Improved Dream Recall When Sleepy?

Something I've been noticing lately is that when I am relaxed or sleepy my dream recall improves quite a bit. As far as I can tell, I'm not really able to "search" for a dream, but they come back at random. It can be as recent as the night before, or as far back as several years. This isn't a full recall of the dream, but probably no less than what we remember of the previous nights dream midway through the day. Does anyone else experience this?

I don't believe this is really "paranormal" in nature, but it certainly relates to a variety of our interests in that field. Does anyone have a scientific explanation for this? Even though I'm interested in LD and OBE experiences, I've never kept a dream journal. I've just never gotten the hang of it. If I have one that is particularly interesting to me, I'll write it down, but that's pretty rare. Viewing something on TV in a relaxed state could subconsciously trigger something I suppose, but it's odd that they trigger snippets of long passed dreams.

I'm very interested to hear the sleep science explanation behind it, but also curious about this state as a means of OBE/LD exploration. So anyway, looking forward to what you guys have to say.

reply to post by Morgenstern89


Here's my explanation.

The Mind or state of mind is an antenna for things either in the brain or elsewhere.

Your mood setting is like a dial on the radio. How ever a memory is stored, it's easier to access it the same way. Maybe something like how it's easier to go through the front door, than the wall of your house.

Even the physical orientation of your body will change how memory is accessed and stored. Upon waking you should lie still. Since your dream memories were stored while laying down.

Bill cosby used to joke about where memories were stored. He said they were in his butt. As soon as he stood up to go to next room, he had no idea what he was doing. He could not remember till he went and sat back down. The thought he created that he was trying to remember was created as he was sitting there, so naturally that's the easiest place to remember it.


Oh...I forgot to say the point lol... Sleepy is the closest thing to Sleep while still completely Conscious, so it should be the best way to remember..

If you ever travel through dimensions or or go in very weird states of consciousness, you will notice how hard it is to use that information you gained when in a normal state of mind. It's almost only useful in the same state of mind. Kind of why people find it hard to see dream meanings in everyday life in the first place..

Haha, if I could give you 100 stars for the Bill Cosby reference I would.

I agree. That sleepy state is the optimal state to remember. So far I haven't noticed myself recalling real life events, just dreams. I wonder why though that it's just old dreams, and that it hasn't induced new ones. Perhaps it's just because we aren't in REM sleep yet. Perhaps they are some kind of precursor to hypnagogic hallucinations that we can just easily brush away?

Great start to the thread, I appreciate your response.

I believe you could easily fall into a hypnogogic state if you just cleared your mind even more while 'sleepy'. It's also states like this that can help you astral project. Are you saying you don't remember your recent dreams? Just these old ones that are brought up by this state?

If you start telling yourself you want to remember your dreams before you fall asleep you will start too, also keeping a dream journal helps a lot too. I have always remembered mine my entire life, I can't remember a night without dreaming, and I have multiple ones a night. There's times I can doze off during the day and I almost immediately start dreaming...so that kind of debunks the 'start dreaming after 90 mins' theory, because I know I wasn't out for 90 mins only a few. I really don't know what its like not to dream.

reply to post by Dustytoad


I like your reply, food for thought.

Sometimes I dont remember dreams until several day later.
If I wake up while having a bad dream I'll probably continue it when I go back to sleep, but if I'm having a good dream and wake up I cant get back into it.

I don't have any scientific goodies to share...just my own .02, whatever it's worth.

My 'dreaming' life is one that is continually evolving with my own personal intention as well as that of Spirit, and I've had OBE's, also. I pretty much only have what they call 'lucid dreams' but in a few of those I have actually had literal impact upon events. So just saying, I've had some experience with this kind of thing.

If I am able to lie still upon waking....that is, not waking up with the desperate need to go to the john, I can hover in that borderland place between 'here' and 'there'...this results in one of two things happening. I either am able to contemplate what's been going on over 'there' and make it more cemented in my memory as well as relate it to mundane personal current events...or else I somehow 'receive' significant information in symbolic picture-images, that I do not believe I would otherwise be able to apprehend in the conventional manner.

I have never kept a dream journal although once in a while I wish I had that kind of dedication if only for the sake of having dates recorded for later inspection and comparison. But for the most part, I have had no problem remembering events and situations from my 'dreaming' if I was able to capture them, so to speak, in the way I described. But you have to lie still and even in the very same position in which you awaken...I don't even open my eyes...as long as I keep my eyes closed, I can stay in that in-between place indefinitely and have actually loitered in that region for up to an hour many times.

I think that this region or borderland is like a link between the two states of consciousness and therefore seems to me to be necessary to unite these two awareness/being-ness-es/minds into one mind/awareness from which information and intelligence from either side can be accessed and applied on either side, at will. I say this because also I have gotten to a consistent state of awareness while 'dreaming' in which I am fully cognizant and clear about the details of my ordinary waking world and even bring up such details in dream conversations...that is, it is like I am not a awake person sometimes and a sleeping/dreaming person at other times but just one person who is sometimes here and sometimes there but neither one being more or less real than the other, as far as my conscious awareness.

That is not to say that I live in dream-land...and in fact, it seems like this has brought greater clarity and level-headed-ness to my ordinary waking world

Originally posted by xBlueButterflyx
I believe you could easily fall into a hypnogogic state if you just cleared your mind even more while 'sleepy'. It's also states like this that can help you astral project. Are you saying you don't remember your recent dreams? Just these old ones that are brought up by this state?

Most of the time I remember all of my dreams, for at least a day or so after they happen. But when I experience this I recall dreams from months or years ago. The most recent being one where I was using an old style boombox as a Nerf gun. I must have had that dream two or three years ago. An insignificant dream to me, so it's odd that it would be recalled.

I could probably easily fall asleep from that state, but so far I haven't had any luck inducing hypnagogic hallucinations. I haven't found the key to tricking my body to fall asleep before the mind yet.

reply to post by Morgenstern89



Hm...it's tricky but I have done it a few times before. I can't really explain how. I can usually do that when I'm kind of forcing myself to get some more sleep like in the mornings. Your body will feel tingly or have a 'rocking' sensation. I just try and 'enforce' the rocking and soon I was able to push myself out of my body, I have a set of CD's by Robert Bruce that play certain tones that are supposed to help you fall into that state. I haven't practiced with them too much yet.

reply to post by Morgenstern89


that Nerf gun dream may have a lot more meaning than you are giving it.
Maybe it's not so strange that your subconscious picked that one, as easily accessable?

Are You stressed?

the little you said about your dream reminded me of the early 90's. Those were my most happy times. I want to go back. Do you??

As to the post above this. Robert Bruce IS the man. He taught me (through one of his books) how to control energy and get out of body. He is definitely someone to look into about weird states of consciousness. It was called "Astral Dynamics." Very good book.

reply to post by Dustytoad


Oh yeah. I've considered the meaning behind the dreams I've recalled, and I'm sure you are right as far as that interpretation goes. I was a kid then, they were surely happier times.

On a side note, I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on the OBE process. I started a thread about it here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...


reply to post by queenannie38


I've tried to experiment with that state of mind right after waking as well. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person where when I'm awake, I'm awake. I won't move, open my eyes, etc, but it yields nothing. I think it's just because at that point I'm so rested that I have almost zero groggy feeling left. I have the most luck experimenting at night. But it's a fine line between feeling like you are in an altered state and then slipping off into sleep. But I practice none the less