How to Recall Your Dreams More Frequently

If you've ever slept, you've had a dream. If you're like most everyone else, you sleep several nights a week, and then wake up and are completely unable to recall a dream, and therefore you assume you never had a dream while you were sleeping. This is actually false, everyone has several dreams a night, regardless of whether or not they can successfully recall the dream. We go through several dream cycles over the course of a night, and in order to keep the brain functioning, dreams take place; it's impossible to not dream over the course of a full night's sleep due to this.

So why is it so impossible to recall the dreams after you wake up? Think about the state of mind you're in while you're having these dreams, as well as exactly what dreams are. Dreams are basically subconscious thoughts that entertain our mind while we're sleeping, we need these thoughts to keep our brain alive, essentially. The thing is, many dreams are very common thoughts. On any given night, the majority of your dreams will probably just be about things you would do during the day, think about during the day, and so on. Therefore, they're average thoughts and don't stand out in your mind at all. You wake up, and recall having not dreamt at all. Also, we're in such a deep state of mind while having these dreams, that it's extremely hard to recall them unless suddenly interrupted.

There are still many ways to attempt to recall these dreams. Many scientists, especially psychologists, are extremely interested in learning how to recall these dreams. One of them is through lucid dreaming. I'm sure just about everyone has or will experience this some time during their life. During this, you're dreaming, yet you actually become aware that you're dreaming. These dreams are amazing, and completely awesome if you've ever experienced them. While lucid dreaming, you can actually take control of what happens. Also, you're much more likely to recall the dream when you wake up.

When do you usually remember a dream? When you were dreaming the second you woke up. This means that you were awoken during the dreaming stage of sleep, also known as REM (rapid eye movement). So theoretically, you would be more likely to remember a dream the more times you woke up on any given night. How do you do this? Set an alarm clock at random and frequent times throughout the night. If you set an alarm to go off 2 hours after you go to sleep, then 2 hours and 20 minutes, then 2 hours and 45 minutes, so on, you're bound to get some REM sleep cycle awakenings, assuming you get back to sleep successfully each time after turning off the alarm. You should be able to recall dreams quite easily with this method.

One other thing to remember - our brain works in sub conscious ways. Tell yourself you want to remember your dreams before you go to bed. Literally say it out loud, if you can. "I will remember my dreams." You have a much better chance of remembering your dreams if you tell yourself you're going to, because sub consciouslessly you are going to be more aware of having a dream after focusing on wanting to. It's a complex process, as so is dreaming.

If dream interpretation or recall is something you're interested in, check out the psychology section of sparknotes.com, or try taking an intro psychology class in college or high school!