Dream Recall

Remembering Your Dreams

          Before you start interpreting or even recording your dreams, a skill you must learn is dream recall.  Once and awhile something that we do during the day will trigger a dream that we had the previous night, but if you are serious about working with your dreams this will not be good enough.  The first step that we need to take is to find a way to help yourself remember these dreams at least long enough to get them down on paper.

          Why is it that the contents of dreams, something that we actually see for ourselves, are so hard to remember?  You would think that it should be as easy as remembering what we ate for breakfast, or a movie that we saw last week.  Perhaps it's because our conscious mind is reluctant to allow us full understanding of our dreams.  Most think it's because the events in dreams are usually entirely irrational to our waking minds and finds it difficult to grasp.

          After reading through the following information and working with it, you will find that after a few weeks you should be able to remember at least three to four dreams a week.  If you can already do that then these exercises should benefit you even more.  Some people, if fact, give up trying to work with their dreams, because they find themselves having too many dream memories and are satisfied.  After you get to this point, and enjoy dreaming but not writing what they are about, then just stop and have fun with your dreams.  However, no time that you spend working on your dreams will be wasted, since you will find yourself suffering from less stress.

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Reality Testing

          These methods will help you realize that you are actually dreaming and in turn will help you remember your dreams easier.  Beware that some techniques may not work for you, in not try a different one.  The following techniques are the most widely used out of the many techniques:

The Dream Illiteracy Test - Everyone has tried to read something in their dreams before, although it is most difficult, it can be done.  Even if you are able to read in a dream, if you would like to be sure that you are dreaming, read back over what you read before.  Most likely the information that you have already read over will have changed.

The Flying Method - When you want to do a reality test, jump into the air and try to prolong how long you stay up for.  Even if you stay up for a split second longer than you would in waking life you must be dreaming.

The Past Recall Method - Attempt to remember what you have been doing in the past few hours.  If you are awake it should make perfect sense to you.  However, if you are dreaming you will find that you have either no past at all or a very strange and illogical one.

The Hand Breathing Technique - Try breathing with your nose and mouth plugged.  To do this squeeze your nose with the sides of your thumb and index finger and cover your mouth with your hand.  If you are awake it will be difficult for you to dream, impossible if you attain a good seal over your mouth.  If you are dreaming, then you will find it quite easy to breath through your hand.

Control the Unchanging - This is by far one of the most reliable techniques, in that you will easily recognize you are dreaming.  Pick out an object, preferably one that is stationary and doesn't change, and try and bend or move it just by thinking.  If the object you pick out does what you want it to then you are definitely dreaming.

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Helpful Hints for Better Dream Recall

Before you go sleep
          1.  Expect to remember your dreams.
          2.  Review past dreams.
          3.  Get ready to record your dreams.
          4.  Be prepared to stay awake to make a record.
          5.  Review the previous day back to morning.

Upon waking
          1.  Follow your dream backwards.
          2.  Try and remember all the dreams you can.
          3.  Think of events that may have triggered dreams.
          4.  Don't be discouraged if there is no recall.
          5.  Don't forget the dream before you write it down.

Daily Attitudes
          1.  Value each dream.
          2.  Accept all dreams.
          3.  Approach recall as a skill.
          4.  Expect to recall dreams during the day.
          5.  Don't compare recall ability.

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Cayce's Experience

When it came to the idea of dreams having purpose, Cayce's theory was a bit different then the others.  He believed dreaming to be the bodies way of "self edification," which is the building up of the mental, spiritual, and physical well-being.  It was a way of quickening the dreamer to his/her own human potential.  By getting a good nights sleep, any person could develop more mature values, stretch their thinking, and right one's self.

          According to Cayce, there are five different levels that dream's stem from.  These different levels are the body level, subconscious level, level of consciousness, level of superconscious, and the level of the soul.  What they can do for you is anything from presenting messages of your body calling for aid during sickness to stating problems which must be solved within the conscious.

          Cayce believed that if you were to interpret your dreams correctly you must thoroughly study yourself.  Once you know how you feel about dreams and what they can do for you can you begin to study your dreams.  If you have a dream, according to Cayce, it's primary focus is to either solve problems and adapt to external affairs or awakening and alerting the dreamer to new potential within the self.  The first step to Cayce's method of interpretation is to determine which of the two major functions of dreams is the primary focus of the dream.

          The second step is the process of taking inventory.  You need to know your conscious and subconscious mind inside out.  Know future plans, goals, interests, stances, and decisions.  Know your hidden fears, longings, dependencies, and defenses.  Know the cycles, needs, habits, and stresses of the body.  Once you finish with these two steps you can begin to interpret your dreams and decide how they can help you better yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually.

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Five Quick Steps

1.  The night before keep a pad of paper and pen beside your bed.  Date the paper the night before.  When you awake, in the night or in the morning, write something down.  Even "I recall nothing this morning" is good to write down.  If you are keeping a journal, read the last dream you had.

2.  When you go to bed, relax your body and review the day in reverse.  How did I get ready for bed?  What was I doing just before going to bed?  What did I do this evening? What was it like coming home, what I did today, what I had for lunch, and so on, all the way back to how you got up and either recall your last dream or recall your writing down "I recall nothing this morning."  This exercise is very relaxing and helps us learn to reflect back and focus the way we need to focus to recall dreams.

3.  As you are getting close to falling asleep, repeat over and over to yourself, "When I wake up , I will remember my dream."  Also you should associate a physical trigger along with that, such as snapping your fingers as you say each word.

4.  When you wake up in the morning, don't move!  Stay in your same position, relax your body and let your mind drift closer to your dream.  Remind yourself that you want to remember your dream.  Shutting your eyes may help.  Thinking about what you are going to do in the future, like shower or activities you need to do later in the day is the best way to miss a dream.

5.  Once you being to recall the dream, start writing.  Write down what ever you remember right away so you're not trying to remember that material while trying to recall new material.  If after a minute you don't have any recall, write down "I don't recall anything," or even better wrote down a short made-up story of what you would've liked to have been dreaming.  If you have other dreams in the journal, read one of them.

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