Quick question. I can't figure out how to regularly dream. My wife has dreams and shares her amazing adventures with me which always entertain me but make me jealous. She is very creative and I am not so maybe thats it but it drives me crazy. So can anyone give me tips on how to dream regularly? Right now I have maybe 3 dreams a year on average which I can never recall later. Thanks in advance.

I am an insomniac and I have very vivid dreams often, sometimes even when only sleeping a few hours. Very rarely can I not remember...

Stimulation is the main thing. There must be something on your mind but preferably almost subconscious, like something you do not have a 'time limit' to figure out. Often we dream about things we just witnessed or interacted with.

External stimuli WHILE asleep help too. You will find (well, maybe not YOU specifically) when you hear a sound outside like a person talking, power tools, etc your brain will incorporate them in to your dream, I believe is a way of 'explaining' this sound to your subconscious (giving it a basis).

There is no such thing as someone who does not dream ever but many people do not recall their dreams. Kind of like you get the feeling you know a person, just dont know where, you know you dreamed but not the specifics. It is not hard to forget a dream.

I think you could try hypnosis and figure out what you're 'missing', but given what you said I have my doubts you actually CAN be hypnotised...

And as has been said there is the opposite. I have many nightmares and flashbacks, have to take the good with the bad... amazing dreams can make me wake up ecstatic and in a great mood for days, nightmares have woken me up screaming and leaving massive holes in the walls...

But to reiterate mind stimulation before hand will help.

Hi, ventian

If you sleep in anything like the usual way, then you dream every 90-120 minutes or so. You don't remember because sleep, for whatever reason, messes up the formation of long term memory.

Yes, waking up will improve dream recall, but I don't think that that is a practical method for most people. Besides, it makes you liable to sleep paralysis and other complications of poor sleep.

Many, many people improve dream recall by the simple maneuver of starting to keep a dream journal. When you wake up in the usual way, think a little bit before you charge off into your day. See if you can find something to write down that day. And then really write down all that you remember. Or, dictate it into a voice recorder... or whatever, but do something to record the memories that you do have.

It make take a week or two, but it's a good bet you will remember some of your dreams; maybe only the last one of the night, but sometimes a few... maybe as many as five or six on a good night.

Oh yeah, there's no guarantee that your dreams will turn out to be as interesting as your spouse's seem to be . But, at least you'll have some idea of what's going on.

The journal thing isn't magic. It may well work by teaching yourself to wake up a little bit after a dream. You're "almost awake" anyway when you have what most people call dreams.

So, if you become aware that the plan is interfering with your sleep, then either resolve in advance that only dreams that survive until morning "count," or get a casette recorder with big, easy to use, buttons to record a memo, so you can get back to sleep without worrying that you've missed a dream.

Good luck with it.

I always dream when I sleep longer than usual, 9-10 hours , if I'm not to tired and clear of mind.

Not sure how to naturally dream but I dream every time I drink alcohol. Even if it's just a single can before bed I'll always have some weird dream.

We all dream.

The difference is that some don't remember their dreams.

Why? Not sure. I don't sleep well, at all, but I dream a lot and I remember most of them, maybe because I don't sleep well and wake up just after most dreams.

This technique only works if you wake up naturally (no alarm), but what you do when you wake up, keep your eyes closed and head on pillow help with dream recollection. Seems that getting up immediately after waking up, makes you tend to forget the dream. I can recall my dreams the majority of the time using this technique. Alarms clocks, phone rings and be awaken from sleep typically ruin any chance of recall of dreams.

I recommend taking melatonin before going to sleep. It is the naturally occuring dream hormone in your body and a really effective antioxidant. It will make your sleep quality better and while doing so, bring about more dreams. This is in contrast to "sleeping pills" which worsen the quality of sleep and usually kills your dreams.

[edit on 3/12/2010 by above]

Originally posted by OZtracized
We all dream.

The difference is that some don't remember their dreams.

Why? Not sure. I don't sleep well, at all, but I dream a lot and I remember most of them, maybe because I don't sleep well and wake up just after most dreams.

This fits in with the way it is for me and my other half. He sleeps like a log and remembers only a handful of dreams during the year, I on the other hand have never slept well, I have trouble staying asleep and have always had very vivd dreams that I remember 95% of the time after waking

Phoenix

Try taking 2 Tylenol before going to bed. It will relax you. Then you might get to sleep and dream. Don't do it all the time though. Eventually you can dream without it. Don't take Tylenol PM because it has a sleep aid in it, and it will make you very groggy.