I just started trying this the other day, and I am pretty good at dream remembering. My first attempt at recording in my DJ I managed 2 dreams which were both closely related - One in which my local sporting team had recruited a player every other team had wanted, and he happened to be related to me, so we celebreated that he was the 15 relative to be picked up ???: O…K… Just reading that back, it sounds weird, but it was a dream so it shouldn’t make sense). The next dream was the first game of the season, and it was quite interesting because I had 3 different POVs throughout the dream: I was mostly watching the game live, but sometimes it was as if I was watching it on TV, and sometimes I was even out there PLAYING!!!
But any way my question was: I’m a little embarrassed about writing a DJ on paper, so I decided to write it on computer instead. I have a laptop near my computer most of the time, but is it less effective to type it out? I know when taking notes at school, it’s better to write it out by hand, but I’d rather not do it like that, in case someone finds it and reads it (my siblings are a little… well you probably know how siblings are).
Also, I’ve practiced dream recall just for fun before learning about LD, because I always found it cool to think about dreams. I seem to get the biggest fragments of dreams not while waking up, but while doing something where my brain is awake yet partially switched off, eg playing Playstation or Showering .
Final question: Does Lucid Dreaming (not necessarily LDing but performing the “ritual”) mess with the sleep pattern much? I’m a bad sleeper, but I try to get a fixed sleep pattern of 10-6 every weeknight during school term. I don’t want to adjust my clock half an hour or anything, because I have a really fixed routine for homework, TV and dinner. Any ideas?
EDIT: Um wow I didn’t notice how long that post was.
I think using a laptop is better, actually, because it takes so much longer to write things out by hand - at least, if you keep going back and adding bits and correcting things like I do. I’ve always kept my journal on various laptops, and I wouldn’t say my recall is particularly bad because of it, no.
I agree with Stormthunder. I find it much easier typing out my dreams (maybe because I can touch-type…hmmm) and a lot faster. I believe because of this my recall is actually better than if I wrote it out by hand, as I’m able to type almost as fast as I can remember the dream. It depends on your individual style though, and what you find is most conducive to remembering/recalling your dreams.
How long you sleep affects your dream recall, right? Well, I was wondering what is the least amount of hours of sleep possible that would still wouldn’t ruin your dream recalling… or at the very least, give you a decent recall and number of dreams to fill up a journal? What do you guys think?
I usually do everything at night for various reasons… but for the most part, I simply am more comfortable being that way. (I like the solitude at night) Consequently, I usually sleep through the day… Anyway, school has started again and so I can’t do that anymore. My sleeping time sometimes get cut to 2 - 3 hours a night during these school times since I sleep late. (Don’t worry though… I still get enough sleep.) I really don’t want to have to sacrifice my time awake at night… at least not more than is needed so I was wondering about this… I’m trying to really keep up my dream recall now since I want to give dreaming a better chance for me.
Well Grave you would probably have the best luck, if you wanted the minimum amount of sleep, to sleep for 90 mins that is usually when the first REM period is reached. But the first REM period usually only last about 10 mins so it might not be a good amount of time to recall a significant number of dreams. Plus you should be getting more sleep than this each night anyway, even your 2-3 hours a night is very unhealthy and will probably affect your DR because you will be too tired to try and remember anything.
It is said that waking up after 4 and 1/2 or 6 or 7 and 1/2 hours of sleep is best for DR because REM is every 90 mins. So you should try for one of those maybe.
But I have a question now, and I read this question before but it was never answered as far as I know. Wouldn’t it be better to sleep for example 8 hours and therefore allowing the REM period, that is supposed to start after 7 and 1/2 hours, to play out so that you dream for awhile? Because the 7 and 1/2 REM period should last for at least half an hour right?
Hmm. Well, I know practically nothing about REMs and such, but I’ve always slept solidly from between eight to ten hours a night, and my dreams usually seem to last for a pretty long time. So I would guess that you’re heading in the right direction there…
And to Grave…
I don’t think you need even one hour. I take naps a lot in the afternoon or early evening for half an hour to an hour, and I always remember the dreams I had during them. So there you go. But I know what you mean about staying up late… that’s why I take so many naps in the afternoon - catching up on sleep if I have to get up early for some reason! But they do tend to be shorter, though.
@Stormthunder:
You’re a bit like me then… I take naps in the day too so I can balance out my time awake. (That’s why I said I still get enough sleep.) I have a lot of opportunites to take a nap at the day, even at school (not during classes, mind you…) but I can’t really remember anything after that. A long nap would be something like 1 -2 hours only so I guess that’'s the problem. I know I dreamt of something but because there wasn’t much of it to remember… I don’t really recall that much. (And its so discouraging to post fragments in DJ’s, isn’t it?)
Anyway, I think its an idea to try and focus on small dreams too. I’ll think about that.
Thanks for those numbers. 4 hours seems like a workable time. I’ll give it some thought.
Also, I’m not sure what you’re asking there… I’m thinking you were comparing your suggestion with something else since you used the statement, “wouldn’t it be better…” Am I right?
Yes I am comparing my statement “wouldn’t it be better” to something else. What I meant was, wouldn’t it be better to get 8 hours of sleep instead of the 7 and 1/2 hours, that is said by experts to be an amount that one will start into REM sleep again (it should be the 5th REM period), so that you will be in REM (hense dreaming) for that extra half an hour? That way, hypothetically, you wake up after dreaming for half an hour instead of waking up as soon as you start having REM dreams.
