Dream Journal question

[jilola]

If I had to pick one thing to improve my dream recall I'd pick meditation before going to sleep.
Quiet down your mind and make a visualized (for me this is 'seeing' the words as I say them in my mind) affirmation that you will be aware of your dreams and recall the  when you wake up.

You want to have as clear a mind as possible before drifting of to dreamland so that whatever you experiece has a high contrast with whatever else may happen. That way the dream is likely to stand out better.

As for writing a journal right after waking or in the morning I'd say there is no definite answer. At least try to recall as much of the dream as possible before falling asleep again.

2cents & L&L
jouni

[Lickerish]

Well I can try to offer a few tips that may help you.
First of all not do I only keep a dream journal but I also at times keep one of my daily life so I am rather in the habit of it.
I find that it helps to take a small note pad with you to write down dreams during the day if you aren't able to do it upon waking in the morning.
Also I spend alot of time observing the world around me when I'm awake, paying attention to details around me such as the color of a person's shirt and write it down in my daily journal at times.
I have developed a techinque in which I observe my surroundings in my dreams very closely and then try to retain the information for when I wake up later.
Sometimes I have to take time when I have it and concentrate very hard on what I have dreamt to bring it back.
Then again one can never be completely sure of what one is dreaming so once in a while you have to guess about it a little bit.
I hope that this helps!
[]

[goku22]

I find the best for me is to keep my journal on the bed beside my pillow. If I had a really cool dream, when I wake during the night I write a word or two about it, just enough to remember the rest whenever I feel like writing about it. I find myself picking and choosing which dreams I write down, of course meaning I write the really cool ones, mainly because they're more fun to look at than "I sat in a classroom and hated it." sort of thing. It seems to make me have more cool dreams. Also, when I stopped smoking weed everyday, my dream recall jumped 1000%, so if you do that and want to remember more dreams, stop. I think it's worth it because I was getting tireds of being high anyway.  Ben

[kozzi]

Dream journals are very helpful, but for myself I've found them to get in the way sometimes.  The point of keeping one is not to amass as much information as you possibly can, but to put your mind to the test.  In a way, you're making yourself post-aware of your dreams, if that makes any sense.  I find that simply thinking about my dreams can reveal more subject matter that may have taken place during the dream and therefore putting my mind in that state again.  I don't really try to keep a journal anymore, because it would take forever!  I think that, because lucid dreaming is a natural ability, we shouldn't act as though we're learning to ride a bike everyday.  There has to be a point at which we make a breakthrough, and these experiences come to us more and more naturally.  For me, a few small tricks have helped.  I find that falling asleep on my back generally causes me to lucid dream more regularly.  Posting on this forum on a regular basis also helps me.  Eventually, I hope to develop a state of mind for myself that doesn't hinder normal life, but allows me to be aware in my sleep as well as the day.  I think another thing that has helped me too, is to not take this all so seriously.  Relax, and let the experiences come and don't try to make too much of them.  If it's natural for us, don't you think it should be relatively easy and simple?

Kozzi

[Turlock]

After using a dream journal for about 10 days or so I`m beginning to see  an improvment in my recall abilities, however all my dreams are still cloudy,I can remember more parts of the "story" but can`t really pick out any detail,such as what colour car i was driving etc. I know there will be a big difference between people but how long does it take on average to be able to remember most of a couple of dreams per night in good detail. I`m still struggling to separate the dreams i do remember, I`m sure that i`m mixing them up when i do my journal in the morning. Is it really that important to force yourself to wake up right after the dream? I always find I`m too tired to do this and go back to sleep right away. I work long hours driving all over europe and don`t really sleep long enough when I`m away to dream, but will be taking a break of a few months after christmas from any sort of work. I`m hoping to do some physical training to help improve my fitness hoping that this will improve the quality of my sleep enabling me to catch more dreams. Has anyone got any good advice on anything that I could do with all this spare time to work towards having regular lucid dreams?? I`ve read Robert Bruce`s Astral Dynamics, and he says doing the energy raising work with his NEW technique helps a great deal,is this true? Will learning to meditate help me at all??  I`ve not had time to learn this yet,but would like to if it will help.
Regards

Mark