6 Steps to Start Remembering your Dreams
I have a lot of people ask me to teach them how to lucid dream. Without hesitation, I reply, "Tell me about the dream you had last night", or "What was the last dream you remember?" Seven out of ten times a blank stare is followed by “I don’t remember”. The first step in being able to become conscious in your dreams is being able to recognize when you are in fact, dreaming. Just because you don’t remember your dreams does not mean that you don’t have them. Here are a few pointers that I always use that seem to help.
1. Talk about dreaming. Find other friends that are as interested in their subconscious as you are. Listen to their dreams. Talk about your own. Think about dreaming.
2. Write down your dream the moment you wake up. Keep a notebook next to your bed or speak it into the voice recorder on your phone. This step is very important! As soon as you start recording them, you will begin to more clearly see the details in future dreams.
3. Dream herbs and teas. These items are often recommended for dreaming: Mugwort tea, calea. valerian root, melatonin. These all help put you deeper in REM and affect your ability to become conscious within your dreams. They all react with people differently. I recommend starting off with a single one and with a small cup of tea before going all-in. You might also want to check with your doctor if you are already taking any form of medication. Valerian root, for example, gives me night terrors and I often find myself waking up in sleep paralysis after taking it, or completely conscious within a dream seemingly without the ability to wake up. I am quite intrigued by this last point.
4. Cut back on substances that destroy your short-term memory. I’m primarily talking about pot. A lot of people say they lose the ability to dream entirely after smoking. I have a suspicion that this is due to the effects that THC has on your short-term memory. It’s not that you are not dreaming, you just have it wiped away upon waking. I never lost the ability to dream when I smoked a lot, but since cutting back I’m much more likely to remember vivid details about my dreams than before. On the flip side, taking herbs that improve memory have helped my dream recollection become more frequent. I have had notable luck with Ginko, Ginseng, or Ashwagandha are just a few examples.
5. Binaural and isochronic tones. These not only act as a sleep inducer, there is also a variety of other benefits. These also act as lucid dream inducers when you have worked your way up to that level
