Dream Recall

Posted on October 3, 2007
Filed Under Dreaming, Spirituality, Consciousness |

Dreams are one of the most important aspects of our existence. Many people may not realize just how important their dreams actually are, and many others believe they don’t even dream. The truth is that everyone dreams, we just don’t always have the ability to dream recall or clearly remember them. Dreams talk to us and we can learn much from them, in fact dreaming is perhaps one of the greatest teachers we have. But in order to understand the meaning of these lessons, we need to posses effective dream recall. Whilst some people recall their dreams without any problem - this isn’t true for all of us. As with all things though, it is possible to exercise and develop our ability to recall our dreams. There are a number of methods for doing this, and can learn to create your own dream recall system. Once you can remember your dreams you will be well on your way to understanding the meanings and interpretations behind your dreaming.

Dream Recall Development

The most important factor in effective dream recall is relaxation and sleep. The sleep comment sounds obvious (you need to sleep in order to dream), I mention it for a reason though - you need to ensure you have enough sleep! When your body feels excessively tired you end up in prolonged states of very deep delta sleep. You are far less likely to remember dreams from such deep sleep. So getting enough sleep is essential when you want to discover your dreams. Another vital aspect is to feel relaxed, high-mental activity or stress will reduce your dream recall ability. When your mind is working overtime, there is so much going on within your sub-conscious that it becomes very difficult to interpret it all in a meaningful way. So try as best you can to create a relaxed atmosphere for an hour or so before you go to bed.

Once in bed you can further relax yourself, by simply laying still and paying attention to your thoughts. Rather than spending your time thinking, lay there and just be aware of your thoughts. You don’t need to stop them, just allow them to flow in their own manner and try not to get dragged along with them. This quite closely mirrors how your mind follows dreams. At a certain point of relaxation, the brain will move to a state that is very similar to dreaming. In fact you may have experienced brief flashes of imagery before you drop of to sleep. This is the mind moving into a dream-like state.

Relaxation helps dream recall.

You can further assist this process by meditating just before you sleep, or else by listening to relaxing music. Avoid any heavy music as it stimulates the brain rather than relaxes it. You may also want to try brainwave entrainment audio. Binaural beats are very good for relaxing the mind, and you can listen to them on headphones whilst in bed - just before you go to sleep. Specifically an alpha binaural beat is good for relaxation - or better still try a theta binaural beat. Theta is the brainwave state your brain experiences during dreaming, so it can be a great help in exercising dream recall. Another alternative is to listen to an Om Chant, which can assist with putting you into a semi-lucid state - again very similar to sleep and dreaming.

Now it is important to create the correct state of mind for dream recall. Don’t pressure yourself too much, simply set the intention to remeber. Know that it is possible to recall your dreams. After all you can recall your waking memories can’t you? The next step is one you may have heard numerous times - keep a dream journal. Use a notepad or a small book to write down any and all dreams you have. Even if you don’t remember anything more than a few glimpses or random elements - still record them. It is important to get your mind used to the idea of remembering details from dreams, and writing them down will help enforce this. Write down your dreams as soon as you can. The longer you leave it the more likely it is that your recollection of the dream will begin to fade. That doesn’t mean you have to start writing in the middle of the night (although it is good if you can do that), just ensure you keep your journal regularly updated. Perhaps spend a few moments writing your dreams down before you get out of bed in the morning.

Sleep Position.

We tend to dream all throughout the night, but for the most part the dreams we remember most will be the ones from the early hours of the morning. Usually a few hours, or just before you get up. You may have noticed that in those hours before you get up, you tend to wake for a few moments every so often, and then fall back to sleep again. That is because we tend to awake for a short period between each dream. One method that I have found works for me, is to lay on my back during these hours. When you wake up after a dream, if you can do so, move onto your back. The position you lay in seems to have an effect on how you dream and what you can recall.

Again, when you finally wake up, make sure you write down everything you can recall from your dreams.

You may not experience great memory of your dreams after the first night or two of trying all this, and it is important to not worry about this fact. Slowly you will develop the ability to remember your dreams, and it needs to happen within its own time. Just make sure you keep your practice regular and consistent.

After a while of trying these things, try varying your methods a little to find what suits you personally. Try different ways of relaxing in the evening, listen to different types of music or audio. You could try going out for a nice peaceful walk before bed. Try writing in your dream journal at different times. We are all different as individuals so different variations will be more effective for one person than another. Once you have a good grasp of the basics, with slight modifications you will be able to develop your own personalized dream recall method or system.

If you want to share your dreams or recall development results, I would love to hear from you in the comments!