I never remember my dreams...

[hapdude]

I was wondering if this is normal? For some reason once I hit my teenage years I slowly started to wake up without any idea of if I had a dream or not, It's funny because even now I still can remember the dreams I had when I was younger, and when I was young I had such vivid dreams that seemed so realistic and every night felt like an adventure. But now it seems like I will fall asleep, then wake up without any recollection of anything whatsoever just the blackness of my eyelids.

I have heard that starting a dream journal helps, so about couple weeks ago I got a notebook to write down anything I remember, It's been three weeks now and I haven't added one single entry, and I have read that I should add ANYTHING I experience no matter how little or fragmented, I wish I had fragments of memory because I literally remember absolutely nothing, on a normal basis I feel lucky If I even have one dream a month. So, am I just a freak of nature ? Or is this normal and can anyone tell me what I can do to remember my dreams better?

Any response is appreciated,
Hapdude

[kurtykurt42]

Dreams suck anyways. Why would you want to remember them?

[astraladdict]

There's a lot of people who don't remember there dreams. There are SO many methods as to how you can remember, and even induce LDs. All you have to do is keep slight consciousness untill you fall asleep naturally. If that doesn't work for you, you can try reality checks, writting an "A" on your hand and looking at it for 5 min than going asleep. There's a lot of methods u_u

~astraladdict

[blis]

Maybe you're just a really heavy sleeper. Do you remember waking up in the night at all?

[hapdude]

No, I usually never wake up, I basically close my eyes, fall asleep, then get forced awake by my alarm clock and I never remember anything. Except it seems typing this post made me remember a small fragment of a dream I had after I slept last night , although it's extremely boring, all I remember is checking my cell phone for messages, then I was walking to some destination that i can't quite remember, just the fact that it was outside.

[Xanth]

Not remembering your dreams is normal.
Remember your dreams is normal.



You *DO* have them though... do you meditate much?
Generally learning to meditate opens up these kinds of avenues to you.

[Summerlander]

Everyone dreams!  Everyone!  All the time.  The focus improves during sleep. Record your dreams upon waking up.  Take notes.  Add to the journal if you remember more later.  Try to remember all the dreams (not just the vivid ones).  It is also believed that attempting to remember your dreams with your eyes closed can yield great results.  Also, write your dreams down in your journal in the present tense so it reinforces the idea in your mind that you are reliving the experience and that you are still there.

[hapdude]

I have always wanted to meditate and try to do other things of the sort. But between attempting to astral project, I just don't have the time. The thing is I live with my parents because I'm under 18 so I don't really have much time alone, and although my dad is a bit more open to such things, my mom is a devote Christian and I always have to try to hide these practices from her, because I know she would think that I am some sort of freak satanic child because I'm not following "her" beliefs.  So yeah I would love to meditate but anything that doesn't involve getting on my knees and praying to "God almighty" is evil!!!! according to my mom at least...

[Xanth]

I have always wanted to meditate and try to do other things of the sort. But between attempting to astral project, I just don't have the time. The thing is I live with my parents because I'm under 18 so I don't really have much time alone, and although my dad is a bit more open to such things, my mom is a devote Christian and I always have to try to hide these practices from her, because I know she would think that I am some sort of freak satanic child because I'm not following "her" beliefs.  So yeah I would love to meditate but anything that doesn't involve getting on my knees and praying to "God almighty" is evil!!!! according to my mom at least...

Here's a bit of knowledge for ya... Prayer *IS* meditation. 

If someone asks you what you're doing, just say you're praying.  Praying doesn't have to occur when you're on your knees.

In any case, I believe that if someone wants to become an active explorer of the nonphysical, then that all starts with learning to meditate.
Through meditation we learn to focus our consciousness... then we learn to hold that focus... then from there, it's all natural. 

[Stookie_]

I tend to remember more dreams with more clarity if I wake up early and go back to sleep for an hour or so. If I wake up several times, I tend to remember several dreams. The trick for me is sleeping deep and long enough to fall into a dream, and wake up either in the middle or just as it is finishing up. Sleep too long and I won't remember it.

[blis]

Disrupt your sleep a bit. Drink some water before bed. Try and remember what you've been dreaming every time you wake up in the night.

When you wake up in the morning turn off your alarm then lie on whatever side you woke up on and try and remember what you were dreaming. Then roll onto your other side and do the same on that side for a while. Do both sides and on your back. It's supposed to help you remember what you were dreaming when you were lying on each side. I've had some success with it.

Visualizing a rising sun upon waking is supposed to help dream recall as well.

