Have you ever woken up and wondered what a dream meant? Maybe you’ve had a certain feeling after a dream? Dreams give us amazing insight into our bodies and our minds. Therefore, dream journals are so successful and have so many benefits.
They let you write, evaluate and dive deeper into your dreams, into your internal feelings, problems and thoughts.
When we lay our heads down at night and have a good night’s sleep. We always dream.
Some people think they do not dream. But this is not correct. They often just don’t remember their dreams. Dream recall is often very hard for people! A dream journal or dream diary is a great place for you to record your dreams. You may be thinking, how do I start a dream diary? Or how do I keep an effective dream journal? Well, there are some simple steps you can take. Here are some effective ways to get started with dream journaling and how to be successful at it!
Find the Right Dream Journal/Diary
There are many choices when you search for a dream diary. You will find guided dream diaries with templates and prompts. You will find open-ended dream journals with space for you to just record your dreams. I find the more guided dream diary or the ones with dream analysis prompts worked best for me!
Once you have found the right dream journal online or in the store. You will want to put it right next to your bed. You should dream journal as soon as you wake up. Before looking at your cellphone or getting out of bed. You’ll see in the next steps how to make this simple in the morning before getting up! Starting this routine is the first step in effective dream journaling.
Develop Your Dream Recall
The best way to develop dream recall is to write your dreams down. This is where dream journals or dream diaries can really help! Every day as soon as you wake up, think as hard as you can about your dreams the night before. Some prefer using a voice recorder on their phone over writing in the morning. But don’t skip the journaling part! You want to record everything in your dream journal even if it is later in the day.
The format of the dream does not matter.
The goal during dream recall is to just record everything you remember before it slips away.
Even something as simple as “dreamt about balloons.” is a great successful start. You will record more details later. Do not analyze the dream until after you have written it down.
This journal is completely private. It is for your eyes only unless you want to share. In your dream log, write keywords from your dream and the overall feeling of the dream. You can build upon these further and go into more detail. This will help you when working to become more effective in your dream journal.
If you struggle with remembering your dream, set the intention before bed that you will remember. Remember my first suggestion. Place your notebook and pen/pencil next to your bed. With time and patience, this will improve. Developing this next step will help you in successfully keeping a dream journal easily.
Start Using Dream Interpretation or Dream Analysis
To start your dream analysis, you will want to find a dream dictionary. I went to the same two dictionaries every single time. Two popular dream dictionary sites are Dream Moods and Aunty Flo. Keeping it to one or two dream dictionaries is important when keeping an easy and successful dream diary. You do not want to be looking at seven different websites and seven different symbol meanings. It will easily become overwhelming and may cause you to leave the idea of dream analysis behind.
You’ll notice that some symbols in dreams can have more than one meaning. I always used intuition. When doing this, pick the meaning that makes the most sense. If you don’t feel you can accurately pick the correct symbol using intuition, write them both down! This process is about trust. It is your dream journal after all. When you dig into the symbols found in your dream, you will really see the benefits of a dream journal. Making it easier to continue using one!
Analyzing your dreams may seem like an enormous task to take on. But it is quite simple to start and even easier to keep up with if you follow the simple pieces of advice from this article. I hope you have fun discovering your dreams! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @thecalmishteacher for more information about dream journaling, self care and more!
Still need a place to write your dream analysis?
Check out my guided dream journal!
