Thread: Recall Issue

Whenever I set alarms for myself at night to attempt to wake up and write down my dreams, I either seem to have a very vague understanding of what happened in my dreams, almost as if I only dreamed for a very short period of time or not at all, or in the time it takes me to wake up and realize my alarm is going off then shut it off, I've already forgotten my dreams.

I would think the alarm would jolt you to forget what you were dreaming about. I wake up on my own at night after a dream and I write down my dreams. I think my mind is programmed to do this automatically.
Try telling yourself at night before you fall asleep to wake up after a dream. It sounds crazy but it might work.

Do you keep a dream journal? Sometimes it takes a few days or weeks of journaling to get your recall up. Your memory will get better with practice, and this will make the dreams seem like they are getting more vivid.

Yes, I have been keeping a dream journal. However I seem to only have decent success writing my dreams down on weekends when I get a lot of sleep and have no obligations that require I wake up early. This is why the alarm situation is a problem because when I try to wake myself up after REM periods on weekdays to keep up with my dream journal I don't remember much, if anything. And thank you SydTheCat, I'll try repeating that for awhile. Recently I've just been repeating, "When I wake up, I will remember my dreams." or "I will realize I am dreaming."

Have you tried setting your alarm thirty minutes before you have to wake up? I've found that it's not the suddenly being woken up that makes it difficult to remember my dreams, but the fact that I usually get out of bed almost as soon as I hear the sound of my phone. When I wake up with my alarm, but still stay in bed, I can recall my dreams much better.

I agree, that alarm wakes you up to abruptly and gets you out of dreaming state way too fast. After waking up, try laying there without moving and think back to your dreams. But that't almost impossible to do, when alarm wakes you up.

Try drinking water before bed and then each time you wake up for the restroom. We do wake up naturally after each REM (dreming state) is over. if you tell yourself this and think about it and make an intent to noice these awakenings, you should soon start noticing them. That's the best time to write down your dreams. Good luck.

Moved to Dream Signs and Recall

I pretty much make myself wake up by thinking what time I want to wake up. If I use alarms, it jolts me up and makes me forget everything in the span of a few seconds. I wake up without any aids and I think over my dreams two to three times before writing them down. It makes it so I don't forget about them and remember them days after.

When ever I have to wake up early or quickly for say a class, I may forget the dreams and it's like a reset button on my recall which I usually put three to five days to get up to snuff. This is partly why I've only had a handful of LDs in the past three or four years.

Another thing that I find that helps recall is write in your journal in a present tense. like you're still in the dream. ex. 'I am now walking in a large room.'
It seems to spark your memory for things you may have missed.