Usually when i wake up my mind is blank, so i just close my eyes and dig deep! after a minute or so i’ll get a few pictures which give me clues, and then once i start writing it jogs my memory and everything that i can remember usually comes out into my DJ
I usually just remember a few fragments and try to elaborate on them. I need to start with something however, or else I usually won’t remember anything.
1 of 2 things happens:
I remember the dream as I wake from it… like my existence carries on from the dream to wakefulness.
I normally remember it after a couple of seconds, as long as my concentration is not broken by something like my alarm radio.
I recall my last dream instantly, then I try to remember the ones before, it takes almost a minute.
I remember them right when I wake up… 
The less time, the better. The more time that passes, the less well I remember the details. Generally I remember them all as soon as I wake up, and then I decide whether it’s worth remembering for longer or not. The good dreams I commit to memory straight away so that I’ll have them clear in my head for the rest of the day, while the more uninteresting ones I happily let slip away, because I don’t really care whether I forget those ones.
If I don’t memorise the dream immediately when I wake up, I forget details very quickly, but if I make the effort to memorise things (it’s just like studying for an exam and memorising the facts, really), then it’s not hard at all.
I have a small problem: when I attempt to recall my dream(s) in the morning, I tend to lose concentration and fall asleep again. Do you guys know any way to stay awake (and clear) without taking my thoughts of my dreams?
zup, I usualy have the same problem. I just set up my routine so the first thing I do is take a shower. I’ll remember most of my dreams then, and I also won’t fall asleep.
I wasn’t sure where to put this, but it’s DR - related, so I’ll ask here:
Long story short, I had a strangely funny dream where I was a king and was to be executed. I can’t remember the execution itself, it’s possible the dream ended before that.
Now, here’s what puzzles me: I woke up (FA) in my bed and I had full memory of everything that happened just before I blacked-out (where my DR from the execution scene stops) and I was wondering what exactly happened, why I’m still alive. I checked the back of my neck (someone in the crowd had implied that the guillotine might not work right), and wondered if it had all been a big joke at my expense and whether I was still king.
I find this strange and interesting. Is it possible for DR to carry over from one dream into the next? Is it possible to have a FA in the middle of a dream? Was this one dream or two?
it’s possible and often happens that we can recall the previous dream/s in a FA
some FAs we think we have woken up in our bed and others we wake up in a different situation sometimes related to the previous dream.
As to if it was one dream or two that is upto your judgement to decide…
I guess I’ll never know for sure, because I do a lot of WBTBs in the morning, when I had that/those dreams. It’s entirely possible I woke up briefly before being executed, then immediately fell asleep again and had the FA. But it’s only a possibility. Anyway, thanks for your answer, moogle, it was helpful.
That happens to me sometimes. I don’t have FA’s, but wake up in bed, and am still in the dream in my head. I will be trying to solve some problem from the dream, or think up some way to change it so that it works out better, until I am awake enough to see that it was just a dream. 
It happend again just this morning. I will be writing the dream up in my DJ in just a few minutes. I woke up, and was wondering how to get to the festaval and meet the princess in time. I was really woried about it until I realised it had been a dream.
don
That happens all the time to me too! 
While on vacation I pulled a small muscle on one rib. It was a minor injury, but when lying down it was painful if I moved the wrong way.
Normally I sleep on my side and roll over to change sides many times during the night.
With this injury, each time I wanted to change sides, I would awake and very slowly roll over.
The interesting thing was that I woke up through out the night at the end of dream sequences. It gave me a large degree of dream recall and also showed me how REM sequences really do get longer as the night goes on. Also learned that if I wake up at end of REM sequence I need to wait at least an hour for hypnogogia and next dream cycle.
I don’t recommend injuring yourself. But if you want to develop more dream recall, experiment with techniques that will wake you up during the night naturally (as opposed to by alarm clock). For example you can drink a lot of water. Or you could wear a bell that will ring when you roll over. Or you could something lumpy next to you, so when you roll onto it it wakes you up.
During REM sleep you are in SP, but at end of REM there is a period where you body may move around again. This period seems to be right time for good dream recall.
Hello. I’ve got a schedule very counter-active to sleep and dreaming in general. (I bet I’m not the only one!) Is there any way to increase dream recall with small amounts of sleep?
I work at night at UPS, from 11:00pm - 3:00am. It is very hard labor, loading heavy packages into semi-trailers. It takes me about an hour to “unwind” and then actually fall asleep once home. I sleep for about 4 hours, where I must wake up at 8:00am for college. I get home from college at about noon. The afternoon is about the only time where I have 8 hours of uninterrupted time available to sleep, and that’s if I don’t have any other plans.
My question is: Is sleeping in the afternoon instead of only four hours in the morning advisable? I find it difficult falling asleep in the daytime, but it might not be so hard if I skip the morning “nap”.
The way I see it, I can either sleep in the afternoon or adopt a form of polyphasic sleep. What would you all recommend? BTW, I am currently using a DJ and autosuggesting before sleep. My recall is pitiful.
Yeah, I’m having a bit of a blank… a drought or whatever in dream recalling terms.
What’s the best way to get your (rather, my!) dream recall up?
I also want to incubate a dream the same night. Or should I get recall up one night then incubate the other?
Or I could Incubate a dream where I keep saying “I will remember my dream when I wake up!”
…?
Do you keep a dream journal?
Try setting your alarm clock to wake you up during your REM periods throughout the night, or if you’re more advanced at intention setting just tell yourself that you will awaken after each REM period and recall your dreams clearly. I find this works like a dream. 
thanks guys, my dream recall goes up and down alot.
One week I was remembering 1 dream per night but now I don’t remember anything!
I have kept a dream journal and there are loads and LOADS of dreamsigns everywhere, but I stopped for some reason. Don’t know why.
Thanks again.
The Mad Hatter had it all cowerd up on his blog, go there!
i would also like to say thad you shouldnt stress it too much… i havent had any LDs yet but my recall is doing great, i had two days without dreams and i freeked out but when i got over it it started coming back… it is normal to have few days without dreams so dont let that bother you…
everything else is on hatter’s blog…
i vould trade my dreams for one LD all ready though… 
This part is now locked: the discussion continues in the BIG remembering dreams topic part V 