Tips for Dream Work

What is in a dream?  Healing and growth, according to many, including Swiss Psychotherapist and Psychiatrist Carl Jung. In addition to healing and growth, dreams hold spiritual messages and the power to connect us to one another.  

In my own life, dreams have served as solace when facing tough decisions and life changes.  They have been guides to making the right choices and they’ve shown me where I need to channel my energy in my waking life.

I have worked my dreams with a trained dream worker many times, and I have worked my dreams in a dream group.  Both offer rich resources for exploration.

Some people don’t understand the meaning of their dreams and write them off as strange or disconnected; others fear that they don’t dream or would never be able to remember their dreams. I would say that the majority of people who I encounter are drawn to their dreams in some way, intuiting the mystical quality that they hold.  Perhaps something here resonates with you.

If you want to start understanding your dreams, step one is to follow these tips! Step two is to book a session with me.

HOW TO RECORD YOUR DREAMS

• Record your dreams in the first person, present tense. Instead of saying, “I walked into the house and saw a bear.” Say, “I am walking into the house. I am inside and see a bear.”

• Record everything you remember, no matter how insignificant it seems or “out there” it seems. What color is the bear? What size is it? How are you feeling when you walk into the house?

• Give your dream a title.

• Date when you had the dream.

  
  

  WHAT IF I DON’T REMEMBER MY DREAMS?

You are not alone!

Try the following evidence-based strategies:

• Set the intention before bed that you would like to learn and grow from your dreams; that you are ready to pay attention to your dreams for healing; and that you want to remember and record your dreams.

• Place your dream recording device (journal, voice recorder, etc) next to your bed.

• Write down whatever you remember in the morning, even if it is just one image.

• Take B6 vitamins!  Taking a B6 vitamin before bed and increase dreaming and dream recall.

• You can try setting an alarm to wake yourself up every two hours (this interrupts the REM cycle where dreams take place).  I only recommend this if the other strategies haven’t yielded any results.

WHAT TO NOTE

• Is there a theme?

• What emotions were you feeling?

• What personal associations do you have with the images in the dream?

• What question is the dream asking of you?

• Imagine each person or animal represents an aspect of you.  What are those things?  

• What actions are taking place in the dream?

• What age are you in the dream?

• Do you notice any patterns?

• Are there numbers that seem significant? (For example, couples, or things that come in threes or fours?)

• Where is the energy the highest in the dream?  What part are you most drawn to?

• What colors are in the dream?

There are many ways to look at dreams, and it is very difficult to interpret them on your own.  I encourage you to reach out to explore a dream with me one-on-one or to join the dream group starting next week.  Entering the world of dreams is mystical and life-changing.