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Living life from
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Dreamwork
Keeping a Dream Journal
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The most important tool for dreamwork is your Dream Journal.
Within its pages you will keep a record of your dreams and explore their meanings. Consistently recording your dreams will deepen and strengthen your dreaming power. Your Dream Journal is your own unique and personal expression. Over time you will develop a structure and a practice that works best for you. As you develop your dreaming practice, your Dream Journal will become a source of reliable and profound advice, healing and personal growth. |
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Recording your dreams in a journal on a regular basis will accomplish a number of things:
- Writing your dreams down immediately upon awakening increases the amount of detail you are able to capture.
- Regular use of a dream journal improves dream recall by creating a powerful habit and feedback cycle; the more often you record your dreams, the more dreams will come.
- Having a record of your dreams over time gives you greater insight into cycles, patterns and repeating themes in your dreams.
- Dream journaling turns dreaming into a practice and a discipline; as with any practice or discipline, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.
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Your Dream Journal can take many forms:
- A lovely bound blank book
- A simple spiral notebook
- A three-ring binder with loose-leaf pages
- A file on your computer
- A digital voice recorder (although dreams will be easier to work with if transcribed after recording)
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Other handy implements include:
- Pens, pencils or markers in various colors, which allow you to highlight different aspects of your dreams
- A small flashlight, booklight or penlight can be useful if you plan to record your dreams as you wake during the night
- Art materials can help you to express your dream visually rather than or in addition to verbally
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Here are some suggestions about what to include in your Dream Journal:
- Date each entry
- Include any incubation questions you may have used
- Include a few lines about current waking life concerns
- Write something every day, even if you don't recall a complete dream - write whatever fragment(s) you recall or simply write how you feel or what's on your mind upon awakening
- Write each dream in present tense (I am ______, rather than I was _______)
- Give each dream a title
- Leave room for commentary even if you don't explore the dream right away (a three-ring binder or computer file makes this simple as you can always insert extra pages as needed)
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Back to Dreamwork
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