There are many different types of journaling, including wellness, travel, money, food, and gratitude journaling, among others.
But have you heard about dream journaling?
We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping, so why not make use of this valuable resource? Dream journaling is a creative way to explore the subconscious mind. It can be used to problem-solve, gain clarity, inspire, increase self-awareness, and much more. Dream journaling is like having an ongoing conversation with our inner self.
Our dreams send us messages while we sleep. Dream journal provides a written record of our nightly adventures. Without a written account, our dreams can quickly fade away.
DREAM JOURNALING METHODS
You can use a traditional pen and paper method, or a digital tool such as a dream journaling app. You can also try a voice recorder. Experiment a little to find a method that resonates with you.
I recommend using the traditional pen-and-paper method.
It forces you to slow down your thoughts and emotions. Writing by hand engages multiple senses and stimulates different areas of the brain compared to typing. It has been shown to enhance memory, improve cognitive skills, and increase creativity. The slower pace of writing is calming and provides a space for deeper reflection.
Digital journaling has its benefits and may be convenient, but screens and keyboards already dominate our everyday lives. We shouldn’t underestimate the power of handwriting. There’s something magical about writing by hand.
BENEFITS OF DREAM JOURNALING
Why pay attention to dreams?
Many studies have shown that paying attention to our dreams has the potential to improve mood, reduce stress, and enhance creativity. We can gain valuable insights into our inner world.
The themes and content of our dreams can shed light on unresolved issues, fears, and desires. Dreams often reflect our emotional states.
Working with dreams promotes healing from within.
Dreamwork can be a powerful tool for processing and healing deep emotional trauma. By integrating the insights gained from our dreams into our waking life, we can improve our physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
I have always been fascinated by dreams. Writing down my nightly adventures has been a great way to keep track of my dreams... and my progress. I have gained a deeper understanding of myself and my purpose.
Through dreams, I have received valuable guidance, helping me to see things from different perspectives. My dreams have provided practical answers to real-life problems.
Anything is possible in our dreams!
WHAT ARE DREAMS?
Dreams speak to us through metaphors. They are a combination of images, symbols, and feelings during sleep. Dreams can also contain sounds and physical experiences. Occasionally, I hear a voice in my dream, loud and clear, providing an answer to my question.
Increasingly, modern science is paying more and more attention to the world of dreams. Neuroscientists and other sleep researchers studying dreaming have discovered that we use the non-logical part of the brain when we dream.
In a nutshell, each night, we go through multiple sleep cycles from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. While we dream throughout the night, dreaming happens mostly during REM sleep. Our most vivid dreams tend to occur later in the sleep cycle, during the early hours of the morning. I often have very vivid, memorable dreams between 4am-6am, just before I wake up.
There are many different types of dreams, including recurring dreams, nightmares, prophetic dreams, lucid dreams, telepathic dreams, shared dreams, and visitation dreams.
Dreams often increase in intensity during times of stress and uncertainty. Significant life events such as a new job or a relationship breakdown can impact dream content in many ways. After a stressful or traumatic event, it is not unusual to experience disturbing and unsettling dreams.
WHY DO WE DREAM?
No-one knows for sure. Throughout history, people have been fascinated by dreams. Numerous theories have been proposed, but dreaming is still a mystery.
So, what’s the purpose of dreams?
While debate continues among researchers, they tend to agree that dreaming serves a number of purposes. Dreaming helps our brain to work through emotions and feelings, integrate learning, consolidate memory, and process experiences. Dreams can also be a rich source of creative inspiration. Artists of all kinds have received their creative ideas from dreams.
Despite scientific inquiry, there’s still so much to be learned about dreams.
HOW TO REMEMBER YOUR DREAMS
Everyone dreams. But many of us struggle to remember them. If you don’t make an effort to record your dreams, they disappear from your memory quickly.
So, keeping a dream journal is the first step to remembering your dreams. Place your journal and a pen within easy reach of your bed.
Set an intention to remember your dreams.
This is REALLY important! Tell yourself you are going to remember your dreams, “I’m going to dream tonight, and I’ll remember my dreams when I wake up”. Think about a problem before falling asleep. Ask a question, for example, “Is it time to look for a new job”. See what you wake up with.
When you wake up, don’t jump out of the bed. Before you reach for your journal, just lie there with your eyes closed. Don’t move your body. Any kind of movement can disrupt dream memories and make them vanish quickly. Try and re-enter the dream in your mind.
