In previous blog posts, here and here, we have examples explaining why dreams are important.
Dreams offer physical, mental, emotional and spiritual therapy.
If we really want to work with our dreams, we need to remember them, learn to understand them and take action to manifest our best dreams.
Recalling and sharing dreams was an essential daily practice amongst our ancestors, and the exercise bonded communities. Ancient cultures relied on dreams to provide life-saving information, such as where to find water and food and the cause of and solution for illness.
They used the highways of the mind to find the answers to their questions. They believed people who couldn’t remember their dreams or were suffering from a dream drought were actually suffering from something serious. They believed non-dreamers had lost parts of their soul as a result of illness or trauma and that recovery of the missing soul parts was vital to restore dreaming and better health. Many dreamers believe this is as true today as it was back then and use specific techniques for this situation.
Today, we rely on the highways of the internet more than we rely on the highways of the mind, so it’s no wonder we’re out of practice with dreaming, dream recall and dream recording. There are several tried and tested techniques we can apply to help with dream recall and documentation.
Record them
Just the act of documenting dreams is therapy in itself, no matter what form the documenting takes. Documenting dreams is a crucial element of working closely with dreams.
As soon as you have left the dream, if you wake up, record it. You might think that you’ll remember it in the morning, but the chances are you won’t, as new dreams can come in or you can simply forget the dream and/or document it upon waking.
To record your dreams, keep a book by your bed if you prefer to write. Alternatively, you can record them using your phone, just don’t look at the screen if you want to continue to sleep. If you record your dreams, transfer them into a book or type them up on your computer.
Keeping a dream diary is the recommendation of all ‘serious dreamers’ who work with their dreams. Start today if don’t already do this. You’ll probably find that the more you begin to record your dreams, the more you remember them and the greater the detail you recall. You might start to see patterns emerging in your dreams, recurring themes, places and characters.
If you struggle to remember the order of a dream, just start with what you remember and don’t worry too much about the order. You might find that once you’ve jotted a few things down, you recall the order of events more clearly.
Even if you remember just one thing, make a note of it.
Get creative
Instead of writing up or making a voice recording, try drawing your dream. Maybe it’s just a symbol maybe it’s a whole comic book. It can be whatever you want it to be. You might want to make something from your dream. You can even find an image for your dream and carry it with you or keep it near you, particularly to help with the manifestation of dreams.
Imagine it ‘til you make it!
If you don’t recall your dream/s, make one up upon waking. There are many benefits to this exercise in itself. You’ll stimulate your imagination, and imagination is more important than intelligence, according to Einstein. Make it fun! Maybe you remember one scene, image, smell, character, place or feeling from a dream. Trying using this as a starting point to creating a dream for yourself.
Say you remember the sea and nothing else. Write a pretend dream about what you want to dream about that involves the sea. Let your imagination run wild! It doesn’t have to be long. A paragraph can be enough to cement the image and emotional association and, therefore positive benefit. And who knows, you might dream of the sea ‘for real’ during your next sleep!
Exercise the dream muscles
The activities of dreaming, dream recall, dream documentation and dream decoding are like exercises to muscles. The more we exercise our muscles, the stronger they become, which often leads to greater enjoyment of the exercise. The more we practise working with our dreams, the stronger our dream recall becomes, and it makes documenting our dreams and decoding them swifter and easier, resulting in clearer understanding and enhancing our ability to manifest our best dreams.
Set an intention for a dream
Energy flows where attention – and intention – go.
Set an intention for a dream. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. There are many ways to do this.
To begin practising with setting intentions for dreaming, before sleep, focus on what you want to have in the dream.
It can be a person, a place, an element, an animal, or a departed loved one. Write the intention down.
We can get creative with setting intentions for dreaming. More suggestions are shared during workshops, retreats and online sessions.