Thank you for taking the first step towards a meaningful Dreaming life - here are a few ways you can start to approach the Dreams. If you’d like to ask any questions about this, or about working with me around your Dreams, then please get in touch.
Decide that you are going to start a Dream practice, say it out loud. Your unconscious places, your Dreaming self, will already be aware that you have become curious about your Dreams, and your communication to these places is really important. Make a conscious intention that you are going to be in relationship to your Dreams, in a new and important way. Say it out loud!
Dream Journal. Get yourself a dedicated Dream journal. This can be something super ornate, or something really simple. The most important thing is that you like it, and that you can write in it.
Prepare to receive a Dream.
Have a pen and paper, or voice notes on your phone, within easy reach in the night, or when you wake in the morning. Again, the message to your Dreaming self is that you are ready to receive some Dream material, and that you are paying attention. You can get special pens with lights on them, which are good if you don't sleep alone, and you'd rather not wake your partner. I prefer voice notes on my phone, because I can mumble into them without waking myself up too much. In the morning I transfer my Dreams into written form.
Before you finally shut your eyes, remind yourself that you are going to pay attention when you wake. So even if you get nothing in the morning, no memories of Dreams, make a deal to write something, like “this morning I didn’t remember anything, but I will be ready tonight just the same” Or if you just get a tiny fragment, like “ There was a balloon on the floor” or even “something was yellow” then write that down too.
How to record the Dream
Write in your book or speak into your voice notes. Try to use the present tense, it keeps the Dream more vivid and more embodied. It keeps you IN the experience of the Dream. For example…
“I was stood in the playground, it was raining..” is way less alive than “I'm stood in the playground, it's raining”
If you do use your phone voice notes, make sure you write the Dream down when you’ve got up, it's important to actually honour it in this way. Often more details come. Don't try to analyse anything at all, just get down what happened.
The Dream feelings
Try to get the feelings that you remember down too. An example of this would be
“I'm stood in the playground, its raining, I feel lonely”
Try to be specific about the feelings use your imagination. So for example don't write "scared" when you feel "gloomy", or don't write "happy" when you feel like a "sense of belonging'. Try to be specific. Some Dreams are not heavy with feeling, but they are visually detailed, so don’t worry what kind of Dream it is, just capture what you have, and know that it's a good Dream. They all are!
Journaling details.
When you’ve finished writing, title and date the Dream. This is useful for lots of reasons, but when titling the Dream, try to put something imaginative and vivid, not analytical. Even if you feel like the burning down house is something to do with your annoying family, give it a title like
"Raging orange fire in my home” rather than “My family are making me angry”
That stuff can come later, and the vivid story-like title really helps recall and embodiment when you want to go back in there later.
Release any judgement about your Dream.
Often we attach a value to a Dream - this is a GOOD Dream, but this is a BAD Dream... Maybe we think our Dreams are chaotic, or dull, or too much, or too little. Try not to attach a value to your Dreams at all, and just be very happy to receive them as they arrive. With this type of work, receiving the images with curiosity and enjoyment is really key to building the relationship. Much like a small child who loves to be noticed, listened to and welcomed, our Dreams and our unconscious images are the same way.