Try to slow down just before bedtime and start getting your mind and body into a "conscious dreaming" state, don't simply switch off the TV and crash out. Keep a notebook by the side of your bed. Occasionally you will wake in the middle of the night with a dream still vivid in your mind. More usually, you will slowly wake in the morning with fragments of a dream still in your memory. Gently pull these fragments together in an effort to recapture the whole dream. As soon as you feel your logical every day mind take over, write down quickly what you can remember. It may be only a single image, a scene that was part of a longer story or a symbol of some kind. Whatever it is, try to put it down in words or, if it's easier, draw a quick sketch of what your minds eye can still see.
Note: Heavy eating or drinking before bed can affect dreams.
Try this exercise if you have trouble remembering your dreams. When you're in bed make your self comfortable and close your eyes. Start by focusing you attention on your breathing, notice the rise and fall of each breath, spend a couple of minutes doing this.
Next, in your mind start counting backwards from 99, do this as you breathe in and as you breathe out say to yourself " I will remember my dreams" So on every in breath, count backwards from 99, and every out breath say " I will remember my dreams"
In breath = 99
Out breath = "I will remember my dreams"
In breath = 98
Out breath = "I will remember my dreams"
And so on….
This is a powerful exercise and if you do it regularly, you will find your dreams will become more vivid and easier to remember. You may find while doing this exercise that images will pop into your mind, note theses images too, and any other sensations you experience.