Post by Jane on Feb 20, 2010 18:44:34 GMT -5
Here are some psychological and scientific theories as to why we may forget our dreams:
Why we dream..
Apart from psychology and science, i agree with the following statement: "I believe that dreaming serves several functions and one of the most interesting is the spiritual one. Our self is constantly working towards integration and health on all levels. When we are dreaming I believe that unencumbered with our physical body and far away from the business of everyday life, we can more easily connect with our energy bodies, our higher self, our spirit guides and universal energy.
We can access information that we would not normally be able to in our ordinary waking state. The exception to this is the meditative state which also enables connection to the subtler parts of ourselves and universal energies. "
Recalling dreams..
(from an article)
Getting enough sleep at night is essential to improving your ability to recall your dreams. As long as you’re well rested you’ll find it easier to focus your intent on recalling your dreams and your ambition won’t be clouded by fatigue. Also, if you’re able to get plenty of sleep during the night you won’t mind waking up repeatedly to record your dreams—and that’s exactly what you’ll have to do. Finally, as discussed in the section on stages of sleep, the REM periods get longer during the latter hours of sleep; thus sleeping for longer periods will give you more of an opportunity to awaken from your dreams and remember them, and will also give you more information to record.
A dependable dream recall will help in many ways, so it’s important that you don’t develop it in a half-hearted manner. Simply waking up in the morning and trying to recall the dreams you had throughout the course of the night is not enough. During the night you will have many different dreams—at least one per REM period of sleep. The brain tends to erase memories of the previous dream during the intermediate stages between REM sleep. Thus, to salvage the memories of your dreams you’ll need to awake during the REM periods, while the dreams are still fresh in your mind. To become proficient with dream recall you’ll need to be able to recall a few dreams per night. Losing a night here and there to stress or anxiety is understandable, but be careful not to fall into a rut. Awaking during or shortly after REM periods is tricky, but there are a couple methods to aid in this. The first method simply involves attempting to time your awakening via an alarm clock so that you’ll awake during a REM period. As discussed in the section on stages of sleep, the REM periods occur roughly every 90 minutes. Aiming for the latter REM periods (about 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours into sleep) is best because those are the longest dream periods. The second method is similar but not as easy to regulate: drink a lot of water before going to bed…
To be able to eventually control your dreams you’re going to have to focus your intent on doing so. Therefore a better method of recalling your dreams is to focus your intent on remembering them before falling asleep, since this will prepare you for eventually attempting to control your dreams. You must be determined in your resolve and you should attempt to prevent extraneous thoughts from attenuating your intent. Verbally stating your desire to remember your dreams while falling asleep is the best way to accomplish this. It may sound silly but all you really need to do is talk yourself into remembering your dreams. Our minds are powerful instruments and even though it may seem that we lose control of them when we enter sleep, that does not at all have to be the case. Focus your intent to awake from your dreams and remember them just before you lie down, and continue to repeat your intent to yourself as you approach sleep. Repeat to yourself over and over, “I will awake from my dreams and completely remember them.” If you find your thoughts wandering as you slip into sleep, reaffirm your intent. You want your last thought before drifting off to sleep to be of your intent to awaken from your dreams and remember them.
Hope this helps
- When it comes to dream recall, Freud’s theory of repression is by far the most well known. In his book The Interpretation of Dreams, he argues that all dream content is a product of wish fulfillment. So when we don’t remember certain aspects of a dream, it’s our brain’s way of blocking out wishes or longings that we’re not emotionally equipped to handle. Freud also believed that a lack of dream recall signals repression as a form of self-preservation—our brains don’t want us remember certain content because it’s simply too traumatic. And, of course (this is Freud we’re discussing, after all), he felt that most repression (and dream symbols in general) are rooted in sexual desires.
- The Mind in Sleep: Psychology and Psychophysiology mentions dream kinesthesia as a potential suspect. It happens when we lose the physical movements in our sleep as soon as we physically move after waking up (such as when we reach for the alarm clock). Another possibility is that our memories are formed through repetition and finding connections to other parts of our lives. So when dreams are especially unique (read: crazy) or too undefined to be relatable, it’s harder to tie them to real-life events and remember them.