Herkimer diamonds, or any naturally double terminated quartz crystal, can have a strong effect on lucidity. Just sleep with one next to you on the bed. After two or three nights the effect wears off on me though which makes me think lucidy might be related to ones energy reserves. They've given me nights of pretty much continuous LD's and spontaneous OBE's. They do nothing for my dad though who like you doesnt remember his dreams.

[Swesent]

...Herkimer diamonds, or any naturally double terminated quartz crystal, can have a strong effect on lucidity. Just sleep with one next to you on the bed...

This is not my thread, but still I would like to thank you for the crystal advice! I am very open to the possibility that a carefully chosen crystal can have a significant impact on dreams and lucidity. Even if the stone itself should not provide any sort of help, it may still affect my mind and subconscious. I am certain that the belief alone - that the crystal will help - is going to project some positive effect to its user!

I'm now eagerly awaiting the arrival of a double terminated amethyst and I can't wait to see what effect it will have on my dreams and future projection attempts! (A quick Google search told me, over and over again from multiple sources, that amethysts are particularly useful when it comes to dreams and lucidity.) It may have an impact the very first night or after a couple of weeks - in any case, it could never hurt to try! And thanks to the TS, without your thread this knowledge would have passed me by!

[personalreality]

i would recommend crystals, but honestly, i have so many in my night stand and in my pillow case that i have no idea which one if doing what.  (amethyst is good though, so is herkimer diamond)

anyway, i was just like you.  all my life i rarely remembered my dreams.  then in my teenage years they totally shut off.  i remembered nothing.  (completely coincidentally, i was smoking a lot of pot at the time.  i'm sure that had no impact on my ability to remember things...)

i've noticed lately that i've been remembering my dreams much more frequently and i'm even gaining a degree of lucidity toward the end.  i haven't really been doing anything to make my memory better, aside from staying in bed for a few moments in the morning and just kind of casually thinking about whatever remnants i have. 

i have some ideas though.  my life right now is completely devoid of spiritual practice and exposure (aside from reading).  in fact, my boss at my new job told me i wasn't allowed to be "smart, or metaphysically inclined" anymore.  i have to be dumb for my job essentially.  what that means is that i have to get out of my head and stop analyzing so much (becuase i'm doing sales and i need to be able to just let go and roll with it more).  for me, being in my head and analyzing a lot is how i do "personal spirituality".  so i'm essentially cut off from my spiritual life in my normal daily activity, which for members who know me, is drastically different from the past few years of my life (i worked in a metaphysical bookshop and talked metaphysics all day, and i was a psychology student who talked about consciousness all day). 

so i'm thinking that in the past, i was releasing (grounding) my spiritual energy through my normal methods of analysis and conversation.  i'm not doing that now and my mind is releasing the energy through my dreams now, so i remember more.  it's a loose theory, but it may be reasonable. 

so.  reflecting on this notion leads you to the idea that perhaps a change in your habits and routines, your way of thinking can have an impact on your dream recall.  and it may all be for the best.  before i left my last job, i got a "mini-reiki" session with a guy i worked with and he told me that if he could only say one thing to me it would be "get out of your own head rusty!!" (he actually told me that regularly - but even in reiki sessions he could feel the excess energy in my head).  so this shift right now may be exactly what i need as a spiritual practice a la Gurdjieff (he was really into making physical labor and "work" a meditation of sorts), and in turn, all that energy i devoted to mental analysis can now be turned inward to dream recall.

who knows.

anyway, there are other ways which people have mentioned.  i recommend a dream journal, it helps.

[BlueHalcyon]

I can vouch for the dream journal. It's improved my dream recall alot. 

[hapdude]

Thanks for the suggestions and responses people. Actually, I had a extremely vivid dream right this morning after falling asleep trying to astral project and I think it must symbolize something and I wanted to hear what you all think it might mean, also I was wondering If I should just post the dream I had here, or if I should start a new thread?

[kurtykurt42]

so.  reflecting on this notion leads you to the idea that perhaps a change in your habits and routines, your way of thinking can have an impact on your dream recall.  and it may all be for the best.  before i left my last job, i got a "mini-reiki" session with a guy i worked with and he told me that if he could only say one thing to me it would be "get out of your own head rusty!!" (he actually told me that regularly - but even in reiki sessions he could feel the excess energy in my head).  so this shift right now may be exactly what i need as a spiritual practice a la Gurdjieff (he was really into making physical labor and "work" a meditation of sorts), and in turn, all that energy i devoted to mental analysis can now be turned inward to dream recall.

who knows.

anyway, there are other ways which people have mentioned.  i recommend a dream journal, it helps.

