Hello, all. I would like to address an issue that I’ve been having ever since I’ve started trying to lucid dream. Before I started trying to be lucid, I had a couple of vivid dreams every few weeks. My recall was decent enough to remember most of it. Now, my dreams are just very fragmentary nonsensical things, like trying to eat a cookie but it keeps on dissolving. Is it possible that I am losing the skill of dream recall? Why am I not having vivid dreams anymore like I did before?
Important Factors: I am just a beginner, and very new to this. I’ve been trying to be lucid for approximately almost a week or two. I’ve been having a bit of stress due to testing. I am trying very hard to lucid dream.
Dream recall drops if you don’t wake up close to the end of REM cycle. And it drops with less sleep.
The best way to boost recall is to:
(1) sleep for longer periods in total silence and dark (use a sleeping mask and earplugs if you have to);
(2) wake up slowly, without an alarm;
(3) right when you wake, ask yourself what you were just doing.
And, by the way, I don’t think your dream of “trying to eat a cookie but it keeps on dissolving” is nonsensical. What pleasure are you seeking but find elusive?
Most people succeed in having their first lucid dream in about a month, so you aren’t an underachiever by any means.
Last, a strategy I sometimes use for remembering dreams, or holding onto dreams before I record them, is to ask myself (1) “Where was I?” and (2) “What was weird?”
Our memory is very spatial, and recalling the place/context of a dream can help you recall more of the dream. Also, we tend to easily remember the bizarre (the Von Restoroff effect). If you reach for, or hold onto, what “sticks out like a sore thumb” in a dream, you’re more likely to remember or remember more.
Nothing to worry about. How I see it? Well you unintentionally build your dream recall your whole life. With your way of living and doing things that you do that specific DR you had.
Now you are actively trying to have LDs which requires from you to do things that you normally didn’t do, right?! Some quite different things and that’s a change in your long life routine. So is it so strange to expect some kind of changes?!
They might be in some ways positive or negative, sadly in your example it reflected negatively on your DR but like I said, nothing to worry about. Also trying to become lucid for week or 2 is not a long time, you just scratched the surface and that part you scratched off is your way of recalling dreams. Now your mind is learning new ways so give it a time.
I’m a beginner, too. Had fantastic dream recall only a month ago, now it’s very poor. And I really think it’s all due to a large amount of stress I’ve been under recently. If all the pressures and problems of working life enter your head within seconds of awakening, it’s little surprise that dream recall goes out of the window.
Dunno. As I said, I’m just a beginner, but just my two centime’s worth.
Well, good luck to you as well, and thank you for your advice! All input is appreciated, no matter how unimportant it might seem to be. Ah, how I miss that vivid recall. Oh well, I’ll keep on going.
