How to improve your ability to remember dreams

In order to understand how we improve the ability to remember dreams and the process of dreaming, it is important to lay out what a dream actually is. According to research, during a dream, your brain activates new learning experiences as a way of reorganising information in our memory. 

The scientific community has not been able to find a single motivation for the ability to remember dreams. Some factors that impact this ability include but are not limited to diet, stress, previous trauma, medication, and sleep disorders.

Dreams usually take place during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase. The first phase of REM typically begins around 90 minutes after you fall asleep and will only last around 10 minutes. However, most people will have numerous REM phases throughout each sleep, and they will be longer for each one that you have.

Whilst most dreams do occur during the REM phase of sleep, it also causes our brain to halt the process associated with long-term memory storage. Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D., suggests that there is not enough time for your brain to process a dream you’ve just enjoyed during the REM phase. Furthermore, Scientific American has insisted that the body produces near-zero levels of memory-related neurotransmitters during sleep, which makes it increasingly difficult to remember the details of your dreams.

Ways to improve your ability to remember dreams

Whilst remembering dreams is difficult for most people, there are methods to help improve the ability to recall them. It will come to no surprise that there is little you can do to improve your memory of a dream whilst you are asleep. However, there are decisions you can make before and after sleep that can aid with dream remembrance:

Set a steady sleep schedule

It is very important to ensure that you get enough sleep in your day-to-day life. However, what you might not know is that having a regular and good sleep schedule can help your ability to remember details of your dreams. This is because quality sleep ensures that each stage of sleep has a suitable duration. By following the rules of sleep hygiene - the most important being having a well-defined routine - it is possible to increase the chances of recalling one's dream experiences.

Avoiding drugs or alcohol

It will come to no surprise that alcohol and drugs have negative effects on your sleep and ability to remember dreams. These act as depressants to your nervous system, and it can lead to bad quality sleep, especially if you become dependent on these in order to fall asleep.

Attempt to recall your dreams as soon as you wake up

Usually, you will only be able to remember the last dream you had before waking up. You can help yourself remember the dream by waking up and instantly trying to remember as much about the dream as possible.

Think it through from start to finish. This needs to be done before you think of anything else, or you will begin to remember less and less about your dream. Scientific American suggests that we forget almost all of our last dream minutes after waking up, and it is often suggested that we usually forget 50% of our last dream 5 minutes after waking up and 90% is forgotten 10 minutes after waking up. 

Keep a dream journal

After you have awoken from your dream, try to write down as much as you can remember in a journal or notebook. Focusing on the main factors of the dream will help you remember it, such as the location, the basic plot, the characters, the emotions of the dream, and any prominent images.

Any dialogue that you can remember from the dream should be noted first, as that is the part that is forgotten the easiest. Overtime, you will have built up a record of all of your dreams and you should be able to remember more each time.

Tell someone about your dream 

Similarly to writing the details of your dream down on paper, it is also very helpful to tell someone about your dream as soon as possible. Reciting the details of a dream to another person can help you unlock even more details that you may have forgotten. It keeps your brain thinking of the dream, which improves your ability to remember it. If you keep it to yourself, there is a higher probability of you forgetting your dream.

Although there is no guarantee, if you follow these methods, you may find that you begin to remember more about each dream.