Everyone dreams. Under normal circumstances, in an 8-hour sleep cycle, we might have a dream every 90 minutes. That’s five dreams a night! Remembering your dreams is a skill we are all capable of achieving. Think of it as a muscle you need to exercise; the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.

Bedtime
Create a bedtime ritual that expresses your curiosity about your dream world. Set the intention to remember your dreams. Dedicate a journal for recording your dreams. Open and date it for the following day. If a past or recurring dream, dream theme, or dream image is gnawing at you, re-read your journal entry/entries out loud and ask the dream to return.

Upon Waking
If possible, train yourself to wake up without an alarm clock. Once you wake up, linger in bed with your eyes closed and stay in the position you woke in. Allow the dream to arrive. Stay with the dream, be patient, and don’t let your mind wander. Dreams are slippery and can quickly slide out of your consciousness. In your mind, rehearse what you saw, did, and felt. Consider the landscape, colors, textures, sounds, emotions, and any detail you remember.

Journaling
Note your initial feeling upon waking. This is important for sensing the essence of the dream. Write everything you can recall, in the present tense, in as much detail as possible. Even a single dream fragment can lead to vast discoveries. Don’t be too concerned with the sequence of events. Draw or sketch dream figures, inanimate objects, scenes, landscapes, etc. Watercolors, pastels, charcoals, and colored pencils are especially useful in retaining the translucent quality of dreams. Give your dream a title, as you would a story.

Most importantly, bring a sense of wonderment, curiosity, and playfulness to your deamwork. This helps to avoid judging the dream or interpreting it too quickly.

Nightmares are the most potent of all dreams.

Dreams get louder when our psyche demands our attention. It’s an opportunity to direct our attention to something our soul believes is necessary for our growth and personal development. Recurring dream themes and nightmares occur as a means to integrate an essential piece of our unconscious with our conscious.

When confronted in a safe and nurturing way, we can discover new ways of facing our greatest fears, our shadow selves, and our most significant potential. This pushes our boundaries leading us to find new resources previously unknown or underutilized.

Building a relationship with a nightmarish figure is an exquisite opportunity to reveal a storehouse of creative energy and possibility. These figures are more primal than others; therefore, they hold the keys to unlocking the most authentic essence of who we are that lies behind the veil of our family and cultural conditioning.

In Development