The Secrets of Dream Journaling

Why Does Dream Journaling Matter?

Your dreams are a direct link to your body, mind, heart, and soul. As a result, working with them can help you realize your aspirations. They can guide you where you need to go and accelerate your spiritual growth. For people who want to get started with this process of self-discovery, dream journaling is an excellent technique that can help you understand your dreams.

What To Do Before and During Sleep

Dream journaling isn’t just something you do after sleep. In fact, you can make your dream journaling more successful and more productive by paying attention to your mental state and preparing before bed.

Focus on the Art of Dreaming

One common lament people have about their sleep is “I never remember my dreams!” Many people wake up with a blank slate, with no memories of their dreams from the night before. If you’re one of these dreamless sleepers, take note. One way to get better at recalling your dreams is to consider their importance. Seriously. Think of your dreams as children who blossom when you appreciate how valuable they are. The more you focus on dreaming as a practice, the more you will remember.

To jumpstart your recall, try immersing yourself in dreaming techniques and symbology before bed. Then, when you’re ready, try to implement these practices during your sleeping hours. Read books on dream analysis, share your dreams with your partner or a close friend, and be sure to write down anything that you do remember (more on that later).

Get Your Journaling Tools Ready

To write or to speak, that is the question. The best tools for dream journaling are a notebook and/or a smartphone (using voice-to-text or a recorder app). Although recording dreams works for some people, verbalizing a dream can be too energizing, which makes it harder to fall back to sleep if you happen to wake up in the middle of the night. Alternatively, you could record a dream, but maybe your talk-to-text didn’t understand a word you said, or your recorded words are incomprehensible when you play them back. If something goes wrong, the results might be amusing, but not very useful.

In any case, it’s important to see your dreams written down so you can review them later on, as it is a great way to track your inner growth. If you decide to write your dreams directly onto paper, keep a booklight clipped to your chosen journal. That way, you can see what you’re writing without waking your partner.

Set Your Intention To Dream

Before you fall asleep, write down your intention to recall your dream, and speak it aloud several times. After a few nights, your unconscious will get the message and present you with at least a dream fragment. Be patient. These fragments often contain important messages, and unlocking those pieces is the first step toward recalling entire dreams in detail.

Focus on What You Need From the Dream

Do you have a burning question? Do you need to resolve a problem or jumpstart your creativity? Do you need spiritual guidance? Before going to sleep, think about what you need, then write down and verbalize your intention to receive guidance from your dreams. Alternatively, you could simply ask your unconscious or your Higher Self to help you understand your life path or illuminate the next step in your personal growth.

Set an Early Alarm

If your dreams remain elusive, try setting your alarm for three to four hours after you go to bed. This increases the likelihood of you being woken up out of a full-fledged dream. The hour may feel ungodly, which is definitely a downside of this technique, but at least you’ll have a dream to work with. You can always go back to sleep afterward!

What To Do Upon Waking

Now that you know the methods and techniques to try before and during the night, it’s time to consider what to do in the morning. Once you wake up, there are several key practices that can help you maximize the benefits of dream journaling.

Capture the Details

Now, let’s say you awaken with a dream. The trick to remembering the details is to write down or record the dream immediately. This is very important. If you doze off or leap out of bed to get ready for work, you’ll probably only remember scraps of the dream when you try to document it later. That said, if you end up in that situation, those scraps can still be important, so don’t ignore them. Be sure to incorporate them into your dream journaling practice too. You may be surprised by how meaningful those dream fragments can be!

Include Your Feelings

When dream journaling, don’t just describe what happened in the dream itself. Be sure to include your feelings about the dream too! Feelings often contain the dream’s central message. Drawing dream characters, perhaps in the margins, can give you additional insight. You don’t have to be an accomplished artist — just let your creativity flow onto the page, no matter what form it takes. You may be surprised by the intriguing imagery that surfaces from your unconscious. Together, all these clues can help you understand your dream’s messages.

Analyze Your Dream

There are many dream interpretation books and websites out there. These can be great references for dream journaling if you need help. That said, while archetypal symbols certainly exist, you are still the most accurate interpreter of your own dreams. Only you can uncover the truth of what your dreams are telling you.

Upon waking, document your immediate feelings and thoughts. Ponder each person or action in the dream. Acknowledge your impressions, no matter how trivial or weird they seem. Your understanding may deepen later. Next, compare your dream to the waking world. What’s happening in your life right now? Dream journaling may help you comprehend a person or situation that was giving you difficulty. Trust those first impressions!

Dream Journaling and You

Dream journaling is an art that needs to be nurtured and practiced. If you’re consistent about documenting your dreams, they will reward you with vivid stories and characters that have deep underlying messages. By dream journaling, you can better understand how your dreams reveal who you are and where you’re going.

There’s more to your dreams than you think! That’s why a Dream Analysis Reading can get to the bottom of your dreams and discover what they have to say about your past, present, and future. Our Dream Analysis Psychics know that no two dreams are alike. Aren’t you curious about your dreams? Learn more about our psychics from real testimonials and read through our Dream Analysis Blog. Find a Dream Analysis Psychic or learn more about Dream Analysis Readings today.

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