[mod]This is Part II of Let’s Achieve LD Together!
Part I
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I found that improving dream recall was very difficult at first. The past few months it has gone from virtually zero to 3-4 vivid dreams most nights. I can try to share what made the biggest difference for me.
First, I had to increase the amount of sleep that I got every night. I was simply staying up too late and the bleating of the alarm clock was like a wrecking ball to my sense of calm. If you have to wake up early for your schedule, try going to bed really early. Simply try announcing one night that you are tired and you’re going to sleep early.
I also started studying the meager scraps of my dream journal every night. This was my way of saying, “This stuff is important to me. I am connected to it and I would like to remember more of it.” I believe that this matters.
Before bed, I write a couple of sentences in the dream journal declaring that I want to remember my dreams, what time I want to wake up to SSILD, and what I will try when I become lucid. When I fall asleep I try to think about how cool the experience of dreaming will be overnight.
Another very important tip – I’ve had many mornings where I woke up with no memory of any dreams whatsoever. When this happens, I recommend staying perfectly still and hunting hard for a scrap, anything to hang on to. Look hard for even a single image. Once you grab a piece of one, try to take your mind over as much as you can remember of this and any other dreams. Think of what happened before and after. When you are sure you have gone over the whole thing, then get up and put it into your dream journal as quickly as you can. This “preparation” has sometimes taken me nearly a minute but I’ve saved as many as three dreams at a time this way.
As for specific techniques to try, I highly recommend SSILD. It does require you to wake up in the early morning, perform the tech, then get back to bed. (I strongly prefer to do this via natural intention or the need to pee rather than an alarm clock.) This tech has given me many of my LDs (as well as countless false awakenings and extra-vivid dreams.) Much less technical than something like a WILD but super effective.