In this section you will learn how to remember your dreams and why that is important for lucid dreaming.
Did you know that you have a built-in dream eraser that as soon as you wake up tries to make you forget your dreams? That´s why most people don´t remember their dreams. I´ve even heard people claim that they don´t dream at all. That´s not true of course, they just forget their dreams when they awake.
Dream recall is important for lucid dreaming
To be able to realize that you are dreaming while you´re dreaming, you need to be familiar with your dreams. That´s why dream recall is important for lucid dreamers. And if you can´t remember your dreams, you probably won´t remember your lucid dreams either. You should be able to remember at least one dream every night before you spend time on any lucid dream induction method. I´ve found that with improved dream recall comes more vivid and detailed dreams.
Ways to improve your dream recall
A quick way of improving your dream recall is to sleep longer. There´s a big difference in both dream recall and the chance of becoming lucid between sleeping 6 hours and 8 hours. When you sleep longer you can take the time to record your dreams if you wake up during the night.
Keeping a Dream Journal
Writing down your dreams in a dream journal is a great way of improving your ability to remember your dreams. Keep a dream journal and a pen beside your bed. Whenever you awake from a dream, write the dream down right away. If you wait you will most likely forget it. Don´t worry if you can´t remember all the details, just write down what you can remember.
If you remember a dialogue from the dream when you wake up, record it right away, because dialogues are really easy to forget.
Even if you can´t remember anything at all from your dreams, dont give up. Stay in the position you awoke in, eyes closed, and just keep trying to remember. Sometimes it can take a while. If you remember just a fragment of your dream, concentrate on that fragment and try to remember what you did before that, and before that, and before that.
If you prefer drawing, you can draw a picture of your dream instead of writing it down. If you prefer talking you can even have a recorder beside your bed.
Online dream journal
Beside keeping a written dream journal, you can also record your dreams online. Lucidipedia has a great online dream journal that gives you all sort of statistics about your dreams.
Dream Anchor
Another way of improving your dream recall is to use a “dream anchor”. Before going to bed, pick out one item in your room that you can see clearly from your bed. This item is your dream anchor. Look at the item and repeat for yourself “I will remember my dreams”. Repeat that sentence until you fall asleep while looking at your dream anchor . As you wake up, the first thing you look at should be that item.
Rebecca at World of Lucid Dreaming writes the following about her dream anchor:
My anchor is a picture of a big grizzly bear stuck on the wall. I look at this picture when I go to sleep, wake up during the night, and first thing in the morning. When I look at it I think “I will remember my dreams”.
The phrase acts as a trigger for my subconscious brain to relate to. It reminds me to focus on my dreams and plants a subconscious intention: to associate the bear with remembering dreams. And I look at that bear multiple times each night.
When you remember at least 1 dream each night and have some dreams recorded in your dream journal, it´s time to start looking for your dream signs.
More on remembering your dreams:
-The Lucidity Institute has a great article on how to remember your dreams.
-Dreamviews on dream recall.
-World of Lucid Dreaming on keeping a dream journal.
