Remembering Your Dreams

My Method For Remembering Dreams

What You'll Need

• A little more sleep
• 15 quiet minutes in the morning
• Notebook
• Pencil

In time, recalling your dreams later in the day can be just as easy, but if you're first starting out, you'll need to do this as soon as you can if not first thing before you stand up.

1. Close your eyes and let your mind return to your dream. Wait for something to feel familiar such as an emotion, a person or place. It shouldn't take long for your mind to grasp something from your most memorable dream of that evening's sleep. Don't think too hard about it or try to analyze it.
   
   Remember: Your dream style doesn't follow the rules of your conscious experiences, so trying to make sense of them too soon or trying to add details you think should logically be there could cause your mind to disregard the memory and archive it away, never to be recalled again.
   
   
2. Hold your dream memory in your mind and let it soak. If it takes you to other memories of your dream, go there too. I have found that dream scenes happen in a sequence like scenes in a movie, so you can feel confident noting the order of events even if you are remembering them out of order. I often remember scenes from the middle of my dreams first and then realize that there was proceeding or subsequent dream content.
   
   
3. If you feel like your dream is returning to you, sit up and take out your notebook. This is the fun part. I like to start on the top left of the page. It makes sense and flows with how we usually write. Write down any detail you remember one scene at a time. Cluster the elements of the scene together. List the emotions and people involved. Draw the visual part and label things. Remember not to add details that didn't originate from your dream. You'll be tempted to fill in gaps so things make sense like solving for variables in an equation. DON'T DO THAT. Your dream didn't really make sense so the moment you start adding details, your mind will have a harder time reading your real dream style and you'll probably lose precious dream details or entire scenes.
   
   If you feel like you've completed a scene or if there is another scene that is burning on your memory, draw a circle around that scene's details, isolating it from the other scenes and move on to the next. Do the same for each scene you recall.
   
   At this step, you're likely to feel the rush that comes from effective dream recollection. The feeling is real and exciting. Your conscious mind is reaching into your subconscious. The communication goes the other direction when you breath and digest. This is a rare connection and causes intense mental arousal.
   
   
4. If you feel like there is something you're not recalling, be still and read the content that you've already written. Let your mind drift peacefully through the details and you should begin recalling again.

Everyone Dreams Differently

I've had single-scene dreams as well as dreams with 8 or 9 scenes - sometimes more. On average, you could expect 4 - 5 scenes in your dreams and 1 or 2 memorable dreams each evening.

Things To Remember

• Don't try to make sense of it. You will disconnect from your dream memory.
• A color or feeling is as important to your dream memory as the places or events. Write them down!
• Balance the speed of writing as you remember with the peace and steadiness of mind you'll need to stay connected with your dream.
• Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and able to remember his dreams.

If you struggle to recall your dream, you might be misunderstanding your own dream style. Repeating this method often should help you learn how you dream. Also, read my other article, What Is A Dream.