Dream recall has left the building...

I finally had a short lucid dream about three weeks ago, in the two weeks following that I only remembered two dreams fully and about five small pieces of dreams, like there was a tornado in my dream one night but I couldn’t recall much of the story, and in the past week I haven’t remembered one single dream or even one small detail from a dream. :cry:

It’s bothering me that I’ve never gone this long without recall since I started this whole LD endeavour 2.5 months ago but I’m trying not to let it bother to me so much that it hinders my ability to remember dreams or possibly have a LD. Any advice or encouragement, please? :help:

dream journal, for one.

and when you wake up, just lie perfectly still, and think about your dream for about 15 minutes. try to piece together the dream. just dont force it, or it wont work. after that, start writing.

Well, whatever you did to improve your DR in the first place - just do it again :wink:.

Or (if this isn’t what you did), just repeat the mantra ‘I will remember my dreams’ in your head as you go to sleep (like you would with a MILD mantra).

Hi Cynster !
What techniques are you using in order to remember your dreams ?

I’ve been keeping a DJ for 2.5 months and even when I don’t dream, I still write in it: before I go to sleep I write the day and date and the time I plan to go to sleep and wake up and the number of REM cycles I hope to get. I also try to tell myself to remember my dreams upon awakening and even if I don’t remember anything, I write what did or didn’t happen and then the next night I might write something like “tonight I will remember my dreams”.

I’m pretty busy lately, working a lot of overtime and I think that might have something to do with it. I definitely haven’t been able to spend as much time visiting this forum as I usually do, although the last time I took a break from it, I had my first and only LD…go figure! I used to at least remember my first dream of the night which was usually after my first REM cycle when I would wake up to use the bathroom and that’s not even happening for me lately. Sometimes I plan to do MILD but fall asleep before I have a chance because I’m so exhausted from my busy schedule.

I guess it’s hard to obtain specific advice when I have so many different factors affecting my body and brain all the time, but I certainly appreciate any encouraging words.

Dont fret Cynster… I am sure it happens to all of us. I happened to me just the other week… I was having a great run of dream recall for about a month… and then wham!!! I went a whole week without recalling one single dream!

But don’t be disappointed… just know it’s going to happen and as well you will get right back on there and start recalling again like you never have before.

That’s quite sure. the more you have concerns IRL, the less you recall your dreams.
From what you say, I understand that you practice autosuggestion before sleeping in order to enhance your dream recall ? I suppose you know also the two following tips ?

  • Don’t move when you wake up, or at least find back the sleep position in which you woke up.
  • When you don’t recall your dream, think at random things like “a dog… a plane… a jail… a parrot, etc” until it makes you feel that you remember something. Then focus upon this feeling, and you can bring back an instant of your dream, from which you can recreate the whole.

Not a very usefull reply this one… more of a confirmation:

If you are busy and have worries about RL you’ll probably have more trouble remembering your dreams!

I’ve had very, very bad dream recall in periods when there’s been other things worrying me. My mind has to be really relaxed when I wake up.

I’ve been very stressed lately, seeing as a bundle of problems just seemed fell into my lap at once, and I’m finding it hard to find, (even temporary) escape. I haven’t remembered a single dream or fragment worth noting in 4 days.

What makes it even worse is the fact that dreams were my escape, and now I can’t remember them or focus on LDing. Even waking up is an ordeal, and I have many, MANY false awakenings, and I feel like I’m backsliding.

Maybe this is your problem?