First step; remember your dreams HAHA

[Ricochet]

   I'm one that would naturally have occasional dream recall. I can remember dreams I had as a kid and dreams from quite awhile back, although its quite fragmentary. Mainly impressions/feelings/scenes. I've tried off and on over the last number of months to get nightly dream recall by setting intention and it usually had results if I stuck with it. At the end of November I finally decided to start a dream journal. When I wake up, I use my phone to record what I remember and write it down later. I've been using affirmations before I go to sleep. "My dreams are vivid and clear" "I remember my dreams clearly" etc.

   It started out pretty good, I thought. For the first while I was getting 1-3 dreams a night. Then I settled into a pattern of sporadic and very fragmented recall during the week with better recall (usually only the last dream before I woke up) on the weekends when I slept in. I started getting up a half hour later during the week as it seemed this period was when I was getting the best recall. I even had a dream where I went out of body, complete with tearing sensations, blurring of vision, etc. Occasionally I'd get some recall when I'd wake up at night to go to the bathroom. These were much harder to retain though.

   On Dec 31, I decided to get a little sterner with myself. If most people have 5-7 dreams a night, why am I just getting the last one(s)? I changed my affirmations to "all my dreams" and that night I woke up at 2am, 3:30am and 6:30am with dreams or partial dreams. The middle one was the clearest.

   Well, its seemed to go downhill since then. I've noticed my recall has changed. Whereas before I'd wake up with a dream in my memory right there, thats not happening very often anymore. Now I wake up and my mind is blank and bits and pieces might come to me later or if something jogs my memory. My later dream recall is not there, even if I sleep in.

  The last good journal entry was on the 10th, when I had a couple pages. Since then it has been quite vague/fragmented or no recall at all.

   I'm trying to understand why this might be. If its a block, how do I figure it out? I don't really feel I'm frustrated and stressed about it. The only thing I can think of is that during/after the night of the 31st when I was up several times for a while recording dreams I kind of thought that it might be kind of tiring to be up for 10-15 minutes 4-5 times a night recording my dreams and then trying to go back to sleep. I've wondered if that "offended" my subconscious.    But I've tried to correct that. If getting lucid takes that, I'm ready for it.

   Any ideas on what I need to do to keep this going forward?

[fowlskins]

i use the same technique as you write notes on my phone usualy as its closest or put notes into a notepad and right them up later using the key poins to recall as much as possible (ive now started keeping them in an online blog for extra digital copy)
dont sweat the recall it shouldn't feel like a job
just keep at it i always got good and bad spells of recall the fact that you are doing all that you are will lengthen your dream memory in the long run just keep at it and you will get good results just dont feel let down that sometimes you forget it happens
you probally need the sleep

i have two kids that are great at waking me up at all sorts of ungodly hours that have been amazing for the WILD technique but some times im just so tiered i need every bit i can get and even if i had a really long dream i just dont even bother to record it as there will be plenty more and the really outstanding experiences will stay with you anyway

im getting to the point now that im not even that interested in observing the non conscious dreams as funny as they would be to put on paper i am documenting all the non physical aware/astral projection moments and hoping i can get to a point where i can also just passivley observe them without the need to document them but its still all new at the moment so thats my main focus

intent focus and repetition are the main tools really in my opinion but dont make it feel like work

[Dragonlight]

If you having trubbel with remembering dreams, I recommend you to stop brushing your teeth with floride toothpaste.  That's seriously gonna help. Also living in the now and having awareness of your body and emotions will help you become conscious in your dreams also.