I don't understand it.  I have been lucid dreaming since 1998 but still my dream recall has always been poor which is why I seem only to be able to get lucid via WILDs (RARELY DILDs).

I have tried waking up in the middle of the night and even listening to mp3s that are supposed to help with recall (which only seem to make it worse).  I have tried B6 and 5-HTP and it seems as tho I wake up and there is simply "nothing".

I seem to have the best recall on the weekends when I can sleep over 9 hours but I don't have that luxury during the work week and even then.. my recall is not "total" but "hit or miss"/"spotty" at best.

When I "WILD", I know that I must wake up immediately after the lucid ends or the details (for the most part) are lost.  Even during non-lucids, if I don't wake up but simply go from dream to dream, I will only recall bits of the previous dreams and most of the last but only if I wake up immediately and write it all down before ANY thoughts other than the dream take hold.

Why are others able to recall dreams (or at least fragments) every morning?  What is wrong with me?  I don't feel stressed, I have a great marriage and a job I enjoy.. so why is my recall so crappy?

I guess that's why I don't read other member's dream journals as I feel a bit of a failure.. which only makes it harder. :'(

Don't feel a failure; you aren't!

For me, it's usually enough to simply affirm to myself that I will remember my dreams upon waking up, and then on waking up, I lay real still for a few minutes, as long as it takes to trace back and dream memories I have and transfer them over to waking memory sectors. Have you tried mnemonic methods? It is a lot more powerful than you may think.

For three days in a row this past week I woke up within ten minutes of eight o'clock in the morning, a huge feat for me, without an alarm, and had a few really neat dreams. My recall was, however, down considerably those days. I dunno, but sleeping longer does definitely help. Do you recall anything at all upon waking up, but then forget it as you get up, or is it just blank from the get-go?

Are you just in a slump, or have you always have bad recall? If it's just been lately, try not to stress about it... easier said than done, I know, but constantly thinking about it may just make it worse. Sorry I don't have any better advice than that :(

Do you have poor memory in other things?  Perhaps you just need to train ur memory

Quote from: Man of Steel on May 24, 2008, 08:57:21 PMDo you recall anything at all upon waking up, but then forget it as you get up, or is it just blank from the get-go? On the mornings when I wake up without the use of an alarm and realize that I was dreaming.. sometimes I feel the dream's details immediately just start to fade away.  Other times, I'm just blank from the get go.

Quote from: Burns on May 24, 2008, 11:15:29 PMAre you just in a slump, or have you always have bad recall? If it's just been lately, try not to stress about it... easier said than done, I know, but constantly thinking about it may just make it worse. Sorry I don't have any better advice than that :( Sadly, I've always had bad recall but I never really gave it much thought until I started trying to keep a dream journal.

Quote from: chris31 on May 24, 2008, 11:25:53 PMDo you have poor memory in other things?  Perhaps you just need to train ur memory Wow, I never really thought about it til you asked that question.. but I do have a poor memory!

I am terrible with dates, names, directions, etc.

I seem to have a great memory for music, song lyrics, dancing, etc.

Thanks Chris31.. this is a great insight for me! I probably need to work on my memory in general.. not just my dream recall.  Maybe improving one will improve the other.

Sooooo.. how do I train my memory.

One thing that comes to mind to help you memory is from EWOLD.  Have a daily check list of events and see if you can remember to realise that you are doing it.  Eg on Monday your checklist says "When i see myself in teh mirror, Drive, Listen to music, Swear".  Your aim is to remember them, and do an RC.

Theres also this fun little game i just found lol. http://www.memorise.org/flashnum.php

Quote from: ClairityThanks Chris31.. this is a great insight for me! I probably need to work on my memory in general.. not just my dream recall.  Maybe improving one will improve the other.

Sooooo.. how do I train my memory.

You know, that answer just feels right, I think that could be the key.  There are lot's of ways to train your memory, I just did a quick google on it, there are online tools, things for your handheld electronics and you can always use books.

I don't want this to discourage you in any way, but recall is usually just a tool to be used in one's quest for lucidity.  If I remember right, you've got a pretty good lucidity rate, right?  Of course, non-lucid dreams are always interesting too....

Remembering dreams can sometimes be difficult because the dreams often happen in the other dimension, which can often be difficult to remember once getting back to the physical dimension.

That is one of the reasons that it is suggested to not move when you first wake up, so that you can stay somewhat more in that other dimension where hopefully you can remember your dreams.

When I happen to wake up with no recall of what I was dreaming about, I stay as still as possible, and then start reviewing some of the things I did the previous day like going to work, seeing my wife, driving my car, going to the gym, as this will often trigger a recall of what I was dreaming about.

I believe that writing dreams down and then analyzing them later is a key element to increasing dream recall, because the more attention a person pays to their dreams, the most their subconscious is going to know how important those dreams are, and the more it will help in remembering them.

That's why I use an Excel spreadsheet to record my dreams in so that before going to bed I can go back over those dreams and look for discrepancies and dream signs, etc, in those dreams.

I even compete with myself each month to see if I can remember more dreams and discrepancies in those dreams than the previous month.

