How to Get Vivid Dreams

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: June 25, 2022 References

Everybody dreams. Dreams are a product of our minds trying to make sense of the past day's thoughts and experiences. The brain never truly shuts off while we sleep.^{[1]
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Research source} The only problem is that dreams are easily forgotten about.^{[2]
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Research source} Dreaming vividly, then, is not so much about the dreaming itself as training yourself to remember the experience of it. Actively recalling your dreams is difficult at first, but once you get into the habit of recording and analyzing dreams, you'll begin to experience them more vividly than before.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Preparing Yourself Before Bed

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Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Your ability to recall dreams vividly will improve considerably if you're falling asleep and waking up at the same times roughly each day. It can be tough to make a solid routine work against a busy life schedule, but it will help boost the potential of your REM cycles.^{[3]
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- Dreaming occurs during the REM cycle of sleeping.^{[4]
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  Trustworthy Source
  Cleveland Clinic
  Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
  Go to source}
2
Take a melatonin supplement. Melatonin is widely recognized as an ingredient that promotes healthy sleep and vivid dreaming.^{[5]
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Research source} Melatonin supplements are commonly recommended as a way for people to get better sleep if it's something they struggle with.^{[6]
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Trustworthy Source
Cleveland Clinic
Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
Go to source} It's recommended you take one half an hour before going to bed each night in order to ensure your best possible sleep.^{[7]
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- Melatonin can be found naturally in certain foods. Cherries, sunflower seeds, flax seeds and almonds are a few of the go-to foods with a high melatonin supply.^{[8]
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  Trustworthy Source
  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
  Go to source}
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3
Think about dreaming. The act itself of contemplating dreaming may encourage dreams once you fall asleep. The simple act of reading this wikiHow article may set the stage for dreaming. Having thoughts of vivid and lucid dreaming can help you think about the consciousness and experience of dreaming. This is a big help if you're trying to dream lucidly.^{[9]
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- As a general rule, the most vivid dreams you have will be lucid. This is not because lucid dreams are naturally more vivid, but because lucid dreams are more easily remembered.^{[10]
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  Trustworthy Source
  Cleveland Clinic
  Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
  Go to source}
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Give yourself periodic reality checks. Throughout the day, you should take a minute to stop and ask yourself whether you're dreaming or not. This is called a reality check, and making a habit of this thought can help increase lucidity while you dream. Make a point of doing it at different times throughout a day before you intend on dreaming.^{[11]
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Trustworthy Source
PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
Go to source}
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Sleep peacefully. There's a lot to suggest that the best sleeps for dreaming are the ones where there's little to no distraction in your surroundings. This includes making sure your sleeping space is relatively dark, and hopefully seeing to it that you won't be woken up by anything unexpected. Of course, it is difficult to ensure anything while you're asleep for several hours at a stretch, but doing what you can to make your sleeping space comfortable and clutter free can help you with dream recall.^{[12]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Guiding Your Dreams