Then, write down as much of the dream as you remember.
Highlight the key events, places, people, and colours. Even if you only remember fragments or vague details, write them down. No matter how weird or silly your dream was, record it. Write in the present tense, for example, “I’m running towards a house, feeling excited.” This will help you feel like you are back in the dream.
It’s okay to keep your entries short. You don’t have to write a novel, not even a complete sentence. Jot down a few keywords. You could give the dream a unique title. If you wake up in the middle of the night, write down a theme, or some keywords, and go back to sleep.
With intention and practice, you’ll find it easier to remember your dreams. And don’t forget to date each dream entry.
BE CREATIVE
Sometimes it can be really difficult to express dream content with words.
Good news!
You don’t have to write if you don’t enjoy writing. Visual journaling might be just what you need. Instead of written entries, your journal contains drawings, symbols, and other artistic expressions. And you don’t have to be an artist. There are no rules. So, don’t worry about what things look like.
My journaling style has evolved over the years. One of my journals is a collection of writings, dream images, bullet-point lists, short paragraphs, drawings, flowcharts, quotations, books I have read, and ideas for articles.
Through a combination of writing and art, I see my dream from a different perspective. An illustration or image triggers my dream memory, giving me more information about the dream experience.
DREAMS ARE SYMBOLIC
Do dreams have meaning? Absolutely!
But don’t take dreams literally. Dreams communicate in symbols and metaphors. The images, symbols, and characters in our dreams are often perplexing, each carrying its own unique significance.
Recurring dreams often indicate resistance to change. There may be an issue we don’t want to face in waking life and keep repeating the same old pattern over and over. Recurring dreams are messages from the subconscious about something we need to deal with.
Reflect on current life situations that might relate to your dream.
What’s happening in your life right now? Sometimes there’s a clear match between your dreams and real-life events. Approach your dreams with curiosity and openness.
Over time, you create your own “dream dictionary”. While some themes in dreams are universal, such as flying, teeth falling out, falling or being naked in public, our dreams are unique to us. For example, the bear in my dream does not have the same meaning as the bear in someone else’s dream.
Dreams are as individual as we are.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
It would be great if you could write in your dream journal daily. Consistency will improve your dream recall. By consistently recording your dreams, you train your mind to remember more of them. But don’t feel pressured to follow a certain schedule that doesn’t suit you.
Make journaling a pleasure, not a chore. Writing daily would be ideal, but it might be easier for you to journal every couple of days or so.
I write in my dream journal consistently.
But I don’t always do it daily. Sometimes I write every few days… or just once a week. It really depends on my dreams and what’s happening in my waking life.
I also like to keep everything in one place, so I have divided my journal pages into two columns. One for my nightly adventures and the other for events from my waking life. This has helped me to identify recurring themes, recognise patterns, and make connections between dreams and my waking life.
REVIEW YOUR DREAM JOURNAL REGULARLY
Keeping a dream journal over a period of time helps you to see how dreams relate to your waking life.
But you need to take time to reflect on your dreams. This is very important! Through consistent recording and reflection, you start to identify recurring patterns and themes. You gain greater insight into your own behaviour and experiences.
Reading through and reflecting on journal entries from the past helps me realise how much I have changed over the years. Dream journaling has become a vehicle for personal growth and self-discovery.
DREAMWORK TAKES PRACTISE
If you really want to get the most out of your dreams, commitment and practise is important. You wouldn’t expect to get fit if you didn’t put in the work, right? The same thing goes for dreams. The more you journal, the easier it becomes to remember them.
And you need the right mindset. It's important to value your dreams.
Don’t worry if you can’t remember your dreams right away. Once you make a habit of this, your dreams will come! You’ll also start to dream more vividly.
So, be patient.
DO-IT-YOURSELF JOURNALING OR DREAM SHARING
You can do dreamwork on your own. But sharing your dream with others can be incredibly powerful. Talking about your dreams with a trusted friend or an experienced dream practitioner often leads to additional insights. You can also join a dream group to share and explore your dreams with like-minded people.
It’s important to seek professional support if recurring dreams or nightmares are causing you significant distress. These types of dreams are common after traumatic experiences.
I’ve only scratched the surface of this topic in this blog, but I hope it gets you started. There’s so much more to our nightly adventures.
As the New Year begins, I encourage you to start your own dream journey!
Eila Mikkonen
Counsellor, Clinical Supervisor & Mental Fitness Facilitator