strange dream..And I believe Its posable It could be my memory of being in the womb at 3 to 5 months along or earlyer.. No proof but could be possable..cheers..

Hello, this is my first post. I hope these thoughts are placed in the correct spot. I have had numerous LD experiences throughout my life. Probably one or two a year. But I cant say that I ever had the intent because I never knew there was a term called LD.

But this week I purchased EWLD and I have been keeping a dream journal. Its amazing the progress one can make in such a short time. Or so it seems.

At the beginning of this week my dreams were very fragmentary. It may have been stress. But the moments that I remember have gotten larger and larger. Last night was the most complete I have remembered in a very long time.

One question. Tornados have been a main topic in majority of my dreams through out my life. Even though I have never actually seen a tornado live. Would that be considered a "Dream Signal"?

I have at times had dreams where I thought, "Ahh I am in a dream" and then was able to manipulate parts of the dream. But it is so random that I notice it is a dream.

Lastly, I am so excited to be a part of this website. I have been lurking a few days. Great people here.

Jim

Jim:

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, I'd say that tornados could be considered a dream sign, even if you don't see them in waking life. It's a bit harder to practice reality checks, of course, but if you can train yourself to be prepared to do a reality check next time you see a tornado, you might find success.

Best of Dreams,

Peter