How do you remember your dreams?

Hi all.

I am new here and want to begin Lucid Dreaming. I read the “starting page” and it told me the first step to becoming a lucid dreamer is to remember your dreams and keep a log of them. Unfortunatley I am stuck on the very first challenge, how do you remember your dreams?

And another question I have for you is, what is the difference between closing your eyes and thinking about something and having a lucid dream?

Thanks!

P.S. I am going away for a week so I won’t be able to respond anytime soon.

Lucidity Intro - the BIG remembering dreams topic.
check that out.

Hi there , here’s a good technique that i used and i’m sure it will work for you.
Now what im gonna tell you may sound like i’m teasing you,but im pretty serious.Write your dreams down.but u may be telling me" how tha heck can i write them down when i cannot remember them".?.The thing is that nearly every 1 can still remember one or 2 tiny fragments of dream when they first awake.If no action is taken,then the memory fades pretty quickly-so quickly that soon you may not even recall having dreamed at all.What you have to do is keep a pad of paper and a pen. (pencil etc) by the side of your bed (or where u sleep),and as you wake up,grab it and write down anything you can remember.It doesnt have to be full sentences ok.Now if you cant recall anything at all,then just write down the first images that come to your head.All that matters is that you have taken the dream seriously enough to write it down.
I’m gonna explain what i wrote above. Every 1 has a second level of thought called the “subconscious”,that we aren’t really aware of.This subconscious mind is the part that makes our heart beat in time,controlsour body rythms,analyses what we see,hear,etc… In other words,ittakes care of all the automtic functions.
The subconscious mind is also the part that is most aware while we dream normally,and so most dreams get stored in the subconscious memory,along with every other sensation and memory that have come our way,This is a pretty vital function taht allows us to work properly in everyday life: if the subconscious didnt hold back irrelevant memories,each time we became aware of anything,we would recall all the memories linked with it,and then all the memories linked with the recalled ones ,etc ,and we would be totally unable tothink ,bacause we’d be flooded with irrelevant knowledge.
Unfortunately,the subconscious mind tends to presume that dreams are also irrelevant,because they belong to the astral realm,and we live on the physical one.This means that it tries its best to keep memory of your dreams buried,unless you can convince it that you actually want to know.This is why its so important to keep a dream diary-it reassures your subconscious mind that you are serious about your dreams,and so it then makes it easier for you to recall them.
( A Word About Dream Diaries)…
these are absolutely vital.it is absolutely necessary for you to write your draems down in a book where you can keep them permanently ,together and dated.You should do this even if you can remember your dreams already,because purely and simply-the more attention you pay to your dreams,the stronger they become.You should also prepare the diary yourself in some way,to make it more special to your subconscious mind. you should also keep the diary from others.You have to be able to write down exactly what you dream and sometimes friends and family may not like that,so never let anyone read your dream diary.If anything strikes you as odd happens during the day,then write that in your diary also,because often dreams will tie in with strange happenings. if you meditate or do any other occult work,then you should write that in thhere too.All this will help to encourage your subconscious mind to give you full access to your dream memories.It will be pretty encouraging to read back through your dream diary after a couple of weeks,and realise how much better you have become.
( FURTHER INCASE …OF etc )
But what if you cant get to the first step ? Even if you wake up with your mind a complete blank every morning,there’s no need to despair.People dream in cycles,which vary from person to person,and if you always wake up in between dream periods,you might have some difficulty in remembering your dreams.The easiest way to correct this problem is to change your sleep times.Go to bed slightly earlier or later,or set your alarm clock to an unusual time.If you wake up half an hour earlier than usual,( e.g like the normal time you have to go to work ,school,etc), you will have a much easier time remembering your dreams,and you will have plenty of time to write them down before you have to get up.( before you have to really prepare yourself for breakfast and all that).
In exceptional circumstances,you may find it necessary to set your alarm clock to an unusual time like 3:30 am,write some dreams down,and then go back to sleep.Time and again,scientists have found that people who are certain that they never dream will rtemember if they are made to sleep in a disturbed manner.It also helps if you are not very tired or drunk when you go to sleep ; if you sleep lightly,you will remember your dreams much more easily.You may also like to eat lightly in the evenings,and then go to bed earlier than normal,following a brief period of meditation,yoga,or just quiet relaxed thought. This is a good thing to do even if you can already remember your dreams easily, because it will improve your day-to-day health and awareness…
I Hope This Helps
Sweet Dreams.
i remembered my dreams the first time i got this technique from a friend lots of years ago, and its funny that i only heard of Le Barge, or any one else, until i came across this site. anyway, let me know how you did after trying what i typed. ok

sounds like you covered just about everything about dream recall mepsit :smile: thanks! I must agree with you about the dream diary! I used to never remember my dreams and now I remember them every night :alien: hey, eat cheese before you go to bed too (check in the ‘shortcuts to lucidity’ forum, just as an experiment :shy: good luck!

Currently, I am using a text file on my computer as my dream journal. Do you think this will work?

Well, dreams have a tendancy to be forgotten VERY quickly. That’s why it’s important to write everything down as soon as possible… So personally I prefer writing down everything I can as soon as I wake up, because I’m faster in writing than typing, and also sometimes I’m just too tired to get out of the bed and start typing everything down.

On the other hand, I think it’s a good idea to write everything you can about your dream on your notebook, and later in that day type it all in the computer and it’ll look nice and tidy :smile:

Another good idea is a voice recorder. Cuts writing time by 9/10ths :smile:

it’s here: xs4all.nl/~pasquale/TTM/r1/i … php?t=2859

and this one will be locked. :neutral: