Dreams... Help

I'm in the same situation as you. I can't remember my dreams either. Just like you, I really don't remember even dreaming. I know I dream. I don't remember them but, yet I do know that I'm dreaming something.

Again, I also am an insomniac. I don't sleep easily. I don't sleep well and I don't really sleep much at all. I can probably attribute this to too much coffee and too much mental stimulation. Nevertheless, I'm cool with it. It doesn't really bother me but I do miss the dreams!

At one time, I used to have very vivid dreams. And, as has been suggested, I used to record them. I had the pencil and pad on my night stand and I would write down the poignant details of my dreams the moment I awoke. It wasn't easy to do this. It took practice. However, it was a very interesting personal experiment. I could see some very interesting patterns in my life. To give you an example, during a very chaotic period of about two weeks, I had a lot of dreams where I was always driving too fast or running behind schedule. I couldn't keep up. My dreams reflected that period of my life fairly accurately.

I did some other personal explorations of dreaming: i.e., lucid dreaming. But, as I said, it takes practice and it also takes some perseverance. At some point I simply stopped noting my dreams and, eventually I came to the place where I am now -- an insomniac who is entirely out of touch with the dream world.

If I were to try to regain some sort of real balance between my wakeful and sleep state, I would probably begin by regaining some control over my sleep regimen. You know, shooting for that elusive eight to ten hours per night. After that, after I finally restored some semblance of healthy sleep, I'd start worrying about dreaming and in remembering them. A good schedule and good sleep hygiene is, in my opinion, is the key. But I think that this is easier said than done.

This one weekend is probably a good start. After all, one does have to start somewhere...some time. Of course, I don't really know for certain, I'm not a sleep expert but I would hazard some guesses. If you are an insomniac or if you have had trouble sleeping for quite some time, you have probably established some poor sleep habits. It will probably take you longer than a weekend before you could possibly achieve any positive results. In my opinion, it simply stands to reason that it is vital for insomniacs or those with poor sleep hygiene to make some fundamental changes before one might possibly start to dream, much less record them.

Off of the top of my head, I would imagine that there are a few basic issues that probably should be examined before one might really get a handle on sleep and dreaming.

-go to bed at the same time each night
-reduce or eliminate substances that might interfere with natural sleep: coffee, tea, cola and other beverages containing caffeine, chocolate and other stimulants.
-make sure that you have had a good basic amount of physical exercise in the day (but not too close to bedtime).
-try to quiet your mind through meditation and "mindfullness"
-be diligent in promoting good sleep routines.

I don't think that attempting to dream, much less to record them would be very fruitful until, as previously mentioned in this thread, a good sleep regimen is introduced, maintained and incorporated into one's life.

Of course, I'm one to talk and give advice..... it's 3:15 am!