The first step to lucid dreaming is to start having and remembering non-lucid dreams. You normally dream multiple times per night, but you may forget your dreams dreams (including lucid dreams) if you haven't trained your recall ability. Lack of recall (forgetfulness of your dreams) can cause you to feel as though you never have dreams. This is a common issue for beginner dreamers, which is easily resolved with recall training.
The purpose of recall training boils down to getting yourself to remember more dreams and therefore having more opportunities for those dreams to be lucid. It's recommended that you get yourself to a point where you can remember 1-3 dreams per night. This doesn't have to be every single night (it's normal to have lapses in recall every so often), but consistently remembering 1-3 dreams on average means you could be having and remembering 1-3 lucid dreams per night.
When a dream is lucid, that doesn't mean you'll automatically remember it. Lucid dreams can be forgotten just like non-lucid dreams, and what's the point of lucid dreaming if you can't remember doing it? Even more importantly, being able to remember your past lucid dreams will make you more likely to have more lucid dreams in the future, so lacking dream recall can hinder your frequency of lucid dreams.
Recall does more than just improve your memory of dreams, too. .
Many people don't recall dreams automatically when first starting out, but you can train yourself to start remembering dreams and treating them more like your waking life experiences. This is a skill you can develop to override the brain's default tendency to forget, allowing for permanent, effortless recall habits over time. If you don't have dreams at all,
It may take days or weeks to start seeing results from your recall training if you have low recall to start with, but once you get the ball rolling, it gets easier and more streamlined with the rest of your practice.
You don't have to wait to start using lucid dreaming techniques, however. Dream recall and lucid dreaming techniques go hand-in-hand, and they are best used alongside each other.
The first and easiest way to get the most out of recall practice is timing. Do it immediately when you wake up (whether in the morning or any other times that you wake up from sleeping, such as in the middle of the night). Whether you journal or simply think about your dreams, do it as soon as you can for best results. .
So before you get up to go about your day, devote at least a few minutes (2-5 minutes is fine) to thinking about what dreams you were just having. It's understandable that you may have things to do when you wake up, but try to make some time to think about dreams every time you wake. Even if you only have enough time in the morning to think about your dreams for 30 seconds, it can make a world of difference over not doing it at all.
It may help to stay in bed laying in the same position you woke up in. This can keep you from getting distracted. The important thing is that dreams are on your mind though, so even if you have to get up and brush your teeth immediately upon waking or do another task, you can still accomplish your recall practice by thinking about your dreams during this whatever task you are doing.
When you think about your dreams, do it the same way you would try to remember details about your previous day. Walk yourself through your dreams, remember being there, and going through each event in your head. If you only remember a fragment at first, that's a good start. Most dream recall sessions start with fragments. Even if it's just a brief visual or some words that pop into your head, if you remember a specific dream character, a setting, or even just an emotion, any of these fragments are worth remembering.
Try to expand on each fragment you remember. Did anything happen before or after? How did it look or feel? Sometimes memories can be recovered by slowly working your way backwards, or reflecting on various different senses, thoughts, and even feelings. Approaching your memory from different angles can also help.
See what you can dig up, as if you are trying to remember an important childhood memory or a crime scene. You may not instantly remember every detail, but they will slowly unravel the more you think about them.
Even if you don't remember anything at all, give yourself the same amount of time to think about dreams. Don't stop just because you don't remember anything right away, and don't worry about the results. The act of doing this exercise every time you wake up cultivates a successful mindset in the longterm, and builds recall through intent.
Although timing your recall practice at wake-up moments is usually the most potent approach, you can also think about your dreams at any time of day and get results. Sometimes you can remember details of a dream in the middle of the afternoon. This is a great way to add more to your recall practice. The more often you remember to think about your dreams, the better.
Now that you've thought about your dreams immediately after waking, it's time to write them down! Alternatively, you can think about dreams while writing rather than doing these two things separately. Dream journaling is a popular and powerful tool for dream recall. Journaling supports the process of thinking about your dreams and unraveling the details. Best of all, it allows you to record dreams for later. Anything that you don't want to forget should be journaled.
Journaling should be done as soon as possible after you wake up. You can use any medium (pen and paper or your phone, it doesn't matter). You can even use voice recordings. The crucial part is that you think about your dreams and record them.
The amount you write in your dream journal is up to you, but a minimum of a couple paragraphs is recommended. 5-10 minutes of journaling is a good timeframe to shoot for. Remember, your goal is to remember 1-3+ dreams per night, so try to meet that quota in your journal. If you want to go over that amount, you can! Even more journaling can help!
Note: if you're writing for 30+ minutes and feel exhausted from journaling, it's recommended that you cut back to a more comfortable pace. Lucid dreaming doesn't work well with a strained mental state. For best results, remember to keep your practice relaxed and manageable. You don't want to wear yourself out!
If you don't have time to journal everything down right away, no problem! Write down keywords for your dreams to help re-jog your memory later so you don't forget. It can be something short and poorly written, for example:
walked dog with couple fighting red house cave met santa and we traveled to alaska
Making a badly written keywords only journal entry is particularly helpful when you're on a busy schedule and need to rush out the door in the morning, or when you wake up in the middle of the night and need to go back to sleep right away. When you look at your keywords later, they will help re-trigger the memories of your dream so you can properly write the journal entry on your own time.
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