I’m sorry if my last post was confusing (not to mention this one) but it is somewhat difficult to explain.
Anyway good luck with what you’ve decided to try out, I still think it is better to get a longer night’s sleep than to nap throughout the day though for two, if not more, reasons but two main ones. First of all, the longer you sleep the longer your REM periods become. If you sleep for 100 mins than you only get about a 10 mins REM sleep at the end of that. But if you sleep for much longer periods it is said you can have REM periods that last more than 45 mins. And REM sleep is the most restful sleep you can get so if you’re just napping you’re going to feel more tired all the time. Although everyone is different too and some people just don’t need much restful sleep it seems, so if you feel rested than that is all that matters I guess.
The other reason though, is that the longer REM periods you have than the more likely you are to remember your dreams, it’s as simple as that.
Well, I’ve only been doing this for one week, but last night/this morning I discovered how useful Backtracking is. I woke up this morning KNOWING I had a dream but I couldn’t remember what had happened. So I did that little “random word” technique, and I picked up reading the newspaper. I remember moving backwards, and I was in a car, and every copper car was on fire with a smashed windscreen, ala GTA San Andreas Riot Scene. I then remember going to my first day of school, where I had to do a project. I remembered the school bit halfway through writing the copper car bit. My original notes were:
Driving along in a car, looking out.
Cop cars we pass all with smashed windscreens and on fire
Snow???
Article in the paper about footy
Short “he said what” saying “Who are wee”, in reference to the AFLPA’s statement of “we the people” in their address.
Article about South Fremantle heading into “Falcon Territory” family ties.
East Perth recruit Chris Hero?
My entire Dream Journal is available at dreamjournal.org/dj/index.cfm?do … =nictheman can any experts read the entries (theres only 2) and tell me how well I am recalling/writing down and any pointers of what I should add?
PS - after waking up at 3.45am this morning after the above dream, I couldn’t get back to sleep due to the fact it was a lot hotter than normal and I was still thinking about the dream. So no chance of WBTB…
Er, Nic, I tried to have a look at that journal of yours, but it’s listed as a private journal - I can’t view it. Maybe if you post the entries here on ld4all it would be better. By the way, I’m from Perth as well and I know what you mean about the weather… UGH. No sleep for me last night!
Weird. It’s listed as public, but maybe I gave the wrong link.
With the weather, I had to work today in 35 degree heat and blistering humidity - next to a dishwasher that was consistently over 100 degrees, and a sink averaging 50…
Back on topic. Uh, let me see I didn’t recall any dreams last night (I went to the cricket, I was tired, I had work the next day and I just couldn’t be stuffed), although I do remember something about Lucid Dreaming… MAybe I was talking to my friends about it in my dream. Dunno.
Just wondering, I know this is the BIG remembering dreams topic, but can we individually make our own topics with updates on how our DR is going?
when I write in my dream journal I write as if someone is reading it, I point out the weird things in my dreams and I say how things are supposed to be in reality, and what makes it a dream , prooving the point, that dreams never make sence. but then again I totally understand, if I had sisters or brothers I would be typing it up on the laptop too. I want to do that when I get my new computer.
Its no differant writing in pen or computer , you can still recall pretty good from bolth ways.
I used to be able to remember dreams in the morning, every night just by asking for a dream, but a few months before starting a DJ I couldn’t do this anymore. I’ve tried recording dreams for about 1.5 to 2 months, but I’ve only remembered a few in that time. I’ve tried different techniques (drinking water before bed, writing in my DJ before sleeping etc.), but none of them seem to have worked and I don’t know what I can do . Maybe i’m trying too hard, or I have a mental block about remembering, but I really don’t know what to do.
I can remember my dreams now. I found out that if I wake up after six hours with WBTB and then stay awake for half an hour I have good recall in the morning. Hopefully i’ll keep remembering my dreams.
I’ve had some luck with WBTB. About a week ago I did this and remembered 3 dreams in a morning and two of them had gone lucid! I’ve tried this 2 or 3 times since then and I didn’t even remember one dream. In fact, I did it one time and I accidentally slept through my Chemistry class. I guess we can’t win them all.
It may help if you have a DJ, to write out your intention to have and recall a dream long enough to write it down in the morning. I find that sometimes this works. It keeps you entering in your DJ even when you don’t have any dream recall. I also make a note such as as “Had no recall of dreams last night.” I always date these entries as well.
the reason i do this is that if you go through even a brief dryspell, it can throw you off keeping a DJ. the point of having one is not just to record the dreams you have, although that is obviously of prime importance, but also it helps you develop a discipline in relation to your dream activity. Hey, it’s worth a try. Just don’t give up! They’ll come back, especially if you insist on continuing to ask for them.
I’ve had periods of intense dream activity and others where the well seemed to dry up completely. Those periods always extended if I let my intent slip.
???: O…K… Just reading that back, it sounds weird, but it was a dream so it shouldn’t make sense). The next dream was the first game of the season, and it was quite interesting because I had 3 different POVs throughout the dream: I was mostly watching the game live, but sometimes it was as if I was watching it on TV, and sometimes I was even out there PLAYING!!!
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. Maybe i’m trying too hard, or I have a mental block about remembering, but I really don’t know what to do.