In order to achieve a perfect dream recall, the first and most important step is to start a dream journal or diary. Here are some of the best tips to start and maintain your dream journal:
Choose an app or notebook
How you record your dream/s is up to you; you can keep a pen and notebook by your bed, use a voice recorder or you can use an app. There are pros and cons for each which you can read more about here, but what matters most is that you consistently do it every morning.
Keep it close to your bed
Whether you choose to use an app on your phone or a physical book, make sure it is close to your bed so you can reach it as soon as you wake up, without having to get out of bed. This helps to prevent you from waking up any further so you are still in as dreamy a state as possible.
Make the book important to you
If you choose to use a note book or physical journal to record your dreams (rather than an app) then try to spend some time making your book look beautiful, important, or in some way special to you. When you invest time and energy decorating and customising your book, it will significantly enhance your motivation and commitment to utilising it for recording your dreams.
Write something, even if you can't remember anything!
Every morning when you wake up you need to record something about your dreams - even if it is that you can't recall anything! This tells your subconscious mind that remembering dreams is important to you and trains your mind to start paying more attention to your dreams.
When your subconscious mind understands that you value your dreams, you will be able to remember far more.
Don't wait; write!
Remember that most dreams fade within 90 seconds of waking so you need to think about your dreams as soon as you wake up. Just lie very still with your eyes shut and think about what you were doing, then make a note of whatever comes to mind. After a few minutes you can switch to a different position, which may trigger more memories of the dream.
The most important thing is to not allow yourself to get distracted by thinking about issues not related to your dreams.
Have prompts ready
By incorporating prompts into your dream journal you can focus your mind on key details, making the act of recalling dreams more methodical. You can find prompts here to print out and add to your journal. If you want to write your own try to think about prompts such as:
Don't forget to include a date, title and a space for any personal thoughts or insights. A title is particularly useful as it helps you to focus on the significance of the dream and enables you to revisit the dream at a later time.
Include as much detail as you can.
Try to make a note of as many details as possible. You should include all details including colours, smells, feelings, location, people, sounds... everything and anything!
At first it may be difficult to recall much of your dreams but if you try to at least describe some kind of fragment of a dream memory then you can use this to build on and improve each night.
Add sketches if it's easier.
Sometimes it is difficult to find the words to describe something so just sketch it instead! You don't need to be a great artist to do this, just remember no one needs to see your journal but you so only you need to know what it represents.
On your way to remembering multiple dreams every night
With practice you will be able to recall more and more and you will be well on your way to achieving perfect dream recall. You will then be able to record entire dreams or even multiple dreams in the same night.
Once you have achieved perfect dream recall you will be able to recall 1-5 dreams every night (far above the average of 1-2 a week).
After a few weeks of keeping a diary you will start to notice things that regularly keep popping up in your dreams. It could be certain people, places, objects, themes, etc. These are what we will refer to as your dream signs. Make a note of these in the front of your dream diary and simply ask yourself upon waking if you saw any of these signs in your recent dreams. This can sometimes prompt you into remembering entire dreams!
Secondly, your dream signs can be used to help you achieve a lucid dream by acting as a trigger to remind you to perform a reality check.
On mornings where you have written more than usual in your dream journal or achieved lucidity, make sure you add notes about anything you did differently before falling asleep e.g. any food/drink/supplements you took, or techniques you used. This way you can look back and see what works best for you and what doesn't.
Keeping a dream journal can be a rewarding and enlightening practice. It can help you to improve your dream memory, solve problems creatively and even control your dreams with lucid dreaming.
I hope these tips will help get you started on your dream journey and you will soon see the benefits of recording your dreams. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me and I will do my very best to help.
Sweet dreams everyone!