I’m completely new to LD and all and have been working on remembering my dreams. For the past two nights I remembered 3 dreams each…well pieces of them. It seems all I can remember are just fragements. How would I increase my dream recall? I already keep a dream journal and I also use the MILD method, repeating to myself that I will remember my dreams before I go to sleep.
I also have another question, how do you know when your dreams begin and end? Since dreams can be so abstract wouldn’t it be difficult to tell because in one dream I remember dreaming of a war and then the next thing I remember is that I’m in my cousins house. I know the ones I remember are too short to be full dreams but I sort of wondered if that really was the whole dream.
Hi SuperDude and welcome to the forum!!
Enjoy your stay
There are many threads about dream recall (you can use the “search” button on this forum). Here’s a link to a recent thread with lots of tips in it: https://community.ld4all.com/t/dream-recall/8312
You can fully experience the beginning of a dream through WILD. Normally (at least in my case) it begins with pixels of hypnagogic imagery (images, impressions you see after you fall asleep) which keep growing and morphing until the whole environment has changed from pitch back to a vivid dream landscape. This is where the dream begins. If you’re not lucid, it’s hard to remember the exact beginning of a dream when you wake up.
Generally, the end of a dream is easier to remember (especially when you’re lucid). Your sight becomes blurry, it seems as if the dream itself is falling into pieces and sometimes you can hear loud thunder noises while everything is shaking like hell. The dream becomes increasingly unstable and dissolves faster and faster until you wake up (sometimes you may find yourself in a blurring chaotic kind of white TV-noise environment, but this lasts only a few seconds). A main problem for LDers is to find good methods to prolong their dreams. Therefore it’s indeed handy to recognize the signs that the end of your dream is near, so you can act quickly.
It can be difficult indeed to determine whether or not certain scenes belong to one long dream or different ones. The transition between two dream periods during the night is coupled with a very brief awakening (you normally can’t remember these ultrashort awakenings in the morning). The trick is to wake up consciously after or during one of these dream periods, so that you can fully remember the dream of the previous dream period.
Good luck with your future dreaming!!
Thanks for the warm welcome, advice and answering my question .
I gotta another question though. Is it possible to remember a full dream that is not lucid? I heard that you should at least remember one dream before trying lucidity and so far I can only remeber just pieces.
Yes its possible. I sometimes remembered up to 9 non lucid dreams per night back when I woke up a lot during the night. I think I got them from start to finish but you never know hehehe. I think fragments can be enough for some people to have their first LD though. There’s no harm in trying both recall techinques and LDs at the same time.
I’ll try peppermint tea whenever I can get as I don’t have any right now
I had a REAL BIG problem trying to remember this one dream I had today. When I awoke there was this really big feeling that I needed to remember this specific dream because it was important. I couldn’t remember anything except for a cooking class that was like a Home Ec. class though I have never taken Home Ec. before. I tried everything I knew to remember this dream. I didn’t move from my spot, I tried going backwards in my dream, I closed my eyes and just lay there and I said any words that may bring up a memory. I tried a lot of words and eventually I said “demon” and for some reason a memory came…then left as soon as it did . I had another memory that did the same thing. It came and then it left, no matter how hard I struggled to hold on to it. I couldn’t remember anything and just layed in my bed for an hour trying. Anyone been in this situation before? And anyone know what to do in this situation?
It sounds as if you are trying too hard. Often, I find that dream memories can’t be forced out. Write down what little you can remember, and try to think of each of your senses and how you were feeling.
Relax and try again later if you are having trouble. Try lying down and dozing - I often find that my dreams come back to me when I nap.
I guess I was trying too hard. But it was so close, it was on the tip of my thoughts and it was just frustrating to not get get it . Next time I will try to relax more I guess.
One thing I have noticed though is that the dreams I remember are getting longer. Progress everday
that’s great that your dreams are getting longer! Write down EVERYTHING you remember, or think you remember (even if you’re not quite sure) and you’ll be remembering dreams in no time. You can look at the ‘BIG remembering dreams topic’ that’s sticky at the top of the ‘lucidity intro’ page for more info on it, and make sure that you don’t beat yourself up about not remembering dreams, they’ll come soon!
I don’t usually get fed up with not remembering dreams, it rarely happens. But that one paticular dream was just hard to remember making it annoying.