Why is it important for you to remember your dreams?

[Swesent]

Why is it important for you to remember your dreams?

A big part of a successful OoBE/Astral Projection/Lucid Dream is to actually remember all, or parts, of what took place. Other reasons may be to get more out of your nights, to learn something from them, maybe gain more/better self-perception. I don't know, the last parts are just guesswork, but without a decent dream recall = no knowledge of whether you've accomplished during the night (as in the aforementioned OoBE/AP/LD).

I assumed yours was a general question, aimed at no one in particular, hence my answer. If you addressed personalreality specifically, then I apologize for butting in.

[kurtykurt42]

In my experience, dreams have nothing to do with out of body travel or remote viewing.

And how can you learn something from dreams when you don't know what dreams are?

[astraladdict]

In my experience, dreams have nothing to do with out of body travel or remote viewing.

And how can you learn something from dreams when you don't know what dreams are?

I agree on behalf of OBE and dreams being two different things, but that's a controversy i don't wish to e apart of. Too much drama with that topic. As for the learning from the dreams, your dreams have a hidden message in them. It's up to you to find them. You can learn a lot as long as you pay attention and give effort

~astraladdict

[kurtykurt42]

As for the learning from the dreams, your dreams have a hidden message in them. It's up to you to find them. You can learn a lot as long as you pay attention and give effort
~astraladdict

If I want to learn something I'll read a book...

[Swesent]

In my experience, dreams have nothing to do with out of body travel or remote viewing...

The only connection I've read about is that the better dream recall you have, the better you can recall your actual Out of Body experiences. Afraid I can't link to any sources though since it was a while back. I don't know whether or not this is true - it's just what I've read. Anyway, I'm not even there yet with my attempts so this is nothing that affects me at the moment.

[personalreality]

Why is it important for you to remember your dreams?

It's not something that I actively work towards anymore (I have in the past). 

However, as I implied in my post, I believe dreams to be a sort of energetic release.  Just like your brain cleans up unused neural pathways and such while you sleep, the dream is a more mental cleanup.  But that doesn't mean remembering the dream is important.

I do think that dream recall techniques will actually help you to remember more from your astral journeys as well.  It's like exercising that part of your mind that does the remembering.

All that said, I also like to remember my dreams because my crystal skulls often speak to me in my dreams.  Well, the one's I remember. 

Psychologically, I also think dreams are a nice cathartic exercise.  If you get to that point of lucidity, you can do a great deal of psychological healing through cathartic confrontation and subsequent emotional release in dreams.

But in the end, I want to remember my dreams because I want too, enough said.

[Rudolph]

The only connection I've read about is that the better dream recall you have, the better you can recall your actual Out of Body experiences. Afraid I can't link to any sources though since it was a while back. I don't know whether or not this is true - it's just what I've read. Anyway, I'm not even there yet with my attempts so this is nothing that affects me at the moment.

Yes, I believe there is a connection and your understanding on this seems good.

I have seen this "I got the journal but still don't remember anything" problem many times. It is not enough to get the journal. You must write in it. For the first few days many dreamers find there is still no recall. So write something along the lines of an affirmation. Maybe write, "My dreams are important to me and I remember my dreams". Write it three times each morning.

You might want to google "Dreams in the Bible" and do a little reading on the subject. Then if your mom gets nervous about it you can reassure her with a few bible stories. Just a couple nonchalant references should do the trick.

The meditation suggestion is good too. This can be tough to arrange for a young person in a busy home but maybe you can just say you are going to take a little nap. 

Good luck.

[Xanth]

It is not enough to get the journal. You must write in it. For the first few days many dreamers find there is still no recall. So write something along the lines of an affirmation. Maybe write, "My dreams are important to me and I remember my dreams". Write it three times each morning.

I like that.
I like that a lot.

Solid suggestion. 

[kurtykurt42]

It's not something that I actively work towards anymore (I have in the past). 

However, as I implied in my post, I believe dreams to be a sort of energetic release. 

I do think that dream recall techniques will actually help you to remember more from your astral journeys as well. 

Unfortunately, there's no proof from what I've experienced and researched to back up either of these claims. There are various methods of achieving out of body states, and the methods where you are less coherent (in a dream like state) seem to be less effective and less reliable. Astral projecting in a dream-like fashion also doesn't allow me to travel in real-time space. Meaning that you end up somewhere random in space and time.