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Listen to music while sleeping. Although total quiet works best for some people while sleeping, vivid dreamers often report having the best dreams while listening to music.^{[13]
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Research source} The music should be ambient. That way, your higher order brain functions won't be so distracted by what's happening in the music. There are certain musical works that are specifically intended for sleep and lucid dreaming. Robert Rich's six hour Somnium is a good piece of ambient music for dreaming.^{[14]
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Research source} Max Richter's eight hour-long Sleep is another piece that may improve the vividness of the dreams you have while listening to it.^{[15]
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Set your alarm to wake you up during REM.^{[16]
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Research source} Dreaming takes place during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep. Most sleep cycles are similar, and you may be able to predict at what point you'll be at this stage. Try setting your alarm clock to go off 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours after you go to sleep. This will rouse you awake at a point where the dream is either happening or still fresh in your mind.
- Some people find the annoying sound of an alarm distracts them from remembering. If you aren't having luck with an alarm, try waking up without an alarm.^{[17]
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- If you'll be sleeping around someone who will be awake during one of your REM stages (such as a roommate), you could ask that they wake you up instead of an alarm.
- Light-based alarms will wake you up with light rather than sound. This is generally a gentler way to wake up, and may make it easier to recall your dreams.
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Pay attention to details. Dreams become far more vivid when you allow yourself to focus in on details in the dream. Without reining in on details, the memory of the dream becomes clouded, and large chunks of information are lost. If you're in a room with a clock for example, try to look in on the clock and check the time. Many people actually report specific times on a clock being jumbled and unclear. Even if this doesn't give you a clear bit of info, the experience of seeing something off-beat like this will help you to become more lucid.^{[18]
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- Even if you aren't able to actively recall this step while you're dreaming, thinking about doing it a lot while you're awake should increase your chances of making it happen while you dream.
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Identify your personal dream signs. The hunt for dream signs (repeatable signs that indicate you're dreaming) involves recording after you wake up as much as a keen eye during the dream. Although you won't identify these signs easily at first, the more you get into a habit of actively dreaming, the more often you'll be able to experience these dreams.^{[19]
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- Dream signs include contorted mirror, and the experience of one's teeth falling out.
5
Remind yourself you're dreaming. Lucidity happens when the dreamer realizes he is dreaming. This happens because the dreamer has consciously reminded himself that he's in a dream. This can be a scary or pleasant realization depending on what you're feeling. If you're having a lucid dream, it's more likely that you'll remember the dream in greater detail. This will result in a more vivid memory of the dream.
- Reminding yourself you're dreaming won't be easy unless you have experience and knowledge of your dream signs already.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Recording Your Dreams

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Keep a dream journal. Dreams are a very personal experience, and a lot of the necessary research is going to have to be done by you alone. By recording a dream journal, you'll be able to look back in weeks and months of past dreams and remember them more clearly. More importantly, by getting into a regular habit of writing down your dreams, you're training your mind to better recall your dreaming.^{[20]
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- Writing your dream interpretation can happen in the morning once you write down the dream, or later on once you've had some time to collect your thoughts.
- It's important to do this as soon as possible after you wake up. The longer you go without it, the more likely you are to forget the dream. This is why it's recommended to keep a notepad next to your bed for this purpose.
2
Remind yourself to remember. When you first wake up in the morning, you should try to get into the habit of making your first act trying to remember what it was you dreamt about. Although dreaming may not be the first thing that's normally on your mind when you first wake up in the morning, reminding yourself every morning to do this will eventually catch on.^{[21]
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- Even if you're not able to catch all of the dream's events at once, getting the basic idea of it remembered at the start of your day will make it possible to remember smaller details throughout the rest of your day.
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Offer your own interpretation. Once you've made a log citing the details and memories of a given dream, it may help to analyze it and give an interpretation. Dreams often have some bearing on feelings you have toward you waking life. It can be very therapeutic to look at these dreams and try to determine what you felt and why you felt it.
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Follow your own interpretation. There are a lot of dream journals and similar outlets that offer concrete explanations for different images and icons in dreaming. Much of this is based in Freudian pseudoscience, and should be taken with a grain of salt. In matter of fact, you should try to decide what certain symbols mean to your own psyche. A cat, for example, may be seen as cute by one person, and terrifying to another. Look at dream dictionaries if you're curious, but don't take them for any absolute truth.^{[22]
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- Check out a few different dream journals if you're interested in broad interpretations and check if the interpretations match.
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Talk about your dreams. Memories become more solid when they're shared with other people. If you've had a dream about something you're comfortable with sharing with someone close, it's recommended you let them in on it. Try to recount all of the things you still remember from it.
- Don't feel guilty or judged for whatever you've dreamt. No one can help the things they dream about, and it's better to open up than to clam up about things that may be bothering you on a subconscious level.

Warnings

Not all dreams will be pleasant. If you've been worried about things lately, those fears may manifest themselves in nightmares.

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Dreams cannot be forced. If you're trying too hard to dream, you may be working against your own efforts. Let them come to you naturally.

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Some people simply can't remember dreaming. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; most dreams are unpleasant by nature, and unremembered dreaming means you're probably getting a better night's sleep than most people.^{[26]
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