Who doesn’t like sleep?
Whether it’s a short nap or an entire night’s worth of snoozing, sleeping is one of the
best activities we can enjoy especially after a long and hard day.
What’s even better is that, in sleep, we get to drift away to dreams that vary from
the mundane to the utterly bizarre.
I am pretty sure that some of us have dreamt of eating a giant, fluffy marshmallow only
to find out that we’ve been chewing on a pillow the moment we wake up.
But for most of us, we tend to only remember small fragments of our dreams – if not completely
forgetting them – and many of the details are lost in the ether despite how hard we
try digging deep in our memories.
It’s frustrating, right?
Waking up not knowing what someone in your dreams was about to say to you when, suddenly,
your alarm buzzes you awake.
It’s like watching a cliff-hanger episode of your favourite show only to find out that
the show won’t get picked up for a new season.
That’s why in today’s video, we are going to explore the different kind of ways that
may help you to remember your dreams!
So start taking down notes because you may want to try a few of these when you go to
bed tonight!
THE DAILY JOURNAL Speaking of taking down notes, we begin with
the first method: writing a daily journal.
We’re not talking about a dream journal where you write down bits and pieces of your
dreams after waking up; we are talking about writing down things and events that you have
observed during your waking hours.
The exercise helps in sharpening your memory and is helpful in terms of dream recollection.
What you only need to do is be a creative with your journaling.
For example, pick an event that happened during your day.
It does not have to be something extremely significant as long as you can narrate it
in writing.
Let’s say you write about your trip to work, listing down and narrating the things that
happened from the moment you had your morning coffee to the time you clocked in at the office
and reached your desk.
Fill in those gaps and pretend that you are writing it down as if you were dreaming it.
Write it in present tense to encourage your brain to relive each moment.
The extent of writing and amount of detail is completely up to you because the point
of the exercise is to train your mind to remember dreams by teaching it to relive moments or
events that you are experiencing while awake.
If you do not know how to start, an easy way is to prompt yourself with simple questions
like: “what did I eat for breakfast?”; “what music did I listen to while getting
ready?”; or “how am I feeling today?”
B-VITAMINS BEFORE BEDTIME We already know the benefits our bodies get
from B-Vitamins especially in terms of increased brain activity and sharpened memory but taking
a vitamin B supplement before bed time can help you with dream recall.
Because of its ability to help in improved memory, B-vitamins can actually make your
dreams much more vivid and clearer, a quality that can help you remember them compared to
just recalling fuzzy fragments of a dream.
One specific B-vitamin called Choline Bitartrate is supposedly associated with increased dreaming.
This B-vitamin, however, is not normally included in B-complex supplements but can be purchased
on its own.
Some people take a B-complex supplement and Choline Bitatrate before bedtime to ensure
that they can dream in High Definition and remember it the next day.
Of course, with taking any supplements, it is better to consult with your doctor first
and know what will work best for you.
KICK THE CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL HABIT Some of us love our coffee and some of us
love our wine.
While coffee may be a god way to give you that much needed boost to start your morning
and a few cocktails may help you unwind after a long week at work, alcohol and caffeine
can prevent you from recalling your dreams.
These two do so by interrupting your REM (Rapid Eye Movement) cycle in your sleep.
As studies have shown, dreams are more likely to happen – and have the potential to be
recalled later on – during the REM stage.
Consuming alcohol, especially a little too much, can shorten the amount of time your
body stays in REM while caffeinated drinks like coffee and some sodas can altogether
prevent you from falling asleep altogether.
But if you really have to have that after dinner coffee with your dessert or that glass
of wine, make sure to avoid consuming them at least two hours before you go to bed.
THE INARGUABLE POWER OF SUGGESTION At one point, we have all experienced just
how effective a suggestion can be.
This also applies in being able to remember your dreams.
Take some time to select a phrase or a statement in the present tense that you can use to condition
your mind and yourself throughout the day.
A simple statement like, “I remember my dreams quickly” can be repeated as a mantra
or a trigger for when you want to do dream recalls.
Also, stating your phrase in the present tense makes the suggestion much more effective and
“in the moment” rather than stating it as if it were an implied success in the future.
Once you have chosen your statement of phrase, you can now look for a “suggestion trigger”.
For example, you recite the phrase in your head or out loud whenever you look at your
watch or your phone.
This helps condition your brain overtime and by the time you have to go to bed, you increase
your chances of clearly remembering your dreams.
You may also opt to write your phrase down in a sticky note and place it on your computer
screen or on the dashboard of your car.
It is all up to you as long as you are reminded of what your intent is and you see or say
it as an exercise.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP Obviously you can’t dream if you aren’t
asleep and getting the right amount of sleep is one of the best ways in recalling dreams.
We may not be fully aware of it but in a single night’s sleep we have multiple dreams – one
dream per 90 minutes - that span different lengths from 10 minutes during the first dream
to 45 minutes – or even a full hour - after eight full hours of sleep.
Having an appropriate amount of sleep gives us the opportunity to dream longer periods
and are much closer together instead of having them appear fragmented or disjointed.
You may even have more than one dream during your sleep’s REM stage and people who say
that they do not really dream simply do not recall them once they wake up.
According to sleep researchers, a dream is better remembered when a person awakes directly
from a dream instead of transitioning to another stage of sleep which is why people who get
night terrors oftentimes remember dream details much better than those who sleep peacefully.
Night terrors aside, however, getting an appropriate amount of sleep increases the mind’s chance
of remembering dreams because it is a fact that brain activity is peaked when we are
asleep as it flushes out unnecessary information and toxins while we snooze.
WAKING UP PEACEFULLY Nothing is more jarring than being jolted
awake by an alarm clock in the morning.
It does wake you up but it does little to help you recall your dreams.
To many people, recalling dreams comes easily when they wake up naturally and peacefully.
A peaceful way of waking up allows our minds to process our dreams and lets it stay a little
longer in our consciousness especially after rising from the REM stage of sleep.
While it is understandable that we all have busy lives and need the aid of an alarm clock
to get up in the morning, there is always opportunity to practice dream recall during
weekends or when you are on vacation because you are giving your body clock the opportunity
to function naturally and wake you up after being fully rested.
Imagine your mind as a well-organised bookshelf after waking up peacefully where each book
can be accessed quite easily.
Now, imagine that same bookshelf being shaken and tossed around when you are woken up by
the loud buzzing of an alarm clock.
It is quite impossible to retrieve bits of information from that shelf after each book
has been thrown and flung around by a loud, shrill noise.
Like many things, recalling dreams takes practice and patience and it is best to take every
opportunity that comes your way to teach your mind how to recall dreams.