Dreams come from your subconscious mind as a means of processing and sorting information. But the truth is no one really knows what causes dreams and why some folk seem to have vivid colourful dreams and others have short uneventful ones.
Dreams mainly occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REM occurs every one and a half hours during the sleep cycle. During REM the eyes move from side to side and the body is relaxed and almost incapable of movement.
Have you ever told people, “I never dream”? Well you’re wrong. The fact is everybody dreams every night. You just may not be able to remember your dreams.
Don’t worry too much if this is the case. Not remembering dreams doesn’t mean you’re abnormal or unnatural in any way. While most people do remember their dreams, the memory is fleeting and occurs mainly when the sleeper first awakens.
If you really want to be able to remember your dreams, the best way is to ‘remind yourself’ before falling asleep. This programs the subconscious mind – the source of your dreams – to hold on to the memory.
When you wake up, try and hold the dream in your mind until you have a chance to record it. The easiest way to do this is to have a notebook and pen or a personal voice recorder beside your bed, so you can write down the dream before it disappears and gets ‘buried’ by the normal thoughts and concerns of everyday life.
With a bit of practice you’ll find little snippets of your dreams beginning to reveal themselves. This procedure will also work well for those who remember occasional dreams or those who want to remember every dream they have.