Some people are able to remember at least one dream per night, without any aid or prompting whatsoever. Then there are others who rarely or never remember a dream. But like any other talent, dream recall is something that can be practiced and developed over time. There are several techniques to employ in order to improve your dream recall.
Each technique builds upon the other. Once you find success, you need go no further. Memories of your dreams may start flooding on the first night you employ technique #1, or any time after. If your subconscious is “stubborn” and you find that after employing a reasonable amount of time and effort with each technique that you are having little to no success, just keep practicing. Eventually it will come.
TECHNIQUE #1– START A DREAM JOURNAL: By doing something concrete, like starting a dream journal, your unconscious mind will get the message that you are trying to remember your dreams. Sometimes this is all one need do to get the ball rolling. Even if you only recall brief flashes or certain feelings during dreams, write them down immediately upon waking. The act alone can open the door to the subconscious.
Dream journals also give you insight to your own personal dream cycles. By keeping track of certain details, such as the date, time, weather, moon cycle, personal health, etc, you may begin to see a trend. This will show you when your recall is at its peak so that you can take advantage of those times. For example, some people find their dream activity is heightened and more vivid during certain seasons, and some women find they experience a higher recall rate during menstruation or ovulation. Another benefit of keeping track of your dreams is that you can look for recurring themes and symbols in case you wish to analyze them.
To start a dream journal, keep a pencil and notebook by your bedside at all times so that you can write down whatever dreams come to you immediately upon waking. As we go about our day, dream memories grow more and more distant. Even if you are sure you will remember your dream, there is a good chance that by mid-morning it will be much foggier than it was right after waking. You may feel that when you first wake up you are too groggy to write legibly, especially if you find yourself awaking in the middle of the night between dreams. If this is the case, you may want to keep a tape recorder next to your bed. You can simply grab it, turn it on, spill out your dream as you remember it, shut it off, roll over and go back to sleep. Then you can transcribe your recordings into your dream journal at your leisure.
TECHNIQUE #2– PROGRAMMING THE CONSCIOUS MIND: By programming, I mean firmly planting a seed in your conscious mind of your intent. If starting a dream journal did not open the way, most likely your subconscious will begin to pick up on the programming. A few times throughout the day, say an affirmation such as, “I will remember the dreams I have tonight.” This is particularly important to do just before going to sleep as you are lying in bed in a relaxed state. When you awake, write down any images or feelings in your dream journal.
TECHNIQUE #3– PROGRAMMING THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND: Meditation before bedtime will only amplify the message to your subconscious and may help you reap quicker results. If you have never meditated before, try practicing it daily for a couple of weeks. You can find a number of good guided meditation tapes at book stores, music outlets, and often even the library, which will teach you the basics of meditation.
When you are ready to apply those techniques to your dream recall efforts, go into a state of relaxed wakefulness and make the affirmation, chanting it in your head for a few minutes like a mantra. Visualize success in your mind’s eye, watching yourself waking up with your dream memory intact and writing it in your dream journal. By this time, the majority of people employing these techniques will have had success.
TECHNIQUE #4– DREAM SCHEDULING: If your finding your unconscious mind is a bit “stubborn,” it may be because you are sleeping too soundly. The deeper the sleep, the slower the brain waves, the further away from the conscious mind our dreams are. Dream recall is most successful when you dream imagery is closer to the surface of your subconscious.
If this is the case, begin setting your alarm to wake early in the morning, about an hour before you plan to actually get out of bed. When the alarm sounds, try to stay relaxed but awake for about 15 minutes. Read a book in bed, or watch some television. After about 15 minutes, employ the programming or meditation techniques by yourself by telling yourself you will remember your dream. Then allow yourself to go back to sleep. Awakening brings your brain wave activity to a higher level, keeping your state of consciousness closer to the surface.
Another similar option is to try dream recall with naps in the daytime. Go into a dark room with your dream journal or tape recorder, lay down and get comfortable, employ your programming techniques, and go to sleep. If you have a dream, it should be easier to recall after a light sleep.
TECHNIQUE #5– PERIODIC WAKING: Many of you will not even need to employ this technique, but if you are still experiencing difficulty recalling your dreams, or if you really want to speed up the process, you can try periodic waking. Begin waking yourself regularly during the night in hopes of keeping your brain wave activity at a higher rate. Part of the problem may be that you are coming out of sleep for brief periods in the middle of the night, remembering your dreams, then going back to a deep sleep and forgetting them before morning. With this method, you will attempt to catch yourself in the act of dreaming and record it quickly.
You can do this one of two ways. You can begin programming yourself as usual, but with the message to awaken after every dream. This is when the tape recorder really comes in handy. You may want to try it this way for a while before moving on to phase two of this technique.
Phase two is setting your alarm clock to go off periodically through the night, so that you catch yourself in the middle of a dream. Awakening during a dream will make your recall more successful than if your mind finishes a dream and goes into a deeper sleep immediately afterward.
There is no specific formula for using the alarm. Everyone has their own individual dream cycles throughout the night. You might want to start by setting it for every hour, then alter it depending on your successes. If there are certain times during the night you have more success, keep those times regularly. Continue altering unsuccessful times slightly until you begin hitting your dreams.
Once your dream recall begins improving with this method, you will notice dream recall improving overall on other nights, and you can cease using this technique.
WARNING ABOUT SLEEP DEPRIVATION: This pattern of broken sleep while you are employing this technique can be disruptive to your daily routine. It is not recommended that you do periodic waking every night, or for more than two nights in succession. A couple of times a week to a couple of times a month will suffice. If are a fairly well-rested individual with a reasonably healthy bedtime routine, then these techniques will not affect you any more than staying out late once in a while. I would suggest planning your experiments on a night before you have a day off from work, or when your partner will be home to help with the home and any children.
If you are currently suffering from sleep deprivation due to a very busy life, or a sleep disorder such as insomnia or chronic fatigue syndrome, practicing the periodic waking technique is not recommended. This technique will serve to interrupt your sleep further. Chronic sleep deprivation can be a serious problem that may affect your health, your reflexes, and your ability to concentrate and perform your daily tasks. This can be dangerous if you are going to be working with machinery, driving, or caring for small children. You may wish to wait until your sleep issues are resolved before attempting these methods, or you should stick to techniques 1 through 4, which should eventually prove successful with persistence.
WHEN THE TECHNIQUES JUST AREN’T WORKING: If you find that after months of employing these techniques correctly that you are not recalling dreams any better, you may have a very serious mental block due to some fear of what your subconscious mind may tell you. Or, you may be one of those rare people who sleep so deeply and soundly that, for your mind, bringing your dreams up to the surface is like raising the Titanic from the bottom of the ocean with a fishing pole. You may want to just accept this for now, and try again at another stage of your life. However, if you are determined, you can always visit a sleep clinic to determine if you suffer from a sleep disorder, or make an appointment with a therapist or hypnotherapist in order to get professional help in breaking through any mental blocks.
A FINAL WORD: As stated before, there really is no way of telling how successful each individual will be. For some, just putting that dream journal or tape recorder by your bedside will bring on an avalanche of dreams the very first night. For others, a few nights of programming the unconscious will begin to bring about small results that will increase over time. If you are consistent with practicing your techniques, the odds are in your favor that you are one of the 98% of people who will eventually enjoy some dream recall success.