A while back I found that going back over my dreams again before going to bed and re-writing out from memory the most vivid dreams that I had the night before drastically improved my recall.

Now, I'm using this site to do that though, which is nice, because it it is easier to read them when I want to review them later.

In addition to the above, there are certain vitamins and supplements can be helpful in improving a persons memory.

Here's a list of vitamins and supplements that I take before going to bed Alive (multi-vitamin) Fish Oil Capsules - 3600mg Vitamin C - 3000mg Vitamin B-12 Folic Acid (helps process the Vitamin B-12) Ginko Biloba COQ10 - 100mg Acetyl L-Carnitine - 500mg St Johns Wort - 900mg  (Increases seritonin for vivid dreams) Centrophenoxine - 500mg (a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine that is reported to improve memory and general cognition)

• A supplement called ZMA can also be helpful in having vivid dreams as it contains a lot of zinc and magnesium (but I just take it sparingly as I'm still experimenting with it)

• Although I also take B-Complex vitamins, I try not to take one of those before going to bed because it keeps me awake

You'll want to do your own research on these vitamins before taking any of them to determine what dosage is right for you, but most of these are very healthy vitamins that are recommended for people like me who are getting older.

A lot of this I learned from a book I read called Your Miracle Brain by Jean Carper.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Miracle-Brain-Brainpower-Creativity/dp/0060984406/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211746642&sr=8-1

I decided a while back that it would be best to just do some research and find the most effective vitamins for improving my memory rather than follow every trend over there on dreamviews on cheese, chocolate, v-8 juice, etc, and these are the brain boosting vitamins I discovered.

Best of luck to you Clairity.  You've always been one of my favorite people on these forums.  If there is ever any way I can be of help to you, let me know.

EDIT Something I forgot to include in the above that I just recently discovered is that when I am able to get my energy circulating throughout my body before going to sleep, which I do by concentrating on each part of my body and just imagine energy flowing through it, I wake up virtually every 90 to 120 minutes all night long and remember dreams each time I wake up.

Concentrating on the various parts of my body to get the energy flowing through them also helps put me to sleep as I get very relaxed when doing this.

05/26/08 Update Here a technique I just discovered last night that helped me capture 3 dreams instead of my usual 1 the first time I woke up.

I had a bit of trouble raising my energy last night so ended up sleeping about 4 1/2 hours before waking up the first time.

When I woke up I had fragments from 3 separate dreams in my head.

Normally I start recording the most dominant dream in my digital voice recorder which by the time I have recorded, I have forgotten the other two dreams

Last night I tried something new though which helped me remember all 3 dreams in detail.

Instead of trying to record an entire dream, I just recorded a single keyword from each of the three fragments that I remembered.

Then after recording these 3 keywords which were something like refrigerator, store, gym, I went back and filled in the details for each of the 3 dreams.

Using this technique I was able to remember 3 dreams the first time I woke instead of my usual 1.  Hopefully this will be helpful to some one else.  It is certainly the method I am going to use to capture those fleeting dreams from now on.

Quote from: chris31 on May 25, 2008, 05:46:38 AMOne thing that comes to mind to help you memory is from EWOLD.  Have a daily check list of events and see if you can remember to realise that you are doing it.  Eg on Monday your checklist says "When i see myself in teh mirror, Drive, Listen to music, Swear".  Your aim is to remember them, and do an RC.

Theres also this fun little game i just found lol. http://www.memorise.org/flashnum.php

Thanks for the tips (and for the game).. I'll give them a try.

Quote from: Seeker on May 25, 2008, 10:55:01 AMI don't want this to discourage you in any way, but recall is usually just a tool to be used in one's quest for lucidity.  If I remember right, you've got a pretty good lucidity rate, right?  Of course, non-lucid dreams are always interesting too.... Seeker, I have a decent lucidity rate.  I manage to WILD once a weekend (when I do WBTB) but I'd even like to improve my recall of my lucid dreams (just to remember more details).  As for my non-lucids..  since I KNOW I dream every morning.. I would really like to improve my recall as I often find my non-lucids pretty interesting and/or entertaining.

Quote from: iadr on May 25, 2008, 04:33:25 PMThat is one of the reasons that it is suggested to not move when you first wake up, so that you can stay somewhat more in that other dimension where hopefully you can remember your dreams.

When I happen to wake up with no recall of what I was dreaming about, I stay as still as possible, and then start reviewing some of the things I did the previous day like going to work, seeing my wife, driving my car, going to the gym, as this will often trigger a recall of what I was dreaming about. I know and do lie perfectly still upon wakening but sometimes there is just nothing there to grasp hold of.  I will try to work my way backwards.. go through my usual dream signs, etc. and I've come to know that if I don't catch the dream immediately upon wakening.. the more time that elapses.. the less dream there is to recall.

Quote from: iadr on May 25, 2008, 04:33:25 PMI believe that writing dreams down and then analyzing them later is a key element to increasing dream recall, because the more attention a person pays to their dreams, the most their subconscious is going to know how important those dreams are, and the more it will help in remembering them.

