Do you ever get frustrated when you wake up because you can feel that you had a very intense, vivid dream, but can't remember a single detail about it--or perhaps believe that you don't dream at all? There may be a variety of factors contributing to this loss of memory, including an insufficient amount of sleep and alcohol. For years, I have been told numerous ways to help improve dream recall but after researching and stumbling across this series of steps, I am finally able to remember such creative dreams, like the time where I was climbing Mount Everest with Barack Obama.
1. Plan to get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep. If you get less than 6, it will be harder to recall your dreams because more vivid dreams, which are easier to remember, take place later in the sleep cycle.
2. Drink three glasses of water shortly before going to sleep. This will force you to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, which Stickgold reasons is beneficial because, “Middle-of-the-night awakenings are frequently accompanied by dream recall." (nytimes.com)
3. However, avoid beer or wine: they suppress R.E.M. sleep!
4. Repeat the phrase “I’m going to remember my dreams” three times before falling asleep. (nytimes.com) At the end of the night, your brain decides what to work on when going to sleep; if you direct it towards remembering your dreams, you'll have a better chance of actually remembering them.
5. As you are starting to wake up, stay half asleep and start recalling the dreams you just had. The more you recall this information, the more likely it will be stored differently.
6. The moment you wake up, do not turn to do anything other than recalling your dreams. Sensory perception can cause you to forget any memories of the dream you just had.
7.Write down anything you remember: this can even help you to remember more about your dreams because it forces you to recall more about them.
8. Using an alarm clock may interfere with your ability to recall dreams because it forces you to focus on something other than your dreams when you initially wake up. If you absolutely need one, try keeping it closer to your bed so you do not have to distract yourself by getting up to turn it off.
9. Sometimes as you go through the day, a certain sound or image will trigger a memory from a dream you had the night before. Immediately write down what you remember to help yourself think about your dreams more continuously.
Stickgold swears by these steps, assuring “I would predict that 80 percent of people who initially said they never dream would say they do now.” (nytimes.com)