- A 2009 Scientific American article entitled “A ‘Complex’ Theory of Consciousness” explores what happens to our thoughts when we sleep. The author, Christof Koch, points out the incongruity between our brains’ being so active during REM sleep (the deep-sleep stage in our sleep cycles) and only vaguely recalling dream details when we awaken, plus the fact that nerve operation doesn’t differ much during that stage from “quiet wakefulness.” However, the brain waves that roll through during deep sleep may impede information processing. This is a more scientific approach to the brain-recall conundrum, but like the other theories, it’s but one possibility of many.
- Unless we are woken up during REM sleep and asked to specifically remember our dreams, we normally tend to forget our dreams, especially the earlier REM dreams. Those that spontaneously remember dreams in the mornings only remember the most recent ones… Dreams are normally illogical, chaotic and unmemorable, and therefore not startling enough to be retained. A frightening nightmare is a different story altogether, because we are woken up by the nightmare at that moment.
Why we dream..
Apart from psychology and science, i agree with the following statement: "I believe that dreaming serves several functions and one of the most interesting is the spiritual one. Our self is constantly working towards integration and health on all levels. When we are dreaming I believe that unencumbered with our physical body and far away from the business of everyday life, we can more easily connect with our energy bodies, our higher self, our spirit guides and universal energy.
We can access information that we would not normally be able to in our ordinary waking state. The exception to this is the meditative state which also enables connection to the subtler parts of ourselves and universal energies. "
Recalling dreams..
(from an article)
Getting enough sleep at night is essential to improving your ability to recall your dreams. As long as you’re well rested you’ll find it easier to focus your intent on recalling your dreams and your ambition won’t be clouded by fatigue. Also, if you’re able to get plenty of sleep during the night you won’t mind waking up repeatedly to record your dreams—and that’s exactly what you’ll have to do. Finally, as discussed in the section on stages of sleep, the REM periods get longer during the latter hours of sleep; thus sleeping for longer periods will give you more of an opportunity to awaken from your dreams and remember them, and will also give you more information to record.
A dependable dream recall will help in many ways, so it’s important that you don’t develop it in a half-hearted manner. Simply waking up in the morning and trying to recall the dreams you had throughout the course of the night is not enough. During the night you will have many different dreams—at least one per REM period of sleep. The brain tends to erase memories of the previous dream during the intermediate stages between REM sleep. Thus, to salvage the memories of your dreams you’ll need to awake during the REM periods, while the dreams are still fresh in your mind. To become proficient with dream recall you’ll need to be able to recall a few dreams per night. Losing a night here and there to stress or anxiety is understandable, but be careful not to fall into a rut. Awaking during or shortly after REM periods is tricky, but there are a couple methods to aid in this. The first method simply involves attempting to time your awakening via an alarm clock so that you’ll awake during a REM period. As discussed in the section on stages of sleep, the REM periods occur roughly every 90 minutes. Aiming for the latter REM periods (about 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours into sleep) is best because those are the longest dream periods. The second method is similar but not as easy to regulate: drink a lot of water before going to bed…
To be able to eventually control your dreams you’re going to have to focus your intent on doing so. Therefore a better method of recalling your dreams is to focus your intent on remembering them before falling asleep, since this will prepare you for eventually attempting to control your dreams. You must be determined in your resolve and you should attempt to prevent extraneous thoughts from attenuating your intent. Verbally stating your desire to remember your dreams while falling asleep is the best way to accomplish this. It may sound silly but all you really need to do is talk yourself into remembering your dreams. Our minds are powerful instruments and even though it may seem that we lose control of them when we enter sleep, that does not at all have to be the case. Focus your intent to awake from your dreams and remember them just before you lie down, and continue to repeat your intent to yourself as you approach sleep. Repeat to yourself over and over, “I will awake from my dreams and completely remember them.” If you find your thoughts wandering as you slip into sleep, reaffirm your intent. You want your last thought before drifting off to sleep to be of your intent to awaken from your dreams and remember them.
Hope this helps