Lucid Dream Journal Tricks & Tips

Ask any advanced lucid dreamer what the most important step in lucd dreaming is and they will most likely tell you that "you need to be able to remember your dreams". If you can't remember you had a lucid dream, well, then what's the point?

The best way to start remembering your dreams is to start a dream journal or diary.
I have discussed dream journals previously, but I think beginners really need to get on this. I thought I would share some tips, tricks, and tools that have helped many dreamers to remember their dreams so they can be awake while dreaming.


The first dream journal trick is to USE KEYWORDS.
Use keywords when you are recording your dreams and only write what is most important. Dreams fade quickly, so put descriptive terms or short phrases to help you remember as much of the whole story as possible. You don't want to wake up too much unless you must get to school, work, etc. You can always attempt a WILD if it's the morning and you have no other obligations. Come back to the dream detail later when your actually ready to get up (the keywords will help you remember dream details).

The second lucid dream tip is to get a pen that lights up so that you don't have to turn on a light or move to write down your dreams. You can get a great inexpensive pen light at amazon that has a green led built in and is not bright enough to wake you.

The third trick is to get a hard copy note book keep it under your pillow while you sleep. By doing this you are much more likely to write your dreams because the book is in easy reach--plus your subconscious realizes the importance of this (it's right under your head, it must be important!)

The final lucid dream journal tip is: don't use a notebook at all.
Many of us have smart phones or digital recorders that allow us to record our voice into a digital audio format. This tip is great because it allows you to remain still after you wake up from a dream, and not have to write anything down. You can also upload and catalog all of your dreams on to your computer (think iTunes) so you can search through them by keyword or title.

Hopefully these tools, tips and tricks will help you get to remember when you are lucid dreaming.

Increase Dream Recall in one step

This simple technique could help you immensely!

This technique has been reported to; Increase dream recall dramatically as well as increasing chances of having lucid dreams.
You should have at least one lucid dream in one week if done everyday, works very well.

Simple tools needed:

• Fresh new notebook.

Now all that is required is for you to do a free association writing (write whatever comes to mind, nonsensical or not) session for 5-20 min (15 is perfect) every night before sleeping.
When you wake up do another free association session for the same amount of time, if you remember a dream make sure you record it first.

Try this for a week or two and see your results, every report I have seen has had great results.
I hope you enjoy your lucidity.

DILD via Dream Signs

I'm now going to give an example of the using Dream Signs you have collected to help you have your first Lucid Dream.
First things first; You should have at least a weeks worth of dreams in your dream diary and the more the better. Okay get out your Dream Journal and go through every dream entry looking for obscure or strange things that could only happen in your dreams (or for the most part).

For example; I have a dream where I am in a field and I have a metal baseball bat and there are cinder blocks on pikes all around me and I know I'm supposed to smash them and well, usually, I do.
I seem very angry and want to destroy them very much.

And another one I have I'm in a house that is haunted or something and cooking things float around in the kitchen allot. I'm frightened and excited.
My last dream is very vague as it's new and not lucid (as well) as I been having non-lucid dreams as to try to go through the whole process to get a good beginners view.

These are not the best examples for dream signs but they will work.
So some of my dream signs could be to:

• Do a Reality check every time I feel angry or feel destructive.
• Anytime I see a baseball bat or cinder block (even in buildings walls, be creative if possible) I do a Reality check.
• Anytime I'm in a field, forest or open area I would do a Reality check.
• Anytime I feel afraid or excited
• Anytime I enter or leave a kitchen.
• Anytime I hear or think about hunting's or ghosts, or see something related to that I would do a Reality check.

Next up the WBTB (wake back to bed) technique if you haven't had a Lucid dream yet then this could be the best way to get you lucid tonight. (coming tomorrow night ;)

Dream Diary / Journal

A Dream Journal/Diary is simply a notebook (or digital counter-part) that you keep a recording of all your dreams and Dream Signs, I myself use a standard school notebook (composition book) with 152 pages (I have many filled now) and I write all my dreams on the RIGHT hand side of the page; on the LEFT side of the page I leave blank for more information that might come to me later (you know when you remember a dream half-way through the day) or for drawing images or dream signs or other things I need to draw out or remember in detail.
there are many online dream journals that serve this purpose and I will list a few of the ones I find useful in the next post, but I usually use a hardcopy, not a digital one.
I layout my Dream Journal roughly like the mock-up I made below:

• Date: Always put the date on the page so you can keep track of when you had a dream.
  
• Zzz: is the short hand I use for The time I lie down to go to sleep this doesn't have to be exact, just a rough guess.
• Alarm: If I set an alarm I write that time there if not I put none.
• Below that on the right I put my dream.
• On the left I draw images (badly) and write out dream signs, and anything else I notice or remember after I have written down my initial dream thought/feelings/memorys.
  

More to come...

Dream Signs

Dreams signs are what I preluded to in the last post, dream signs are basically strange things that you remember from your dreams and then make note of and associate them with dreaming. By doing this you will have your very own personalized Reality Check (RC) checklist after time; this may become more of a running commentary for some, and for others it might be a short list... or a huge list of somewhat constant Dream Signs.
Below is a short list of Dream Signs (DS) but remember they are mostly different for everyone so only use these as example:

• Your in school again, even though you graduated or changed schools.
• Spending time with your deceased *insert relative/friend*.
• Flying (with out technology, not just comfortably via commercial airline)
• Being in another time (past usually).
• Being at the airport, train-station, North Pole, Mars, Atlantis, etc.
  
• Being somewhere you have never been (and aren't currently "out of town").
• Breathing underwater.
• Falling.
• Waking up.

There are millions more, but the ones that matter are the ones you have.
If you have any re-occurring dreams or dream elements turn them into
Dream Signs.
The best way to do this is to record ALL your dreams so you can find out
all of your dreams and dream themes in order for you to learn your Dream Signs,
and if you have trouble remembering your dreams then this is the tool...

-werole