I got a question. How do you make dreams clearer? Mine sometimes seem in a haze or just too unfocused. Is there someway to make it clearer or is it just a skill I will have to learn that will come in time?
I assume you’re referring to lucid dreams? We don’t have much influence over anything that happens in an ND.
Anyway, the dream’s clarity will depend usually on how much you’re concentrating on your senses. For example, if you stop and examine an object closely for a while, it’ll become more intricate and detailed. In fact, the more you pay attention to the world, the more clear and vivid it will appear. Often you’ll get caught up in whatever you’re doing, and you might not actually be focusing on keeping the world stable. Naturally, this will become a less conscious task as you progress.
Alternatively, you might try some verbal commands. Say to yourself “Increase lucidity”, or something to that effect. It probably just uses the same principal to focus your attention (you’ll be more aware of the world while you’re waiting to see the result of your command) but whatever works I guess.
With Halloween around the corner and me soon to be munching on candies , I was wondering how does candy affect recalling dreams or lucidity or even dreams in general?
Woo!! I just had my first lucid dream! I didn’t even try to get one, it just happened. The thing that triggered it was the weird part. I was in school, at my locker and then when I looked down I realized I wasn’t wearing any pants… . That is when I asked myself “Am I dreaming?”
As soon as I realized I was dreaming I tried to remain calm but when I ran I was going slow and sorta floating. Then I guess I got too excited so I woke up . So it lasted only for 30 sec - 1 min.
However, it sort of felt like a normal dream instead of it seeming like I was truly there, is that usual? cause I heard LDs are really vivid and can be even better than reality
It’s possible that you only held the lucidity for a very short moment, after which a standard dream took over continuing the same ‘theme’ of lucidity. It happens to the best of us, and usually explains why upon waking up we’re often confused about why we did a particular thing in the supposedly ‘lucid’ dream.
You’ll know when you’re lucid, because you’ll be there at the time to diagnose it. You’ll be able to think to yourself “Man, I’m actually in a dream, right now.” If you don’t have the oppertunity to consciously assess the dream as it happens, then it wasn’t a lucid dream. Still, NDs on the topic of lucidity are a very positive sign of progress.
Keep at it, at least now you’ll be a little more prepared for your next one. It’s just a matter of getting a little more experience in this foreign state, and learning how to hold onto it. It’s like doing anything for the first time. Good luck with it.
Actually to me it seems as if there is a mixture of how much you ‘are there’.
In the sense that while sleeping normally we don’t remember our waking life, at least not the fact that we’re sleeping.
So even in an LD there are things which we might not remember, too.
I think this is something we need to cultivate and improve - our memory… It will help our LDing…
Well I do remember very well when I asked myself “Am I dreaming?” then I said “I am!!” Thats when I ran to explore and see what I could see. It is possible that I lost lucidity and got back into a ND after that. But I do remember it, but not as if I were there.
I’ve just experienced sleep paralysis. Or at least what I heard it defined as. It wasn’t the scary version though. I was in my bed and everything was really dark. I could barely move. All I could do was somewhat raise my fingers. My eyes barely moved, I could only open them very slightly. There was this huge pressure or some force just pushing me to stay down and close my eyes. I knew I had to be dreaming and tried to fight it but didn’t work. I guess I faded out of it.
And then I was in my computer chair with the exact same situation. I tried to move but to no avail. I could even feel my arms on the armrests. Very weird. Is this a sign of approaching lucidity? And how would one get out of this situation and become lucid?
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. I had another memory that did the same thing. It came and then it left, no matter how hard I struggled to hold on to it. I couldn’t remember anything and just layed in my bed for an hour trying. Anyone been in this situation before? And anyone know what to do in this situation? 
Often, I find that dream memories can’t be forced out. Write down what little you can remember, and try to think of each of your senses and how you were feeling.
Mine sometimes seem in a haze or just too unfocused. Is there someway to make it clearer or is it just a skill I will have to learn that will come in time?
, I was wondering how does candy affect recalling dreams or lucidity or even dreams in general?
I didn’t even try to get one, it just happened. The thing that triggered it was the weird part. I was in school, at my locker and then when I looked down I realized I wasn’t wearing any pants…