My previous post talked about doing reality checks. That is a great first start and will get you into your first lucid dream but if you cant remember the dream then the dream was a wasted attempt. The skill you increase is called dream recall. Dream recall is the ability to recall your dreams. Logical right?
Their is only one way that i have found to really improve dream recall, and that is to write your dreams down in a journal. I know your thinking.. "all of them???" yes, the more the merrier. You are probably also thinking, "but i forget my dreams as soon as i wake up, how do i get to my pen and pad quick enough." Well, you could type them down in a phone, or just keep something with in direct reach of your sleeping area.
First thing you can do when you come too consciousness in your bed, is to, BEFORE MOVING, go over all of the dream that you just came from, using the "how did i get here" method. Go over every detail, from sights and sounds, to smells and emotions. Who was there? How did you feel? Then when you feel you have did this a few times, and its imprinted into your short term memory, then proceed to write it down. I normally start remembering more, the more i write, which will lead me into other dreams that i thought i forgotten.
Till next week~!!
For an example of a dream journal you can check out mine, i made it a blog!!
The Dream Journal
Posts
A lot of the times I start writing a dream down and then it starts fading away. What I'm writing it feels like stuff unrelated to the dream. But I'll use the how did i get here method before writing any dreams down from now on :D
Dream journal sounds like a really good idea.
keep it by the bed.
I get frustrated with dream journals because I can't write fast enough to get everything down while I remember it. Plus in my half-asleep stupor, I can hardly read it the next morning anyway. How do you feel about using a tape recorder?
I think I will have to get this one day. Some crazy dreams lately
Oh god, yesterday night I woke up at 3am going "THAT DREAM WAS AMAZING!" and scrambled to write it down.
It was about giant mole rats. idk wtf
that tape recorder method seems like a really really good idea. i use my blackberry to write a memo. and after i write them down once, i dont need to read them again to write them again, its like once written its stuck.
I need to start keeping a dream journal.
I used to write down my dreams often, but have lapsed recently. Probably explains why I can't control my dreams as often as I used to. I usually only would write down the more interesting dreams (like the one I just posted about). Not all of them are very interesting (Dreamed I was working, nothing exceptional going on... Boring.
Btw, thanks for your feedback on my layout. :)
Ah okay. Good dreamin :)
I always hate how I feel that my dream is so vivid that I'll not forget it...Sure enough just a few minutes later most of the memory is gone. This sounds so familiar. I'll be following you from today on. Keep up the good work.