How to Remember Your Dreams

Many people automatically remember their dreams upon waking in the morning. If you are one of those people who doesn’t remember your dreams but you wish you could, read more below about how to develop this skill.

Set the Intention

The first step towards remembering your dreams is to set an intention before you go to sleep that when you wake up, you will remember your dreams. Suggest to yourself every night as you fall asleep, “I will remember my dreams.” Say this over and over. Your sub-conscious will act on this subtle suggestion.

Ask for Guidance

Practice keen observation in your dreams through self-suggestion prior to sleep. Likewise, when a problem confronts you in your daily life, you might want to ask by prayer for guidance to be sent to you through your dreams.

Tell Yourself to Remember

Studies show that for people who do not usually remember their dreams, the act of telling yourself to remember them upon waking takes about one to two weeks to work. And most people will start remembering their dreams more frequently.

No Alcohol, Sugar or Caffeine Before Bed

It is also important to avoid alcohol, sugar and caffeine before bedtime.

Journal

Next, keep a journal by your beside. You may even consider using a dream journal. When beginning the steps towards remembering and interpreting your dreams, this step is critical.

As soon as you are physically able to write when you wake up, begin writing anything you can remember in your journal. It is important to write it down right away because these dream memories usually leave you shortly.

Remember that we have between four and seven dreams per night. If you wake up from a dream, write it down. If you roll over and go back to sleep you will likely forget it. At the very least, you can jot down the basic premise of the dream and go back in the morning to fill in the rest of the details such as feelings, etc.

• Note: It is not worth sacrificing sleep to remember your dreams, so if you do wake up and want to record your dream, do so in the dark, quickly and they lay back down for more rest.

In the morning, write down everything you remember, even if it doesn’t make sense. Most often, the parts that don’t make sense or are out of place are the most valuable. Every detail, even the minutest element in your dream is important and must be considered when analyzing your dreams. Look closely at the characters, animals, objects, places, emotions, and even color and numbers that are depicted in your dreams.

Interpreting Dreams

Interpreting dreams is another topic, however, a few tips on dream interpretation, you can ask yourself several questions starting with, “What does this remind me of?” Write down the first thing that comes to your mind. This will likely be the real situation in your life that is symbolized in the dream.

Next, “What did that real-life situation make me feel like?” If this is the same feeling represented in your dream, you’re on the right track. Often when there is more than one part to your dream (more than one story line) that usually means there are two things your subconscious is trying to tell you.

Trust your instincts! If something seems important, it probably is. Try not to let your logical side take over in interpreting what the dream means. Over time, your dream journal can reveal insights to you about your life that you may not otherwise acquire.