medications

It is my understanding that It depends on the medication. If it affects your consciousness in a significant way, like a strong sedative, it could have some effect or make dream recall more difficult.

Just to be clear, your health should be a priority, so I'm not advising you to discard medication without consulting your physician. If you're having some standard trouble with falling asleep, perhaps there are more natural ways to deal with that. If you can't fall asleep until you're very exhausted, that exhaustion can actually push you into a deep sleep, after which it is hard to recall dreams.

However, the biggest problem with remembering dreams is the lack of awareness in daily life. We're just not conscious enough of what we're doing, feeling and thinking in any given moment. So, if you're more focused and aware during the day, you'll remember more dreams. If not, we're sucked in by the subconscious and it is very difficult to remember any dreams.

All the best,
Matija

Hi,

Did the same doctor give you all three medications?
If it were me, I would want a 2nd and even 3rd opinion because too many doctors today push unecessary drugs on people just to milk the insurance company.

Hello,

Yes, taking medications for sleep can affect internal state and therefore dream remembrance.

If you are interested about natural ways to fall asleep easily, in my understanding, they are mostly about learning to relax.

Having a nice walk outside, opening windows and getting tons of fresh air, doing light physical exercises, especially for lower back, neck, shoulders and face areas, stretching, calming rate of breathing, investigating locations of tension in the body and exploring how to release it...all of it can help.
Definitely techniques of concentration can be very helpful too because they can calm the mind and emotions, which are great contributing factors to muscular tension and insomnia.

All the best!

Hi all, glad to see this topic.

"However, the biggest problem with remembering dreams is the lack of awareness in daily life. We're just not conscious enough of what we're doing, feeling and thinking in any given moment. So, if you're more focused and aware during the day, you'll remember more dreams. If not, we're sucked in by the subconscious and it is very difficult to remember any dreams."

From the little time I've spent trying to achieve a significant level of awareness that lasts (a week or more), I've found that intervals of high awareness will not guarantee a non-"total black out" sleep (I didn't attempt raom gaom though). It seems to me, that in cases like mine, the egos are such that it matters very much what one does with high awareness intervals. For example one might glance at ones detremental habit to use a faulty microwave everyday. If the glance is such that ideas like investigating alternatives come, and are left alone, then maybe the student has earned some conscous, rather than simple black-out insight.

I'm off to sleep now. I'll try and write more soon.

peace

Hi Asim.

Awareness really needs to be done consciously and it needs to be done a lot to make a difference, if it is mental (simply blocking out thoughts, emotions, etc.) or forced, it'll barely scratch the surface. I had days where I thought I was very aware and felt good about it, yet I couldn't remember a single dream nor gained any real benefit from it.

Another issue, which I haven't mentioned in my previous post, is the quantity of the free consciousness. Most people have 3% of consciousness, so their capacity to have clear and lucid dreams has its limits, it is heavily limited by 97% of subconsciousness we carry within us.

All the best,
Matija

"Having a nice walk outside, opening windows and getting tons of fresh air, doing light physical exercises, especially for lower back, neck, shoulders and face areas, stretching, calming rate of breathing, investigating locations of tension in the body and exploring how to release it...all of it can help."

Thanks Vadim, I've begun to look into some of these. Now there is a greater chance I'll be prepared for the SD introspective exercises this session, and also to not have to use mild anti-anxiety medication in phases of high mental activity.

Asim

"Awareness really needs to be done consciously and it needs to be done a lot to make a difference, if it is mental (simply blocking out thoughts, emotions, etc.) or forced, it'll barely scratch the surface. I had days where I thought I was very aware and felt good about it, yet I couldn't remember a single dream nor gained any real benefit from it."

That's really good to know Matija, however, I'm kinda awestruck by what I've already seen. I owe a lot of dept to some family members and its not right that I ask many things that support the awareness practise of them; things such as eating with the television turned of or at least not having inherently ego feeding content. I think doing something for the introspective exercises will serve both ends to a good degree (boost awareness, improve relations).

Thanks, Asim.

It's really good you're seeing all of that.

No, I don't think you should ask that of your family members just like that. Those situations will bring up many egos from within, so it is a good idea to use the opportunity for self-exploration instead.

Just be careful you're not getting involved in something just to bring up egos, because that'll feed them and make it more difficult to be aware. Just try to be as conscious as possible.

All the best,
Matija