Chapter 2
Aids to Dream Recall

Draft (Please do not distribute)

 

How do we remember our dreams or how do we better remember our dreams?

The book that that started me dreaming immediately was Hugh Lynn Cayce's Venture Inward, first published in late 1964. Hugh Lynn was Edgar Cayce's son, if you know that famous name often known as "The Sleeping Prophet".  I applied Hugh Lynn techniques and began to remember and record my dreams that very night. The part of me that produces dreams knew I was serious. 

I keep a 3"x 5" spiral notebook by the side of my bed to have it ready with a minimum of effort along with a pencil light so I don't disturb my wife.

If you have to get up to turn on the light and start getting ready for the day, usually the dream will fade -- unless it is a nightmare!   When you first wake up, try lying in bed for a few minutes and ask yourself the question: "What did I dream about?"   Usually these few minutes will bring back vague memories of the dream from which you can capture key words.

If you prepare yourself so that you can make minimum effort to wake up to record a dream, even if only a few key words, it can be like a little thread.  You pull that thread and it becomes a string; the string becomes a cord; then a line, and before you know it you've landed a dream fish!

You may also note that the more rested you are, the better you remember your dreams. 

 

The following suggestions by Janice Baylis, Ph.D. range from simple good health habits, forming the intention and stimulating the flow, to all out attack on the dream experience.  As you review these suggestions, you may find something that works for you.

 

HABITS

 

1.    If possible go to bed early enough to wake naturally; an alarm sounding can chase a dream away.

2.    Don't take sleeping tablets or other depressants.

3.    Don't drink alcoholic beverages near bedtime. These chemicals suppress dreaming. Prolonged use can result in dream deprivation and might cause personality problems.

4.    Try not to be highly active before retiring, allow a little "unwinding" time. Sex, though active, is also relaxing, so does not interfere with dream recall.

5.    Avoid overeating, especially near bedtime.

 

INTENTIONALITY

 

1.    Place a dream journal and pen beside your bed showing your interest and intent to record your dreams. Some people use a tape recorder, but I very much prefer writing the dreams for reference.

2.    While lying in bed, before falling asleep, give yourself dream recall auto-suggestion. Repeat about 10 times: "When I awake I will remember my dreams vividly and completely."

3.    A physical "trigger" along with the verbal suggestion often helps make it more effective. This could be something like pressing your thumb against each finger in succession as you repeat the words.

4.    When you awaken, try to keep the same position and leave your eyes closed. If you forget and move, return to the position you were in when you first awoke. Let the dream memory float up into consciousness. Then slowly reach for your journal and record.

5.    For some people it helps to rerun the dream story or events through the mind once or twice 10.  For some people it helps to rerun the dream story or events through the mind once or twice before wording the dream into the journal before recording the dream into the journal.

6.    Record in the journal anything you do remember, even small fragments, words or just moods. If you are faithful over time, more will be added.

7.    When you remember and understand a dream, apply what you learned, even if the application is to change one of your altitudes. This response on the part of consciousness will encourage the dreams.

8.    Write a letter at the beginning of your dream journal. Start with: Dear Dream Mind É Then tell the reasons you value your dreams and why you want their in-put in your life. Tell what you expect to get from them. List the ways you will cooperate, for example, by following items I to on this list.

 

STIMULATION

 

1.    If you're not succeeding, try labeling the entry as a fantasy and record a made up day-dream.  Soon you'll probably start having dreams.

2.    Having an oral or written dialogue with your dream-self often helps. Begin by asking what the problem is. Why aren't you remembering your dreams? Then write what comes to your mind as the dream mind's answer. Carry on a conversation between yourself and the dream-self. Many people start the flow of dream recall in this way.

3.    Discuss dreams with friends. Finding that other people are getting help from their dreams will stimulate you. Also, it is more fun if you have something to contribute, so you'll likely begin to recall.

4.    Read books which submerse and surround you in dreams of other people and the practical messages of their dreams. This exposure not only triggers dream recall, it also aids in understanding how dreams "speak."

5.    Meditation is another way to establish a flow between the levels of our minds: superconscious, self-conscious and sub-conscious.

6.    Having a valuable dream experience of your own is great stimulation.

7.    Tape a paper clip onto your forehead as an antennae. This physical suggestion will trigger dream recall for some. It is an objective reminder to the mind via body sensation.

8.    Buy or prepare a sleep-learning, self-hypnosis tape geared for dream recall.

 

ATTACK

 

1.    Drink a full glass of water at bedtime. Most likely when you awake in the middle of the night you will have captured a dream. Rerun the dream events over in your mind before you get up. When you return to bed, record the dream in your journal. Don't wait until morning.

2.    Set an alarm for 90 minutes after the time you expect to fall asleep. Reset the alarm for every 90 minutes during the night.

3.    Get a friend, a "night-owl" type, to sit up and watch you steep. When your eyes begin to move under the lids, they get ready. As soon as the REM's (rapid-eye-movements) stop they wake you up. You record what you were dreaming in your journal.

4.     It often helps to jot down key-words on a piece of notepaper, words that will trigger the recall of the sequence of the dream. This technique can be used for middle of-the-night dreams. Rerun the whole dream story through your mind once or twice. Jot down the key-words. In the morning you'll probably be able to recall the entire dream and record it in detail in your dream journal. I use my ÒnitewriterÓ pen and pad for this. It's great! Even the dream you're remembering when you wake in the morning can be handled this way. You jot the key words on notepaper, or across the top of the journal page or in the margin.