Increasing quality of dream recall and WILD question?

So I've been in and out of the lucid dreaming community for a while. A few times I've come close but I've never commited. Recently I've begun to dream journal again and my dream recall has increased exponentially over the past few days. On the 1st day I could remember 2 short dreams. On the 2nd day, one incredibly long and detailed dream inwhich I questioned the logic of somethings inside the dream but failed to go lucid. On the 3rd night I remembered 3 dreams, 2 short and 1 long. On the 4th night no dreams were recalled but last night I recalled 4 dreams! 2 of which were long and detailed, and the other 2 medium - short. My question would be how do I increase the quality of my dream recall? And from there, how do I actually go lucid within the dreams? :D I've been doing reality checks but have been slacking recently as I was more focused on awareness throughout the day. Most of my dreams are 1st person. I have not yet noticed a constant within my dreams.

On a side note, I did attempt WILD along with WBTB but I could not fall asleep remaining still. I tried to envision my self rolling off the bed, or sort of creating the dream I wanted to fall into once I was asleep but after staying still for a while my body just began to hurt? And I had to constantly breathe harder as I was struggling to breathe a little. I didn't feel any resistance when I moved though.

You are already increasing the quality of your dream recall. :) Keep doing what you're doing. Some other things that can help:

1. Go to bed an hour earlier than normal. And most importantly, avoid going to bed late. You need a consistent schedule.
2. Practice relaxation techniques before bed (such as hot bath, chamomile tea, no blue light, calming music). Make it a big deal that you're getting ready for bed - almost like a relaxation celebration. This sets the intention you are serious about your sleep and recall.
3. You can take a very small amount of vitamin B6. Note that it can be harmful if taken in larger doses over extended periods of time, but is generally safe in small doses (I take about ~6 mg 2-3 times a week). Just do research or ask your doctor what is safe for you.
4. Journal like you're doing, in the middle of the night. I think hand written has the strongest ability to set intention for increasing recall. I prefer that over voice recording. I use a lighted pen. The next day, make time to type them up in your digital journal. Spend extra time attempting to identify dream symbols, categorize these symbols [what was dreamlike about it - form, inner awareness, action, or context?) and attempt interpretation. Doing all this extra stuff increases the intention you're setting to build even more recall.

To increase lucidity:

1. Practice a relaxation technique in between dreams, such as the 61 point relaxation technique in Laberge's book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming.
2. Practice WBTB of course.
3. Visualize becoming lucid in the setting of your previous dream, in between dreams.
4. Increase the reality checking, try not to lose it - combine this with building prospective memory by reality checking to pre-set triggers. Set 4 a day and alter to more or less as needed. I use a list, make them into background images that change up everyday on my computer. I make one sight based, one sound based, one active action, and one passive action. Prospective memory is huge because it helps your brain to remember your intention to become lucid, even when you're in the foggy state of sleep. (Examples: RC every time I see a red car, hear wind chimes, smell something cooking, and use a key).
5. Relax more with the WILD attempts. How was your body hurting exactly? But your body should be super relaxed when you're attempting a WILD. 61 point technique combined with visualizing a falling sensation is great. If you're that focused on your breathing, you're not relaxed enough. You need to be so barely awake that you can cross the tightrope that is the bridge between sleeping and waking. You need to be almost asleep. Relaxation is key.

Good luck.

Hiya, thanks for all the tips. I go to school 3 times a week, Monday Wednesday and Friday so I've decided to not do wbtb the nights before school. I will certainly try the relaxation techniques! and I'm not sure where I'd get B6. I shall keep journalling indeed and I'll try move to paper but it's much easier to dump the information on my phone where I can type much faster than I write (and much neater lol)

I've been seeing a lot of the 61 point relaxation technique and I'll certainly look further into it. When I said my body was hurting, I think for some reason I was just aching? I must've been in a weird position or something as I just found it quite uncomfortable. The falling sensation sounds good so I'll try that. Thank you!

Do whatever fits you. If you really like using your phone, use your phone. I just want to present you with ideas. But at the end of the day, what matters most is that you're inspired and motivated. So do what inspires and motivates you. :)

You've gotten some great advice and you're seeing good progress, so I'll echo: keep going!

Dream recall benefits immensely from consistency. Reach for recall EVERY time your find yourself awake in bed, and immediately record at least key word summaries. Look at the links in my signature, for an approach that will greatly increase vividness in both waking and dreaming experiences.

In short: Pay purposeful attention to your experiences (ALL of them, waking and dreaming); reflect on your experiences while you're having them (ask yourself, "is this dream-like?"); recall your experiences (in the evening after the day, in the morning after your night/dreams). Do this consistently and in weeks/months (depends on you) you'll start having movie-like vivid and epic dreams that take pages and pages to record in your DJ.

Again: NOTHING helps recall like having a regular schedule: keep the same sleep and wake times even on weekends. When your body settles into this rhythm, your dreams and recall should really benefit as well.

Pay attention, reflect, recall!

p.s. there are two types of B6, one is terrible for sleep, and the other one (supposedly?) better. Pyridoxine Hydrochloride is the bad one for sleep, P5P the "good" one. I have some P5P on its way to me now, I'll let you know how it works out! Pyridoxine Hydrochloride really wires me alert.