Remembering
Dreams & REM Sleep
Remembering your dreams is the starting place for learning
to have lucid dreams. If you don't recall your dreams, even
if you do have a lucid dream, you won't remember it! And,
in order to be able to recognize your dreams as dreams while
they are happening, you have to be familiar with the way your
own dreams work. Before it will be worth your time to work
on lucid dream induction methods, you should be able to recall
at least one dream every night.
Getting plenty of sleep is the first step to good dream recall.
If you are rested it will be easier to focus on your goal
of recalling dreams, and you won't mind so much taking the
time during the night to record your dreams. Another benefit
of getting plenty of sleep is that dream periods get longer
and closer together as the night proceeds. The first dream
of the night is the shortest, perhaps 10 minutes in length,
while after 8 hours of sleep, dream periods can be 45 minutes
to an hour long. We all dream every night, about one dream
period every 90 minutes. People who say they never dream simply
never remember their dreams. You may have more than one dream
during a REM (dream) period, separated by short arousals that
are most often forgotten. It is generally accepted among sleep
researchers that dreams are not recalled unless the sleeper
awakens directly from the dream, rather than after going on
to other stages of sleep.
It can be useful while you
are developing your dream recall to keep a complete dream
journal. Keep the journal handy by your bed and record every
dream you remember, no matter how fragmentary. Start by writing
down all your dreams, not just the complete, coherent, or
interesting ones--even if all you remember is a face or a
room, write it down.
When you awaken in the night
and recall what you were dreaming, record the dream right
away. If you don't, in the morning you may find you remember
nothing about the dream, and you will certainly have forgotten
many interesting details. We seem to have built-in dream erasers
in our minds, which make dream experiences more difficult
to recall than waking ones. So, whenever you remember a dream,
write it down. If you don't feel like writing out a long dream
story at 3 AM, note down key points of the plot. Also write
down the precise content of any dialogue from the dream, because
words will almost inevitably be forgotten in a very short
time.
Possibly, all you will need
to do to increase your dream recall is to remind yourself
as you are falling asleep that you wish to awaken fully from
your dreams and remember them. This works in a similar manner
to remembering to awaken at a certain time in the morning.
Additionally, it may help to tell yourself you will have interesting,
meaningful dreams. A major cause of dream forgetting is interference
from other thoughts competing for your attention. Therefore,
let your first thought upon awakening be, "What was I
just dreaming?" Before attempting to write down the dream,
go over the dream in your mind, re-telling the dream story
to yourself. DO NOT MOVE from the position in which you awaken,
and do not think of the day's concerns. Cling to any clues
of what you might have been experiencing--moods, feelings,
fragments of images, and try to rebuild a story from them.
When you recall a scene, try to recall what happened before
that, and before that, reliving the dream in reverse. If after
a few minutes, all you remember is a mood, describe it in
a journal. If you can recall nothing, try imagining a dream
you might have had--note your present feelings, list your
current concerns to yourself, and ask yourself, "Did
I dream about that?" Even if you can't recall anything
in bed, events or scenes of the day may remind you of something
you dreamed the night before. Be ready to notice this when
it happens, and record whatever you remember.
If you find that you sleep
too deeply to awaken from your dreams, try setting an alarm
clock to wake you at a time when you are likely to be dreaming.
Since our REM periods occur at approximately 90 minute intervals,
good times will be multiples of 90 minutes after you go to
sleep. Aim for the later REM periods by setting the alarm
to go off at 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours after you go to sleep. Once
again, when you wake up, don't move and think first of what
you were just dreaming before writing.
To remind yourself of your
intentions and get yourself into the spirit of your dreams,
read through your dream journal at bedtime. Learning to remember
your dreams may seem difficult at first, but if you persist,
you will almost certainly succeed--and may find yourself remembering
four or more dreams per night. Of course, once you reach this
level, you probably won't want to write them all down--just
the significant or compelling ones. And, the more familiar
you become with the style of your own dreams, the easier it
will be to remember you are dreaming while you are dreaming--and
explore the world of your dreams while still on the scene.
More Articles On Remembering Dreams & REM Sleep
(REM
Sleep & Remembering Dreams Pt 1)
(REM
Sleep & Remembering Dreams Pt 2)
(Remembering
Dreams)
(Remembering
Dreams - 10 Tips) |
