03/14/2024
How do I remember my dreams? I often hear from people that they hardly ever remember their dreams. If that sounds like you, here's a list of ways to remember your dreams.
1. Keep a notebook and pen at your bedside. Select a notebook that is visually pleasing or that has special meaning to you in order to emphasize the value you place on your dreams.
2. Write the dream in the present tense as if it is occurring now. This will make the dream more vivid and assist with recall.
3. Write as much descriptive detail as possible, taking into account all of your senses. Paying attention to detail will assist with recall as well as provide important information for dream work.
4. Write whatever you remember: a fragment, a feeling, a fleeting image. Whatever you record will contribute to constructing the habit of remembering your dreams. In addition, dream fragments can be plenty to work with in dream work.
5. Before falling asleep, imagine writing a dream in your notebook.
6. As you go to sleep, tell yourself you will remember a dream when you wake up.
7. If you wake up in the night and remember a dream, write it down then. If you do not write it down, you probably will not remember it in the morning. If you are too tired, write at least a few sentences or phrases that will jog your memory in the morning when you are ready to write the entire dream down.
8. Try to avoid jarring alarm clocks. Weekends and days off are good times to remember your dreams. Purchase an alarm clock that wakes you up gently.
9. When you wake up, stay in the same physical position instead of jumping out of bed. Allow time for memories of the dream to emerge.
10. Try waking up in the middle of the night. Use a gentle alarm clock to wake you or drink a lot of liquids before going to bed. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when we do most of our dreaming, occurs most often in the latter half of our sleep time.
11. If you do not remember a dream when you wake up, write down your feelings, thoughts and experience. The act of just writing reinforces your intent to remember your dreams. Also, taking the time to write your experience may serve to trigger the memory of a dream.
12. Often, events during the day will trigger the memory of a dream. Record the dream when you remember it. Do not wait until later to write it down, as you may forget it by then.
13. If you do not remember your dreams, have a dialogue with a missing dream. This can often uncover resistances you have to remembering your dreams and reinforce your resolve to remember your dreams. This dialogue can be done in writing or as a Gestalt empty chair experiment.
14. Title your dreams. Make the title as descriptive as possible. This will help with recall and is especially helpful if you have little time and will have to wait until later to record it fully. This will also help with finding the dream in your notebook and with identifying different themes in your dreams.
Alternatives to writing down your dreams:
1. You may use a recording device. You can go back to the recording later and write in you dream notebook.
2. You may tell your dream to your partner when you awake in the morning, then later write it down.
3. You can tell your dream to a spiritual being or teacher or other trusted being who may be represented by an image, sculpture or other object, then later write it down.