A while back I found that going back over my dreams again before going to bed and re-writing out from memory the most vivid dreams that I had the night before drastically improved my recall.

Now, I'm using this site to do that though, which is nice, because it it is easier to read them when I want to review them later. This is something that I haven't done.  It might really be beneficial for me to read over some of my dreams and re-writing them from memory.  I will definately give this a try!

Quote from: iadr on May 25, 2008, 04:33:25 PMIn addition to the above, there are certain vitamins and supplements can be helpful in improving a persons memory.

Here's a list of vitamins and supplements that I take before going to bed Alive (multi-vitamin) Fish Oil Capsules - 3600mg Vitamin C - 3000mg Vitamin B-12 Folic Acid (helps process the Vitamin B-12) Ginko Biloba COQ10 - 100mg Acetyl L-Carnitine - 500mg St Johns Wort - 900mg  (Increases seritonin for vivid dreams) Centrophenoxine - 500mg (a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine that is reported to improve memory and general cognition)

• A supplement called ZMA can also be helpful in having vivid dreams as it contains a lot of zinc and magnesium (but I just take it sparingly as I'm still experimenting with it)

• Although I also take B-Complex vitamins, I try not to take one of those before going to bed because it keeps me awake

You'll want to do your own research on these vitamins before taking any of them to determine what dosage is right for you, but most of these are very healthy vitamins that are recommended for people like me who are getting older.

A lot of this I learned from a book I read called Your Miracle Brain by Jean Carper.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Miracle-Brain-Brainpower-Creativity/dp/0060984406/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211746642&sr=8-1

I decided a while back that it would be best to just do some research and find the most effective vitamins for improving my memory rather than follow every trend over there on dreamviews on cheese, chocolate, v-8 juice, etc, and these are the brain boosting vitamins I discovered. Thank you so much for providing all this information.. I appreciate so much your taking the time to do so!

Quote from: iadr on May 25, 2008, 04:33:25 PMBest of luck to you Clairity.  You've always been one of my favorite people on these forums.  If there is ever any way I can be of help to you, let me know. Aww.. that's a very sweet thing for you to say and I'm so glad you feel that way.

Quote from: iadr on May 25, 2008, 04:33:25 PMEDIT Something I forgot to include in the above that I just recently discovered is that when I am able to get my energy circulating throughout my body before going to sleep, which I do by concentrating on each part of my body and just imagine energy flowing through it, I wake up virtually every 90 to 120 minutes all night long and remember dreams each time I wake up.

Concentrating on the various parts of my body to get the energy flowing through them also helps put me to sleep as I get very relaxed when doing this.

05/26/08 Update Here a technique I just discovered last night that helped me capture 3 dreams instead of my usual 1 the first time I woke up.

I had a bit of trouble raising my energy last night so ended up sleeping about 4 1/2 hours before waking up the first time.

When I woke up I had fragments from 3 separate dreams in my head.

Normally I start recording the most dominant dream in my digital voice recorder which by the time I have recorded, I have forgotten the other two dreams

Last night I tried something new though which helped me remember all 3 dreams in detail.

Instead of trying to record an entire dream, I just recorded a single keyword from each of the three fragments that I remembered.

Then after recording these 3 keywords which were something like refrigerator, store, gym, I went back and filled in the details for each of the 3 dreams.

Using this technique I was able to remember 3 dreams the first time I woke instead of my usual 1.  Hopefully this will be helpful to some one else.  It is certainly the method I am going to use to capture those fleeting dreams from now on. "Concentrating on the various parts of my body to get the energy flowing" .. another intriguing idea that I will be sure to try!

Hopefully I will be able to remember enough of a dream to even recall a keyword.

Thanks so much iadr!  I appreciate your insights and will give your methods a try!

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--- Quote from: Man of Steel on May 24, 2008, 08:57:21 PM ---Do you recall anything at all upon waking up, but then forget it as you get up, or is it just blank from the get-go? --- End quote ---

On the mornings when I wake up without the use of an alarm and realize that I was dreaming.. sometimes I feel the dream's details immediately just start to fade away.  Other times, I'm just blank from the get go.

--- Quote from: Burns on May 24, 2008, 11:15:29 PM ---Are you just in a slump, or have you always have bad recall? If it's just been lately, try not to stress about it... easier said than done, I know, but constantly thinking about it may just make it worse. Sorry I don't have any better advice than that :( --- End quote ---

Sadly, I've always had bad recall but I never really gave it much thought until I started trying to keep a dream journal.

--- Quote from: chris31 on May 24, 2008, 11:25:53 PM ---Do you have poor memory in other things?  Perhaps you just need to train ur memory --- End quote ---

Wow, I never really thought about it til you asked that question.. but I do have a poor memory!  O_O

I am terrible with dates, names, directions, etc.

I seem to have a great memory for music, song lyrics, dancing, etc.

Thanks Chris31.. this is a great insight for me! I probably need to work on my memory in general.. not just my dream recall.  Maybe improving one will improve the other.

Sooooo.. how do I train my memory.  ???