04 Dream Recall

[Toast]

I keep a dream journal by my bed, and if I wake up in the night, either by myself or due to alarms, I write down what I remember in bullet points in there. When I wake up and know that I won't be going back to sleep, I write up all the dreams from the last night in full in my dream journal (it gives me personal satisfaction when I fill up a whole notebook) , and then later write them up on here.

As for the night before preparation, I try to eat a banana or two within half an hour of going to bed, and I TRY to repeat 'I will remember my dreams' while going to sleep, but my mind tends to wander

[chris31]

The hardest part for me is to remember the 1st part of a dream, or my 1st dream.  After that i can usually recall most of them vividly.  When im writing them down, particular things help me recall an earlier event.  Eg i write down that i was driving down a road with a friend, i remember talking to them earlier, which then triggers my memory of us being at a certain place before that, and it keeps going.

[Sara]

I'm think I'm very lazy when it comes to recall techniques.
I hardly ever write anything on paper, I just 're-experience' the dream in my head when I wake up. If it's in the middle of the night, I do the same and try to remember 1 key-word that will trigger the recall after waking. like 'college' or 'pink cat'.

Even after a few days, I can still recall a dream that I didn't write down, but details have faded by then.

Oh, and writing down my dream within the next dream also improves the recall (but I'd rather have it cause a lucid)

[Mark]

this is what gives me poor recall

1. being woken forcibly by alarm or noisy family member
2. being stressed
3. if I sleep less then 6 hours I hardly recall anything, I find that any sleep over 6 hours gives me good recall and anything less then 6 makes my recall laughable.


I keep a DJ by my bed, any time I awake during the night and remember anything I run through it before noting down what happened in my dreams. I pay attention to speech because that is the first thing I tend to forget

[Seeker]

Wow, great response from everyone.  I've summarized the answers to the best of my ability and listed them at the end of this posting.  I apologize if I missed one of yours or got it wrong.

What I'd like for everyone to do now is to pick out a technique or two from the list that you are NOT doing right now.  Add a post to your workbook telling what new technique you are going to try IN ADDITION to the one you currently use.

The goal here is not to get you to change what works for you now, but to supplement it with an additional methods.  We will revisit the topic of recall in a few weeks.

Mnemonic based techniques:
     Lay still and fix as much as possible in waking memory before moving
     Replay dream in head throughout the day to recall as many details as possible
     Tell a friend about the dream
     Free form association the next day to trigger recall
     Try to remember first dream of the night
     Remember a keyword in the middle of the night to trigger recall


Note taking based techniques:
     Write as much as needed in a notepad
     Write key concepts in a notepad
     Use PDA to write down dreams and fragments
     Use digital recorder to dictate dreams and fragments
     Post it notes
     Create a Mind map
     Keep journal open on MM

Affirmation, intention based techniques:
     Take time to organize thoughts before bed
     Lead an interesting waking life
     Think about dreaming often while awake

Sleep interruption, technology based techniques:
     Train self to wake up 4-6 times a night
     Set alarm clock for 4 hours
     Use brainwave entrainment

Miscellaneous techniques:
     Get sufficient sleep
     Eat a banana or two before bed(or any food)