REMEMBER YOUR
DREAMS, INTERPRETATION, DREAMING RECALL
Everyone dreams every
night, regardless of what some may say. Those who claim
that they do not dream simply don't remember their
dreams. Some people naturally remember their dreams; many
of us, however, lose our ability to recall our dreams as
we grow older due to the relentless stress and concerns
of our every day lives.
Getting enough sleep
at night is essential to improving your ability to recall
your dreams. As long as you're well rested you'll find it
easier to focus your intent on recalling your dreams and
your ambition won't be clouded by fatigue. Also, if
you're able to get plenty of sleep during the night you
won't mind waking up repeatedly to record your dreams-and
that's exactly what you'll have to do. Finally, as
discussed in the section on stages of sleep, the REM
periods get longer during the latter hours of sleep; thus
sleeping for longer periods will give you more of an
opportunity to awaken from your dreams and remember them,
and will also give you more information to
record.
During the night you
will have many different dreams-at least one per REM
period of sleep. The brain tends to erase memories of the
previous dream during the intermediate stages between REM
sleep. Thus, to salvage the memories of your dreams
you'll need to awake during the REM periods, while the
dreams are still fresh in your mind.
A dependable dream
recall will help in many ways, so it's important that you
don't develop it in a half-hearted manner. Simply waking
up in the morning and trying to recall the dreams you had
throughout the course of the night is not enough.
To become proficient
with dream recall you'll need to be able to recall a few
dreams per night. Losing a night here and there to stress
or anxiety is understandable, but be careful not to fall
into a rut. Awaking during or shortly after dream REM
periods is tricky, but there are a couple methods to aid
in this. The first method simply involves attempting to
time your awakening via an alarm clock so that you'll
awake during a dreaming REM period. As discussed in the
section on stages of sleep, the dream REM periods occur
roughly every 90 minutes. Aiming for the latter dream REM
periods (about 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours into sleep) is best
because those are the longest dream periods. The second
method is similar but not as easy to regulate: drink a
lot of water before going to bed can help to increase
dream recall.
To be able to
eventually control your dreams you're going to have to
focus your intent on doing so. Therefore a better method
of recalling your dreams is to focus your intent on
remembering them before falling asleep, since this will
prepare you for eventually attempting to control your
dreams.
You must be determined
in your resolve and you should attempt to prevent
extraneous thoughts from attenuating your intent.
Verbally stating your desire to remember your dreams
while falling asleep is the best way to accomplish this.
It may sound silly but all you really need to do is talk
yourself into remembering your dreams. Or by DOWNLOADING
the Karmanetics affirmation CD.
Our minds are powerful
instruments and even though it may seem that we lose
control of them when we enter sleep, that does not at all
have to be the case. Focus your intent to awake from your
dreams and remember them just before you lie down, and
continue to repeat your intent to yourself as you
approach sleep.
Repeat to yourself
over and over, "I will awake from my dreams and
completely remember them." If you find your thoughts
wandering as you slip into sleep, reaffirm your intent.
You want your last thought before drifting off to sleep
to be of your intent to awaken from your dreams and
remember them.
